#KoreanHistoryToday: 123 South Korean coal miners depart for West Germany in 1963. Invited by the German government as guest workers, they went to bringing back valuable hard currency that Korea could use to import advanced machinery and other technologies. pic.twitter.com/mp4cd9mN90
@Set, The Korean dog handlers we had at Kunsan (circa 1980) all came to work dressed to the nines every day: suit, tie, hard-heeled shoes, scrubbed clean, shaved, oiled face and hair, all looking like they just walked out of a jjimjilbang.
Once in the kennel compound, they would change to their old dingy military fatigues, draw a weapon, get their dog, and work their shift. Afterwards, they would all shower and dress back up in their suit & tie for the walk home.
The rest of us tried to figure out why they went through so much trouble: They told their families they had important jobs on base or they wanted others to think they had important jobs on base.
Or maybe it was cultural pride: they just didn’t want to be seen coming to work looking like construction workers … which would have been more appropriate considering the dirty work we did (cleaning kennels, cleaning feed pans, brushing dogs, patrolling the bush, etc.).
Worth mentioning: They all fought in the Korean War.
bob
1 year ago
Ran an Army club in the ’90s and had the same with dishwashers and cooks. They came to work and left for home looking like bankers.
setnaffa
1 year ago
Yes, that’s what I mean. Folks used to take pride in looking sharp.
The houseboy we had back in ’72 told us his family didn’t even know he worked on the compound. He said it would have been a disgrace for his family for to know he worked for the Americans.
setnaffa
1 year ago
Well, that is sad. And speaks to different social pressures folks in other cultures face.
In Austin, Texas, a 22-year-old student of Vietnamese extraction was found dead after failing to meet with his family. He had apparently not told them he was not graduating from Texas A&M this month; and I assume he couldn’t face “the disgrace”.
It took a much younger setnaffa 12 years for a four year degree (with a two year degree thrown in at the community college I used to get my GPA back up to where the unviversity.would let me rrapply.
I did, however, manage to recover from that—and have spent the past 48 years “failing up”. After a while, one starts learning from mistakes and not making them anymore. It is amazing how much pain concentrates the mind
I wish someone had told the dead fellow that life doesn’t end if you ever get disappointed. Or if you disappoint those close to you. We’re all human and occasionally do stupid things.
Folks (young and old alike) shouldn’t kill themselves over making mistakes. They should learn from them and grow ro be wiser, more compassionate people.
Back then, even coal miners dressed more formally than bankers these days.
No wonder we’ve got an infestation of rodents in our university and government offices.
Postwar Germany doesn’t seem like the easiest place to find a black wife.
@Set, The Korean dog handlers we had at Kunsan (circa 1980) all came to work dressed to the nines every day: suit, tie, hard-heeled shoes, scrubbed clean, shaved, oiled face and hair, all looking like they just walked out of a jjimjilbang.
Once in the kennel compound, they would change to their old dingy military fatigues, draw a weapon, get their dog, and work their shift. Afterwards, they would all shower and dress back up in their suit & tie for the walk home.
The rest of us tried to figure out why they went through so much trouble: They told their families they had important jobs on base or they wanted others to think they had important jobs on base.
Or maybe it was cultural pride: they just didn’t want to be seen coming to work looking like construction workers … which would have been more appropriate considering the dirty work we did (cleaning kennels, cleaning feed pans, brushing dogs, patrolling the bush, etc.).
Worth mentioning: They all fought in the Korean War.
Ran an Army club in the ’90s and had the same with dishwashers and cooks. They came to work and left for home looking like bankers.
Yes, that’s what I mean. Folks used to take pride in looking sharp.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRHBLwpASw
The houseboy we had back in ’72 told us his family didn’t even know he worked on the compound. He said it would have been a disgrace for his family for to know he worked for the Americans.
Well, that is sad. And speaks to different social pressures folks in other cultures face.
In Austin, Texas, a 22-year-old student of Vietnamese extraction was found dead after failing to meet with his family. He had apparently not told them he was not graduating from Texas A&M this month; and I assume he couldn’t face “the disgrace”.
It took a much younger setnaffa 12 years for a four year degree (with a two year degree thrown in at the community college I used to get my GPA back up to where the unviversity.would let me rrapply.
I did, however, manage to recover from that—and have spent the past 48 years “failing up”. After a while, one starts learning from mistakes and not making them anymore. It is amazing how much pain concentrates the mind
I wish someone had told the dead fellow that life doesn’t end if you ever get disappointed. Or if you disappoint those close to you. We’re all human and occasionally do stupid things.
Folks (young and old alike) shouldn’t kill themselves over making mistakes. They should learn from them and grow ro be wiser, more compassionate people.