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Looking in the mirror. Can you relate? ESLer goes home.
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creeper1



Joined: 30 Jan 2007

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 5:20 pm    Post subject: Looking in the mirror. Can you relate? ESLer goes home. Reply with quote

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK4L7Gh406U

I think, for a lot of people, watching this video is like looking in the mirror.

Such a typical experience of an ESLer.

- Gets bored of his host country.

- Goes home

- Isn't happy there either.

-has severe financial problems and has to rely on others.

I wish more people would put up video blogs. Fair play to this guy to expose himself to all the criticism and snarky comments that are associated with bearing your soul to the world.

I watched many of his vids and he is in better financial shape now.

More power to him!
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Kennyftw



Joined: 08 Aug 2011

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 6:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I watched the video. But doesn't he say that he doesn't have a degree? Or does he not have a degree in Education? I'm thinking the former. And if that's the case, that's 90% of the reason why he doesn't have a better job in the States. He should have parked his butt right down there in China and stayed there.

But yes, I can relate to what he was saying about being sick of the "backwardness" of the culture, the language, the relationships, etc., but at some point, you DO have to move back home (unless you get married.)

I was in a similar situation before coming to Korea. I'm a licensed teacher back home and my father kept saying go apply, go apply! I did, put so did 300 other teachers in the area. To make matters worse, I have a degree in English and Social Studies, which are a dime a dozen. So plain and simple, the deal was if I didn't "know" someone that could get me into the doors, I wasn't going in. I was going up against teachers who had more experience than I did coming out of college, seniority, in-house teachers they could shuffle around, and better resumes. How could I compete and beat out 300 other candidates? By a fancy, off-white colored, well-put together resume?

Hell NO!

Let this be a lesson to all you thinking about going into Education. DON'T!
It is probably one of the most saturated fields in America. You aren't going to find work, and that's why 80% of teachers are doing office work or something not related to teaching. You'd be lucky to get called once a month for substituting.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have been a nurse. Now that's job security with the baby boomers retiring and all.

So, as it turned out, I had to do something QUICK! My bills were over my head, I couldn't find work so I had to take anything, which at the time I was DISH WASHING! Yeah, a college graduate dish washing at an old folks home. Pathetic.
Then the creditors' calls started to pile in. And my credit card minimum payments were nearing 900 dollars. I had to let my health insurance run out because I couldn't afford it. That was it! I get the F out of dodge.
I almost joined the Army and the Navy out of desperation for a steady income, but they wouldn't let me in.

I was desperate.

But now, I'm here. It's been 1 year and 9 months. Yes, I have money, but I don't have a 401K, no savings, and no idea what I'm going to do to retire. Korea is a mirage of financial security. You think you are secure because, hey, you can afford to go out every night, the bills are paid, you have cash in the bank, a roof over your head, BUT you are getting older each year. And there comes a point when you do get TOO "old" to teach in Korea.

Then what?

You don't have a retirement fund, and you need work when you turn 45-50 years old.

All Korea is is putting off the inevitable. This is a band-aid fix to all of your financial problems, it isn't a cure.

I would give anything to be able to have a teaching job back home earning a fantastic income with job security and a 401K. But that is getting pushed out of the realm of possibility with each passing year.

I think the mind of the ESLer is childish and sort of naive. We know the sh&* will hit the fan one day, but, like a kid, we push it out of our mind and try to forget about it. It's like death. We know it's going to happen one day, we know it's going to suck, but do we sit here and think about it?
Nope. We push it out of our minds and forget about. But for those who think about their financial future ponder these things. And to think Korea will always be there for you, because you were there for it, don't kid yourself. You're going to have to face reality a short time from now.

Then what are you going to do?
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Pa Jan Jo A Hamnida



Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Location: Not Korea

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

$900 a month minimum payment ?!? Shocked You must have 3-5 cards.
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
All Korea is is putting off the inevitable. This is a band-aid fix to all of your financial problems, it isn't a cure.


We need a big banner on the top of every page on Dave's which loudly says,

"Not everyone is having the same experience in Korea as you are. Our work lives. Our home lives. Our financial lives. All different".

What I mean is, some of us might be directionless, lonely and depressed hagwon-slaves barely making 2 mill a month........but many of us have dramatically different lives here in Korea, which includes having financial security.

Lots of foreigners are living in Korea long-term.They're doing very well, and have sound financial plans for the future.
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TheUrbanMyth



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 8:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

eamo wrote:
Quote:
All Korea is is putting off the inevitable. This is a band-aid fix to all of your financial problems, it isn't a cure.


We need a big banner on the top of every page on Dave's which loudly says,

"Not everyone is having the same experience in Korea as you are. Our work lives. Our home lives. Our financial lives. All different".

What I mean is, some of us might be directionless, lonely and depressed hagwon-slaves barely making 2 mill a month........but many of us have dramatically different lives here in Korea, which includes having financial security.

Lots of foreigners are living in Korea long-term.They're doing very well, and have sound financial plans for the future.



Well said sir.
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World Traveler



Joined: 29 May 2009

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Really, Urban Myth? You are saving enough for retirement? On your 2.7 per month salary with no 401K? You want to live out your last days in Korea?

The lobster pot
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=83625
Quote:
EFL is a capricious profession at best and most people are not savvy enough to build up sufficient retirement funds. Sure, you can save a lot of money depending on where you work. But, how many teachers do you know who can save the requisite one million American that most financial advisors recommend? Not too many, I bet.
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morrisonhotel



Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Location: Gyeonggi-do

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll tell you in 10 weeks. I'm going home at the end of my contract.

Luckily, I've just landed a job in the sector I want to work in and in the area that I want to live in. That should ease the transaction somewhat. I can only imagine it would be awful returning home with nothing lined up. I transferred money to my parents a month ago so that they could buy me a new computer, phone, and clothing for returning home. The only thing I have to do now is find somewhere to live and purchase some suits. I'm still not confident that returning home will be all that great or easy, but we shall see.

I should say that I didn't/don't have two of the problems listed by the OP as typical of a lot of EFLers. I had nothing in the way of financial problems when I came to Korea (aside from a few thousand in university debt) and I wasn't bored of the UK.
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mmstyle



Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: wherever

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Morrison Hotel...good luck back home. Hope you find the job what you need it to be, and enjoy having family, friends, and familiarity around you again.

I'm with eamo, though. I came here with some debt, and paid it off. I am saving more here than I ever could back home. I still get my annual social security statements, and they are a joke. Maybe I can't save enough for retirement here, but I couldn't do it back home, either. But, that has a lot to do with the way he economy in general is being run, and that's a conversation for another thread. I don't think that Korea is any more a mirage of financial security than my home country is. Millions thought that they were saving for retirement by paying a mortgage, expecting a rise in equity with the housing boom. It failed, and now many people not only don't have the equity, they can't even sell the house they have (assuming they haven't been foreclosed on).

It was interesting listening to that guy, but I wasn't expecting to hear that he didn't have a degree. I listened to another vid of his while doing some work, after he had been home for 2 years. He was a bit cagey about it...but he still doesn't have a degree.

Kenny, I think you are in a very different situation from that guy in the vid.you are a licensed teacher. Did I not read that you will be marrying a Korean woman soon? Is she willing to live in another country?
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TheUrbanMyth



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

World Traveler wrote:
Really, Urban Myth? You are saving enough for retirement? On your 2.7 per month salary with no 401K? You want to live out your last days in Korea?

The lobster pot
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=83625
Quote:
EFL is a capricious profession at best and most people are not savvy enough to build up sufficient retirement funds. Sure, you can save a lot of money depending on where you work. But, how many teachers do you know who can save the requisite one million American that most financial advisors recommend? Not too many, I bet.



WT you don't know me and I don't know you. I will say this...that if I couldn't make more than 2.7 million/month here...I'd probably go somewhere else.

And I would have no problem spending my last days here or in many other places.
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Zackback



Joined: 05 Nov 2010
Location: Kyungbuk

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kenny,
Your post describes me 100%.
I'm starting to feel terrified.
I feel like an ESLoser.
Zackback
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Gamecock



Joined: 26 Nov 2003

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kennyftw wrote:
Quote:
But yes, I can relate to what he was saying about being sick of the "backwardness" of the culture, the language, the relationships, etc., but at some point, you DO have to move back home (unless you get married.)


Wrong. I'm not in Korea anymore (still in Asia, however), but I'm single and have NO plan of EVER going back home.

Your life is yours. If you wish to fit into the conventional/acceptable mold society has shaped for you, that's cool. But people who don't want to live a conventional life are not necessarily losers, nor are they necessarily impoverished and desperate.

Some things people cling to (like 401k's) may not be so secure in 20 or 30 years...just food for thought.

Quote:
You don't have a retirement fund, and you need work when you turn 45-50 years old.


Haha, you wish you could go back and do it all over again and be a nurse...not many nurses retiring a 45 or 50! Nor hardly anyone else either.
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mmstyle



Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: wherever

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gamecock wrote:


Some things people cling to (like 401k's) may not be so secure in 20 or 30 years...just food for thought.



I agree with you on this one, Gamecock.
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morrisonhotel



Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Location: Gyeonggi-do

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mmstyle wrote:
Morrison Hotel...good luck back home. Hope you find the job what you need it to be, and enjoy having family, friends, and familiarity around you again.

I'm with eamo, though. I came here with some debt, and paid it off. I am saving more here than I ever could back home. I still get my annual social security statements, and they are a joke. Maybe I can't save enough for retirement here, but I couldn't do it back home, either.


I'm only returning to get the necessary job experience which in my job hunt I found to be easier to acquire back home. Once I have that, I'm looking abroad again so I can get a job with an expat package as, as you've identified, it would be difficult to save enough for retirement at home. I'm not working until the day I drop dead. It's not because I dislike living in the UK that I won't live there long-term. It's more that I give a crap about what my financial future will be like. With careful investments and a lack of rent/low cost of living, I hope to have enough cash to buy a house outright and still have some left over in the next 10 years. We shall see how easy that is.
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Lonewolf



Joined: 02 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:56 pm    Post subject: I have to agree with Gamecock on this one. Reply with quote

I came here because I wanted to. Not because I had to because there were no jobs. I ran my own company back in America. I got bored and wanted something new and different. Not everyone here is in it for the money. Some of us enjoy being in Asia. I lived in Asia many years ago, and I enjoyed it. Some of us actually like being here. Just for that one reason most of you new people want to label us as losers. I think not! I have it pretty nice in fact. I have learned a lot and met a lot of nice people here as well as a few new friends. I would consider family. I don't consider it losing when you are enjoying life and doing what you want to do. I have found most people who are complaining like this are the ones with empty apartments no furniture and no decorations on the walls. Just a TV or computer a bed and the least amount of things needed to survive. That's not living.
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creeper1



Joined: 30 Jan 2007

PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kennyftw wrote:
I watched the video. But doesn't he say that he doesn't have a degree? Or does he not have a degree in Education? I'm thinking the former. And if that's the case, that's 90% of the reason why he doesn't have a better job in the States. He should have parked his butt right down there in China and stayed there.

?


No. He doesn't have a degree so he is a little different from us. Also he is in China and we are in Korea. You say his problem is he doesn't have a degree BUT you then go on to talk about how even though you have an education degree you can't get work.

I guess the guy is not comparable to you. With educational credentials you should be chasing international school jobs.

Then you'd have a good job.
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