Korean Job Discussion Forums

roll_eks · Joined: 31 Aug 2009 Location: Seoul from Nevada

yep... welcome to another "troll experience" -thats by the way what "roll_eks" stands for... Very Happy

anyway: after having been here for 3 weeks, korea is not "scary" anymore.. its just ... "empty".
classes go well, my boss likes me, i dine out with korean coworkers at least trice a week, smile... smile ... and smile. everything is just fine. have even made some korean friends and met a potential future gf...
however: its really hard to reach out to people, to connect on a personal and indivual level, without me being perceived as "the generic american/waygook" and probably me to recognize a spark of individuality buried below layers of social conventions and my projected images of what koreans are.
all this talking, this routine.... i know that vegas is not exactly the paragon of profound human interactions, but somehow i never felt such a large gap between appearances and absence.
the above is just a description of some of my recurring thoughts about korea. maybe im empty as well, since i don't really feel affected by korea's emptiness. i'm here to make some money and perform a contract-signed job. i know i can't change how korea is, nor do i want to. i'm just a visitor/guest...
nevertheless, after an evening spent eating samkyepsal and drinking suh-joo with koreans and weehgooks, a loud succession of non-stop talking, i'm looking outside the window and what i see is ...a mysterious land. Rolling Eyes

tenchu77491 · Joined: 16 Mar 2009

I am going to just say-- I think it's easy to get on the inside or 'connect' with Koreans if you're using their language.. they tend to open up or let you in. You won't just be 'a foreigner' as much any more.

blaseblasphemener · Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 8:30 am Post subject:

It's soju. (So-jew)

crossmr · Joined: 22 Nov 2008 Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul

admitting you have a problem is the first step.

BadBadMan · Joined: 06 Jun 2008

Welcome, hope you have a nice stay, etc etc.

Really, you've only been in the country 3 weeks. I feel displaced even when I move to an apartment 30 minutes away, and I'm Korean. It'll get better as you make personal ties and find new things to do, new habits, new routines. Smile

crossmr · Joined: 22 Nov 2008 Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul

PARAMDUNGI · Joined: 11 Sep 2009 Location: Busan

Ehh, it will come. You'll meet people. They will introduce you to more people. Before you know it you'll have a crew together.

strange_brew · Joined: 12 Oct 2008

byrddogs · Joined: 19 Jun 2009 Location: Shanghai

kangnam mafioso · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Location: Teheranno

It seems you are expecting a lot after 3 weeks. I spent my first 6 months in Seoul not knowing anyone really. Korea baffled me (and still does), right up to the end of my 2.5 years there, but that was part of its charm. You have to get a crew of other expats to make your time there enjoyable and you will forge a few friendships with the locals after you filter through all the bogus "just want to practice englishey" ones. and finding a girlfriend certainly helps, although you shouldn't rush that part or dive into something for the wrong reasons (i.e., you're desperate, lonely, etc). I used to go to Geckos alone on Wed or Thurs, sit at the bar and just talk to other koreans/ foreigners for company. I eventually met some mates and we would go to hongdae on the weekends. There was a club called Hodge Podge and meeting local women there was about as hard as finding a pc room in seoul.

If you're somehow expecting Korea to be like America or Nevada or Vegas, I suggest you pack up and return home because you B on the otherside of the world bro --- you might as well be on another planet ... PLANET KOREA. Try to enjoy it instead of comparing it to what you know ... you might even end up missing it one day after you've returned to Planet USA.

kangnam mafioso · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Location: Teheranno

thefarns · Joined: 21 Oct 2008

It seems to me that about 3 weeks into my first job, part of my brain woke up and I decided I could survive here. I've been in 2 different cities, and in both cases, it was 3 lonely months before I started really getting "networked."

And by the time that happens, you'll realize you've lost the ability to hold an English conversation. At least . . .that's been my experience.

isthisreally · Joined: 01 Sep 2007

I felt the same way you felt and still do a lot of the time. You want to know why? Cause that's how Korea is.

Koreans are this way to each other too even there friends. Let's take my gf.

Her parents don't know I live with her.
Many of her friends don't know about me.
Many of her friends think she is a virgin.
She always smiles and puts on a show when she goes out (that's not who she is or who any of us are) and people think this is her.

In Korea it can be hard to make good friends and get on the inside. People will hang out with you once a week for a year and the relationship could be a total fake. They're bored, they want to learn English, they want to be nice and show the foreigner around, whatever the reasons I don't understand it exactly.

On the other hand, with girls I date suddenly I'm on the inside. I can get them to be honest, I know they actually like me and basically I see a different Korea (the real one).

Welcome to Korea.

VanIslander · Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:45 am Post subject:

Css · Joined: 27 Sep 2004 Location: South of the river