Korean Job Discussion Forums

warmachinenkorea · Joined: 12 Oct 2008

How many have done it and was it worth it? Did you have a good or bad experience? I have been thinking about it.

sugarloaf82 · Joined: 21 Dec 2008

I did the Peace Corps in West Africa and it was an amazing experience. Obviously frustrating and trying at times, but incredible over all. It's been a little over a year now since I completed my service and I definitely miss it a lot.

Deep Thirteen · Joined: 18 Jun 2009 Location: Swamp Land

All the people I've spoken to in college who did it said positive things of it. It's something I am aiming to do in my lifetime. The process to get in is extensive though. sugarloaf could probably attest to that.

df1983 · Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Location: Pyongtaek, Korea

If you can make it through training (3 months) and don't mind living at the level of poverty for two years then it is a good idea. The application process is absolutely ridiculous..... If you think the process is difficult for Korea, you haven't seen anything.

You will meet great people and you will get to live where there aren't any other foreigners.... you WILL be the only other foreigner unlesss you have a Peace Corps site mate.

There are a mountain of ridiculous rules that will get you kicked out over the most trivial of things... Your experience completely depends on your country and your country director. My country director was a total b***h.

I left due to personal reasons but if you think you are up to it then I say go for it.... You have to agree to 27 months.

Lastly, the reality of the peace corps does not fit the image that people have in their heads of the organization. This is all my experience and my opinions based off of my experience. You may have a totally different experience depending on what you are looking for.

sugarloaf82 · Joined: 21 Dec 2008

Yeah, it is a very extensive application process. For me it took about 9 months from the time I first applied to the time I got my posting. It can take a lot longer if you have any medical issues, etc.

It's true that every country is very different and depends very much on that country's PC country director. My CD was fairly laid back and our rules weren't too strict, yet I know that the other PC countries that bordered us had much stricter rules and tougher CDs. And yeah, you can get kicked out for many reasons, but it is a job and rules are rules. I can't think of one PCV in my country that didn't break at least one of the big rules, you just can't get caught. Ha.

I guess everyone has different PC experiences. Some love it, some hate it. You have to know what you're getting into. I always said go in with low expectations and you'll get a lot out of it, go in with high expectations and you'll most likely be disappointed.

I know being in the PC has made my time in Korea very easy. I find very little to complain about here, but that's just me.

warmachinenkorea · Joined: 12 Oct 2008

Thanks for all the replies.

I'm just curious about the rules and jobs.
What did you do and what where some rules?

df1983 · Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Location: Pyongtaek, Korea

You are not allowed to do anything as far as travel around the country or outside of the country until five months of actually being there.... 3 months of training and then 2 months of living in your site.... EVERYONE broke this rule but if they find out they won't even give you a chance.

If your host family has an issue with you the Peace Corps would almost always side with them regardless of your side of the story... The host families are where the peace Corp's reputation lies. (Stuff happened with a close friend of mine and they did absolutely nothing wrong).

If you do leave to travel around the country you must do "whereabouts" which is a text message letting peace corps know where you are all the time... You can only be out of site 3 days and 2 nights... I know this sounds great but it is almost impossible when traveling in a third world country and EVERYONE breaks this rule just because it is impossible not to.

Basically if you don't fit this image of being a "respectable model american" (almost like 1950's image of what is normal) then the peace corps will give you crap.... You can't voice political opinions, you aren't supposed to question religion or cultural ideas... no matter how absurd.

You can't post anything on facebook or a blog that "questions the agenda of the peace corps"... There are people in Washington who do nothing but monitor blogs and social networking sites looking for you to trip up.

You will feel almost like you are constantly under a microscope. In my site where I was placed my host mother told me that when she was approached by peace corps they told her to rat me out if she saw me do anything that was "questionable". You are basically being watched all the time and expected to live up to someone else's image of what it means to be a "respectable" american... I thought it was BS