Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ohahakehte]

in my experience, when someone is "out of their element" - being in a different country, culture or situation - their approach to meeting new people is different and their standards are different. ive found that when you're in a new context and you meet somebody who might have even just one thing in common with you, you feel more drawn to them but that can easily lead to disappointment because you wouldnt normally hang out with such a person in your own element.

have teachers in korea found that to be the case?

what about forming girlfriend/boyfriend relationships in these contexts? have many people met a future spouse, or at least someone they were with for a long time thru teaching in korea?

and a funny thing that ive found is that inevitably, people who arent usually promiscuous become moreso when in a different culture or situation. any reality to that while teaching in korea?

[just because]

I don't know about more promiscious, but definantly more irresponsible. Most people won't be here for a long time so they know whatever damage they cause they can run away from. This isn't the same situation from their home environment. Also, people seem to drink a lot more alcohol here which lets down the inhibitions.
Definantly agree with you about the friend question. Definantly, when you first get here you hang around with people maybe you wouldn't back home. This is because the range of choice is perhaps limited and also you are sharing the same experience of living in a foreign country so that can draw you to these semmingly incompatible people.
Justr remember, over time your thinking changes and you'll find that the longer you are here the more you will have in common with other long-termers

[Butterfly]

[Corporal]

I haven't met that many strange foreigners.

A lot of weird Koreans, but not that many weird foreigners.

Then again, I've only gone to Seoul once.

[sid]

Depends where you hang out but if you're lucky you might find a reasonably 'egalitarian' spirit amongst foreigners in Korea. A group of people of different ages, nationality and background but at that particular point in time all having very similar working and living experiences, and all intent on getting drunk after a hard weeks teaching. For your circle of 'bar' friends the little social nuances and tensions from home don't really apply. No need to speculate on how wierd somebody might be in real-life, as this is Friday night in Korea.

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

I agree with the OP, it's harder to find people you really relate to. You don't have the choices, and you have a set of artificial circumstances in common. One positive I can see is that you really have no choice but to run with it, and over time may find you can relate to a wider spectrum of people. Youz a long way from Kanzas kiddo!

[schwa]

Its kind of fun & broadening to socialize outside the usual mix of people you'd choose in your native environment. One problem though is westerners here tend to be passing through (for various lengths of time) & you find yourself saying lots of goodbyes.

That said, I've made some friends I'd travel the globe to visit again, & they feel the same way. By the way OP, youre still in Waterloo now? A dear friend of mine recently left here for there (7 years & a Korean spouse later) & I bet she'd be happy to meet & give you a good lowdown on Korea. PM me for contact details if youre interested.

[The Man known as The Man]

[ohahakehte]

as some of you have already mentioned, the up side to being in a different environment is that one can meet others who are very different and who one would never usually bump into - but a good relationship can result nonetheless. i used to think that i could never befriend a "jock" or anyone who was really athletic, but i was proven wrong many times while working at camp and while treeplanting. and the weird thing is that of those people who i did have more in common with while treeplanting or wherever, it turned out that many of them were pretentious losers and no matter how similar we were it didnt make me like them.

its kinda sad though to meet people in a foreign/different setting and you can see that they feel a need to hang around you because you came from the same town or whatever. they keep spewing out the forced conversation in lame cliches and stupid questions. i hate that.

[kiwiboy_nz_99]