Korean Job Discussion Forums

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

the last time i went back to canada i couldn't believe the beefy canadians at vancouver airport. where did they buy their clothes? in korea if one asks for pants size 42 waist the vendor laughs at one's girth and says 'oopsa' with a wave of their hand. here i was in a nation of behemoths. it's like 'gulliver's travels', off the plane from the 'land of the morning calmed lilliputans', now this.
the overwhelming, after korea, variety of foods in the grocery stores.
and the feeling it is always sunday. nobody on the street, compared to korea. i was in downtown saskatoon, saskatchewan, and the next person would be coming towards me on the sidewalk and they'd be a hundred feet away. closer, closer, we pass each other. and lol, heaven forbid bumping into anyone. they tense, startle, and bristling say 'excuse me' with 'look where you're going, dumbass' sarcasm. (compared to korea, where it's impossible to walk in a straight line. no-one seems to have peripheral vision or the concern to be aware of or predict someone coming straight on, in a straight line. i nearly knocked a clerk flat off her feet who suddenly walked in front and did a stop and piruette. she then couldn't believe i would walk in a straight line, or where i'd 'suddenly come from')
that got me, the level of activity about the streets like it's always sunday. man. and the lack of garish coloured signboards everywhere. and dancing girls in front of some newly opened shop.
but what got me the most was the TRICKLE of jobs in the employment classified section of the newspaper. i laminated that and brought it back to korea as a grim reminder. the 'employment office' was like a shopfront for the dumbasses, including myself, who would actually bounce in there with buoyant optomism everyday. but saskatchewan has long been flat out of work. compared to the availability of work in korea, looking for work in saskatchewan was like looking for balloons at a funeral.
however it was good to see the folks

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

'Tipping' and 'Sales Tax' with 'Income Tax' just around the corner... Crying or Very sad

paul · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Taiwan

Nothing like reading these exp's to make you stay in Korea! I will be going home to Vancouver in five months, with my Korean gal, for a one-month "holiday" after two years in Seoul and I forgot about the amount of shock people exp'd. It happened to me when I came home from a 10-week tour of Costa Rica. I kept on speaking Spanish when I replied to yes/no questions!
By the way, there is no such thing as "reverse" culture shock. Culture shock is culture shock is culture shock. Just because it is your own culture does not mean it is reversed. Laughing

Zyzyfer · Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2003 6:39 pm Post subject: Re: Reverse culture shock

Coralee333 · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

It's funny that I've been back home about 3 months and regardless of how tough the economy is, (though I didn't have a problem finding another teaching job), how much I hate the Bush Administration, how much the world seems to hate us right now, and how isolated I feel in my own little reverse culture shock hell, I'm so glad to be back home. After 1 1/2 years in Korea, I have burning memories of being treated like a dog by the hogwan, the goofy parents that bitch about everything and think their spoiled is child is wonderful and the xenophobia I experienced on a daily basis. I've heard from others that reverse culture shock can take up to 6 months to get over but I feel like I'm starting to pull out of it. Be happy you're home, you're in a cleaner place and you're around people (that is, family -generally) that want you to be there for you and not what they can get, take from you and then throw you away. God Bless America

william beckerson · Guest

Zyzyfer

william beckerson · Guest

Well, I just started playing WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth for PS2, so maybe I'll be able to tolerate Canada a little longer. Wink

The King of Kwangju · Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Location: New York City

As a guy who has come back to Canada (Toronto) after 5 years in Korea, and who has many friends who have done the same thing, I can tell you that it isn't an easy thing.

You're right - people complain about dumb stuff here and the place just seems weird. It's harder to find a job here, and it's pretty much a given you won't be making the same kind of cash you did in Korea.

For those that liked Korea and had good jobs there, coming back to Canada is a bit like being an alcoholic swearing off booze. Ironically, what seemed like such a great leap of faith when you first left for K becomes the safest thing for you to do, and the temptation is a daily one.

So if you want to go to back to K, go. But remember that the longer you stay there, the harder it will be for you to fit in (in every way) here in Canada when and if you ever decide to come back.

KoK

Squaffy · Joined: 25 Feb 2003 Location: All over the place

I think this thread and the brainwashing one are the same topic really. Being immersed in a foreign culture, slowly forgetting your home culture...

I'm sure many of us feel the same when returning home after a long period away - and - many of us return to work in Asia again, go home again, return again......... Shocked

Zyzyfer · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2003 8:00 pm Post subject:

william beckerson · Guest

gang ah jee · Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Location: city of paper

I still remember first time going back to my New Zealand.

I just around feeling bitter that I'd never had the balls to get rid of the queen as my head of state. But I had no-one to take out my frustration on. What could I do but come back to Korea, and make those damn yanks and rebs help me shoulder the atlas siza chip I carry on my shoulder.

Seriously, apart from a couple of weeks with my family, I can't stand NZ. The buildings are too low and I've found I get acute agoraphobia when I'm able to see the horizon. The public transport system is pathetic, and the English book section in the library is too darn big. I get confused and lost.

I also dislike feeling like that if people know you have stuff then they want to hurt you and take it. Can't stand hearing people talking like idiots in public either. New Zealanders were much more ignorant than I remembered and kept saying things like "Korea? Oh yeah, like platoon!! M16s!!! yeah cool" or "Korea? Did you see that show where the girl shoots the ping-pong balls?" or just "Korea? Where's that?"

And while it was nice going into shops and being able to communicate in English, I STILL had problems. I mean, this guys speaking my language but he doesn't understand me because he's a MORON. Although now my Korean's getting better I'm seeing that here more now too.

peter07 · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Gwangmyeong

A book I read on the expat scene in Cambodia said it best: when one expat went home, the only things that had changed were that the people he knew were fatter and older, and that they had no idea of how dull and boring their lives were. A night at some almost-empty bar was a good time for some.

That said, I'm going back home after a long stay in Korea. But I'm going back to the US, which is still better jobwise than going back to Canada. And just like anyone who has been seduced by Korea, I'm not ruling out a return to the Land of the Morning Calm (or Conflict).

Ralph · Joined: 27 Jan 2003

Im 26, and one thing I know, is that I will never, EVER, return to Canada to actually live and work there. Possibly for retirement, but that too would be a waste, since one could retire in beautiful warm countries. Canada? I am so glad to be out. For somany reasons. One reason is money. I studied biochem and biology, and to be somebody in my field I would have to go to grad school to earn a Masters at the very least. With my B.Sc. I really couldnt get any good work. And certainly I couldnt be saving over a grand US a month while enjoying my life. So I would have to go back to school. NO THANX. I have no desire to be a student again. Money is only one reason. The biggest reason is that Canada is one hell of a booooooooooooooooooring place to live. I love the fact that I am so far away from home,enjoying a country that I would never think Id ever visit. If I get tired of Korea, I would just go somewhere else. Maybe Europe. Maybe Japan.Who knows.The world is so big, so diverse, so fascinating, that rotting away in Canada seems like a sin. I plan on being a permanent expat. I will certainly make Korea my home for a few more years. It isnt perfect, but its not the hell that so many make it out to be. Hell is living in the sterile concrete jungle known as the suburbs of Toronto. A mind numbing and pointless existance. Sorry, theres one point to it: give 40% of your hard earned money to the government so that they can support unemployed bums and a health care that is so bad that people go to the states to get an MRI because they would have to wait half a year to get one in Canada.