Korean Job Discussion Forums

[fromtheuk]

Before I came to Korea in May 2007, I must confess I didn't know a great deal about the place.

I did some research. I knew it was an ally of America, I had read some of them eat dogs etc.

I was a bit anxious before I arrived in Korea, because I wasn't sure if they had running water, electricity, and gas 24 hrs a day like in England.

Yes, I reallywas that ignorant.

I expected Korea to be a place where good manners would exist. I have always associated Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea, etc.) with good manners.

I was aware of the bowing part of their culture, and their respect of elders.

I don't bow to people, but I respect their intention to show others respect.

Thankfully, I have experienced good manners as stated above. I have met some very helpful, kind Koreans.

I didn't expect the blatant ridicule. I was a little disappointed about that. I suppose I was naiive to expect an Asian utopia i.e. a place where everybody respects everybody else all the time.

Looking back, it's embarrassing I had such high expectations. As a child in England, I used to watch Bruce Lee movies and whenever programmes about Asian countries (as listed above) came on tv, I felt quite a lot of respect for these people.

They appeared to be wise, dignified, intelligent and cultured.

I see these qualities still exist here, but the shallow 'modern' image of Korea does make people appear to be crass and a bit awful.

I didn't expect the subway system to be as excellent as it is. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that out.

Although I rant about my work environment, I respect Koreans. I've found some of them to be fairly genuine.

Lastly, despite some negative Korean attitudes, I feel I care about them a bit. I find them quite likeable, some of the time.

What did you expect?

[Oreovictim]

You watched a lot of Bruce Lee movies as a kid? Did you walk into a galbi place and say, "I'd like some Korean spare ribs! What? You, you don't know what Korean spare ribs are? Well, let me show you, man." (Bam!)

[Cheonmunka]

[Oreovictim]

[Cheonmunka]

Well, one of the Bruce's. Maybe it was the guy in, 'They call Me Bruce.'

That's odd though. I always thought when watching the movies the place (HK) looks exactly the same on screen in the BK movies as when I saw it walking through it.

Anyway, my sentiments still remain about the thing.

[The evil penguin]

[Pwillig]

Definitely more red carpet entries and parades for the most honored foreign English teacher.

I honestly wasn't prepared for hearing "handsome guy" all the time or the amount of caressing my biceps and chest would elicit - from men. -_-

[kg2095]

I expected a cleaner, more mordern looking Korea.

I was surprised at the lack of architectural style and the tacky look and feel to the place.

[waynehead]

My expectations and understanding of Korea before I arrived were so far off the mark that I'd be afraid to admit them publicly.

[Sakamoto]

[The evil penguin]

[curlygirl]

I'm kind of embarassed to admit this but seeing as you asked...
I read a few books on Korea and did a lot of Internet research before I came but it seems I didn't read between the lines. Quote: "Korean students begin learning English at elementary school..."

I actually had this dumb idea that they'd all speak pretty good English and that I'd just be helping them polish their skills. Oh how naive I was.

[JongnoGuru]

Expected more ...

- thatch-roofed huts

- ox-drawn carts

- people asking me if I know Hawkeye, Radar and Klinger

- slicky boys

- cleavage


Expected fewer/less ...

- exciting, unannounced appearances of armoured vehicles in downtown city streets

- Stalinist urban residential architecture

- tear gas

- squat toilets

- fried chicken

[Illysook]

I expected hardship, but I certainly didn't expect it to be as hard as it was. Partly, it was my own authority issues that made it so hard, but the fact that the recruiter lied to me telling me that I would be 1/2 hour from Seoul when I was actually a good hour and an half away and thus in the middle of nowhere, with almost no other foreigners around when I needed to talk or blow off steam...and then the few that were around seemed to enjoy judging me and/or watching me fall on my face. That was really nice.

I also expected some sort of introduction or mentoring into the job. I got to follow another teacher around for a little while, but she simply led the kids through a workbook page and played a pass game most days and when I got my own class, that got boring really quickly, my boss wasn't happy with anything that I did, my kids wouldn't behave, and so on and so forth. You really do learn this job on the job, and I'm still not convinced that I'm any good at it.

In spite of all this, my experience didn't turn out to be bad. I just had to work a little harder and travel a little farther to learn and to find what I needed. As a result, I've made a few friends that I intend to stay in touch with, come what may and I think that I'd like to learn some things about classroom management and become a teacher at home...but not an Englishee teacher, a science teacher. Dissecting frogs beats diagramming sentences any day of the week!

But I'm not sorry to be leaving this place!

[Epicurus]

would it be wrong for me to say I didn't expect much, kept an open mind and figured I'd "roll with" whatever came up?

that's pretty much the truth.

I guess the cultural differences caught me offguard, I knew it's be different but not to such an extent.

Their peculiar cultural obsessions, like age for example is something I'd never have expected and can never get used to.