Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mr.Mulder2]

After spending 3 years in Korea, and leaving a couple of months ago in a grateful hurry, I find I now actually miss the place.
In my honeymoon-like first year, Korea could do no wrong to me, as I walked around in a wide-eyed 'Lost in Translation'-like happy daze, eating up the newness.
My second year saw me getting to know Korea a lot better, for better or worse.
In my last year, all of the little things started getting under my skin, and the exotic novelty was long gone, replaced by wearying routine and increasingly annoying 'arguments'. I couldn't wait to leave, and I actually yelled 'Woo-hooo!' when the wheels of my freedom bird left Incheon.
After not thinking about Korea at all for the first month apart, it started creeping into my thoughts increasingly, and now all I can think of is Korea. Not the smog, spit, xenophobia and vomit, but all the friends, food, and good times.
Is Korea like a bad girlfriend? Am I destined to come back to her with my hat in my hands and my head bowed, ready for another year of a highly enjoyable yet completely disfunctional and chaotic relationship?

[bobbyhanlon]

are we doppelgangers? you just described my korea experience perfectly.
yes i do miss it, and i'd give anything for a night of samgyeopsal and soju, but i've promised myself that i'll never work there ever again. i think the best way is to visit, say once a year, meet all your old friends, have a wander round gyeongbokgung palace, namsan or whichever places you like the most, and get scandalously drunk every night. that way it will always stay special to you, and you'll never have to put up with the work culture, or any of the other crap that goes with being a foreigner here.

the only way i would return would be on my terms- ie. with a generous ex-pat package, or as boss of my own firm. i'm not dealing with korean work culture again, it just isn't worth it. its such a shame because i do love the country so much.
no matter how much you miss the place, don't rise to the bait! you'll be back one month and wondering why on earth you returned..

[Pooty]

I felt the same way 10 years ago when I left after being here for 2.5 years, but I managed to stay away for 8 years before the wife and I decided to come back for one last jaunt in the concrete jungle.

[sojourner1]

Maybe you should hook back up with her and give it another go.

[Doogie]

I know exactly what you mean. I'm back in Canada now, but I find myself missing Korea. I mean, c'mon........I've rediscovered Dave's again!(pathetic, I know ). Like you, I couldn't wait to leave when my 2nd year was up. I've decided to return to teach again but it won't be Korea. It's not to be anti-Korean (because I do miss it), it's just that I want to experience life in another country and culture. Anyway, who would have though that Korea would get inside of me like that ? I like your metaphor about the "bad" girlfriend. It's a good way to put it.

[blurgalurgalurga]

And yet sometimes the baddest girlfriends are also the funnest...

good thread title btw

[jdog2050]

[Mary-Jane]

Yeah... I touched down in the UK a month ago, and I'm already having second thoughts. Everything's so expensive and it's been raining for 3 days straight- after two years abroad, I really hate how damp England is!!! I left Korea because I was bored with my time consuming job, but I'm facing a year of studying (completely destroys my Korea-savings) or working, and wondering if I'm going to be able to save enough money doing a low paid job (first rung on the career ladder... sigh...) in England till I go to uni again.

Now I just keep thinking about going back to Korea to get that same kind of job I thought wasn't good for my CV, with less hours- no hagwons!- and have more time to pursue interests that I can talk up on my CV. Plus I just really like the place, the only thing that kills me is the language barrier and never feeling like I can really be part of Korea.

Someone on a thread in the FAQ board, about reverse culture shock, said something pretty true. When you change countries, the grass always looks greener further away, but it's not. It's just another yard with its own different weeds. I think it *is* pretty easy to have a rosy view of the last place you felt comfortable and forget why you left.

[Mr.Mulder2]

I have to admit, I think part of the 'nostalgia' I'm feeling for my bad ex is financial - for 3 years I never had to stress about money. I don't know if the world economy has changed so much in the past 3 years, if my spending habits became decadent in Korea (they did with taking taxis, eating, drinking, and traveling...and everything else), or if I just forgot how expensive it is to live outside of Korea, but the real world is proving to be painfully expensive. Maybe that's another attraction to Korea - it's not quite the 'real world', it really feels like living in a big fluffy bubble of non-reality in some ways.
Pooty, do you find that Korea experiences a decade worth of change in one year? Must have been a whole other world ten years ago...
Bobbyhanlon, I will try to heed your words of advice, but I fear Sojourner1 and blurg are right about hooking up with an ex - it's fun and easy, and after being apart for a bit, you forget why you broke up in the first place, remembering only the sunshine, rainbows, lollipops, sweaty nights and dirty weekends. I suspect that I'll meekly jump back into the arms of Korea - I give myself 3 months tops. I'll probably enjoy the hell out of it too! (My native country has been looking at me like a jealous, boring, possesive ex who will never get me back.)

[MissSeoul]

[Adventurer]

Rebounds don't work out so well, or so they say:)

I would always find things that annoy me and please me at Korea, but I know I have more advantages as a middle class North American than as a minority in Korea. Korea is okay in some ways, but one of my friend's son died, and there was a whitewash of an investigation. It could happen to all of us... I enjoy people all over the world including in Korea, and I am grateful for many of the learning experiences I've had here.

[Dev]

What I miss is the respect I got in Korea from my school. In North America, that's sadly lacking. You pracically have to get on your hands and knees and beg for a job.

"Why should I hire you?"

"Well, I have years of teaching experience, a relevant university diploma, and a TESL certificate."

"That's all? I still don't see why I should hire you. Get out!"

OR

"Okay, you can work for us, but we're only going to pay you $XX per class, enough for your shared apartment and instant ramen lunches"

[ScottyG]

asia is a big place, and korea is not the be all and end all. if i was you, i would give china a go (teaching in a korean school of course because money is a nice thing to have). i've taught in both korea and china, and it is china i miss far more. going back for a fourth year to korea is a good idea only if you can advance to something different or get the sweet gig (samsung or a uni gig etc.), but if it means going back to the usual....why not try china or japan?

[teachteach]

Another poster said before that Korea is like an abusive ex, and esl teachers are the abused who had their confidence taken away and keep going back to the abuser.

[MissSeoul]