Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rapier]

- but i'm in a chilled out, considerate mood today. Ask me the same question next week, and I'll probably respond "yeah, all Koreans are a***holes and deserve a punch to the head".

[Austin]

Rapier,

It is nice to see that you are finally coming around...

I hope it has made your life more enjoyable.

Austin

[Leper Messiah]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll keep looking around. Anyone have info on Taiwan or Japan as compared to Korea? Or should I go to the other board to seek that out? My friend tells me to go to Japan first.

[Homer]

Leper...just follow what your friends say...its too hard making up your own mind afterall..

Good luck kid....

Btw, Korea is a good place to be but it, like all countries, is far from perfect and has its problems. It will require you make some adjustments and that you adapt. If your the kind of person that is unable or unwilling to adapt and adjust to different conditions then I suggest you stay out of asia alltogheter.

Also, English teaching jobs are just that: jobs that require you to work. Too many make the mistake of seeing teaching ESL in asia as a paid vacation when thats not what it is.

In the end, listen to your friends they seem to have the lowdown on this issue...afterall....

[rapier]

Korea does affect your morale. Invariably I get up in a bright and cheerful mood. I spend the day trying to get the Koreans to loosen up and be cool, and trying to teach something to the kids.
9 times out of 10, I go to bed feeling depressed, despondent, and defeated.
What is it with these people? Even when you have only the best intentions, they don't help you; they project all their pent up Korean- type angst onto you. You stay positive as long as you can but in the end you have to start getting angry...
Ahhhh jinja.....

[some waygug-in]

To the OP, did you read the latest 5 entries on the Job INformation Journal? Some balanced attitudes and some bad experiences. Read through some of the longer ones. They will give you more perspective on Korea.

No, Korea is not all that bad......... but if you are one of the unlucky ones who gets sucked into a bad situation.


To rapier, being positive is hard. It takes work, everyone knows I am the least likely person to be talking about "positive thinking".

Focusing on your job helps. I mean, trying to find ways to improve your classes. There are no easy solutions, only hard work that seems largely wasted effort. The payoffs are those little smiles you get once in a while or those rare occasions when the kids actually try.

Cheers

[wylde]

i have been to japan 4 times, never as a teacher just a tourist or for the visa run.. japan is a great place... i choose it over korea, that being said..

japan is too expensive, the money is close to the same but they dont supply a house.. if ya can tolerate some of the crap that goes on here you would choose korea too.. easy to live and inexpensive..

as rapier says.. morale can be a problem.. understand, they think they are better than anyone else, the rubbish they eat is better than what anybody else eats, blah, blah...

bottom line... the deal is good here and you can make some good friends along the way. korea really is a beautiful country there is much more to it than the face value of obvious arrogance.

come on over bro... ya will have fun

[rapier]

some waygug in: as you say keeping a positive outlook is the hardest thing in the world to maintain...its rarely appreciated or taken seriously...
Wylde: yep, I guess thats fundamentally it: the basic arrogance koreans misguidedly feel. On the surface they try to appear human. Underneath they are a seething mass of nationalistic racist misconceptions.
I'd love to revisit Korea at some point in the future when the people of this hermit island have had their eyes opened too reality and the outside world a bit more, and have realised.. they are no better or worse than anyone else: they are not the most advanced and superior race on the planet: and a whole lot of other things....

[Kwangjuchicken]

Well let's put it this way. If I were offered the following two positions: (a) Full professor at Seoul National University, and (b) full time lecturer in the lowest rated 2-year college, 4-year college, or university in the USA, My choice would be

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

I would even teach free the first year to prove myself, then take minimum base scale pay for the 2nd year.

[Homer]

Rapier,

You sound like you have some issues to deal with that go well beyond Korea. Or, perhaps we have had and are having completely different experiences.

Of course life aint all roses, we all get those days when we feel down and out. This is not in my opinion because of Korea itself. You brought one thing with you to Korea that you bring everywhere: yourself.
Yourself is where it all starts and ends. Thats where you have to look.
Your reaction to Koreans seems to be slightly exagerated. Of course theysometimes do act in ways that look weird to us. Thats part of the deal of living in a different country. You have to look at these differences and ask yourself where they come from and not if they are "right" or "wrong".

[wylde]

get off the cyber porn homer and forget about beer for a day or 2..

just use to polite people, ya wont find them here unless u have been introduced.. confucianism is the word i think i'm looking for

[rapier]

Uh, hold on homer...: all i'm trying to do is actively encourage a positive, happy, communicative environment at work where everyone gets along, the waegooks don't all hate the koreans and vice versa, and people enjoy working there...and you tell me i have "issues"????

[Homer]

rapier,

Everyone has issues man. Don't take it personnally.

And you do try and be positive and to communicate which is excellent.