Job Discussion Forums

[rxk22]

[water rat]

In Shane's original textbooks, written by still-a-bachelor Shane and his right-hand twerp (also single) the course ended with a study dialog of the the teacher getting the phone number of 'Fumiko' (the hapless protagonist of the series) and arrangements for a date.

[Black_Beer_Man]

[Black_Beer_Man]

As for why there are so many American teachers in Korea, one just has to look at who is protecting South Korea from the North and also the many American lives that were sacrificed in the Korean War on behalf of South Korea.

South Korea feels indebted to the Americans.

[RM1983]

[mitsui]

Mizonokuchi is near Shibuya plus it is cheaper to live there than across the river. It is an express stop on Denentoshi.
That is it.

[Black_Beer_Man]

[RM1983]

Tokyo has a great variety of restaurants though. Many national cuisines covered, and you can get cheap food if you want (Korean tabehodai!).

The more mature areas I was thinking include the finer dining places, as well as there being more high end drinking places. Also in Tokyo you have more things like theatre, famous bands playing gigs and stuff like classical music.

A good example of this could be the Hostess weekender recently in Makihari Messe with Kraftwerk etc. You might struggle to find stuf like this in Seoul.

What a lot of organising that took to go to though, and it was very pricey!

In Seoul the types of nights I would go to were DJ nights organised by expats and Koreans, often in medium size bars or smallish clubs. Dont have much of that around here. Also more "fun" stuff like fancy-dress.

Actually I was in Busan recently and around the beach areas there I saw a few waygook-type places that have installed beer-pong tables. We watched
a couple of Americans playing this while we drank those Coronaritas or whatever they are called.
I thought this kind of reflected the nightlife of Korea rather well.

[thomthom]

The overall quality and variety of food (and drink) in Tokyo is world class and just incomparable with Seoul. Yes, the portions are small (sometimes as a consequence of expensiveness, other times just because the Japanese are in to haute cuisine), but the smallness of the portions does seem like a rather philistine thing to go on about! There are more Michelin starred restaurants in Tokyo than there are in London and Paris combined. I never had a bad meal in Tokyo. Never once did it fall below a 7/10, for the entire year. In Korea I frequently I had inedible meals with miscellaneous sea urchins or bizarre forest stuff.

I feel that comparing Korean to Japanese food is like comparing British food to French food. Yes, Korean food is underrated, and certainly Galbi is like a 'King of Dinners' which blows all of the competition out of the water with its wonderfullness (much like Sunday Roast Beef in the UK) . But overall, any time, any place, any day.. you're more like to encounter good food in Japan (and indeed France).

And don't get me started on the Cass, Hite, and that nail-varnish remover, soju. Wouldn't be so bad if there were other options. I imagine my well-travelled grandparents going to a typical restaurant in Seoul and trying to order a glass of wine... fat chance!

[thomthom]

[RM1983]

[nightsintodreams]

Going out eating and drinkning in Korea takes it's toll on one's...how can I put this politely...

[mitsui]

For people who live within the Yamanote Line, I can see why they would like the nightlife.
My objection is that Tokyo is just too expensive, unless you find those cheaper nomihodai places like in Ochanomizu.

[RM1983]

[nightsintodreams]

I stayed in a hostel when i visisted, the queue for the shower/toilet was unbearable.

I've never lived in Korea, but I went to Seoul on holiday once. I don't really know the city well enough to make a comparison to Tokyo, but I didn't really like the nightlife all that much.

The streets were full of loud Americans (mostly) and people scowling looking for trouble. On my first night in Korea, a Korean guy asked me where I was from, I said England, he then preceeded to tell me that his ex gf was British and stuck his middle finger up at me a couple inches away from my face. I've been to about 30 countries and never have I had that reaction to telling someone I was British.

I generally like going out to bars and clubs when on vacation, but the ex pat crowd in Korea was some of the worst I've ever seen. Perhaps that was because of the area of Seoul I was staying in.

I certainly prefer Tokyo, but can totally see why someone might prefer the nightlife of Korea.