My teachers since pre-school always told me I was special because I wrote with my left hand. But (don't know about nowadays) I heard that in Korean schools you'd get whacked by the teacher (we're talking pre-schoolers) for using your left hand to write and they'd tell you that you are a freak (not literally; in a sense). So they'd punish you and force you to practice with your right hand. Added to that, they'd tell the child's parents that something is wrong with the kid because of it. Can you believe that?!

Usually, I get a "Cool! You're a lefty!" comment, but I noticed Korean people get really freaked out when they see me writing with my left hand. They're like, "OH MY GOD! YOU ARE LEFT-HANDED?!?!?!" as if I got away with a crime. It's like it scares them...really. I wonder what the story is behind that. Any thoughts? (besides something like "they don't want to pay extra for producing left-handed desks).

Hmm... Switch-hitters must really throw Korean baseball pitchers off.

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"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. " -E. B. White

Hehe! I think it only applies to handwriting, though. I've met Koreans who actually eat, golf, bat, kick, use scissors...pretty much everything with their left except handwriting.

What's funnier is...I'm exactly the opposite. :)

I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU AND NOW I KNOW WHY!!! LEFT HANDED PEOPLE IN KOREA WERE CONSIDERED RETARDED AND BACKWARD AND IN SOME FAMILIES THEY STILL ARE. YOUNG KIDS WOULD BE TRAINED, PHYSICALLY IF NECESSARY, TO USE THEIR RIGHT HANDS TO DO EVERYTHING. THERE ARE 120 KIDS IN MY SCHOOL AND WE HAVE 2 SOUTHPAWS. THEY ARE STILL LOOKED AT AS "DIFFERENT". ATHLETICS MAY BE A DIFFERENT STORY BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SMART TO BE AN ATHLETE!! ONLY WITHIN THE LATEST GENERATION IS THIS ILLNESS BEING TOLERATED MORE. WATCH YOURSELF ED, YOU MAY BE ATTACKED IN AN ALLEY...

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DAN BURESS

Help me! I am ill!!! ...a freak!

I should be entitled to park in handicapped spaces! But that wouldn't matter since...there aren't any of those in Korea anyway.

That is just weird, though. I wonder how that part of the culture came up. I should update my thread with "what we can't seem to figure out about this culture" on this subject.

Koreans even (long ago) considered twins to be freaks, too. But the culture these days seem to have overcome it and think it's neat.

Some day I hope they'll accept me for my "disability"! :p

I'm a sinister person as well and though gauche, I do feel that is no reason to be called a freak. I've seen many left-handed kids and uni students in and around Seoul and there's no problem~ most of the time.

Cheers!

Thanks! I feel relieved to be less of a freak!

Look up how many US presidents and other famous persons were lefties! My high school friend had the worst handwriting I had ever seen! He said his school teachers in Michigan had forced him to write with his right hand! He was a converted lefty! So it may not be just Korea! No one forced me. I am left-handed and left-eyed! I shoot left handed, using both eyes, and use a left-handed bow for archery. Notice I can type with both hands! The opposite side of the brain being dominant is a good thing!
Einstein, Ben Franklin, Napolean and Josephine, and other famous folk were lefties. Tons of info on Yahoo if you search "Left Handed Celebrities".
For Fun click on: http://pw1.netcom.com/~nikonman/lefties.html

No wonder.
In many languages “left” is the synonym (and sometimes just the same word, like “right” in English) of “wrong” while “right” is “correct”, “law” and so on.
So, this same problem is known to many cultures; the difference is that some left this superstition behind. Koreans are on the right way; wait for 10-15 years and you’ll be just fine for this society.

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If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.

I remember a T-Shirt I once saw that read, "If the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, then left-handed people on the right mind."