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languistic
Joined: 25 Nov 2009
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 Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by languistic on Tue Jan 18, 2011 3:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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itistime
Joined: 23 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Sleepy in Seoul wrote: |
| SinclairLondon wrote: |
| ... Best part, aside from the beaches, much needed fresh air and exercise, is talking with people from around the world who could care less about Korea. |
From the tone of your post, wouldn't you get more satisfaction from talking with people who couldn't care less about Korea?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw |
^^^
Except people learning ESL can't understand what this bloke
is going on about. So, the grammar point is lost anyhow.
He's right about that little tidbit, though. |
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Salamander
Joined: 05 Jan 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 9:21 pm Post subject: adrift |
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I need a break from Korea as well. I've been here for going on four years straight, didn't leave the country. I wasted four multiple visas. I just wanted to save up a big pile of Smaug currency before leaving. I realize now that I was wrong. In retrospect, I should have gone to Thailand a few times, should have flown back home to Canada and hang out with my old man. I like what SinclairLondon wrote upthread:
Book a flight to Thailand. Go to a detox center. Green smoothies or water diet for a week and cardio: sweat all the red pepper and kimchi out of your system. Then, follow it up with a month or two at a muay thai camp.
I quit last week, finish my contract in late February. It's one of those shady after-school programs in Anyang, the owner of the program funneling money out of the school through his "teachers's" bank accounts. My co-worker is completely clueless, in constant denial. I've worked for the company for going on three years, never paid a dime into pension. The owner doesn't like paying into pension, enough said. But it sounded great in the beginning, not having money deducted monthly, but like crap in the end. I basically flushed the owner's half of my monthly pension money down the drain; three years, like four mil. None of his foreigners pay into it, apparently.
Tooth analogy: I have a cavity inside of me, eating away at my sanity. I walk around like a lethargic zombie nowadays, breeze through my daily classes without much cognitive energy, never lose my composure when my classes invariably erupt, wouldn't dare spend a Joule of energy on such matters, pass in and out of Starbucks like a ghostly apparition, flop on my couch, download torrents, and read, the book draining whatever energy I have left; and I doze off. It doesn't matter when I wake up, 8pm or 5 am, because it's Groundhog Day here, Tuesdays blurring into Saturday nights, empty-vesseled Korean lovers coming and going without so much as a goodbye at the door . . .
Hey, it could be worse, right? |
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TheresaTheresa
Joined: 24 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 12:18 am Post subject: Re: adrift |
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| Salamander wrote: |
I need a break from Korea as well. I've been here for going on four years straight, didn't leave the country. I wasted four multiple visas. I just wanted to save up a big pile of Smaug currency before leaving. I realize now that I was wrong. In retrospect, I should have gone to Thailand a few times, should have flown back home to Canada and hang out with my old man. I like what SinclairLondon wrote upthread:
Book a flight to Thailand. Go to a detox center. Green smoothies or water diet for a week and cardio: sweat all the red pepper and kimchi out of your system. Then, follow it up with a month or two at a muay thai camp.
I quit last week, finish my contract in late February. It's one of those shady after-school programs in Anyang, the owner of the program funneling money out of the school through his "teachers's" bank accounts. My co-worker is completely clueless, in constant denial. I've worked for the company for going on three years, never paid a dime into pension. The owner doesn't like paying into pension, enough said. But it sounded great in the beginning, not having money deducted monthly, but like crap in the end. I basically flushed the owner's half of my monthly pension money down the drain; three years, like four mil. None of his foreigners pay into it, apparently.
Tooth analogy: I have a cavity inside of me, eating away at my sanity. I walk around like a lethargic zombie nowadays, breeze through my daily classes without much cognitive energy, never lose my composure when my classes invariably erupt, wouldn't dare spend a Joule of energy on such matters, pass in and out of Starbucks like a ghostly apparition, flop on my couch, download torrents, and read, the book draining whatever energy I have left; and I doze off. It doesn't matter when I wake up, 8pm or 5 am, because it's Groundhog Day here, Tuesdays blurring into Saturday nights, empty-vesseled Korean lovers coming and going without so much as a goodbye at the door . . .
Hey, it could be worse, right? |
Dude! You sound seriously depressed. Hang in there. Won't be long now... |
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Epik_Teacher
Joined: 28 Apr 2010
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| Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 7:46 pm Post subject: |
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| languistic wrote: |
| 10 years stuck at the hagwon/public school level? Yep....well past the time for you to get out. If you can't help yourself, then ain't nobody gonna help you. You will find the same holds true wherever you next hang your hat as well. |
I start the CELTA in January, starting the DELTA shortly after that. I admit I got comfortable and lazy. I worked at 2 small, small town hakwans for 6 years and liked it. I left because they couldn't pay more than 2 million or so. The first couple years of EPIK wasn't even too bad because I had a great co-teacher. But after 4 years in EPIK and especially this year, I'm completely and 100% burnt out on Korea.
On the positive side, I have managed to save over $100k in gold and cash and do an MS Ed, so it hasn't been a total waste. I just need to get the hell out of here! |
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Kurtz
Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Location: ples bilong me
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| Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Epik_Teacher wrote: |
| languistic wrote: |
| 10 years stuck at the hagwon/public school level? Yep....well past the time for you to get out. If you can't help yourself, then ain't nobody gonna help you. You will find the same holds true wherever you next hang your hat as well. |
I start the CELTA in January, starting the DELTA shortly after that. I admit I got comfortable and lazy. I worked at 2 small, small town hakwans for 6 years and liked it. I left because they couldn't pay more than 2 million or so. The first couple years of EPIK wasn't even too bad because I had a great co-teacher. But after 4 years in EPIK and especially this year, I'm completely and 100% burnt out on Korea.
On the positive side, I have managed to save over $100k in gold and cash and do an MS Ed, so it hasn't been a total waste. I just need to get the hell out of here! |
Good to see you have a plan but 10 grand saved per year isn't that much for Korea, was it worth it? |
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Epik_Teacher
Joined: 28 Apr 2010
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| Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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| The first 5 years, I traveled a lot and didn't save a dime. I only started saving seriously in 2005. But if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't. |
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randall020105
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Location: the land of morning confusion...
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| Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 10:19 pm Post subject: re: hehe... |
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| hehe... i'm enjoying this... |
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earthquakez
Joined: 10 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 4:19 am Post subject: Re: adrift |
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| Salamander wrote: |
Tooth analogy: I have a cavity inside of me, eating away at my sanity. I walk around like a lethargic zombie nowadays, breeze through my daily classes without much cognitive energy, never lose my composure when my classes invariably erupt, wouldn't dare spend a Joule of energy on such matters, pass in and out of Starbucks like a ghostly apparition, flop on my couch, download torrents, and read, the book draining whatever energy I have left; and I doze off. It doesn't matter when I wake up, 8pm or 5 am, because it's Groundhog Day here, Tuesdays blurring into Saturday nights, empty-vesseled Korean lovers coming and going without so much as a goodbye at the door . . .
Hey, it could be worse, right? |
You've got the makings of a novelist there!  Too bad you didn't have enough energy to write a book in your downtime, seriously. Maybe you could move on to writing in your next phase of life.
I think most people working in Korea have had a touch or more of what the OP has. 10 years is a long time in Korea for a foreigner who is not married to a Korean, no wonder he's burnt out. The way to go is to have vacations outside Korea which the OP did. Better to save less money and have far better experiences that take you back to working in Korea with a more positive frame of mind.
When I did public school jobs they were in the phase before they started destroying foreign teachers' goodwill by denying them vacation and making them deskwarm. Vacation was longer, no deskwarming at many schools.
Travelling was the perfect way to get rid of all the tension caused by normal Korean behaviour in rental dwellings including the problems many teachers have of not getting real sleep because your neighbours make unacceptable noise at all hours including the early morning. It was the perfect way to escape the constant staring and comments, some unfriendly, and the rudeness in a real sense from some Koreans young and old in one of the smaller places I lived. It was the perfect way to be among colour, nature, individuality of places and clean beaches, and to get away from the Korean way of filling up space and quietness and replacing it with noise and turmoil.
It's harder to work at hagwons because of the reduced vacation but public schools have been going that route for a while. You appreciate the good things of Korea when you've been away from the elements that cause tension and stress. If you can it's a must to travel outside Korea during winter. That can really bring non Koreans down even if the cold isn't as bad as in some other countries. The drab aspects look 100 times worse in the winter. |
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Vagabundo
Joined: 26 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 4:26 am Post subject: |
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yes, winter and summer vacation OUT of Korea is de rigeour.
no matter how much it dents the savings rate. (and it does, without a doubt)
It's one surefire way (for me at least) to retain my sanity and keep my overall levels of content within the safety zone, as I simply count down the days from one vacation to the next. |
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Sprite06
Joined: 20 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 5:45 am Post subject: |
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Lots of negativity in this thread
Why don't you all just go home? |
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Vagabundo
Joined: 26 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:55 am Post subject: |
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| Sprite06 wrote: |
Lots of negativity in this thread
Why don't you all just go home? |
because negativity sometimes needs a healthy outlet and Dave's serves as such.
I like it here for the most part, so long as I get my summer and winter out of Korea getaways. Without them it'd be far more difficult if not impossible to stay here longer term. |
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lakeshow
Joined: 02 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 7:32 am Post subject: |
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what a bunch of softies  |
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earthquakez
Joined: 10 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Sprite06 wrote: |
Lots of negativity in this thread
Why don't you all just go home? |
 I always chuckle when I see negative poster who have no insights to offer chiming in to bitch about people discussing their experiences in Korea. Usually a minor symptom of troll-itis. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 4:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Vagabundo wrote: |
| Sprite06 wrote: |
Lots of negativity in this thread
Why don't you all just go home? |
because negativity sometimes needs a healthy outlet and Dave's serves as such.
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Except venting your anger to relieve it is not always healthy but often has negative results.
http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2009/03/happiness-myth-no-3-venting-anger-relieves-it.html
And you can see this on Dave's. The same people vent weekly if not daily. If venting anger relieved it, then one would think there'd be less venting and negativity overall. Venting and expressing negativity tends to create a feedback loop of negativity which feeds on itself.
For those who would like to see some of the actual studies:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbushman/bbs99.pdf |
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