Korean Job Discussion Forums

[champfer]

Hello! I've been working in Incheon for about 2 months. The job is quite tough, and I'm having quite a hard time adjusting... I have little time to myself, and I have yet to make any real friends to spend those few hours per week with.

I've been treated well and made some connections with the other teachers at my school, but no friends per se. I think this is partly because I'm a huge dork and I only feel truly comfortable around other dorks. That is, people who are laid back and yet socially awkward, if that makes any sense. Any idea where I can find such people? My interests are mostly in consuming film and animation. I never learned to play the fancy card games and such which some of my American friends are interested in, but I would be willing to try, if it means finding a single person in this country I can relate to...

[Cedar]

I am picturing someone who is all knees and elbows, with glasses that don't stay in the right spot. And I want to chuck that person under the chin and say "don't worry, Koreans are pretty dorky, you're more surrounded by dorks than you know." but then I wonder, is this trolling?

In all seriousness, there are a lot of clubs in the country, if you check online you'll find clubs for everything. even if you are checking in English.

[the_curious]

i would say that the majority of expats in Korea were not part of the popular crowd back home. so you're in good company.

[cyui]

Right there with you OP. Try meetup.com, it will help you feel more at ease *at least for a few months untill you can "weed" interests out and find EXACTLY what you want.

Most of the meetups are on weekends' so it should work

[Jane]

Last week I was at a bar in Haebangchon and there was a large table of people playing Dungeons and Dragons. With all due respect--actually I was interested in joining them to see how the game works!--they looked pretty dorky.

[OlBrownEyes]

There are lots of people with awkward traits, nerdy hobbies and all other characteristics of dorkishness. What you'll have to do though, is switch over to the dark side, find out where the foreign hangout area is and go out and have a few drinks. You'll also have to talk to some random people.

I knew a guy who was part of a Warhammer club. He'd get his figures from a hobby shop I think, then he'd paint them and put them together during the week. I thinkt hat every second week there would be some type of Warhammer tournament.

Are you a dork as in awkward, or you have dorky hobbies, or a bit of both?

[champfer]

Well, meetup.com might be helpful, I didn't know about that site. I'm actually a technophobe (when it comes to networking, which is backfiring now I guess), so I don't really know how to search except typing a few words into google or facebook and becoming frustrated. My dorky interests are anime and old movies... and I am awkward... often. Seriously, you'd think you could find an anime appreciation club in the largest city in Korea, but I can't. As for "find out where the foreign hangout area is", that's what I'm asking, of course! And I was hoping for something more specific than "Haebangchon", but I suppose it may be that the best I can do is to wander around...

[movybuf]

Film geek eh? Too bad you're out in Incheon and I'm stuck at home in Seoul with my baby! If I had more time, I love to geek out talking about movies!

[champfer]

I can of course go out to Seoul on the weekends. Perhaps I should just start my own meetup group! I guess I'll post on here if/when I find myself able to do that.

[Kaypea]

Hmm, if you could get to Seoul more, you could look into the Hallywood film club meetups. They screen classic and contemporary Korean and Japanese films. I would go to every meetup, but I'm always busy...

[DorkothyParker]

Where were you when I was still living in Bucheon? Seriously!

I did meet a nice dorky type dame on craigslist once. That's worth a shot.

At any rate, if you find yourself in Jeju before September, message me if you are up for a night of drinking and lackluster anime watching. I am socially awkward and my husband is antisocial but once we are out we can be lovely people.

[bigfourie]

do you drink?

come have a beer with me one night i live in incheon

im a gamer and did web design and such so bit of dork myself maybe hahaha

but yeah bro just reply here il get your email and we can have a drink or so

[cyui]

Do you look like Stalin? if so, we have alot to talk about

[Steelrails]

I feel for the OP, my first year here there were no dorky NETs. No one to make jokes about LAN parties, saving throws, going cyberpsycho, or the Prime Directive. I had plenty of friends, but a certain part of me was sooooo bored.

To the OP- Try a meetup or something, maybe look for some D&D thread or something or a film festival announcement.

Sorry, but I'm a long ways away from Incheon.

[Livewire]