Korean Job Discussion Forums

[william beckerson]

This has been discussed in another thread.

But, I just got home and everything here is weird. The people are big, goofy and obsessed with stupic crap. The streets are too big and nothing is open at night. Not to mention things are closed when they should be open!

I want to leave this place and return to my real home!

Anyone else ever have the same problem?

[Ya-ta Boy]

Yeah.

When I was home I found it was irritating to suddenly understand scraps of conversation from people at other tables. No one handed me anything with two hands. No one cared if my glass was empty. There were very few women dressed like fashion models. I was suddenly just one of the crowd and I didn't like the anonymity: I missed standing out. (That was a surprise.) No one ever bowed to me.

[weatherman]

william my man, what are you waiting for, come on back!

[denz]

ya-ta, that's got be the thing that annoyed me most, too.

i was recently back in oz and i found the whole information thing overwhelming. the ability to understand the radio show in a cafe, and all the people talking at the other tables about tv shows i didn't know about. advertisements, menus. everything understandable. more than once i thought 'ach, shut up'. (i am the freakiest waeguk). but the best part, as i have told will already, was turning up in the center of one of oz's larger cities, and walking to the street to find a cab at 11pm. and finding nothing. no people, no cars, nothing. it was just like that times square scene in vanilla sky. except i lack tom's boyish good looks. i liked the anonymity though. don't want to turn into a charisma man just yet.

now that i am back, i've noticed there is a buzz in seoul that isn't the least bit overwhelming. i can read and understand a modicum of korean, but if i choose to ignore it. i can. advertising, conversations, music , it all washes over me. gives me time to think about... well... me. i am enjoying it whilst it lasts.

what i did enjoy in oz was telling people what i want and getting what i want with minimal effort. man, i loved that. oh and the produce, the food, the air... ;)

denz

[Corporal]

Back in Canada I couldn't stop thinking...wow there are a lot of foreigners here...ooh lookit all the pretty blond people...but yeah, people did seem kinda hefty. I wasn't looking at guys going, I could kick his ass, his ass and I could DEFINITELY kick HIS ass--like I normally do when I'm here.

[justagirl]

Last year when I went home, I went into the Super Walmart....as I walked up and down the aisles I was fascinated to see the new products that had come out. (colored ketchup, blue and pink squeezable butter, flavored apple sauces...)

However, one things literally made me stop and stare: An entire aisle of barbeque sauce! Oh migod! 30 different flavors, 14 different brands, 5 shelves, 15 feet long each. I actually started to laugh. It was so absurd to imagine the people who came to that aisle and picked one of a hundred different barbeque sauces.

Nice things about reverse culture shock??? The open space. My peripheral vision doubled after leaving Korea. No more high-rise apartments, no mountains, no smog. I could actually see the horizon and it was literally a weight off my shoulders as soon as we started driving home from the airport and I looked out the window.

It's been a year since I've been home and I'm on my way again next week. Woo-hoo! Come on, reverse culture-shock, do your worse! Give me Taco Bell and horizons. Give me a car to drive and nice, wide roads. Give me people who can carry an intellectual conversation in English. Give me 3 months of rest so I can come back to Korea for yet another year!

ej

[antiamerican]

William, glad you made it safe and sound. Relax. I went through a lot of doubts back home, but with the way things are, take a break anyway.

Korea might still be here. Other parts of Asia beckon. The West might be what you need.

[gomurr]

I kind of understand the feeling. I felt a little out of place for the first couple on months. The biggest problem was that no one could relate to what I had seen and experienced. I also felt out of the loop as if my time in korea had taken no time at all and back home had passed me by. fashion, music and books were all different. I was glad to be home in order to actually watch and play a good game of hockey. I'm still in Korea now for another 15 months and then that's it, my wife hates it here. It will be good to go to a country where people won't stare at me, push there way past me in a line, regularily puke or piss in the streets, spit whenever and where ever they want. But most of all go to a home where there is space and beauty. I'm tired of looking at ugly roach invested, fire trap buildings and mountains that don't have alot of natural wildlife. Yeah, i know the taxes will be a b***ch but it sure beats here.

[Dan]

when i first got to korea, everybody assumed i could speak korean, which i couldn't. when i went to the US, everybody assumed I didn't understand anything, so would treat me like i'm retarded and ask "Where are you from?" I'd always be like, "New york, dumb ass"

[thinker]

sliding the money over the counter, so much change!, tipping, vanilla coke back from the 50's, snow upon snow upon snow in -10_-30, windchill, no bells on the tables, no YO_GI_YO to get peoples attention, bombardment of reality TV, the simpsons!, blizzards, taxes, excellerating my breath, no 6am drinking, no tents to drink in, no public vomiting (yet),
cheap coffee, no free things, no discounts, snooker, amazing variety of good beer on tap, driving without fear, fresh air, damn phone cords!, can't charm girls with korean, 18,000kms of difference> > >