One of the effects that the 1988 Seoul Olympics, an event in which almost all the nations of the world participated, had on the Korean people was that their xenophobic tendencies were to a large extent diffused. Simultaneously the exorbitant terror towards foreign languages seems to have lessened. In other words, Now when a foreigner asks for directions, a Korean who may not be blessed with a proficient grasp of the foreign language will not avert his/her eyes, but instead will try to understand where the foreigner wants to go. One could say that Koreans have grown accustomed to the presence of foreigners in Korea.