Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Chamchiman]

[OnTheOtherSide]

[magpie]

OP--- you know the ropes and it's quite clear you've been thinking long and hard about returning as many of us do. Follow you're heart. It's never easy to make such an important transition, but it's very doable. Cheers!

[Straphanger]

[Scotticus]

[Been There, Taught That]

You can't come to Korea just for the money, because wherever you go, there it is. Money aside, then--and as the US, so the WORLD for the present, until influential nations release their death grip, meaning that money is an aside--you also can't be a person who loves to hate wherever you go. And you can't drink, get drunk and only then have something to say about your surroundings. So, all that aside, then, why come to Korea?

I quit working 3rd shift at a hotel plus substitute teaching in a district that just could not stop calling me in for jobs and came back in November 2008 after getting out aaaaallllll the way back in 2003, when the Won was still winning. Both my wife and I agreed that the Foreign Face still seemed to be an island of earning power good enough to decently raise a guy out of the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. So, I've been living North of Seoul in an apartment too small for even me--the apartment thing has become a bigger consideration than the job itself--, waiting for the end of the year, when I can get my wife and 3-year-old over here to live in that same apartment with me. That, or graduate to an apartment in a high rise, not stellar and no oven nor dryer but big enough and with a bathtub, rented through a Bosan-district pawnshop for $700.00, which is what they take there in the military district with NO key money, or something in Won which he has to figure out for me, and which renting my wife is utterly opposed to because. . .wait for it. . .paying that much per month would defeat the get-a-decent-living part of our purpose for coming.
But, I think that at 2.5M and paid I have to credit her for even being willing to come and bring the daughter and do what we have to do to get by. It's better than how we were doing financially, but it remains to be seen all the highs and lows otherwise. My daughter loves parks and going places and nature, and my wife wants to shop and spend money and meet other foreigners, without whose companionship, to hear her, she will die quickly and miserably. All that is easier here than in Wisconsin, car-dependent as we were.

Sound like anywhere anyone knows? Can I get an 'everywhere!'?

Personally, I think it's better these days to be a representative in Korea of a famous economy than to be stuck in the native doldrums. But it's harder to get into position when you're married. And other reasons lead to other conclusions about other situations.

You can't escape personal and world-based imperfections. As always, thinkin' and dreamin' go a lot farther with plannin'.

By the way, if anyone knows a job with a good apartment setup, let me know.

[OnTheOtherSide]

[Mr-Dokdo]

No, you are not crazy. Korea is far better than the alternatives we face back home. Welcome back!

[cms989]

[blaseblasphemener]

When Mr-Dokdo is advocating on your behalf, you know you're in trouble.

It's like I told you before you did your midnight run Ontheotherside; wherever you are, there you are. Which means, you'll probably find a reason to bail on Korea again.

Sorry to call you on your shyt.

[rusty1983]

Go back to school if the job is what counts for you. People get hired and fired all the time. It is usually a slow and grinding process moving up the career ladder and when I talk to people who have jobs I envy, they dont seem to be all that happy.

It is just life, isnt it? For untold generations people have done shit jobs for low money, and tried to make the best of things. This is what life is, I think. The thing is, our generation are so fucking spoiled (me included) that we think we have some strange right for things to be perfect. Listening to people moaning and moaning in Korea underlined this point for me, they just expect everything handed to them and expect everything to be perfect. Deal with the decision you made (to go to Korea) and grow up and shut up.

Teaching ESL in Korea is not a lifetime thing in my eyes. It is a bit of a joke. It takes no skills and little qualifications to get a job, and I think gets about the respect it deserves from the outside world (very very little). It isnt a professional thing and although you can pull the wool over the eyes of some, many people know it is an easy option.


But then again, *beep* the outside world. It is a good stop off, a wonderfully unique experience but not a particularly savvy career move.

I am the same as the op if Im honest. When things are going well in the UK its great, but when things start to get a bit real it is a fucking shithole.
I make great money here doing TEFL, meet people from every country in the world everyday and yet something is still lacking.
I am fully aware we both sound like moaning women.

Reality bites is the problem, I find it is very difficult to stay happy for very long


If Korea is too mental for you, save some money and go somewhere better. I often think about going back there but then why not just spend a few more months getting some money together and going somewhere more rewarding? Im gonna do this, maybe go to Japan. But wherever I go Im going there with no illusions it will be perfect, and very cautious as I know wherever I go it could end up being a nightmare.

Hpwever, Korea is too much of a potential hazard to justify going back there and I only consider it in my darkest moments.

[rusty1983]

[Mr-Dokdo]

[maingman]

Mr-Dokdo wrrote :
Korea is far better than the alternatives we face back ..

[OnTheOtherSide]