Korean Job Discussion Forums

[fustiancorduroy]

...

[fermentation]

Not enough Hispanic women.

[tzechuk]

I have always given myself 10 years. This is my 10th year. In the last 9 years, I got married, had a kid and got divorced to a Korean man. I came here because of him... so now my 10 years is almost up and I am packing my bags!

hooray!

[ldh2222]

Korea is not homely. Therefore, Korea will never be home. (And there's nothing wrong with that.)

[LemonHead]

Racist Koreans for starters.

Also, i'll never be able to advance here as a person. I'm not sure i'd want to be an ESL teacher for the rest of my life.

Living here is similiar to living in limbo, not really knowing what is going on and never really being able to move forward.

If you have aspirations beyond a studio flat and teaching english then staying here just isn't an option.

[fustiancorduroy]

[LemonHead]

Racism is indeed a virus that infects most countries but some alot more than others. And Korea really needs to see a DR.

[Mr. BlackCat]

Just because you want to leave Korea doesn't mean you hate it. I left Canada (before Korea), but I still love it there.

Korea has been good to me, but I'll be honest and say if it wasn't for the relatively easy money I would have left after 2 years. I'm almost done my 4th and going to stay for another bit. The exchange rate used to be the clincher, but now the dead economy back home is. My job is easy and there isn't much pressure which is nice. On the negative side, my job is easy and there isn't much pressure. I don't want to live my life doing the easiest possible thing, never challenging my brain. Do I make a difference here? Not in the classroom, the system is built against us. I have introduced some kids to a foreigner, but that's hardly my goal in life.

I'm going to leave because I cannot acheive anything more here. Personally, I'd rather struggle and feel it's worth it than live life so comfortably nothing here. In Korea, I drink and have fun, but I'm almost 30 and it's time for something else in life. No offense to anyone here, but I don't want a life partner that can barely speak my language. I want a life partner who can enhance my life, not accompany it. I want to be part of the society around me. I want to live in a place where people don't walk around with scowls on their faces, don't push and shove to be first all the time, actually engage in their surroundings. That sounds anti-Korea, but it's just a difference. It was fine for a while, but now I need these things in my life.

Korea is good, there's nothing wrong with it. But if I wake up when I'm 40 teaching kids "Nice to meet you" and drinking till I pass out I'm going to shoot myself in the head. And that's pretty much all there is for us here.

[Dharma_Blue]

[shamham]

My wife and I opted not to live in Korea for all kinds of reasons, many of them having nothing to do with Korea at all.

However, the fact of what we experienced as a mixed couple did come up in our discussions. Neither of us are spring chickens, and we accepted that we'd likely stay where we landed for good. We decided the ruffling of our harmony feathers - however rare - wasn't something we wanted to deal with. Life's too short.

I think it's much easier to live in Korea as either a single male/female foreigner, or as a non-mixed couple. I've been glad to hear of mixed couples who have experienced zero discrimination - truly. For us, it came down to a simple truth: Korea is the only country where my wife has been called a *beep* by a stranger, and that's not an acceptable living environment for us.

That's not the indictment of Korea that some apologists will likely make it out to be, by the way. It's just been our personal experience. I will say this - my wife trumps all. If at some future point her happiness required that we live in Korea, I'd make the move.

[kiwiduncan]

Putting aside all discussions of culture for a moment, let's simply look at SK's geographical circumstances.

50,000,000 people crammed into a small, relatively resource poor nation that imports 100% of its oil and 70% of its food from overseas and depends on exportng gas guzzling cars and nifty little electronic gizmos that, at the end of the day, people don't really need (and hence, quickly stop buying whenever there's trouble).

If this so called "economic recovery" we are seeing at the moment actually has some substance to it then oil prices are going to go up again and countries like Korea are going to have real trouble.

Having said, I'm still toying with the idea of returning to Korea for just one or two more years , but long-term is definately not an option.

[Joe666]

Blackcat wrote:

[Kurtz]

Here I sit at 6.20am with my cycling gear on waiting for the sun to rise..why? because I want to go on an MTB ride and I know if I go much later, I will be confronted with a sea of multicoloured gore-tex jackets, with matching visors and hiking boots, and i might cop an elbow to the face by a powerwalker.

Lifestyle. Korea has a high density population, and any form of outdoor activity is met with horrific crowds.

Space. Koreans have little or no spacial awareness. Standing at the door in a train, waiting to get out, positioning myself just enough distance from the door for some breathing room, in pops an ajumma just so she can be first.
Getting out of the train, will the impatient Koreans allow me to get off first before storming in? no, they'll just walk through me to get to that elusive seat.

Fake manners. Yes yes it's all very nice that they bow, hold their imaginary hanbok when they pour a drink or hand over a pen, but just put a steering wheel in front of them, or a bottle of soju and some food on the table and out comes the REAL Korean manners. Gotta laugh at those suits they wear, doesn't quite cut it with me when you see them throwing up on the street, or urinating in a subway, or leaving the wife and kids at home to go dancing with some hoe in a noraebang, I love Korean man culture!

Stares. Doesn't usually bother me, but someone is always looking......

Personality of Koreans. Well......enough said really.

Maybe the OP is a go getter, good for him, but for those that are not, the 2.7 million ceiling doesn't really seem so tasty. If you wanna hang in Seoul and be a big spending hubby to your Gucci girl, that's cool, I want to be in nature, but that is more stressful than a classroom of 3rd graders with no co-teacher.

I don't mind being here, but for the long term, no way, it's the small things that get to me.

I personally have to leave Korea twice a year, just to get out of the pressure cooker. I can't imagine having to do that in any other country I've visited (OK maybe India).

Time to hit the mountain! pighting!

[mc_jc]

Back before I got my current job, I always said that I would leave if things didn't improve for me- luckily, they did.

I think what keeps me here is that I am removed from Koreans and their ways. If I had to deal with them now, I would also be compelled to leave.

[Countrygirl]

The reasons I'm leaving?...

The corruption at school bothers me.
I want a career and not just a job.
My daughter's teacher is horrible...never in the class and when he is it's just self-study. Yet, one day he'll be a Principal because that is what he is really working on.
My son needs lots of help at school and I can't help.
Korea's not multicultural enough.
My husband wants to leave.

But while living here I loved Korea and we had a great time. It's going to be hard going back to real life.

Ah, real life...
People smoking marijuana in the parks, downstairs tenants smoking marijuana and on their balconies.
Loud music from other tenants.
High rent, taxes and more taxes.
Long commutes.
Kids not able to go outside without me or my husband.
No extra money for anything.
Paying and having to go downstairs to do my laundry.