15 Reason Why Some Koreans Don’t Like Their Own People Back Home

You wanna know why some Koreans who move abroad don’t vibe with the ones back home? The real answer is simple. It’s the culture shock… but in reverse. You think people only get shocked when they leave a country, but no – sometimes, the real slap comes when they go back. I felt this in a weird way too, and I’m not even Korean.

Let me tell you what happened.

Back in college, I lived with this Korean dude who moved from Seoul to the U.S. when he was 12. Dude was smart, chill, funny but every time he had to talk to someone from Korea, especially his family or folks from back home, he’d tense up. One time, I asked him why he seemed so different on those calls. And he just sighed and said, “It’s hard to explain. It’s like… I have to become someone else.”

That stuck with me.

And later, when we visited Korea together for a vacation, I finally saw what he meant. The pressure was everywhere. Like, we were walking around, and he told me, “Don’t wear your hat backward, they’ll judge you.” Then in a cafe, I joked loudly and he whispered, “Shhh. they’ll think you’re rude.” Even when he ordered coffee, he lowered his voice and adjusted his posture like he was in a job interview. I was like, bro, you good?