I met some amazing people from all six continents in my time there. But the worst -- the absolute worst -- people I've ever encountered were the "Seoul foreigners."
I made the mistake of living there one year -- none of my coworkers spoke or could even read Korean, and had no interest in learning. They would go to Hongdae (college party neighborhood) 5-7 nights per week and hang out with other foreigners and pretend they're cultured.
But to another, interesting point -- my wife had a Japanese colleague who was here in the US doing research for a year. We didn't see each other often but we were like best friends when we did, and I think it's because we each had that shared experience of living in a foreign culture.
I met some amazing people from all six continents in my time there. But the worst -- the absolute worst -- people I've ever encountered were the "Seoul foreigners."
I made the mistake of living there one year -- none of my coworkers spoke or could even read Korean, and had no interest in learning. They would go to Hongdae (college party neighborhood) 5-7 nights per week and hang out with other foreigners and pretend they're cultured.
But to another, interesting point -- my wife had a Japanese colleague who was here in the US doing research for a year. We didn't see each other often but we were like best friends when we did, and I think it's because we each had that shared experience of living in a foreign culture.