Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Privateer]

This is a relatively recent change, I think dating from about the time they rehashed all the bus services in Seoul, but bus drivers are a lot calmer these days. You used to get thrown about a lot as they raced around their route as fast as possible, always sharp turns and sharp braking.

[LDJS]

Way more male Waeygookin competition in the 'twon.

[interestedinhanguk]

In only the year and a half that I've been here, I swear there's way more foreign products at the grocery stores.

[LDJS]

Up until 6 months ago you need to:

Be white and from a NES country.

Have a pulse.

To get a decent job here.

[kimchipig]

I arrived in Korea in 1993. At the time:

-It was practically impossible to get anything imported outside of the black markets in Seoul.

-A taxi was W1000 for 3km.

-A bus ride was W300.

-A 500ml draft beer was W1000

-The exchange rate was W500 to a Canadian Dollar.

-People chased you down the street asking you to teach their kids.

-Koreans were tremendously fun to party with and they partied like animals.

-Dating Korean women resulted in racial slurs.

-The country went anti-waygook when Commie KDJ got elected and even worse when Commie Roh got elected and it was all run from Pyongyang.

-The 2002 Race Riots were a serious embarrassment for Korea.

-Inchon airport is a better facility but Kimpo was much more convenient and easy to get to, and especially if you live outside of Seoul.

-I was there in March of 2010 and saw Korea had developed into a much more mature and self secure society. President Lee has rooted out the commies KDJ and Roh installed all over the place.

-In 1993, Korea was a dynamic place. Now it has been eclipsed by China in practically every way one can imagine.

[PatrickGHBusan]

Commie KDJ and Commie Roh?

Surely you jest!

[Junior]

The subway is way more crowded than before. You can hardly ever get a seat nowadays no matter what time of day you take it.

It used to be much more pleasant. It was never full. In about 2005 they decided to make it more profitable and reduced the number of trains running. Now it is oversubscribed.Nose to armpit the whole way.

Another factor becoming obvious is there's more old people. They used to be relegated to the seats at the end of the carriages. But now they've encroached on all the other seats as well.

[Weigookin74]

I would be interested to hear what dating was like back then compared to now. Was it easier for guys to have a hot girlfriend? It seems like it has run hot and cold for me since I've been here for the past 3 years. Sometimes great and sometimes bad. I know there are some guys who get luck all the time and many others who never have any luck. I assume K chicks are probably much more difficult nowadays because of competition and other factors (financial and otherwise).

[Dazed and Confused]

1997 is remembered for the good times!
Everything was much cheaper that the US and your salary went much, much farther.
Got paid 1.25 mil and sent home about 1 mil a month
shared housing unless you wanted to live in a yogwon
working saturdays 2-6pm
all the illegal teachers were Canadian because Americans couldn't get more than 14 days visa
Alex Buffa! Who can forget him?
getting paid in cash every month by the hogwon secretary
Korean girls with 1.5 inches of makeup and grossly overpainted clown lips
university students who begged you to come to their house for dinner and you met their whole family
buying illegal movie tickets
Carrefour opening in Korea and then leaving
Legit massage was unheard of
no manicurists anywhere
really nasty love motels down dark alleys
Tong-il Ho trains
Bundang and Ilsan didn't exist
Sacre Cour Bakery and Doutour Coffee Shop in Taejon
Trying to find a half decent place to get my poodle's hair cut. Then trying to convince them, in English, that I did NOT want a dog with pink ears.
Trying to find a vet that spoke at least a little English
No heartworm medication for my dog was available in Korea
Buying practically any drug you wanted OTC
Pizza Hut, McDonald's, KFC, & Popeyes. That was it for western restaurants in Taejon.

[Weigookin74]

Doutour Coffee Shop. IS this place still around? I went to Japan earlier this month and went to this coffee shop in Tokyo. They had this Iced Honey Latte that I really liked. Wondering if it's here in Korea now.

[Jeonmunka]

Pollution was bad in Seoul and Incheon 97 when I first went to Korea. But not as bad as now. It has got a little better in the city due to gas replacing diesel buses. That was a big change.
But, there seemed to be better weather back then - in the way that summer was hot and winter was cold and summer had blue sky save for the monsoon.
My kitchen faced west towards Incheon and for all of August 2008 there were beautiful blue skies. Quite suddenly gray became the color of the day and never faltered. The reason the skies were so clean in August was that China slowed industrial output preceeding and during the Olympic Games period. The reason the skies all turned gray again was China resumed industrial output in earnest; Three days after the games finished the skies over Incheon to become thick gray soup again.
How about today, is the sky blue?

[fermentation]

One thing that doesn't seem to change is the quality of music. The only difference is that back in the 90s, I remember K-pop being more Korean. There was a certain Koreaness to the "music." Nowadays it sounds just like crappy American pop music with the lyrics changed to Korean plus choreographed dancing. Koreans must have choreohraphed dancing with their music.

[Horangi Munshin]

[Louis VI]

pre-3ply

[interestedinhanguk]