Job Discussion Forums

[pompomouse]

I am currently teaching in Seoul, South Korea. I work in public middle school teaching ESL. The job itself is great and the kids are nice but my social life and adjustment to Koreans and their culture is not going as well as I had hoped. I find though Koreans can be quite endearing in many ways, I don't like the constant invasion of privacy, the cultural insensitiveness and the expectations they place on my time outside of work hours ( "You must come to the "meeting' ", you "must" do this, that and the other, and by the way we are doing this after work today") The other thing that is disappointing in Korea is that is seems like there are so many foreigners who are unhappy with things and it is so damn hard to meet people, outside of drinking on weekends.

I had the opportunity to go to HK on the NET scheme last summer but they took so long getting back to me about the job that I had to make some decisions and I came here instead. I don't regret the decision to come here, but I am not looking to stay longer than my year here that is for sure. I have been recently emailed by a person who works for the EMB and have been asked if I would consider working in HK under the SNET scheme for September. I spent a weekend in HK recently with a good girlfriend and mine and had a blast and kept thinking about how much better HK is to Korea. Foreigners in HK just seemed to be happier people. I saw so many with smiles on their faces- something that is hard tocome by in Korea. But I have traveled enough to realize that everything is better when you are on a vacation. So it makes me wonder, would I really be happier in HK than I am here? Would I find the same problems in intermingling with the local culture in HK that I do here in Korea?
Would I be finding the same workplace annoyance in HK if I worked in a secondary school like I do here in Korea? What are the majors problems for foreigners working in a public school?

[Pieface]

[quote="pompomouse"]I don't like the constant invasion of privacy, the cultural insensitiveness and the expectations they place on my time outside of work hours ( "You must come to the "meeting' ", you "must" do this, that and the other, and by the way we are doing this after work today") The other thing that is disappointing in Korea is that is seems like there are so many foreigners who are unhappy with things and it is so damn hard to meet people, outside of drinking on weekends.

Well, first up I would say that the grass is always greener...to be honest had you not mentioned the country, I may have thought that you were talking about Hong Kong! This is a great place, but many of the problems that you are experiencing and have mentioned work-wise are all too familiar with NET teachers here. On the social side, I believe it's what you make of it. It's very easy to get sucked into the 'lets go and get wrecked every weekend' mentality that is commonplace with so many HKers. However, there's lots to do outside of that (football/rugby/climbing clubs to join, hiking etc.) and ample opportunity for you to get involved.
Anyway, good luck wherever you end up!

[munasa]

Pieface said:

[poof]

I've had experiences of working in both places among others.

Personally, I think HK is a much more eventful place to be in. I prefer just about everything in HK except living in cockroach infested tower blocks with neighbors windows facing straight into your room.

However, if you are going to spend your time here in the main capacity of a 'teacher' I think you need to ask yourself more the question of are you happy at teaching. There are some weird problems going on in HK schools that can even beat the crazy world of Korean hagwons. You can be in Shangri La, but still be disatisfied because of your job.

Give Korea a bit more time - perhaps one more year, then, make a move. The jobs in HK will still be available next year. Learning some Korean in preparation can also give you some extra opportunities in HK beacause of a sizeable Korean population - at least where I live!

Funny, why is there a 'beep' inserted where I wrote c-o-c-k-r-o-a-c-h? Are such creatures under censorship these days?

[JZer]

[Ladybug]

Some of the most ridiculous things you'll find branded as "urgent" here. That is like a buzz word. The social life here is better but yeah, you're going to get the same kind of grief as you do in Korea, I think. People are talked about *to their faces* about being fat or gaining weight. It can get really petty here I think.

But having said that, I have made some good friends here and while yes, some of my friends love the nightlife and got to boogie, there are other things one can do to kill time, join a decent gym, see lots of movies and not have to worry that a week has passed and it might not be there anymore, every now and again live bands come through. It's a good place to be, though decidedly a frustrating place to work sometimes.

[JZer]