Korean Job Discussion Forums

PatrickGHBusan

We moved to Canada in 2008 due to unforseen circumstances. My wife is Korean.

As I had to adapt to Korea when I moved there in 1997, so she has had to adapt to Canada. We have two kids and moved in an arguably favorable situation as we own a house and a profit earning property, have no debts, and substantial savings and investments from the 11 years in Korea.

We stayed because of a job offer that was impossible to refuse (for me) and my wife is at home and working part time until our daughter gets a daycare spot. Our son is in kindergarten now.

Anyway...

How has the move fared for those who made it...from Korea to your home country with Korean spouse in tow.... Question

Hopefully this leads to a good discussion.

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

I'm a Canadian but I moved with my Korean wife to Las Vegas as UNLV gave me an assistantship. I liked UNLV but both of us disliked Vegas and my wife was unhappy for the three-some years we were there. Neither of us could work legally and so money was tight.

I found myself surprisingly going through a pretty strong reverse culture shock. Everyone so loud, wild, in-your-face, rude, with dirty, sloppy clothes and tattoos. Everything big, giant, huge, open 24 hours, with 186 different brands of taco chips to choose from. Option paralysis. No one bowing when you leave a store or restaurant. After a while normalcy, or what passes for normalcy there, returned.

When I finished there was no work and we had to leave, and came back to Korea. One of the problems of being an expat for a long time is that you seem to feel half-comfortable, half-culture shocked everywhere, even home. When I go back to Edmonton I can't believe how cold it is and how rotten the roads are!

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

I wish. I knew I'd get in trouble for writing that. Cool

Okay, "three or so years!"

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 6:11 am Post subject:

Emark · Joined: 10 May 2007 Location: duh, Korea?

Sergio Stefanuto · Joined: 14 May 2009 Location: UK

It hasn't been the best of times - disgusted by the gratuitous taxes, welfarism, miserable weather. Looking forward to leaving again soon - though not to Korea.

MollyBloom · Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Location: James Joyce's pants

I love the US, but I also love Korea. I'm dying to go back. Sure, there are things that annoy me about Korea, but there are things that annoy me about my own country. I think I got lucky in a way because I bonded with the people and the culture, and that does not happen for many people; look at the plethora of " I hate Korea" threads.

My latest transition back home was harder than past years because my fiance has to stay for an extra six months, and I couldn't stay, but also because the friends and business connections I made were amazing. To add to that, my Korean language skills were improving, so I was more confident in that area.

I'm looking for teaching jobs after my MA, but I *sort of* hope I can't find one so that I can come back to Korea! My fiance doesn't hope for that, but he wouldn't mind coming back for a few more years if need be.

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 5:22 am Post subject:

Very interesting discussion so far!