Korean Job Discussion Forums

[siwawalter]

Teaching in South Korea, made you a better person or a more grumpy person? How's your outlook on life, in general? Thoughts. For instance, "teaching in South Korea, made me realize there's another country out there that does things differently. If you go to the gym, you can rent clothes to work out."

"Teaching in South Korea, the kids are more polite than the kids in the U.S."

Just like your inputs. Reason for asking is, just want to know if teaching in South Korea would change me as a person.

[Chris.Quigley]

You could become an alcoholic.

[siwawalter]

You can become an alcoholic teaching in South Korea? How so? Are the kids that bad?

[BoholDiver]

I have heard horror stories of American schools. Not sure if they're true.


What K kids will do are things I would never even dream of doing to a teacher. I have had kids swear at me, throw garbage at me, punch me in the stomach, just stand up and walk out of class whenever they want, etc.

I am not going to blame the parents of K teachers, but some do. I don't know where this attitude comes from. It is clear a lot of kids here do not consider their foreign teacher on the same level as their K teacher.

[some waygug-in]

Same as above for me.


I can't say kids are as bad as back in Canada, but it's been a long time since I was in a Canadian school.

But there sure is a lack of respect for weiguk teachers in Korea.

I do recall though, we were pretty rough on our French teacher back in grade 8, so I think there is something about middle school years and learning foreign languages....... it's a pretty tough sell.

[offtokorea]

I thought my kids were angels, but I had experience teaching American kids before I went to Korea. Plus my classes were really small.

However, I think teaching in Korea messed me up psychologically. I'm working at home now and I flinch a lot when my manager walks up and keep expecting someone to lecture or yell at me. But people just don't do that here the way they did there. Hopefully I will get over this. I don't remember everyone in my home country being this kind. I think the hagwon messed with my perception of things.

Getting out of Korea has made me happier. I'm even more grateful for the things I have than I was before. I don't know what I'm doing with life but I appreciate my own country a lot more. And I actually liked Korea as a country, more or less. I liked the food and the few people who spoke to me.

[siwawalter]

Thanks for the awesome replies.

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

I'd say I'm a lot more cynical now-- but a lot of that is aging, not necessarily Korea. Or maybe it's aging in Korea.

Or lyme disease.

[oldtactics]

Personally, I think I'm a lot more interesting (to myself and others) since I arrived here. I certainly like myself a lot more than I did when I was home and working at jobs I hated. I find that I spend more time doing things that I'm passionate about, especially in terms of studying. More time and money, less stress = happiness? So far, at least.

I've always been interested & appreciative of other cultures, but I think living here has increased that - Korea certainly isn't perfect, but I still love it, and it's also made me a lot more aware about the social culture back home.

Meeting the diverse foreigner population here, not just teachers, helped me realize that a 9-5 desk job wasn't the only 'career' option, and that my I can live abroad without feeling like it's just a 'break' from real life.

That's my experience, 2 years in.

[OMGtrev]

I learned to have a lot more patience. I can see how my patience has improved since I started teaching.

I also learned that being a fairly attractive blond guy in Korea is infinitely superior to being a fairly attractive blond guy in America!

[sulperman]

Careful, you could become a total weirdo who lives here but pretends not to and posts basic questions about life in Korea to get some strange kind of kicks that a normal person couldn't begin to comprehend.

[DorkothyParker]

I learned I love teaching children and that I am good with very small kids.

I have become increasingly reclusive and paranoid as I haven't found any friends with shared interests. Also, I find the foreigner communities can be cliquish and hard to break into. I hope I can become a happy, social person when I go back to America.

I would say personality-wise, I've become a worse person and I no longer no how to communicate with people. I hope it's just temporary, though.

[asylum seeker]

Oh, another siwawalter thread? Awesome.

[PatrickGHBusan]

[siwawalter]

That's crazy.