`Misuda` panelist tells her side of the story

Even after storm of controversy that had threatened to derail her life in Korea, Vera Hohleiter was confident, poised and calm.

"I do not want to create more misunderstandings so I would like to use this opportunity to express my thoughts on all of this," she said through a Korean translator.

Since August, Hohleiter, a television personality from Germany, has been the subject of controversy since excerpts of her book titled "Sleepless Nights in Seoul" were uploaded by a Korean blogger in Germany.

Since then, fans of "Misuda," a popular discussion program on which she appears every week, have mostly turned their backs on her for what they consider to be a betrayal.

"The excerpts that were translated were not done by a professional and there were misunderstandings," she said on Wednesday during the news conference for her Korean language book release at the Press Center in central Seoul.



For the first time the petite 31-year-old Heilbronn native defended herself since her book had provoked uproar among staunch nationalists.

The excerpts that have placed Hohleiter in hot water are as follows:

"Korean girls are obsessed with keeping up popular trends by wearing mini-skirts. But when they walk up stairways in subway stations they make every possible effort to hide their exposed bodies. I don`t understand why they even wear mini-skirts";

"As a well-mannered and well-educated European, I put a great deal of effort to appreciate the social customs of Korea, but everyday I encounter something that prevents me from doing so";

"Koreans have a bad taste for gossiping about foreigners. When they spot them in a public place such as in the subway, they delve into a very detailed criticism of their appearance and do it in a loud voice."

She says the excerpts have been mistranslated and taken out of context.

In the book, Hohleiter touches upon sensitive topics such as Korea`s excessive drinking culture, Korean fathers who become mere providers of money for their families, the irrational nationalism common in Korea, and the inability of many Korean men to be open with their emotions -- which she uses her mostly detached boyfriend as an example throughout the book.

But Hohleiter emphasized that the concept of her book wasn`t about criticizing Korean culture or its people and that the book was written with the German market in mind, where travel literature or diaries like her book are popular.

"I cannot imagine a country on earth that you cannot find flaws in," she said. "I don`t think Korea should hide its shortcomings."

"Before I came to Korea, I had a difficult time finding books on the country and that`s how I came about in writing this book. After the book was published in Germany, I received fan mail from readers saying they wanted to visit Korea after reading my book. They have asked me various questions on which language institutes to go to in order to learn Korean, where to seek room and board, and places to go here."

She attributes all of the controversy to misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

"I think somewhere down the line everything got lost in translation," she said.

After the press conference, she took a moment for to talk to The Korea Herald about some of the positive aspects of being a foreign resident that comes from the west.

"Lots of (expats) have better opportunities here and I appreciate the fact I have privileges here. Some people definitely get better jobs here than they would ever get back home and I think most foreigners are aware of that," she said

"But you also face disadvantages, so in my opinion it`s balanced out in the end.

"Maybe back home you wouldn`t have such a good job but then you also wouldn`t have problems with the visa or finding a job or experiencing administrative problems that many have to put up with here."

Asked whether expats can be overly dramatic with their gripes about unfair treatment in Korea she said: "I think that whininess comes from extreme frustrations of not being able to manage everyday things that we`re used to doing back home."

"People have bad days. I have had my share of those and it`s especially worse when you first come here because you don`t really speak the language and you go through a major culture shock. Suddenly you`re not able to do anything by yourself so you always need a Korean friend and if you don`t have Korean friends some things are next to impossible such as opening a bank account or getting a mobile phone."

(kws@heraldm.com)



By Song Woong-ki