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Korea vs Japan
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rusty1983



Joined: 30 Jan 2007

PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:58 am    Post subject: Korea vs Japan Reply with quote

Looks like its Korea, as it seems that the job market there just got too competitive for most of us..

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=56228

Saw a post elsewhere from a guy saying he has had 2 responses from 25 job applications, so looks like that opportunity just caved in on itself
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Patrique



Joined: 04 Oct 2007
Location: Sajik-dong, Busan

PostPosted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If Japan's your first choice, give it a shot. I went to an interview with ECC last month in Toronto and got a job offer, so the agencies are certainly still hiring from their international offices. I'm heading to Korea instead though because I can save more money for travelling through Europe after my contract's up.
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ryouga013



Joined: 14 Sep 2007

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 6:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Go for Japan if you can. You will have many of the same problems you would have here in Korea, but I find the people there are much more manageable. I do'nt know why I wasn't able to get a job there it was probably because they don't know how to do anything outside of typical actions for many of them. BUT you can get things that you want much easier there (unless you live near an army base) and I found the living conditions to be MUCH BETTER.
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lishy



Joined: 03 Mar 2007
Location: Daegu

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:57 am    Post subject: japan, hands down Reply with quote

Japan is everything Korea only thinks it is.

110 days more in this hole. Will I twirl through customs singing 'What's New Pussycat'? Or will I simply run onto the airplane with my passport clenched in my teeth?
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Milwaukiedave



Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well there are several threads in both this forum and the job-discussion forum about this.

I tend to agree, long term it's not going to be a big deal.

If I was a betting man I'd say:

20% will give up and go home
50% will find another job in Japan
20% will end up in Korea
10% will teach somewhere else besides Korea or Japan

To the person who ****** about being in Korea, obviously you didn't do much research before coming here.
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The_Eyeball_Kid



Joined: 20 Jun 2007

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 6:41 pm    Post subject: Re: japan, hands down Reply with quote

lishy wrote:
Japan is everything Korea only thinks it is.

110 days more in this hole. Will I twirl through customs singing 'What's New Pussycat'? Or will I simply run onto the airplane with my passport clenched in my teeth?


Can you explain how Japan is better exactly, and give some examples? I'm currently wrestling with a very difficult decision - stay here to take an excellent opportunity (but that involves staying here for another three years at least) or live for today and go to Japan. Tough one, eh?
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htrain



Joined: 24 May 2007

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:20 pm    Post subject: Re: japan, hands down Reply with quote

The_Eyeball_Kid wrote:
lishy wrote:
Japan is everything Korea only thinks it is.

110 days more in this hole. Will I twirl through customs singing 'What's New Pussycat'? Or will I simply run onto the airplane with my passport clenched in my teeth?


Can you explain how Japan is better exactly, and give some examples? I'm currently wrestling with a very difficult decision - stay here to take an excellent opportunity (but that involves staying here for another three years at least) or live for today and go to Japan. Tough one, eh?


Japan for 4 years, China for 2, Korea beats both of them.

1.) People are nicer than both
2.) Money is better than both
3.) Weather is better than both
4.) Opportunities are greater than both
5.) No French people in Korea

Cons:
1.) Korean women aren't as hot
2.) Korea can get repetitive

If you go to Japan, "foreign" teachers are considered the dregs of the Earth. They are considered by most to be a lower level of society, not just because you're a foreigner either.

Go ahead and flame me, I'll back it up with one of 100 stories.
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The_Eyeball_Kid



Joined: 20 Jun 2007

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 7:51 pm    Post subject: Re: japan, hands down Reply with quote

htrain wrote:
The_Eyeball_Kid wrote:
lishy wrote:
Japan is everything Korea only thinks it is.

110 days more in this hole. Will I twirl through customs singing 'What's New Pussycat'? Or will I simply run onto the airplane with my passport clenched in my teeth?


Can you explain how Japan is better exactly, and give some examples? I'm currently wrestling with a very difficult decision - stay here to take an excellent opportunity (but that involves staying here for another three years at least) or live for today and go to Japan. Tough one, eh?


Japan for 4 years, China for 2, Korea beats both of them.

1.) People are nicer than both
2.) Money is better than both
3.) Weather is better than both
4.) Opportunities are greater than both
5.) No French people in Korea

Cons:
1.) Korean women aren't as hot
2.) Korea can get repetitive

If you go to Japan, "foreign" teachers are considered the dregs of the Earth. They are considered by most to be a lower level of society, not just because you're a foreigner either.

Go ahead and flame me, I'll back it up with one of 100 stories.


I quite like French people.
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lishy



Joined: 03 Mar 2007
Location: Daegu

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 8:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, easy to think I was some kind of moron who hopped a plane and came on over here without a clue, and not a woman with a degree in East Asian Studies who spent weeks running numbers and life timelines while trawling the boards for the good and the bad before making a calculated decision to go to Korea instead of Japan again. I knew what I was getting in to. It doesn't mean I like this place or ever did.

M-whatever dude, don't jump if you can't see bottom.

To the person trying to make a careful decision and who is in need of details, I gotta go to work now but I'll post tonight.
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Tiger Beer



Joined: 07 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:55 pm    Post subject: Re: japan, hands down Reply with quote

htrain wrote:
Japan for 4 years, China for 2, Korea beats both of them.

1.) People are nicer than both
2.) Money is better than both
3.) Weather is better than both
4.) Opportunities are greater than both
5.) No French people in Korea

Cons:
1.) Korean women aren't as hot
2.) Korea can get repetitive

If you go to Japan, "foreign" teachers are considered the dregs of the Earth. They are considered by most to be a lower level of society, not just because you're a foreigner either.

Go ahead and flame me, I'll back it up with one of 100 stories.

I always appreciate it when someone really honestly tells things how they see it.

By the way, what's your take on China competitively.
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The_Eyeball_Kid



Joined: 20 Jun 2007

PostPosted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lishy wrote:
Yeah, easy to think I was some kind of moron who hopped a plane and came on over here without a clue, and not a woman with a degree in East Asian Studies who spent weeks running numbers and life timelines while trawling the boards for the good and the bad before making a calculated decision to go to Korea instead of Japan again. I knew what I was getting in to. It doesn't mean I like this place or ever did.

M-whatever dude, don't jump if you can't see bottom.

To the person trying to make a careful decision and who is in need of details, I gotta go to work now but I'll post tonight.


Cheers.
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Milwaukiedave



Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

H-train,

It's interesting to hear the three compared from someone who actually has lived in worked in all of the countries. I have only worked in Korea (I've traveled to the other two) and my reasons for staying in Korea are more financial then anything. Ok, I'm married to a Korean as well, but that doesn't stop me from going elsewhere to work, I just choose to stay here.

There are times I get down on things that happen (the fact that they make it hard to get an international debt card or credit card are two examples) and moan and complain. At the end of the day it was my decision to stay, so I have to own up to that. The people who constantly complain should learn it's their choice to be here.
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ajgeddes



Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:21 am    Post subject: Re: japan, hands down Reply with quote

htrain wrote:
3.) Weather is better than both


If that's the case. That's just depressing. Korea's weather in general sucks.
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Tiger Beer



Joined: 07 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also, H-Train, which cities did you live in each country?
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bijjy



Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Location: Daegu

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Can you explain how Japan is better exactly, and give some examples? I'm currently wrestling with a very difficult decision - stay here to take an excellent opportunity (but that involves staying here for another three years at least) or live for today and go to Japan. Tough one, eh?


I don't know about this 'dregs of the earth' thing.. maybe it's true, but I was only in Japan for 3 days, so I wasn't able to appraise the underlying societal thought.

But on the surface.. I'd say Japan is 110% better than Korea.. I value cleanliness and aesthetics a LOT. Beautiful gardens and pride in one's streets and surroundings mean a lot to me as a student of landscape architecture. I also loved my anonymity there. People didn't stare at me in Japan. I liked how even the old people in Japan could speak some English. I liked how things were more civilized and food was tastier. The culture, the trendsetting, the technology.. virtually every country in the world admires Japan because it leads, rather than follows. Most of all, the fresh tropical air of southern Japan.. ahhh, the bliss. The foreigners at the bars were really friendly too.. all coming up to me to chat.. and have intelligent convos.. whereas in Korea, they were too busy getting sloshed. Some of the ones I met were entrepreneurs.. they ran their own hagwons in Japan, and lived in America for half the year. They spoke fluent Korean because they had lived in Korea prior to their move to what they saw to be the better country for them.

My friends who taught there said they hated the rigid hierarchical superficiality of the Japanese culture the most.. but I can't say thats nonexistant in Korea either!
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