Is this a cultural convention, or is my roommate just useless?

Question

I have 4 roommates; 2 are great when it comes to chores and household cleanliness, but one (23 years old) is absolutely useless in this department. We have a very clear chore chart/list for each week, and everyone does their cleaning thoroughly except her. When she does do the chore, she'll do only a portion of the task (half-assed at that) or none at all--but every week, she will mark down on the chart that she DID do the chore, and when you question her, she insists she did it!
I'm moving out in a month and a half so hopefully I won't go crazy in that time...
My ultimate question is--
She's from South Korea (and I KNOW she understands English, especially our detailed cleaning lists/instructions, written with simple vocab and grammar). Aside from her kim chi (which, if you're not familiar, is a daily staple food of S.Koreans and smells like a wet dog who just rolled in wet garbage, if you're not accustomed to it), is this lack of cleanliness common in S.Korea, or is it just her?

I'm not trying to "be racist"; I really want to know whether or not it's acceptable for me to just discount her as a stupid biatch or if this is just common to her society/the way she was raised.

Ohhhh, if you think the kim chi detail is irrelevant, you have never lived with someone who eats it every day and keeps it in your fridge without sealing it properly.
Oh. my. god. The smell is unbearable at times (some of my roommates have even thrown up--it really is nauseating) and the odor/taste transfers to any and all food in the fridge (milk, butter, vegetables, etc.) Ever poured a fresh glass of milk only to swallow some fresh liquid garbage? yeah, thought not.
It got so bad we had to get a second fridge (the other 3 roommates) to keep our own stuff in.
The gist of my question was that if the stench of kim chi doesn't bother s.koreans, does that mean the stench of a dirty house isn't noticable to them either? Sorry that I wasn't clear at all.

Answer 1

Well, it COULD be a cultural thing, or it could just be that she's not naturally a neat person. Believe me, I have had more than my fair share of sloppy roommates, and most of them were American like me. I had one who cut up raw chicken on our kitchen table and wasn't even going to wipe up the mess after she was done. There were chicken juices on the tablecloth and she cleaned it only AFTER I asked her to!

In this same apartment I had three roommates and we had a chore chart too. I use that term loosely though because I was the only one who ever consistently did my chores. Blah! Yes, it is EXTREMELY irritating but I wouldn't necessarily draw the conclusion that it's a South Korean thing.

Answer 2

I've never lived with someone from South Korea, and the Chinese and Japanese people I've lived with have been very clean. The Greeks, Italians and English on the other hand have been awful.

Some people are naturally clean and tidy, some aren't and are also thoughtless. Guys from southern med countries and other places where women tend to look after men A LOT, tend not to be so clean I've found.

I suggest you grit your teeth, it's only a month and a half.

Answer 3

By the world's standards, Americans are sterile. Europeans are among the cleanest people in the world, most of them bathe at least twice a week. Most Americans bathe daily, and we use almost 5 times as much soap per person as Europeans. People from other parts of the world, don't use as much as Europeans. It may be a little of cultural convention but most likely, she is lazy and has been getting away with it. Good luck with the remaining month.

Answer 4

Everyone has different standards of cleanliness and apparently you think she hasn't met your standards. There are slobs in every culture if she can even be called one (because we don't know her side, just yours). Cleanliness is a personal habit. Just because she is from a culture different from yours, you generalized an entire nationality as being unclean because she didn't meet your standards. Details about kim chi are irrelevant.

Answer 5

I am not Korean but those I know are extremely clean people. This girl's laziness does have to do with her upbringing but has nothing do with her nationality.

Answer 6

She may be unaccustomed to housework, and may feel it is beneath her. Is she from a wealthy family? They may have had servants. Ask her. And she really may not understand what you want. Our American gizmos and cleaning chemicals may be a big mystery to her. Ask her.
And yes, nobody in the world bathes as often as we Americans.

Answer 7

Probably just her, you'll run into lazy people and/or slobs in any culture I'm afraid!