On being a foreigner in a homogenous society

I wonder what it is about growing up in Korea that makes a kid (and many an adult) feel that it is perfectly acceptable - even expected - to see a foreigner and shout, "Hello!" or "Hi!" or to talk audibly amongst themselves about the waygook (foreigner). This happens to me numerous times every single day, simply walking from my home to school. On the rare occasions when I venture out to more populated sections of Daegu, this occurrence multiplies exponentionally. I haven't yet reached the point where this annoys me, although I can see how it might one day come to that point. Thus far, it is simply a daily source of amusement. But I do find myself wondering why this is.

I grew up in a small town in the Southern US, where most people were either black or white. There were, however, small groups of asian and hispanic folks in my community as well. Like many Americans, I studied Spanish in high school. On the rare occasion when I would run across Spanish-speakers in the local Wal-Mart, I might have eavesdropped in order to see if I could understand anything (I was an over-studious dork), but it *never* occurred to me to approach a Spanish speaking stranger and say, Hola, como esta? or to giggle hysterically as they passed then shout HOLA!!! to their departing backs.

Additionally, growing up in a country created by immigrants (even though in my rather ignorant neck-of-the-woods, I'm sure there are many people who assume that WASPS have lived in America since the Dawn of Time, and everyone else is a dirty foreigner... but that's a topic for another day), I never saw people who looked foreign and simply assumed that they were not citizens of the US. I might have assumed that they or their ancestors had moved to the US from a certain somewhere else, but I never thought of them as foreign. (To me foreign implies foreign citizenship, not foreign ancestry.) I certainly would never take one look at them, then turn to my companions and say loudly, Hey, look at the foreigner. (Often Koreans even point as they say this!)

Now, if someone like me, who grew up in a town where most people were either white or black, can grow up with views like mine, then I would imagine that children from more cosmopolitan environments would be even less likely to automatically assume that someone who looks different is automatically not a citizen. Conversely, it does make perfect sense that people in a country where most (nearly all) citizens are of the same race would assume that someone who looks different is, in fact, a foreigner. But that doesn't explain the speaking thing.

It also doesn't explain why "white girl" automatically equals "English speaker." I think that I would be annoyed to no end if I were a native speaker of any other language and traveling, living, or doing business here in South Korea, as I would undoubtedly still be accosted numerous times on a daily basis with shouts of, "Hi! How are you!" I have been asked a handfull of times if I am Russian (which might, in theory, be an insult, as most Russian women in Korea are prostitutes), although no one has ever shouted Privet! Kak dela! at me.