Korean Job Discussion Forums

Len8 · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Location: Kyungju

Itaewon was different. Can remember going to a restaurant sing a long type place and all of us (from same Hogwon) getting a W2000 pork steak. never quite figured out why such a giveaway price. Got my first introduction to those barbershop laces as well. Actually went into one to get a haircut late at night. It was round the corner from where we all lived. The guy gives me a haircut, and then an older woman comes in and strips off around the corner and climbs under some covers naked with another female employee at the place. I could see them rolling around under the covers, but after getting my haircut the dood ushers me out kinda quickly.

People (females)used to sidle up to you a lot when you were using public transportation for English conversation lessons as well. Sometimes they actually wanted to pay or to go to a movie usually at their expense as a prelude to the lessons. Ended up keeping company with two ladies for the socialising afterwards on one occasion. For the life of me when ever i wanted to practice my Korean on them they would brush me off. Enjoyed their company anyway. One was married, and reasonably attractive. I mistakenly called her up once, and the husband happened to be listening in. She was heartbroken next time I saw her. Funny as hell. She felt as though our meeting which was all above board was a betrayal of her blah blah blah to him.

As far as I rememmber Wonderland and ECC were the only English academys around, then all of a sudden the government deregulated the franchise thing and they started popping up all over the place

allovertheplace · Joined: 02 Aug 2009

Wouldnt call myself an old timer by any means but nobody has mentioned things related to working conditions.
Last year new visa restrictions made getting here a big pain, While I havnt seen changes as visible as some of you guys, being here for that was a big shock. All of a sudden we became viewed as potential criminals and largely treated as such. Ive also noticed something-lack of raises. With all these new hoops to jump through salaries have remained stagnant.

Shiktang · Joined: 10 May 2009

The annual student demonstrations have stopped. Used to be one every year. Molotov cocktails, and hijacked trains and all. Tear gas was hell. Some policeman would drop a canister about 150 meters away and your eyes still stung.

Don't know why they had the demonstrations. Maybe it was a carry over from the times when student demonstrations actually made a difference in government policy.

catchshime · Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:57 pm Post subject:

Bronski · Joined: 17 Apr 2006

Fishead soup · Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Location: Korea

There used to be a beer named Nex. It was sold in the conveniece stores alongside Hite and Cass.

EPIK used to be called Koretta. You could only get the job through your embassy. This was the only public school gigs back then and you would be interveived at your embassy. Koretta teachers got paid in American dollars and got the same vacation scedule as Korean teachers. The Korean teachers complained about this. So the supervisers decided the create workshops for Korean teachers hosted by Foreign teachers. Eventially Koretta was changed to Epik and they started paying in won and giving out eleven month contracts to get out of paying severance pay.

Gyounggi do province used to be spelt with a K. They were under the Epik program. They lost most of their teachers in the IMF crisis. Then they sent the remainder of their teachers to a teacher training center near Pyoungteck. This was really unpopular with the teachers

There were tons of really sleazy recruiters like Mike Oh of Bok Ji corporation who used to ask for a 200$ payment and a bottle of whisky. for their service.

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

Oh! I interviewed with Mike Oh!

backhand · Joined: 17 Jul 2009

Korea is best country with best people.

No peasants, but highest IQ people.

Highest IQ with no falsifified research about cloning.

You understand?

i · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Location: Seoul

What ever happened to Mike Oh of Bok Ji? I had actually forgotten his name. I came here for my first round in 94 and he picked me up. Thought the $200 would come out of my pay. I had $197 on me. He asked for it when I got in his car. He said I need to find $3 more. So a guy who was in the car from NZ gave it to me. Then Mike asked for his Cognac. Told him I thought he was kidding. He assured me it was no joke as all the other teachers he picked up that night brought it. What a slime ball. But he must have made a lot of money.

Forward Observer · Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Location: FOB Gloria

Otus · Joined: 09 Feb 2006

To have a teacher directly pay a recruiter for placing him or her in a position is the most ridiculously unprofessional, unethical conduct a recruiting or consulting company can engage in. Any professional or established consultancy agency negotiates all reinbursements with the client / employer.

No one should have any right to complain about the so called 'quality' of English teachers in Korea if such a practice is, or has been, endorsed (and I know it has).

halfmanhalfbiscuit · Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Location: Seoul

A bottle of Cognac?? That's just taking the piss

lotto_roaster · Joined: 27 Jul 2009

DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP · Joined: 28 May 2009 Location: Electron cloud

circa 2005 I used to get laid a lot more.

This could be due to a subtle increase in my waist and a subtle decrease in my hairline, but mostly it's due to the fact that the numbers of foriegn guys working in Seoul now are way higher than they were pre 2005.

Used to go to Gekkos / Helios / wherever and plenty of available women but now it's like 5 western guys to every girl. And that sucks.

blaseblasphemener · Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:34 pm Post subject:

Home Plus has made shopping a hell of a lot better. Carrafour (pre-Home Plus) had one little 1/4 aisle of insanely priced imported stuff. Now I go to HP and all Tesco brand stuff, which there is a ton of, is so cheap. Whole wheat pasta 1,800, cereal 3,400 won, ground coffee, beer, on and on.

Thank the gods for Home Plus. I'd also say having subways in so many cities is pretty great.

One thing that hasn't changed: universal ignorance about tail-gating whilst driving, seatbelts, and baby seats. I give them another 30 years to get up to speed on those things.