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Has moving away from Korea worked out for you?
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some waygug-in



Joined: 25 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually, if it weren't for the Lord's help and the help of the church here,

I would have gone back. I doubt very much that I could have found

anything decent on my own.


Last edited by some waygug-in on Thu Jan 10, 2013 7:24 am; edited 1 time in total
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World Traveler



Joined: 29 May 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Young_Clinton, here is some good news, friend:

Quote:
Hourly earnings climbed 0.3 percent on average in December for a second month, the biggest back-to-back increase since the economic recovery began in mid-2009, Labor Department figures showed Jan. 4. Combined with a lengthening of the workweek, that brought the average weekly paycheck to $818.69, up 1.2 percent from October and the steepest two-month gain since February- March 2007, before the recession began.


Quote:
The higher salaries, together with the lowest gasoline prices in almost a year, will provide a lift to household spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the world�s largest economy.
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silkhighway



Joined: 24 Oct 2010
Location: Canada

PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 7:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I moved back to Canada about six years ago. I haven't settled down yet, I'm about to move to my third city since returning, and after recently re-training, I'm about to start my third job and second career.

I have bouts of nostalgia now and then, but there's no way I'm returning to Korea. I had a few job offers to go overseas again, making the money I made in Korea look like chump change, but when I got down to seriously considering them, I ended up turning them down. Just considering these jobs through the lens of an ex-Korea expat, I could feel my blood pressure rising.

All things considered, my nostalgia for Korea is not for the expat lifestyle, it is for the age I was when I was there. I had a lot of fun because I was young. However, I'm not the same person anymore nor can I be.

BUT..i'm still here reading these forums occasionally. I suppose there's a part of me that will never leave Korea.
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TheUrbanMyth



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

silkhighway wrote:
I moved back to Canada about six years ago. I haven't settled down yet, I'm about to move to my third city since returning, and after recently re-training, I'm about to start my third job and second career.

I have bouts of nostalgia now and then, but there's no way I'm returning to Korea. I had a few job offers to go overseas again, making the money I made in Korea look like chump change, but when I got down to seriously considering them, I ended up turning them down. Just considering these jobs through the lens of an ex-Korea expat, I could feel my blood pressure rising.

All things considered, my nostalgia for Korea is not for the expat lifestyle, it is for the age I was when I was there. I had a lot of fun because I was young. However, I'm not the same person anymore nor can I be.

BUT..i'm still here reading these forums occasionally. I suppose there's a part of me that will never leave Korea.



Welcome to the Hotel Republic of Korea
You can check out anytime but you can never never leave...

Laughing Laughing
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Cartman



Joined: 30 Jun 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 8:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Company I worked for in Canada in 2009 got sold off, and I lost my job. Was sick of everything here, feeling let down , so I sold my small place, left and went to Seoul to teach at 33 yrs of age. Enjoyed it for the most part, saved about 7k in 9 months and used every penny to travel around Asia, and Australia. Met some great people, many who are still in Korea.

Got back to Canada late 2010, got a decent job in spring of 2011, and as of today I got my salary back to where it was when I left (about mid seventy range). Where did I lose out? Well real estate climbed much higher and my same place was selling for 60k+ more, so I was trapped out of the market.. thought the market was about to crash when I went to Korea, but who could've predicted it inflaing even more.. oh well...

Looking back, I missed the fact that life didn't feel 'real' - was like a fun vacation. Re-lived my early 20s for the first few months there, but that got tiresome.. I did miss getting what I want in my own language - felt useless even with the 50+ Korean phrases I learned to try and get by. REALLY wish I could upgrade my brain to Korean by plugging in an SD card or something, cause it woulda been a huge help in almost all situations...

So success going back home? I suppose so, but now I'm a corporate zombie. Life lacks that added mystery of not knowing where I'll be in a year. I guess the grass is always greener...
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recessiontime



Joined: 21 Jun 2010
Location: Got avatar privileges nyahahaha

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 5:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry for neglecting my own thread. After doing a runner in Korea I came to Australia and immediately enrolled in Pharmacy school. It's a 2 year fast track program that allowed me to become a pharmacist quickly. Then it was simply finding a rural job that pays just over 100k. For a Canadian, any salary that pays 50k or more is considered making bank. My profession also allowed me to get permanent residence with ease. Although pharmacy is one of those careers that are spiralling down, you can easily have a career if you aren't too picky about where you work. I'm quite sure that if I went back to Canada I'd be unemployed and living with my parents.
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bcjinseoul



Joined: 13 Jan 2010
Location: Seoul, Korea

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Taught in Korea on and off and on and off from 2006-2010, with some breaks and traveling in between contracts...which clearly hurt me in the long run, financially...

Have been back in the States (I'm American) for about 2.5 years, and it's been rough, much like the way people from the UK have it I suppose. Then I again, I don't live in an ultra-vibrant job market, like NY, LA, Chicago, Boston San Francisco or DC.

I spent the second half of my 20's in Korea, and they were the best years of my life.

I turn 32 next month and for almost 2 years I've been stuck with a job that pays $11 an hour. Broke and in debt...AGAIN. Sad

There's certainly a "haves" and "have nots" in the labor pool, and by that I mean with degrees/training/experience in healthcare, technology, engineering, accounting, and construction trades have great paying careers, everyone else just has a job...millions of people with degrees are waiting tables, working at call centers, working as bank tellers and admin assistants and making $10-12 an hour, and I'm one of those unlucky souls, after two years of applying to thousands of jobs and getting a couple dozen interviews. The post 2008 job market will suck forever; its about skills, not degrees...welcome to the 21st century. Don't get me wrong - if you are willing to take ANYTHING (like driving a cab or truck, waiting tables, working at a call center, doing something for $10-12 an hour, working at the mall or McDonalds, etc) you WILL have a job - but just a job, and a sh*t one at that.

I read an article recently about how bad the job market is for people with MAs and PhDs here in the states, and was shocked to find that people with advanced degrees in chemistry and biology are maybe slightly better off finding a job that those with an MA or PhD in English or Philosophy....everything about the States sucks these days, and careers open in academia are no exception. For all the talk of STEM careers, America needs to create more jobs in science...amongst other industries. Everyone is working their butts of for $25K-40K a year, no time off, no vacation, no sick days, no pensions, no insurance or benefits, 50-60 hour work weeks like Koreans...seems to me the States were better in the 1990s.

Democrats, Liberals and Unions need to fight harder for this country and the middle class, both on the job and on Capitol Hill. Republicans are just too damn radical, cater to the rich and business world and the military-industrial-complex, as well as all the religious nut jobs via the social issues, like regulating marriage and reproductive rights like it's some kind of industry that makes God happy. It's because of them we're not like Europe (ie, free healthcare, pension, strong science, strong labor unions, gun control, nationalized banks, carbon tax, evolution taught in every public school, green technology and accepting global warming as FACT, politicians who are openly atheists and don't refer to the American Civil War as the "War of Northern Aggression," nor condone slavery, etc)

Unless a ton of miracles happen within the next few months, I see myself sending my fingerprints to the FBI after March or April 1st, and then when my lease is up in August, I'll be flying back to Korea 3 years after I left it...hopefully for an after school program, elementary school, or GOOD afternoon hogwon in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do. And while I don't want to be a public school teacher, I could see myself as a Speech Language Pathologist when I'm 40. It's like being a very, very well paid teacher with less paperwork and lesson planning, and small classes/one-on-one classes...
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shaunew



Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Location: Calgary

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have been out of Korea for almost a year. It was the best decision I have ever made. I spent 7 years in Korea, teaching and working in non teaching roles.

I came back and started to work in finance. The first interview I went to hired me. One of the largest banks in Canada as an Analyst. I was there for 5 months when a better opportunity came along. I was headhunted by another firm that is a major player in the oil industry. Being in Calgary that is the best industry to be in.

I went from being an analyst to being an economist for the largest oil company in Canada.

I was able to purchase a brand new home in Calgary in the NW.

My kids love it here and my Korean wife is enjoying Calgary. She loves the feel of downtown and the city.

We are about 45 mins from the mountains and can see them from our backyard.

The non monetary reasons are just as important. I can go to my sons school and not be yelled at our pointed at while walking down the street.
No one stares at you are makes any comments about having half blood kids.
I have my own home with no neighbours pounding upstairs and all of the noise of Seoul.

My advise to those who want to leave. Start planning early. I planned everything for a year before we left. Start a LinkedIn account and start to get known in an industry that you want to be in.
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recessiontime



Joined: 21 Jun 2010
Location: Got avatar privileges nyahahaha

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 12:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I didn't have any other options outside of Korea I would of definitely stayed and eventually opened my own hogwon business with a Korean partner to get around the fact that I'm not a permanent resident.
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Weigookin74



Joined: 26 Oct 2009

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 4:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

bcjinseoul wrote:
Taught in Korea on and off and on and off from 2006-2010, with some breaks and traveling in between contracts...which clearly hurt me in the long run, financially...

Have been back in the States (I'm American) for about 2.5 years, and it's been rough, much like the way people from the UK have it I suppose. Then I again, I don't live in an ultra-vibrant job market, like NY, LA, Chicago, Boston San Francisco or DC.

I spent the second half of my 20's in Korea, and they were the best years of my life.

I turn 32 next month and for almost 2 years I've been stuck with a job that pays $11 an hour. Broke and in debt...AGAIN. Sad

There's certainly a "haves" and "have nots" in the labor pool, and by that I mean with degrees/training/experience in healthcare, technology, engineering, accounting, and construction trades have great paying careers, everyone else just has a job...millions of people with degrees are waiting tables, working at call centers, working as bank tellers and admin assistants and making $10-12 an hour, and I'm one of those unlucky souls, after two years of applying to thousands of jobs and getting a couple dozen interviews. The post 2008 job market will suck forever; its about skills, not degrees...welcome to the 21st century. Don't get me wrong - if you are willing to take ANYTHING (like driving a cab or truck, waiting tables, working at a call center, doing something for $10-12 an hour, working at the mall or McDonalds, etc) you WILL have a job - but just a job, and a sh*t one at that.

I read an article recently about how bad the job market is for people with MAs and PhDs here in the states, and was shocked to find that people with advanced degrees in chemistry and biology are maybe slightly better off finding a job that those with an MA or PhD in English or Philosophy....everything about the States sucks these days, and careers open in academia are no exception. For all the talk of STEM careers, America needs to create more jobs in science...amongst other industries. Everyone is working their butts of for $25K-40K a year, no time off, no vacation, no sick days, no pensions, no insurance or benefits, 50-60 hour work weeks like Koreans...seems to me the States were better in the 1990s.

Democrats, Liberals and Unions need to fight harder for this country and the middle class, both on the job and on Capitol Hill. Republicans are just too damn radical, cater to the rich and business world and the military-industrial-complex, as well as all the religious nut jobs via the social issues, like regulating marriage and reproductive rights like it's some kind of industry that makes God happy. It's because of them we're not like Europe (ie, free healthcare, pension, strong science, strong labor unions, gun control, nationalized banks, carbon tax, evolution taught in every public school, green technology and accepting global warming as FACT, politicians who are openly atheists and don't refer to the American Civil War as the "War of Northern Aggression," nor condone slavery, etc)

Unless a ton of miracles happen within the next few months, I see myself sending my fingerprints to the FBI after March or April 1st, and then when my lease is up in August, I'll be flying back to Korea 3 years after I left it...hopefully for an after school program, elementary school, or GOOD afternoon hogwon in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do. And while I don't want to be a public school teacher, I could see myself as a Speech Language Pathologist when I'm 40. It's like being a very, very well paid teacher with less paperwork and lesson planning, and small classes/one-on-one classes...


Europe has this little thing called a debt crises and has had high unemployment rates for years. Canada also did too, until a debt crises there in the 90's forced it to cut spending and become less socialist and more capitalist. It's unemployment rate fell after this and weathered the downturn better than many western nations. As for the problems in the US, people get screwed in the workforce because the unemployment rate is too high. When the unemployment rate was low people got better deals and had more rights from employers because they weren't easily replaceable.

Kind of like how Korea was pre recession (better contracts and rising pay) and post recession (flat wages and worsening contracts with longer hours). It always comes down to supply and demand. As for America, the economy boomed in the 80's because of Reagan's policies. In the 90's, Clinton didn't change too many of them and governed like a Republican in many ways. Don't ask me what happened during the Bush years. (Me thinks Reagan is turning over in his grave.)

The party of fiscal responsibility became the party of hypocrital spending in the 2000's and the other party ain't doing much better. Let the bad economy continue dragging on....
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Weigookin74



Joined: 26 Oct 2009

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 4:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

shaunew wrote:
I have been out of Korea for almost a year. It was the best decision I have ever made. I spent 7 years in Korea, teaching and working in non teaching roles.

I came back and started to work in finance. The first interview I went to hired me. One of the largest banks in Canada as an Analyst. I was there for 5 months when a better opportunity came along. I was headhunted by another firm that is a major player in the oil industry. Being in Calgary that is the best industry to be in.

I went from being an analyst to being an economist for the largest oil company in Canada.

I was able to purchase a brand new home in Calgary in the NW.

My kids love it here and my Korean wife is enjoying Calgary. She loves the feel of downtown and the city.

We are about 45 mins from the mountains and can see them from our backyard.

The non monetary reasons are just as important. I can go to my sons school and not be yelled at our pointed at while walking down the street.
No one stares at you are makes any comments about having half blood kids.
I have my own home with no neighbours pounding upstairs and all of the noise of Seoul.

My advise to those who want to leave. Start planning early. I planned everything for a year before we left. Start a LinkedIn account and start to get known in an industry that you want to be in.


But did you already have training in this field? How do you end up in finance? Is the economy that good in Calgary nowadays??
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Swampfox10mm



Joined: 24 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know one longtime Daves user, and former co-worker, who returned to the USA 5 months ago. His problem was not finding a job, but finding PT work between his studies. He said finding a FT job was not terribly difficult.
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bcjinseoul



Joined: 13 Jan 2010
Location: Seoul, Korea

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Weigookin74 wrote:
bcjinseoul wrote:
Taught in Korea on and off and on and off from 2006-2010, with some breaks and traveling in between contracts...which clearly hurt me in the long run, financially...

Have been back in the States (I'm American) for about 2.5 years, and it's been rough, much like the way people from the UK have it I suppose. Then I again, I don't live in an ultra-vibrant job market, like NY, LA, Chicago, Boston San Francisco or DC.

I spent the second half of my 20's in Korea, and they were the best years of my life.

I turn 32 next month and for almost 2 years I've been stuck with a job that pays $11 an hour. Broke and in debt...AGAIN. Sad

There's certainly a "haves" and "have nots" in the labor pool, and by that I mean with degrees/training/experience in healthcare, technology, engineering, accounting, and construction trades have great paying careers, everyone else just has a job...millions of people with degrees are waiting tables, working at call centers, working as bank tellers and admin assistants and making $10-12 an hour, and I'm one of those unlucky souls, after two years of applying to thousands of jobs and getting a couple dozen interviews. The post 2008 job market will suck forever; its about skills, not degrees...welcome to the 21st century. Don't get me wrong - if you are willing to take ANYTHING (like driving a cab or truck, waiting tables, working at a call center, doing something for $10-12 an hour, working at the mall or McDonalds, etc) you WILL have a job - but just a job, and a sh*t one at that.

I read an article recently about how bad the job market is for people with MAs and PhDs here in the states, and was shocked to find that people with advanced degrees in chemistry and biology are maybe slightly better off finding a job that those with an MA or PhD in English or Philosophy....everything about the States sucks these days, and careers open in academia are no exception. For all the talk of STEM careers, America needs to create more jobs in science...amongst other industries. Everyone is working their butts of for $25K-40K a year, no time off, no vacation, no sick days, no pensions, no insurance or benefits, 50-60 hour work weeks like Koreans...seems to me the States were better in the 1990s.

Democrats, Liberals and Unions need to fight harder for this country and the middle class, both on the job and on Capitol Hill. Republicans are just too damn radical, cater to the rich and business world and the military-industrial-complex, as well as all the religious nut jobs via the social issues, like regulating marriage and reproductive rights like it's some kind of industry that makes God happy. It's because of them we're not like Europe (ie, free healthcare, pension, strong science, strong labor unions, gun control, nationalized banks, carbon tax, evolution taught in every public school, green technology and accepting global warming as FACT, politicians who are openly atheists and don't refer to the American Civil War as the "War of Northern Aggression," nor condone slavery, etc)

Unless a ton of miracles happen within the next few months, I see myself sending my fingerprints to the FBI after March or April 1st, and then when my lease is up in August, I'll be flying back to Korea 3 years after I left it...hopefully for an after school program, elementary school, or GOOD afternoon hogwon in Seoul or Gyeonggi-do. And while I don't want to be a public school teacher, I could see myself as a Speech Language Pathologist when I'm 40. It's like being a very, very well paid teacher with less paperwork and lesson planning, and small classes/one-on-one classes...


Europe has this little thing called a debt crises and has had high unemployment rates for years. Canada also did too, until a debt crises there in the 90's forced it to cut spending and become less socialist and more capitalist. It's unemployment rate fell after this and weathered the downturn better than many western nations. As for the problems in the US, people get screwed in the workforce because the unemployment rate is too high. When the unemployment rate was low people got better deals and had more rights from employers because they weren't easily replaceable.

Kind of like how Korea was pre recession (better contracts and rising pay) and post recession (flat wages and worsening contracts with longer hours). It always comes down to supply and demand. As for America, the economy boomed in the 80's because of Reagan's policies. In the 90's, Clinton didn't change too many of them and governed like a Republican in many ways. Don't ask me what happened during the Bush years. (Me thinks Reagan is turning over in his grave.)

The party of fiscal responsibility became the party of hypocrital spending in the 2000's and the other party ain't doing much better. Let the bad economy continue dragging on....



Check out Sweden. Unlike Portugal, Spain and Greece, they know how to actually manage their government and finances. They're doing just fine, and they're one of the most greenest/liberal/socialist/scientific/atheistic countries in the world. Their only problem seems to be with the occasional outburst of Islamic extremism.

What could be better than living in a country with free or cheap national healthcare and public transportation, roughly the entire population accepting evolution and climate change, prisons built like college dorms, a disarmed population who likes it such, hardly a war on drugs and no foreign wars or invasive organisations like the CIA, where nobody care about abortion, contraception or gay marriage, the churches are empty, the government directs entire industries like France, high science and math scores amongst the youth in school, a pension and a dole for all (like Australia), long paid maternity leaves, a carbon tax and nationalized banks, geothermal engineering, green technology etc. Too bad its so damn cold up there, though...
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creeper1



Joined: 30 Jan 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:37 pm    Post subject: typical Reply with quote

Here is a fairly typical experience of an ex-TEFLer going home.

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



Joined: 24 Feb 2006

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I loathe the comparison to Sweden, a county with a population smaller than New York....CITY! If you want to draw comparisons to Obama's policies and their economic impacts, look to Italy and France. Not good.

Three are jobs in the US, but different sectors have been impacted differently. I have a good buddy in educational consulting, specializing in charter schools, and he's never been busier. He had his best year ever in 2011-2012, and the SOB only works 8 months a year! Both of my brothers, one in health care management and finance, and one in finance and marketing both changed jobs twice over the past 5 years, and both times for a lot more coin and benefits. Sister-in-law in sales? changed companies and has been promoted to VP. Cousin with a Ph.D. in social work? She's been so busy that they're trying to find someone else to bring on full time. She works with vets and is one herself, as are many in my family. I often wonder how many young Americans bitching about jobs and what they feel they should have coming to them have served their country in the armed forces, or have at least given it serious thought. IMHO, jobs go to vets first other things being equal.

Some should, in fact, consider getting certified in concealing. There is a shortage of professionals needed to aid our troops transitioning home. There are a ton of jobs in intelligence, too, but you need the training, experience, and clearance to get them.

These people all work in small cities, too. My friend in petroleum engineering has written his own ticket since he finished his undergrad degree in that. Try telling him that he needs to be paying more taxes. Try telling any of these people that those with little or no education, or those with

There was just a comment in the NY Times from a manufacturer who wanted to hire 15 workers but couldn't get any takers. People had figured out that with the current unemployment tax credits and extended benefits, it was more worthwhile to NOT work. And those were no 11 bucks an hour jobs! That doesn't bode well for other small businesses.
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