| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
wayfarer
Joined: 05 Jun 2007
|
 Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:35 pm Post subject: Newcomers: why do you want to work in Korea for $9 / hour? |
 |
|
post is more relevant to North Americans, but:
average salary 2 mil + free housing = about 2.3 million won
2.3 at current exchange rate = 1500 USD
1,500 USD into about 160 hours at your school every month = $9.37 dollars per hour
There's pension and severance too but a great many of you will never see that money, even if you don't go mad and leave before finishing your twelve-month stretch.
My question is more sincere than it might seem- I'm just wondering, what in particular attracts you to Korea, specifically? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
sarbonn
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
Location: Michigan
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I'm thinking that $9.37 and hour has to sound a lot better than $0 an hour if they're having trouble finding a job. And your post assumes the won will NEVER get better. Before I came here, it was great. Now it sucks. That tells me that it fluctuates, which means that it's quite possible it might be good again. It's not like Korea is doing worse than the rest of the world. The rest of the world is doing as crappy as is Korea, so the fluctuation can happen or it may not happen. But that person taking the job at $9.37 an hour may find himself or herself making $13 an hour a few months from now. Or making $2 an hour. It's really hard to tell, and no two economists will agree one way or the other. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jkelly80
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Location: you boys like mexico?
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| By what calculation are you putting rent at 300k/mo? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nosmallplans
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: noksapyeong
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
this question is moot as anyone who is a 'newbie' would've arrived back in august/september when the exchange rate was still ~ 1150:1. the next wave of new teachers won't be arriving till winter break and presumably they would already know about the crappy rates.
/thread. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RyanInKorea
Joined: 17 Jan 2008
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
It ain't the money, it ain't the job, and it ain't the people. It's the lifestyle.
Ryan |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
wayfarer
Joined: 05 Jun 2007
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| sarbonn wrote: |
| I'm thinking that $9.37 and hour has to sound a lot better than $0 an hour if they're having trouble finding a job. And your post assumes the won will NEVER get better. Before I came here, it was great. Now it sucks. That tells me that it fluctuates, which means that it's quite possible it might be good again. It's not like Korea is doing worse than the rest of the world. The rest of the world is doing as crappy as is Korea, so the fluctuation can happen or it may not happen. But that person taking the job at $9.37 an hour may find himself or herself making $13 an hour a few months from now. Or making $2 an hour. It's really hard to tell, and no two economists will agree one way or the other. |
This tells me that, barring the luckless unemployed making $0, you'd have to be mad to come here expecting to save, as no two economists will agree about the future (and that statement is not accurate anyway, as plenty more than one economist agrees that the won is going to go nowhere for at least a couple years.) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Teelo
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Location: Wellington, NZ
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:44 pm Post subject: Re: Newcomers: why do you want to work in Korea for $9 / hou |
|
|
| wayfarer wrote: |
| I'm just wondering, what in particular attracts you to Korea, specifically? |
Wanting what I can't have 
(They denied my E-2 visa) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ramen
Joined: 15 Apr 2008
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:45 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Four season |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
wayfarer
Joined: 05 Jun 2007
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| jkelly80 wrote: |
| By what calculation are you putting rent at 300k/mo? |
That's not all that important, my first place was 200k and my current one is 500k, it's crap compensation in any event.
| Quote: |
| this question is moot as anyone who is a 'newbie' would've arrived back in august/september when the exchange rate was still ~ 1150:1. the next wave of new teachers won't be arriving till winter break and presumably they would already know about the crappy rates. |
There are new ones coming all the time, and they're the ones I was trying to figure out.
!! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MUOhio82
Joined: 25 Apr 2008
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Well I can't speak for the men, but I know why the women come
1. The absolutely beauty of the Korean men
2. The lush variety of shopping. The diverse sizes and the ability to find ANYTHING.
3. The great personal hygiene products, like tampons and Midol
Seriously though, who knows. Maybe lots of new teachers are blind and dead and they can't see and hear about the exchange rate. Or some recruiter told them Korea was a beautiful and harmonious experience with a culture so different from out own. Maybe they think they're going to get off the plane and be greeted by Koreans in Hanbok with steaming bowls of Kimchi....... I mean, that's what MY recruiter told me, so imagine my shock... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sarbonn
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
Location: Michigan
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:11 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| wayfarer wrote: |
| sarbonn wrote: |
| I'm thinking that $9.37 and hour has to sound a lot better than $0 an hour if they're having trouble finding a job. And your post assumes the won will NEVER get better. Before I came here, it was great. Now it sucks. That tells me that it fluctuates, which means that it's quite possible it might be good again. It's not like Korea is doing worse than the rest of the world. The rest of the world is doing as crappy as is Korea, so the fluctuation can happen or it may not happen. But that person taking the job at $9.37 an hour may find himself or herself making $13 an hour a few months from now. Or making $2 an hour. It's really hard to tell, and no two economists will agree one way or the other. |
This tells me that, barring the luckless unemployed making $0, you'd have to be mad to come here expecting to save, as no two economists will agree about the future (and that statement is not accurate anyway, as plenty more than one economist agrees that the won is going to go nowhere for at least a couple years.) |
But the thing you're missing is that if someone is coming to Korea for the first time, they have NO IDEA that the exchange rate is really bad. All they've heard is people rave about how Korea is a great place to go to in order to save money and pay off debts. This won plummet happened really fast. I mean I came here less than two months ago, and things were still looking really good. But most people don't have a board like this to look to because they don't even know it exists. As much as we'd like to think otherwise, those of us who post here are a tiny fraction of the people who are here, mainly because people either don't know about these types of boards, or they just don't care.
And the "two economists" thing is an economics paradigm, not an actual "there are no two economists that agree". It means that economics is an interpretative discipline, in that there are many interpretations to the statistical data that gets churned out. It doesn't mean that economists are like snowflakes, although they can sometimes think like one. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jkelly80
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Location: you boys like mexico?
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| wayfarer wrote: |
| jkelly80 wrote: |
| By what calculation are you putting rent at 300k/mo? |
That's not all that important, my first place was 200k and my current one is 500k, it's crap compensation in any event.
|
It's about 2-4 grand a year, depending. The exchange matters when you get home, not really while you're here, unless you're sending huge amounts of money back. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
bogey666
Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Location: Korea, the ass free zone
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| MUOhio82 wrote: |
Well I can't speak for the men, but I know why the women come
1. The absolutely beauty of the Korean men
2. The lush variety of shopping. The diverse sizes and the ability to find ANYTHING.
3. The great personal hygiene products, like tampons and Midol
Seriously though, who knows. Maybe lots of new teachers are blind and dead and they can't see and hear about the exchange rate. Or some recruiter told them Korea was a beautiful and harmonious experience with a culture so different from out own. Maybe they think they're going to get off the plane and be greeted by Koreans in Hanbok with steaming bowls of Kimchi....... I mean, that's what MY recruiter told me, so imagine my shock... |
errr...
ummm..
with all due respect.
(because I'm partial to full figured Amazons 
you believed what your RECRUITER told you?
I double and triple checked everything mine told me, because they are essentially salespeople and I trust those as far as I can throw them (in some cases, that might be pretty far LOL )
why didn't you use this forum (and others Web resources) to do your own research? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad-ish
Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Location: On the bottom of the food chain
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| RyanInKorea wrote: |
It ain't the money, it ain't the job, and it ain't the people. It's the lifestyle.
Ryan |
got to agree with you there, i may hate my job, but i love the travel and lifestyle |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
xingyiman
Joined: 12 Jan 2006
|
| Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Why do they want to come to Korea and work for $9.00 an hour?
Well, with the free housing and not needing a car it's a whole lot better than living stateside working for $8.00 an hour with all afformentioned expenses.
Oh and Seoul is WAY cooler than Kansas. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
