Korean Job Discussion Forums

Dev · Joined: 18 Apr 2006

China sounds like fun, but you'd have to be careful with what you consume at all times given the corruption and poor quality control standards for food production.

To answer the OP's question is simple. Compare the size of South Korea to China. I think the regions within China can contitute separate countries. Each region has its own distinctive cuisines for example. The regions of Korea seem to have the same principal menu items, just slight varaitions of them.

In China, you get variety. I even remember sitting down to a meal in a restaurant in Shanghai and being offered a choice of bottled microbrew beers. I tried a couple. They were delicious.

In Korea, you have to put up with that cheap mass production watery beer , Cass, Hite or O.B. The only place you can get a good microbrew beer is to head to one of those brew pubs in Seoul, Daegu or elsewhere. It's small things like this that improve the quality of life for us teachers. China simply does it better.

The evil penguin · Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 5:18 pm Post subject:

Ahhh the grass is always greener for me.... Yeah, I'm enjoying china at the moment. Some days. Other days the little things just pile up and make me think why the hell I'm here. I'm in a small city where the locals will STARE dumbstruck at seeing a foreigner... even though they've see me walk past every day for the past two months... Some days fun, some days bloody damn annoying. The spitting, the smoking, the endless beeping of horns and firecrackers.... these people are really backwards here... a completely different world to the big cities...

Yeah Korea has its moments. But i miss the place... Most of all I miss the freedom of travel. You can easily get around korea... the buses are great. You are free to wander at will.

Here, in china its nearly impossible to move. No english at all, nobody speaks it, the signs are incomprehensible. try and ask and you get people just running away giggling. If you do manage to get a ticket for train or bus, then you are jammed like a sardine for hours on ened without any guarente you'll actually get to where you want to... buses breaking down or randomly chaging direction, trains delayed... forever. All the while treated like an animal escaped from the zoo. And people all jammed up beside you spitting and picking noses and smoking...
Not to mention the restrictions placed on where foreigenrs can travel to or stay. Can't do anything without showing passport and ID card.

The woman are hot (when they are not talking, spitting or picking their noses) and the food is great (when the chef isn't spitting, picking his nose or smoking while cooking it)...

Overall, I'm comfortable in korea (which often means bored) whereas here.... I dunno... frustrating as hell... but interesting.

VanIslander · Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 5:32 pm Post subject:

crocadoodledoo · Joined: 26 Nov 2008

I lived in both as well and have felt the grass is greener on both sides - chinese people are definitely more exciting and friendly (as well as the women) but the trade-off for the diversity and rock star treatment everywhere you go is the hassle of almost everything else - getting a train ticket, bank account, phone is a huge hassle while, even though a lot of people dont think it is easy in Korea, these things really are quite easy to do here in comparison.
Thats the end of the longest sentence in the world.

travel zen · Joined: 22 Feb 2005 Location: Good old Toronto, Canada

The Evil Penguin must be my twin brother! Your ideas/observations are the same as mine.

The girls are waay more easier to date and you can have many and they don't seem to get too angry about it. Try that in Korea and you may end up without a "third leg".

China grinds on me and the longer I stayed, the more it bothered me. Wheras Korea was just a BIG playground and you can pamper yourself with the latest and most sophisticated stuff. Pretty gals where you can find them too.

Korea wins hands down. I do remember howling about how I missed Korea, even to a few very gorgeous chinese gals I was dating...they took it in stride and weren't offended. Very Happy

Kuros · Joined: 27 Apr 2004

justaguy · Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Location: seoul

In Beijing I walked into a grocery store and bought 10 cans of Tsingtao for 3 dollars. Shocked

sojusucks · Joined: 31 May 2008

Post the high paying jobs and then I will believe you.

I have friends that have taught in China. Yeah, sure, the people do a much better job of hiding racist thoughts and treat foreigners far better, but we all sold our souls for money by coming to Korea.

pest2 · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Location: Vancouver, Canada

maingman · Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Location: left Korea

Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VanIslander wrote :

2.0 million Korean won = 10,000 Chinese yuan

And there are plenty of 12,000 to 14,000 yuan Chinese jobs these days!

Though I've heard the students are worse and the air ten times more polluted.

Where in China are you?

jajdude wrote :

Ideally, you want to be in Nanjing, in Jiangsu Province. Lots of unis here, so lots of foreigners (read: foreigner-friendly).

>yes foreiigner- friendly unlike many, IMO.. who aren't like that in Seoul !

aka Dave · Joined: 02 May 2008 Location: Down by the river

Fascinating thread.

How are Uni jobs in China, for somenone who has five plus years exp. teaching Uni?

mheartley · Joined: 18 Oct 2008

I enjoyed China a lot more than Korea. Friendlier people, cheaper, more variety of products at shops rather than 95% Korean brands, more to see and do, racism that feels more borne of pure ignorance rather than deep-seated prejudice, and overall Korea just doesn't offer as much. My monthly salary for 4 days a week teaching was about 14,000 rmb, plus I had plenty of other jobs on the side which usually put me at around 20k and left me with a 3-day weekend. There are plenty of dodgy employers there too, my first gig was a bit of a nightmare, though after I started getting jobs through friends things looked up quite a bit.

I did find it a lot harder to save in China though. Bars can cost quite a bit, and in the big cities there are just seemingly endless things to spend your money on. Girls are much easier though you get more clingers and ones chasing marriage.

The food was a big issue for me, not bad tasting or anything but as the years went by my gut started to have problems, I'd get aches and pains a lot. Diarrhea is common there too, Chinese will often mention they have it like anyone else would say they have a cold. I knew some people who seemed to have it permanently. Cooking at home does help but when food outside is so cheap it's often hard to keep it up regularly. Overall though, to anyone considering giving China a go, I'd say go for it.

John_ESL_White · Joined: 12 Nov 2008

The evil penguin · Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:16 pm Post subject:

GoldSoundz · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Location: Pohang

Yeah, the Chinese seemed to have an excuse for xenopohobia. Being closed off for so long and a one-sided media that let's 'em know they're the greatest people who ever lived. Here in Korea, they don't really have an excuse for prejudice.

In Korea they don't as interested in foreign culture, whereas the Chinese are hungry for your stories about the west. The beer sucks, but it's affordably priced so you look the other way. Definatley easier to do banking here in Korea as well as other official business. The advantages Korea has include the western amenities and the less-corrupt officials at my school. Much easier in China to make friends and way easier to get girls. Way easier. In Pohang, I get a lot of "Hallos", although not as much as in China. Fewer beggars and poverty in Korea. Nobody is inflating prices here either, thank god. The pollution is terrible in China, versus here. My pay in Xian in 2005 was like 400 USD, but I guess things have changed. It was also cheap living too.

Yeah, I wish I were back in old Big Red.