I Live In Korea

My name is Ben Gwynne. I USED to teach English in Incheon, South Korea. Here's some photos, stories, videos, etc.

…try and stick their fingers up my butt. Yes…Really…Everyday…Multiple times.

I mentioned weird obsessions they have in another post, but this one takes the cake.

A day rarely goes by when someone doesn’t try to poke me in the butt from behind when I’m not looking. It’s a “practical joke” and basically the Asian version of the wedgie. The name for it in Korea is "ddong chim." Ddong chim is translated to mean “poop needle,” and that’s what the kids say when they try it. “DDONG CHIM!!” (finger flies in from behind) Remember when I told you they like to draw pictures of ddong (poop)? Well, this is a lot worse and weirder than that.

I’m sure this is confusing to you, and you’re probably asking yourself “Ben, why don’t you tell the kids to stop?” Well, I have two options: 1. laugh it off and smack their hand away 2. Make a big stink about it, drag one of the kids into the principals office, have them get screamed at and have their parents are notified. The kid will now hate me, probably get hit by his parents and won’t listen to me for a while. The principal will then tell the Korean teachers to make sure no one does ddong chim anymore, and with that I’m officially a 27 year old baby. All the kids will make fun of me behind my back, actually they will say it right to my face in Korean, “Ben teacher ruined ddong chim” or “Ben teacher got ______ student in trouble and he told the principal, what a baby.” I’ll take #1.

I catch students 90% of the time before they do it anyway. When they do manage to pull it off, I give them a gentle shot to the arm, a light tap over the head with my book, or just say “today, test” and listen to them scream and say sorry. It’s just enough to hopefully make them realize not to do it anymore, but not enough to strike fear into them.

So, how do they manage to do this? It usually happens when I’m at the copy machine, or for the younger classes (who are hyper and move around sometimes due to being on lockdown at their elementary school) when I am at the board and my back is facing them.

There’s 4 common ways the students try and stick their finger up my butt…


1. Put both hands together like you’re clapping, fold in your pinky, ring and middle finger, you will now have a shape like a gun. Insert finger.

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2. Put both hands together like you're clapping. Insert hand.

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3. Hold both hands in the air with your fingers facing forward. Make sure they are parallel to each other but a few inches apart, and make a motion like you would to warm your hands up.

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4. Stand next to someone, turn your head and look like you’re having a conversation with them, reach around and stick your index finger in.


When I say it’s popular here, I mean, all the kids do it around the country. They really think it’s the funniest thing in the world, and, there’s also statues dedicated to it. Check it out…


Two choice quotes on the matter from the always reliable Wikipedia…

“While the practice is known in South Korea, there have been cases where adults performing it have been arrested.”

“In February 2006, Nanmon Kaiketsu (Solving Difficult Problems), an NHK TV show about social problems, speculated that the long-term leniency of Kancho (the Japanese name for ddong chim) is an indirect cause of the rampant train gropings across Japan.”

I’m going to Tokyo for a weekend in May, and if someone does it to me in public, well, I might end up back in the US before my contract is over. Handcuffs and all.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

wtf?

paperbiscuits said...

hahaha..this is funny..i thought only filipino kids do something like this. I swear im loving all your post.

Ben Gwynne said...

It's an Asian thing I guess ellesor

paperbiscuits said...

hi ben..im thinking of having followers from different race and country..i hope youll help me..and follow me pls.u dont have to read my blogs since im bad at it.lol.thanks a lot.

Ben Gwynne said...

sure ill follow you, ive checked out your blog to.. good luck getting followers!

Anonymous said...

Hahahah, i thought it only happens in Indonesia. We're not doing it that often though. XD

Rick Cogley said...

They do it in Japan too. It's called "kancho" which I guess is the word for enema, and I was kancho-ed many a time when I was PTA chairman.

karlton said...

im karlton i like it

Gaara said...

lol this is exactly like senin goroshi! (narutards will know) aha but well i have no guts sticking my finger in my teachers butt ._.

Anonymous said...

This is disgusting and sick, Asians are crazy and weird but also disgusting

Anonymous said...

This explains something I just saw in a movie where kids did it to a grown woman and I had no idea what the hell was going on. Thanks for the explanation!

Anonymous said...

nice blog

Anonymous said...

You have a ton of facts. Put it together in a nice report form for presentation. You have a ton of random facts. Get some more information on your subjects and add in some more pictures. All in all, this is a GREAT blog!!!!!! It really helped my students.

Anonymous said...

Ddong chim (Korea), Kancho (Japan), or Pidyok (Philippines) -- they have spread throughout Asia. I think in Japan they even glorify it in several animes, in Ghost Fighter Yusuke (Fil: Eugene) did this to Kuwabara (Fil: Alfred) as a kind of "Rei Gun", and in Naruto there is one technique called "Sennen Goroshi" (Thousand Years of Pain) that just do this.

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Alice said...

OH....

Unknown said...

I was Linked here from a cracked.com article about teaching abroad. Crazy stuff.

Anonymous said...

WHAT? What cracked article? Share the link please.

Nihon Scope said...

So this really stems from Korea and not Japan?

HeavenLee Messenger said...

I was watching a Canadian sitcom, Kim Convenience, based on a Korean Canadian family that owns a convenience store in Toronto. They referenced the "ddong chim" in the show but didn't explain it very well. Thank you for your thorough and awesome explanation! :) yours was the first article that came up in my Google search (I searched dong ji because that's what it sounded like). Thanks :)