My wife has been repeatedly targeted by a group of Confucian cultists. There is a somewhat modern “cult” that has started to use Korean traditions and philosophy to get money out of Korean people using peer pressure.
Her first exposure was while she was running to a bus stop. The bus was turning the corner, barreling down the street. My wife was jogging with her bag to try to make it to the bus stop before it arrived. A man approached her as she was jogging, trying to cut off her path.
“Do you believe in Confucianism? Let’s talk about it for a little bit,” he said as she broke into a run. He actually put a hand to her arm and tried to grab her for a little “chat”. She pushed him away and ran to the bus stop. She beat the bus by a few minutes, so she had to blend into the crowd. There was actually a pair of people that had followed her. They couldn’t corner her in the crowd, so eventually they gave up looking for her and left.
Today there was no one else at the bus stop when she arrived except the cultists demanding another chance to talk. They blocked her in as she waited for the bus.
“Do you believe in Confucianism? You must have done good deeds in a previous life. I can see that you have. How else would you keep having the fortune to keep running into us? You’ve probably met a lot of people that believe in what I believe. That’s because you are virtuous. Can we talk about Confucianism some more?” the man said.
My wife, totally creeped out, kept looking at the bus schedule and averting her eyes.
“Anyway, you’ll be here until the bus arrives, so it will give us a chance to chat.”
“Uh, no,” she answered three times weakly in Korean.
They kept bothering her. My wife had heard from friends that these sorts of cultists pressure people into performing ceremonies such as “chaesa“. This is the ceremony Koreans use to honor their ancestors. After the ceremony, they’ll demand a cash payment to honor the dead. That’s the “gotcha”. After they’ve talked to you, at length, about the importance of Confucianism in Korean society, you’ll look extremely rude to turn down money as a gift to your ancestors. One girl said she was even forced to give up her bus money when she was caught with nothing else to offer. It’s best not to get involved in a discussion at all with these people.
Seeing as the bus wasn’t on it’s way, my wife took another approach.
She said, “I’m sure I could understand what you are talking about if you could tell me in English.”
The man stared. Stunned. “Speak Korean, please.”
“Explain it in English so that I can understand. If you don’t, I probably can’t understand what you mean.”
The two cultists hung their heads in defeat and walked away.
If it wasn’t for the fact that these people kept following my wife, I’d find this story totally awesome. Yet ANOTHER practical reason for learning a foreign language. Now all the damn cultists will be bothering us for English lessons though.
