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Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
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 Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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| iammac2002 wrote: |
| US soldiers are a novelty to females from certain countries. |
Novelty? More like mate bait. |
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Moldy Rutabaga
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Location: Ansan, Korea
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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I keep getting asked if I'm a missionary!  Do I have such a pious or serious look?
Ken:> |
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mistermasan
Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Location: 10+ yrs on Dave's ESL cafe
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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| how can I join the US military reserves while teaching in korea? |
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Skippy
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Daejeon
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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| If you look like a soldier and you are going to be in area like Itaewon and Hongdae you are going to get a good chance of MPs asking for your ID. Just give your ARC card and go on your way. |
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mc_jc
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Location: C4B- Cp Red Cloud, Area-I
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| how can I join the US military reserves while teaching in korea? |
Call the base operator and ask for the number to the Army recruiting office on Yongsan. The person who handles recruiting from Korea is Sergeant First Class Kim. It's pretty much the same process as in the states, except that you go to the 121 General Hospital for your recruitment physical. But if you've never been in the military before, you still have to return to the US for basic and job training.
But if you have been in the military and you only did your contract, you might have IRR time remaining (despite the 3 or 4 years a person signs on for, all contracts are actually 8 years, which puts a person in a reserve/ guard unit or in the Inactive Ready Reserves, a pool of people who could be called back in cases of emergencies), and all a personnel administrator for a reserve unit here has to do is pull up their BPED, pull them out of the IRR and put them in the unit (which means the person bypasses the recruiter altogehter). |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Skippy wrote: |
| If you look like a soldier and you are going to be in area like Itaewon and Hongdae you are going to get a good chance of MPs asking for your ID. Just give your ARC card and go on your way. |
You don't even have to do that. They have no authority over you of any kind whatsoever. |
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Draz
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Location: Land of Morning Clam
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Kikomom wrote: |
| iammac2002 wrote: |
| US soldiers are a novelty to females from certain countries. |
Novelty? More like mate bait. |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:09 pm Post subject: Re: Mistaken for military |
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| misher wrote: |
This happened to me 3 times last night when I arrived at ICN. ONce by immi and another two times by airport employees while I was waiting for my bags. I guess it is my short hair.
Is this going to be a problem for me going out and such? Will I be denied entry into certain establishments? Or is that all overblown. From what I've read soldiers get as bad a rap as ESL teachers here. I'm hoping that is just a gross exaggeration.
misher. |
If its a problem, try growing a goatee or condsider getting your ear pierced. A couple of years ago I had a co-worker who looked like the stereotypical GI and kept getting hassled by MPs when he was out. That was my GI boyfriend's advice to him- apparently they're against regs for soldiers. |
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poeticjustice
Joined: 28 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Zulethe wrote: |
I'd feel honored to be labeled a soldier rather than an English teacher. I say that I'm a soldier when I can get away with it.
I hate being identified as an English teacher in Korea. I know, that's my problem and I need to get over it but to each his own. |
Really? You'd rather be confused for a High School dropout than a College graduate (not that a BA is a whole lot better but still)?
I don't know how long you've been here but Koreans still remember the US Military Jeep that killed those two school girls and many Koreans in Seoul remember the rapes and public drunkness in Hongdae that made it so US Soldiers weren't allowed anywhere near that part of the city.
While English Teachers have been caught doing some pretty terrible things, as a whole our collective pride hasn't been damaged nearly as much as the US Military's. They trust us with their children and we haven't been banned from entire districts for god sakes.
Not to rag on the whole US Military precense here, I've met some pretty nice grunts and pogues. But English teachers are in their early-mid twenties at the minimum, have an education and have had to suffer major background checks.
The US Military on the other hand, has plenty of dropout teenage members who had to choose between jail and the military after they robbed a store or jacked a car back home.
We have standards, albeit low ones. As low as I've seen English teachers go, I haven't seen any dancing on the top of someone else's car with no shirt on, bling and grill, at 9:00pm on a Saturday night. I've seen three soldiers doing that... at the same time!
I also love how men on the forums validate their masculinity by talking about how they get on so well with soldiers. La-de-da. I stopped associating the word macho with US Soldier after I saw one to many 300lb double whoppers wobbling down the street in Itaewon, breaking a sweat, mid-afternoon.
So yeah, you might want to think about that a bit.
Last edited by poeticjustice on Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:31 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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| poeticjustice wrote: |
| Really? You'd rather be confused for a High School dropout than a College graduate (not that a BA is a whole lot better but still)? |
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| The US Military on the other hand, is predominantly uneducated and many of it's teenage members had to choose between jail and the military after they robbed a store or jacked a car back home. |
prove you absolutely don't have a clue as to what you're talking about. |
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poeticjustice
Joined: 28 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
| poeticjustice wrote: |
| Really? You'd rather be confused for a High School dropout than a College graduate (not that a BA is a whole lot better but still)? |
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| The US Military on the other hand, is predominantly uneducated and many of it's teenage members had to choose between jail and the military after they robbed a store or jacked a car back home. |
prove you absolutely don't have a clue as to what you're talking about. |
While it might not strictly be allowed anymore, the US Military lets a lot of shit slide. Especially when recruitment is down. Here is one such example: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/06/15/neo_nazis_army/
I can probably find more if I took the time to really look. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Go for it. And this time, you should probably try to find something that supports your assertions. |
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mc_jc
Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Location: C4B- Cp Red Cloud, Area-I
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, there are some gang elements in the US military. But there are also some with college degrees as well (and I am not talking about the officer ranks either)- a person could go in as an E-4 if they have a BA.
From what I see and read, the US army in Korea doesn't have as bad of a reputation as it does in Japan. Anyone who reads the Stars and Stripes, either in print or online, will find a story about a crime happening in Japan being committed by American servicemen at least every other week.
I think foreigners in general get a bad rep in Korea no matter what their profession is;
~ Teachers are considered womenizing, drug abusing pedophiles who only care about money more than helping people learn English and couldn't get a job back home.
~ Soldiers are considered high school drop-outs who love to drink and fight with each other if they're not going around robbing taxi drivers.
Either way, you can't win. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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pj: Next time you make an assertion, check your facts:
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The basic qualifications for enlistment in the U.S. Army include:
- being from 17 to 34 years old
- be a U.S. citizen or resident alien, (must have the I-551)
- have a high school diploma or equivalent (such as a GED)
- be single with no children or married with 2 or less children
- pass the ASVAB test and
- pass the physical
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You should also not be undergoing any civil actions; certain law violations will disqualify you.
You are NOT required to have a High School Diploma. Click here for Education Credentials. |
Just admit that you're perpetuating a stereotype and not basing your posts on fact. |
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nspidle
Joined: 28 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
| Skippy wrote: |
| If you look like a soldier and you are going to be in area like Itaewon and Hongdae you are going to get a good chance of MPs asking for your ID. Just give your ARC card and go on your way. |
You don't even have to do that. They have no authority over you of any kind whatsoever. |
There is merit to not causing problems for yourself. I say, cough up your ARC card and you won't find yourself being roughed up by MPs or denied access to a bar.
Hongdae is off limits for military, there is a curfew as well for military people. Just keep your ARC card with you and you will be fine. |
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