Korean Job Discussion Forums

[fratnoodle]

I lived in Korea from July 1990- September 1991, and I returned in October 2009. Oh boy, how it has changed. On the motorway from Gangwon-do to Seoul you used to see terrible accidents everyday (I traveled this motorway everyday for 14 months). Buses passed cars on the left going up hills (with absolutely no clue as to what was coming down the other side of the hill). Bread and coffee were obsolete. Ojjushis would carry around live chickens 8-10 crates high on the back of their mopeds in the middle of Seoul. It was very common to see ajjumas holding kids in the air peeing and pooing in public. Oh, the entire country in the summertime would smell like a big mountain of Kimchi. I will write more later.

[ThingsComeAround]

[eamo]

Since I came in 2000 the main changes I've noticed just walking around is that there seem to be...

less noisy vegetable/fish/sock trucks

less shops that blare music onto the sidewalk

more variation in fashion (in 2000 everyone followed religiously whatever fashion was in for their respective sex and age)



I've always lived in Seoul or its suburbs and I've always felt the stares. You don't need to go to the country to get a good old stare. It hasn't declined at all, to my mind.

If anything the curious stares have increased now if I'm out with my Korean wife and our daughter.......apparently the only thing more interesting to a Korean than what's in a foreigners shopping cart is what his wife and subsequent child looks like.

[Bowden_PSM]

I don't know about Seoul, but everywhere else, the demise of the po-jam-ma-cha (proper tent soju places). Everywhere. I used to love those things. You can still find them sometimes, but not like you used too.

Imported food, especially in rural areas. Also in small cities/rural areas, the massive expansion of Home Plus/Emart/Lottemart (on a smaller scale). When I came in 2003, my place only had the "Top Mart" << yikes! for selection.

KTX of course.

(In a reversal, I am still always shocked to see the airport in Gimhae still says temporary international terminal. 8 years is temporary I guess. Though it has been a bit since I've been there)

Soju was 22% when I came here.

Attitudes about North Korea have been up and down like a yo-yo.

People, even in rural areas, are better able to deal with foreigners in their midst.

Cheese! You can find it now. I remember, after 2 years in Korea, back in 2005 when I first found cheese at a WAL-Mart. Shockingly good day, though I was soon constipated. Speaking of which, WAL-Mart no longer exists.

The rise of Costco.

A lot more foreigners. So many it seems boggling at times. When I first came, I was the only one in town.

Someone said fashion. I second that. Back in 2003, it seemed everyone just chose from 2 or three styles that fit their particular demographic. Though not perfect, the 7-8 styles that they choose from now is a decided improvement.

K-pop music still blows! (off topic, but I had to say it)

In the most general sense, I think the English useage here has improved, though not by leaps and bounds. Signage has improved a lot.

Archetecture is slowly becoming a bit more random, though still has a long way to go.

Immigration procedures have become a pain in the ass for E-2 people. Ahh, the days of the magic blue paper. I miss those.

[BroodingSea]

Yeah the mosquito vans and the soju tents are two things I didnt see my second time round. I don't know but even things like the pc ban seemed more upmarket as did the apates. More security etc like cameras and swipe cards.

[T-J]

Back in the day we had Taco Bell.

Then they closed.

Now they are back.

The more things change....

[Captain Marlow]

in daegu, more people riding bicycles nowadays (especially track bikes), more women openly smoking (mostly at cafes and bars, but i remember when they would all sneak off to the toilets), kebabs!!!, shops charging for plastic bags, wifi, cherry coke, coffee shops on every corner, more foreigners (i remember days when i would only see my coworkers around the gu), women police officers (actually have only seen a small handful), don't even get me started on how fashion has changed, tho i think people are still followers, not leaders in their fashion, more mexican restaurants...

[Weigookin74]

[Captain Corea]

[UseAsDirected]

[Weigookin74]

Let me further add, my former rural area had no homeplus. Only small ma and pas, fog trucks riding around everywhere, tents, and adjummas with flowery pants. This was in the late 2000's. Maybe over the past year, there are more foriegners there. But I live in a bigger city now. When I first came to Korea and visited the city I now live in, there was one duncan donuts. Now they're everywhere. No starbucks and now a couple. Even a drive thru mcdonalds. Of course home pluses, lotte marts, emarts, too. Still no mexican restaurants. Wishing for that.

I think there are still some tents but not as many as before in my old town. There was around 80,000 in it. In the west, a good sized small city. But here, a pretty rural place.

I think when most foriegners define rural, they think 300,000 to 600,000. That's equal to a city of 30,000 to 60,000 back home. Once you get under 150,000, this is very rural. I suspect near Seoul, some of these places may well have home pluses, but not in much of the country.

[mysterious700]

There have been subtle changes in the past few years even. I can only imagine being here in the 1990's. Must have been a lot of fun. I imagine even fat, bald, and old guys had pretty Korean wives. Now they have to go to Thailand. Ha ha.

Some of the changes are good. Some are a little sad. Since being back, it seems foriegners on this board are much more polite than they use to be. It's easier to find western products. But I kind of miss the charm of being in a smaller place and being one of only a couple of foriegners. It was a lot of fun. I felt like a minor celebrety. But nowadays, many foriegners even in smaller cities. I feel less like a celebrity. Also, more younger foriegners. Where are all the 50 year olds? They gave some character to the place. I actually liked many of them. They gave good advice even if it was occasionally jaded. Ha ha.

Where have all the weirdos gone too? EPIK always had them sent to very rural places. Now even those places have younger foriegners. Strange! Whenever I was here before, the younger ones never would have agreed to remote rural postings; they wanted to be in Seoul. That's why older teachers ended up in the countryside. I still don't know why younger teachers who come here now would accept such a posting. Why wouldn't they turn it down and wait for a better urban posting? If you're only here for a year, go to the city and have some memories for a lifetime. But to each their own. Ha ha. All the old rules have been turned upside down. Korea was the Bermuda Triangle before. Now, it's the twilight zone. Is it the recession maybe?

[Lazio]

Captain Corea wrote:

It's funny you mention that, because I was just talking the other day about how the PC Room has totally died off in the past 5 years. When I came here 10 years ago, they were all over. Now, I spot them, but they're a much reduced presence.

Within a 200 yard radius around my home there are easily 10 PC rooms. Dunno how was it 10 years ago but can't imagine being much more than this.

[toby99]

Yeah I can't imagine there being too many more PC Bangs than there are now. Needless to say, the ModEdit adjosshi's still exist in large numbers, as well. The trucks blowing mosquito killing substances out the back are still around, although probably used far less than they used to be (I saw a few on Gangwha-do last autumn).

I agree with the poster(s) who lament about there not being as many "older" ESL teachers as there were in the past. I've always found them to be much more interesting and colorful than their younger counterparts. Don't get me wrong, there are still some old timers around, but they're being phased out by the spring chickens, unfortunately.

Can anyone speak to the vibrancy of the ahn-ma/room salon culture back in the 90's?

[Weigookin74]