Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Trevor]

Korea has actually been very, very good to me. Three years ago I was stuck in a dead-end, go nowhere job in the States and largely blamed myself for it.

Then I decided....well maybe it isn't my fault. Maybe the United States is a really awful place and I should leave.

So I came to Korea. For the first time in my life I have a bank account, prospects for the future, an acceptable social life. I work for one of the better employers in Korea and I have real job satisfaction. Something I never came close to in the states.

The dilemma is, though, I am not going to go much farther professionally than I have now. I can make a little more money, perhaps get slightly better hours, but for all intents and purposes, this is it.

Do I stay and be content -- perhaps continuing to work more on personal projects like writing and mastering polka music on the accordion -- or do I set another goal, higher and even nobler than bringing English to the masses of Koreans, hungry for knowledge and western culture?

[caniff]

Speaking personally, if I were you I would master polka music on the accordion. It's strange I say that, because polka music has limited appeal for me, as does the accordion. But my senses tell me this is the path you should follow.

[thegadfly]

Are you happy with what you are doing now, and where you are?

Is your job a major part of your self-image and self-worth, or is it incidental to it? Is it a means to an end (having food, clothing, shelter, and beer) or is it an end itself?

I would say, if you are happy, keep on truckin' until you find you are no longer happy -- then move along when that time comes....

In my life at least, periods of calm contentment have been few and far-ish between...so I would suggest riding the wave for a while.

Maybe you HAVE ceilinged out -- so? Do you need to go higher to feel happy? If yes, go, if not, stay....

[Trevor]

Well, there's different kinds of happiness.

I really don't care for Koreans very much, though I get along with them well enough -- It's not that I dislike them...it's really almost total indifference. I'll never marry a Korean and my relationship to them will always be garden-variety-standard among reasonably successful ESL professionals: mutually respectful distance. My biggest obstacle to having more Korean friends is that they bore me, rather than having any serious problems with their character.

Do I want to live out my career in such a society? No. But the trouble is I am an American citizen and I CAN'T STAND AMERICAN SOCIETY. I find it really distasteful to live in that country. I am neither a republican nor a democrat and feel uncomfortable with the vast majority of Americans that identify themselves with either party.

In short, I feel that I am better off living with Koreans, despite the mutual indifference, if my only reasonable alternative is the U.S..

As for other possible countries to immigrate to, I've considered it but I will never find a country where I can make as much as I do now on such reasonable terms. I am a good saver and I do not want to be poor when I am old, therefore, having a good income is important to me.

[sojourner1]

Yes, Trevor, I know. I love everything about America, except the job market and work culture. America is truly the best place to go fishing, camping, hunting, hiking, road trippin, shopping, and chat it up with buddies, but the money and work conditions are deplorable. This is why most Americans don't or can't travel and enjoy the very things that are great about America like I mentioned.

Hunkered down in an apartment living paycheck to paycheck and then having to take out a payday loan to fix the car when an unexpected mechanical breakdown occurs is not my ideal way of life. After you've fixed the car in order to continue going to the job, it's a 3 month pinch of a struggle to get out of the short term debt and you've ended paying double for your car repair due to 325% APR interest on the $300 loan. Talk about being behind the 8 ball... The good out of it is you've lost weight and are now looking good, but that doesn't matter where no one wants to gainfully employ a strong educated skilled man.

Worse, you're car breaks down and you need a simple 10 mile tow, but all the tow services are quoting $300 to $600 and you've just started a new job after being unemployed a while and are flat broke. You've exhausted all options and determine it's the fuel pump inside the gas tank, but have no way to access it in your poorly designed FORD Tempo to replace the faulty pump. This is where you critically need help from someone, but no one will help since it's not their problem and they expect you to pull your own weight. You know you can't afford a loan nor qualify for one since you haven't held the job for 6 months and so you have to abandon the car and go unemployed once again. This happened to me in 2001 and I did indeed end up homeless, but started school for my bachelors and took out $2000 extra financial aid to get re-setup. It's one turkey of a situation when it comes to our job market and meager wages. During college, it was a struggle to live as there weren't many jobs or opportunities available. Of course eBay is a real money maker if you've got the stuff to sell, but you've gotta have a car to go out to weekend rummage sales in order to get it as I found suppliers charge too much leaving no profit margin as the market is downright competitive when it comes to auctions. Pretty slim pickins for opportunities since 2001. This is why I hate living in America, because there seems to be no place to thrive and be included.

Many Americans do have parents or relatives who pitch in to ease the burden of financial crisis due to economic set backs, because they want nothing more than their people to do good in life, be secure, and to be happy. Some are not so lucky.

To my understanding, things are even much much worse with the job market and economy now than it was 2 to 8 years ago when I was in it. Oh boy....

I adamant you have to be able to find your place in society or there's no living to be made regardless of degree, abilities, skills, knowledge, and experience, but in America it centers around nepotism where you've got to know someone who cares about you that can refer or sponsor you for an opportunity. That's a relative in an industry. I think the OP, like me, hates it, because he's not included like others are who are related to someone in the business or in the good ol' boys club.

[Trevor]

Yea, I've been there. Working like a dog and not having a dime at the end of the month, and I used to blame myself. Nope. Nothing wrong with me. The U.S. is no longer a good place to live and work and raise a family for 99% of Americans.

By leaving, I feel I have achieved relatvev security and a higher standard of living but, like I said, is that all there is?

[Whirlwind]

There is definitely a ceiling to the Korea thang. You simply don't have the potential to advance here. You're pretty much stuck and have to know your place. Plus, there aren't a lot of options for "foreigners" outside of teaching Englishee.

Yes, you make a decent living here, but you have to live in Korea to get those benefits. A high price to pay. Wouldn't it be great if we could take these jobs back home?

You're also in a bit of a pickel. You don't foresee staying the rest of your life in Korea(I certainly don't blame you) and yet you can't stand living in the US. Fair enough. But I get tired of people who are so scared to change that they stay safely ensconced in South Korea because the livin' is so easy. Most of you guys are single. If you have any brains in your head, you ought to be debt free after living in Korea for a couple of years. So, how much money do you really need to make back home to be happy? You guys make it seem like rocket science. "Oh, there aren't any jobs..boo hoo." Yeah, you probably won't get away with the level of slack that you do in Korea, but really any other place offers a better quality of life. IMHO, Korea leaves a lot of be desired. The OP is in No Man's Land, doesn't want Korea, doesn't want home. Other choices? China, Thailand? Low wages, but an upgrade compared to Korea. Europe? Unless you have an EU passport, you won't get a sniff. I guess you'll have to suck it up and either continue to live in dreamland Korea or go back to the tough reality that is home.

[greekvvedge]

have something to pursue in America that makes it worth the risk? Do it. Go back to school, start your own business, etc.

Or not? Move to Japan. I really think Japan can really make a lot of people a lot more happy than Korea. That's not a dis on Korea, just my personal opinion.

[Kimbop]

My advice: set your sights low, because your life won't get much better than this! Earn $30,000 a year in South korea to do a job that basically requires you to show up. And don't buy a house --- rent! Because allah knows you'll never afford an $800,000 shack in a Seoul sattelite city! Don't aspire for something better than that; you should want to become a 40+ yr old single bum that hangs out drinking in Itaewon! That's your future! I reiterate: set your sights low, don't challenge yourself, be content earning peanuts in Korea, as long as you get to drink soju on weekends and live in a small shack. This is the meaning of success!

On the other hand, you are gaining little to NO work experience and wasting your life away. Difficult to raise a family in the US? How about Korea!! The US is in dire need of doctors, engineers, tech developers, lawyers, accountants, etc. Now is also a a great time to buy a home in the US. Oh, but that would require some effort and initiative on your part. It's so much easier to be paid 40 bucks an hour for being foreign, isn't it?

No social life in the US? master the accordion? Is this post a joke???

[Trevor]

It's not the money to be made or the bad economy that keeps me away from the U.S. (though they are definitely a factor). It's the kind of asshole you have to be in order to make a decent living there. It's the kind of lies you have to tell yourself and everyone around you in order to keep the peace.

It is the ever-increasing number of naked emperors parading around whilst increasingly anxious citizens prance with delight over the Emperors' New Clothes. It is the incredible phony you must become in order to make it succesfully through your day and the queasy feeling that phoniness leaves in your stomach at night.

Socially, it has become an absurdity. A marital union involves a fifty percent risk that it will end in disaster. What kind of idiot would play for those odds?

In Korea, I can become successful, sort of, without too much problem but after 36 months that glass-ceiling-for-foreigners has bumped me squarely on the head. I mean, this is it.

While social life in the States is filled with assholes and naked emperors, Korea is filled with a race and culture that I am sadly indifferent to (feeling's mutual, I guess) oh, and English teachers: a decent bunch for the most part, but if I miss anything about the States it's the opportunity for a bit more social diversity -- despite the phoniness. I can spend my time working on personal projects (and frankly that's my best option for the moment) and not worry so much about having a fulfilling social life -- a tolerable compromise for the moment, but permanently?

Yes, I can move to Japan and work my butt off for less money and give more to the landlord. There, I cannot have a social life for a different reason: I can't afford it! I can go to Thailand, and stop caring about such matters as money. There, the people are friendly (land of smiles) and I can have as many friends as I want but there are few really educated people there -- except english teachers, which puts me full circle.

[Kimbop]

[Louie]

So the true question is: Did you ceiling out socially or financially?


America is not what its cracked up to be. The work conditions are horrid, the housing conditions are not what they seem and culturally, that is something I am not even going to start.....I think the 2 good things about "being American" is the passport and the education. With an American passport, you can go almost anywhere and with a degree from an American university, a person can virtually write their own meal ticket. But THAT is the limit of being in American society.

Back in 2001, I was in a very serious rut and I was borderline depressed. What did I do to get me out of it?
Every weekend, I would hop on an express bus and go where ever it took me. Most of the time, I didn't even care to read the destination sign, I just hopped on and went where ever it went. Sure, most Korean towns and cities all look the same, but at least I was not home and that was all that mattered.

Also, what helped me get over my drag were my students. I would intentionally create a social environment in my advance class where people could open up and talk about anything and everything.

It helped!

What hurt me was the day I boarded the plane out of Korea- that was the worst day, possibly so far, in my life.

Yeah, I griped about Korea and would knit-pick about everything I found wrong about the place and the people. But when the bottom line came, I was exceptionally thankful not to be in the US.
My ex-gf would say that I had so much distain about the place because I liked it so much and yearned for it to change. In some ways, she was right-I guess I wanted the "Kimchi Dream" and felt somewhat disenchanted for some time when I thought I didn't get it.

As for financially "ceiling out", get a part time job where the money you earn is either used for savings or for entertainment. Once you see your bank account blossoming, you will begin to feel alittle bit better and feel more self-worth in yourself, your situation, your job and the way you live in Korea......

[teachteach]

Someone there said go back to school. I think North America may be the best place for getting financial aid for going to school. The same poster said America is in dire need of those skilled workers.

[CA-NA-DA-ABC]

[kentucker4]