Job Discussion Forums

[Capergirl]

Do you find that you miss certain things about a country you've lived in after you have been away from it for a while? I still miss certain things about South Korea and Taiwan, although I wouldn't go back to either country for various reasons (especially Korea ). There are some things I definitely don't miss, as well.

I watched a TV documentary last week about young Canadian teachers starting new EFL jobs in Taiwan. Cameras followed them around everywhere and as I watched, I had such a feeling of deja-vu....a part of me was truly very nostalgic for Taiwan. Very strange, since I've been back in Canada for four years now.

Things I miss about S.Korea:
- the ex-pat life in Chonju (Jeonju)...we had a lot of fun!
- soju tents
- cans of peach and pear juice with the pulp
- public bath houses (in spite of all the staring)
- hopping a train to Seoul for a weekend
- street markets (especially the electronic market in Seoul...very cool)
- Korean BBQ
- barstaff who let us female foreigners come behind the bar to mix drinks and play DJ

Things I don't miss about S.Korea:
- Korean students ("out-of-control" is a massive understatement)
- soju "aftermath"
- kimchi
- drunk men urinating on sidewalks every weekend
- taxis taking me on a little "tour" of Chonju, not realizing that I already knew my way around quite well
- being told that I "waste food" if I didn't clean my plate (when dining with Koreans)

Things I miss about Taiwan:
- my students
- some of the local food (dumplings!)
- chopsticks (got so used to using them, I stopped using utensils altogether...took a while to get used to forks again back home )
- hopping a train to pretty much any place at pretty much any time and for surprisingly little money
- awesome fruit markets and street vendors
- ghost money
- showering in the bathroom...wherever (no sectioned off area, just hose yourself off any ol' place )
- driving a scooter (minus the accidents, it was a lot of fun)

Things I don't miss about Taiwan:
- the nutty traffic
- earthquakes
- typhoons
- porcelain holes in the ground for toilets
- "HELLOHELLOHELLO!"
- the mangy, disease-ridden, stray dog problem
- really bad beer
- 49 days and nights of mourning....in a big tent in the middle of the road....music blaring....people screaming and crying "ba ba!" into a microphone...


What do you miss, if anything, about the countries you've lived in?

[khmerhit]

Miss:
Cambodian music
Angkor beer
most of my students
a few of my friends,
some of them dead
the heat
Vietnamese food
the mekong river
gossip
intrigue
a myriad of expat characters
the prime minister's helicopter
drinking till dawn
handgun lessons
paucity of ads
gentle people
my daughter

[JosephP]

Taiwan:
I miss my motorcycle, baseball games in Kaohsiung, Caves Books, and a lot of the adult students were really nice folks.
I don't miss the air pollution, the food, the beer, or the betel nut splotches.
Korea:
I really liked the bath-houses (6 days a week regular that I was). I liked being able to actually find size 13 shoes for my big feet. BBQ was good.
I am happy to say that in my rear-view mirror are the taxis, piles of noodle-vomit, and kimchi.
Malaysia:
I miss the food, Indian in particular (banana leaf thalis...ummm), the Olympic size pool at my condominium complex, and the weather.
I don't miss the minibuses.
Thailand:
I miss the weather, people, cheap prices, and Som Tam. I have family there so I suppose I should miss them too.
I don't miss the scummy farangs who hang out in certain resorts.
Hawaii:
I know it isn't a country although it often feels like an independent nation. I miss just about everything; food, weather, surf, beaches, hula, music, the whole paradise ball of wax.
I don't miss paying rents in Honolulu.
I am now in New Zealand.
Great raw materials for cooking. Hokey-Pokey ice cream. Beautiful scenery if one gets out of Auckland. Mostly friendly folks.
Things that irritate me are the drivers (they suck here in Auckland), Auckland's graffiti problem, and Auckland's public transport, and the bozos who inhabit the government in Wellington. What's the deal with the proposed "Fart Tax?"

[bnix]

This business is about...leaving.Capergirl,I don't blame you for missing Jeonju.That is a GREAT city.
I am on the verge of leaving my current venue in a few weeks.I do feel some remorse.It seems it is always difficult to leave(well,at least MOST places.some of them,I could not leave fast enough)
A couple of places,I even WENT BACK(same country,same school) to "recapture"that lost angst.... so on and so forth.But you know something?The good things were still there...but of course ,the problems had not disappeared,either.All in all,it is not such a good idea to return for "a second go"...in my opinion.Remember the good things...and the bad things tend to fade..at least most of the time.

[Roger]

Hong Kong:
a) MIss
- Filippinas camping out on fly-overs and congregating on Statue
Square on weekends;
- the incredible human mix (got invited to a beer once by two whites
born in Hong Kong, none of whom spoke anything but Cantonese!!);
- fantastic country parks, some right in the city;
- variety in foods and restaurants - great place to dine out in Indian,
Arab, Malaysian, Indonesian and European restaurants;
- decent libraries and well-stocked bookstores;
- a certain 'homey' feel to certain districts (notably in Central with
its European-style city lay-out and predominance of European
houses in certain areas);

b) Not miss:
- the appalling absence of civic-mindedness;
- HK Immigration (see them once in a while too often anyway!);
- the crunch on sidewalks;
- incessant construction activities and the consequent rerouting
of pathways and kurbs;
- the 'get-out-of-my-way' mindset of Hong Kong people;
- the curtness of shopkeepers;
- the duplicity of businesspeople there.

Oh, I migrated less than a couple of hundred kms north and still see more than enough of Hong Kong - but I feel so much better in Guangdong than I ever felt in Hong Kong!

[denise]

Czech Republic--things I miss:

--the ease and affordability of domestic travel--I went all over the place, seeing, among other things, gaping chasms & caves, a shoe museum in Zlin, Mucha's lesser-known works of art in Moravsky Krumlov, countless castles and chateaux, a couple of bone chapels, and of course the obligatory Cesky Krumlov, Karlovy Vary, Brno, etc.

--'80s Night in Prague. Shy little me, dancing on a stage?!?!?

--Revival bands in Prague. They've got great fakes--U2, Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Doors (didn't manage to see them, though), etc.

--the trams

--specifically, individually-heated seats on the trams

--the cynical humor of the students

--yes, despite the hordes of tourists and kitschy (how do you spell that?!?!? I am usually a good speller...) souvenirs, I miss strolling along the Charles Bridge, through Mala Strana, etc.

Things I do not miss:

--that 'rzh' sound ('r' with a hacek--oooh, there's another word I can't spell!), even though I was told that I could do it halfway decently

--mean elderly people who ram their shopping carts into you in markets

--the "you're a foreigner so you couldn't possibly understand" mentality that I occasionally encountered

[Wolf]

Hmm. . .

Canada. I miss:

COFFEE
Clothes that fit.
My friends
A few members of my family.
A wide selection of books.

I don't miss:

Winter.
Nova Scotia.
Most food (I really don't find myself craving anything other than Coffee.)



Japan:

I miss:

Japanese food (I was assimilated. Risistance was futile, so I just went along. )
Korean food.
Indian food.
Tai food. (The kind you injest for nurishment. I never did the, uh, "golf tour" )
My friends.
People lining up.
Safe transport.
Some of my students.
The salry (crap for Japan, but had I toughed it out for another year, I wouldn't be so destitiute now. C'est la vie.)
Japanese animation.
Speaking the native lingo well enough to get by.

I don't miss:

NOVA.
Ugly neighborhoods.
Concrete.
Prices.
The 14 year recession (that's why my company kicked the bucket).
Many people being so distant.
Average level of dedication to learning English (as a teacher and all.)

China:

I will miss:

Most of my students (dang, but they try so hard.)
Some of the food.
Cost of living.
Random acts of kindness.
The chance to set my own classes/use materials I choose.
My honest employer. (I got every last thing stipulated in the contract. Unwritten surprises include free day trips and a free maid service. )

I won't miss:

"HELLO!"
"LAOWAI!"
This: (staring)
Overcharged for being foreign.
Being asked to teach the whole nation English/people being all freindly for EFL lesson purposes (I want to have a life.)

[Capergirl]

[Wolf]

[Capergirl]

Making fun? Of course not... I'm an addict myself. "Hello, my name is Capergirl and I'm a Timsaholic. It's been 10 hours since my last Tim's coffee."

You know, Tim Horton's really must become an international coffee. If I leave Canada next year, I'll be toting a couple o' cans of the "good stuff". The coffee in Asia made me gag.


Anyway, here you go Wolf...bottoms up!

[bnix]

Capergirl, I was in Jeonju 1996-1998.

[Capergirl]

[bnix]

Possibly.I am back in Korea now,but not in Jeonju.

[Canuck2112]

Is Japanese coffee pretty rancid all around? I'm a bit of a coffee fiend...I love my Timmy H's. Is there anything there that's downable?

[nomadder]

Get Maxim at the supermarket and Doutors is OK in a cafe-one of the cheapest. There are lots of Starbucks if you like that. Same great prices. When I came back I found I only drank Tim's during the rrrroll up the rim campaign which I never won.