Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mayorgc]

I'm an ethnic Chinese Canadian, born and raised in Vancouver.

What's life gonna be like for me? I know i'm not gonna be treated like a white guy (or will I?). Will I be treated like a gyopo?

I'll be heading to Anyang soon for a gepik position.

[pidgin]

Not an odd question at all really.

I have an ex-coworker who is in the same position as you. He spent a year at a hogwan, then it changed hands and as far as I know he was the only Asian-Westerner allowed to stay on, and they never hired one again!

As to what to expect,...well...many Koreans will speak Korean to you for starters. There may be some types of discrimination, but I wouldn't expect anything over the top.

That ex-coworker (btw) went on to work a nice public school, married a beauty of a Korean lady and is now involved in a greater business venture.

[teachergirltoo]

I have friends of Chinese origin here, as well as other cultures, and they seem to enjoy themselves very much.

[mayorgc]

thank you pid and tgt, that's actually incredibly reassuring.

[IAMAROBOT]

I'm a Chinese American and I've felt pretty welcome here. Where I'm from, there aren't very many Chinese people, so sometimes I feel like it fit in more here than I do at home!

I also find that some of the stuff a lot of foreigners get upset about, like the noise, the loud talking, the weird food and the spitting, I don't really mind because the Cantonese do all of that a whole lot worse.

One downside for me is that they expect me to understand Korean a lot faster than they would a non-Asian foreigner. Some teachers were upset that I wasn't contributing to conversations in Korean and they told me that they thought I could understand everything they were saying. Also, Korean males like to spend lots of time with each other so the teachers were really hurt when I started to assert my need for space and privacy after the initial honeymoon period. I think they felt I could just live like a Korean with ease.

What else...In the classroom, I suspect I get away with a lot more in terms of discipline because of my appearance (I read some white teachers get chewed out because they even raise their voice at the kids, crazy!)

No one will think you're exotic because you aren't. You won't get the attention non-Asian native teachers do, which could be a good or bad thing.

[mayorgc]

hey robot

where are you from? I live in vancouver, so the chinese here are pretty much the majority.

and i'm not sure about your "korean males like to spend lots of time with each other" comment. what do u mean by it? are you saying that you were expected to go out with them after work everyday, but they got offended when you said no?

also, what other pros-cons would there be for us chinamen?

[Countrygirl]

Before coming back to Korea, I read the blog from a Chinese-Korean Vancouverite to catch me up on what Korea is like now. His blog focuses on food and living in Korea. He's back in Canada, but check out his blog. http://thedailykimchi.blogspot.com/ I found it to be the most interesting and informative in regards to Korea.

By the way, how's the economy in Vancouver? We were thinking about going back, but don't think we can afford the rent. Korea's great but there's no place like Vancouver.

[IAMAROBOT]

[mayorgc]