Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tomato]

I haven't been in Korea very long and I don't know very much about it,
so I think I'll reserve judgment about Korean culture until I learn more about it.

It's nice to hang out with other foreigners sometimes,
but I would like to meet more Koreans so I can learn about their culture and their language.

I like to be independent so I won't have to rely too much on Koreans who know English.

My Korean isn't so hot either, so I won't make fun of how my students speak English.

I would like to learn more about ESL so I could serve my students better.

There may be some things I don't like about Korean culture, but I realize our own culture isn't perfect.

It's not fair to make blanket statements about Koreans. Koreans are individuals, just like we are.

I admit I don't know everything either, so I won't flame anybody on Dave's ESL Cafe.

[mekku]

wow....what kind of people do you hang out with? or is it based off what you read on here..?

while i do have my moments of being annoyed at korean culture in general, it happens just as much here in the u.s.

i guess i'm not a foreigner, i wonder what that makes me then??

[Cheonmunka]

I get your list. There is an essense of truth in it.
I agree with the second one but I'm going to try to justify why. I think on the most part people come here to work for a short time and beyond the people in the workplace don't really go to meet Korean friends. There's the military duty problem for young men. The young western man is asking, "Why do I need to be friends with Kim when there is John and Chuck who know me and we are buddies ... and Kim has the military conscription thing going on and we won't see him for two years?"
They know there is a gap and don't have the time or desire to bridge it. In an extreme example, but common I think, some people may have reason for not being involved so much with (Korean) friends here. You know yourself that many people will approach a foreigner for English. I have heard of many people who began with good intentions and feel they got burned. Maybe they/we/you carry prejudice for a reason.

Along those lines, and as for me I found many people involved in the ESL industry to have a lot of hang ups. Some of the young Korean women teachers I once worked with seemed a little nutty. If they weren't nutty they had boyfriends, so no entry there ... Some of the men were okay, but as expat Koreans they had a family reconciliation thing going on and not interested in western stuff, fair enough.
I can't envisage a recruiter who says, "Let's be friends" to have any thing other than pecuniary advantage in mind. Some management types I have met are simply c...ts.
So I don't see at all why there aren't many lasting relationships developed in ESL.

Outside of that industry I think people are fine. But, that industry is big and stretches into the mainstream, as many, many young people have the English thing in mind. I consider that it must be very hard for young people to find sincere friends.

As for me, an older chap without much interest in English at all, I have and can make friends, but, they have very different work and personal lives than me. I'm a father with too many domestic chores, I don't sit around with alpha males drinking, or watching sports on TV with mates in the back of a store. Some of the menfolk around here have pretty limited lifestyles. I like my personal home life with just my family and so do my friends. So, I have family friends. But we don't live in each others pockets.

I have more Korean friends than western friends. I looked into making some more western friends but some of the men I met were shockers with few morals whatsoever. Many were fine men, but we might look at each other and think, "What do I get from this relationship that I can't get from my wife and kids?" This is the the same prescription when looking at Korean friends.

[Alyssa]

Tomato! You are so funny, using all that irony. I feel sorry for you



Well here is my list.

1. WOW! What a clean bathroom!
2. This galbi house is so quiet, and its only 10pm!
3. I love your kids surrounding me while I eat.
4. Yes Mr.Kim, I would love to teach extra hours for free.
5. (to korean guy) you are so handsome.
6. Wow, I love these nice napkins on the table!
7. I love the smell of soju in the morning.
8. Yes, I would love to go hiking with you at 5am this Saturday!
9. I love the sound of popping gum in the morning.
10. Tomato must really be a cool person!

[flakfizer]

"This is a great thread."

[jkelly80]

Maybe I shouldn't make the two thousandth kimchi joke of the day. Maybe kimchi jokes aren't funny.

[Ilsanman]

Dokdo is Korean.

Korean culture is fascinating and I want to learn more about it.

I hope that I can travel for 8 hours in a car, spend 4 hours some place that isn't half as beautiful as places I remember back at home, and 8 hours in the car back. That sounds like a great way to spend my days off.

When I travel abroad, I only want to eat western food.

Korean people respect others privacy and never cause noise pollution.

My boss always pays me on time.

I need a new cell phone. Mine is 2 months old.

I want to get a Korean t-shirt with a random message on it. I don't care what it means. I don't even need to know.

Even though I don't have a parking space at home, I will buy a car anyways.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I never taught a day in my life and have never run a business, so I have no opinion about how to run an English hakwon and I am not an expert on education.

I've been teaching English for 2 months and you've been teaching it for 4 months, so no I do not have any interest in helping you write your textbook and getting rich off of Koreans. You have no more idea about how to write a good textbook than I do.

No, you students paid for my dinner the last several times. This time is on me. I hate feeling like a cheap bas*ard.

Why don't we invite some Koreans along?

[Faunaki]

[quote="Ya-ta Boy"]No, you students paid for my dinner the last several times. This time is on me. I hate feeling like a cheap bas*ard.
/quote]

So true.

[cdninkorea]

Weekend warrior to friends: "Hey, why don't we hang out somewhere besides Itaewon tonight?"

Young Western male: "Korean women? Nah, not interested."

Hmmm... that's all I can come up with.

[Captain Corea]

"Sure, no problem. I'll work a little extra."

[IncognitoHFX]

I'm thinking specifically about Dave's:

"Everything isn't exactly what I pictured it would be, but that's alright. It will be character building to make due with what I have been given."

"I can make it a year without all my favourite, brand name, Western foods."

"I'd rather climb a mountain than get hammered."

"Maybe I should date Western women. Korean women are attractive, but they often date guys like me for the wrong reasons."

"Koreans pick on me because I'm only 5'1", 120lbs. I'm also very non-confrontational and have difficulty standing up to my boss."

According to this board, every foreign male is large, intimidating and confident enough to cleverly one up Mr. Kim every time Mr. Kim screws with them.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Easter Clark]

[matthews_world]

"Will you sleep with me even though I have AIDS?"