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Date Posted: 16:54:23 04/16/05 Sat
Author: Chris
Subject: Other explanation?
In reply to: Chris 's message, "Shame-based vs. guilt-based culture" on 06:00:15 04/13/05 Wed

Another additional explanation for the particular stubbornness of Korean UBF leaders to repent may be an overall stubbornness and pertinacity I noticed with Korean people. Here, I am not refering to this character as positive or negative - pertinacity can also be a virtue.

In UBF, the missionaries sometimes evoked what they called the somehow-spirit. Particularly in the Bible study of the 4 friends who somehow tried to bring their friend to Jesus, through the roof of a house.

I observed this kind of pertinacity very often with Koreans. One special case is how Koreans never read instructions or manuals, but try to somehow use a tool or a gadget. Or they know they know it is not allowed to take more than 20kg of luggage with you in the plane, they somehow try anyway, and they manage to take 100kg without having to pay more. Or they know they legally are not entitled to get a resident permit, but they somehow get it anyway.

We Germans read instructions. We Germans read the regulations. If the regulations say "no," we Germans don't even try. And if we try and are rejected, we won't try a second time. Koreans are different. They simply have an idea and a goal and they don't even time to read any instructions or regulations, they simply try it in the most proximate way. If something is a little bit difficult, they try a hundred times, until they find the trick. We Germans think a long time and then use the trick directly, or give up immediately.

One funny example:

Korean Driver Passes Test on 272nd Try

Reminded me a bit of certain UBF missionaries trying to pass the DSH exam (German equivalent of the TOEFL test).

Sometimes I admire the pertinacity of Koreans. But sometimes it's sort of weird.

I know these are generalizations. But I observed it too often to overlook this pattern of behavior.

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Replies:

Re: Other explanation? -- Tony Lang, 07:39:46 04/25/05 Mon
- Re: Other explanation? -- Chris, 12:39:41 04/25/05 Mon
Re: Other explanation? -- PECAS, 19:55:05 04/25/05 Mon