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Jellybeanem
Joined: 06 May 2012
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 Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 10:20 am Post subject: Making friends in Korea |
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I'm thinking of coming to Korea to teach kindies in either Seoul or busan.
I'm excited but if I'm honest scared lol.I want to be able to make friends,socialise etc.
As im coming alone,dont have any friends in korea The last thing I want is to be dealing with culture shock and have noone to talk to.
I have joined a meet up group in seoul for photography but I haven't really found anything similar in busan.
I was told at a hogwon there will be other English teachers that would help me,but I'd ideally like to make contacts before I arrive,do you have any suggestions on how I would do this?
Thanks,
Em |
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amcnutt
Joined: 22 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 10:27 am Post subject: |
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I found it very easy to meet people in Korea. I had fellow teachers at my hagwon that I became friends with, but I also met a lot of people just getting out on the town and doing various activities.
I did meet a few people online before I headed over and we did meet up and hang out, but the ones who were actually my best friends I met while I was in Seoul, meeting "friends of friends" etc. I was really close with some of the foreign co-teachers at my school.
I honestly wouldn't worry about it. As long as you are a friendly person who can be social. |
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JustinC
Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Location: We Are The World!
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| Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, join any hogwon because there might be a foreigner there (or two, if you're extra lucky) who you might get on with. It's all about making friends and the teaching is just a minor detail. I can see absolutely no problems at all with that strategy 
Or try reading a few posts on this forum |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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| JustinC wrote: |
Yes, join any hogwon because there might be a foreigner there (or two, if you're extra lucky) who you might get on with. It's all about making friends and the teaching is just a minor detail. I can see absolutely no problems at all with that strategy
Or try reading a few posts on this forum |
Be fair. The transition for a first time teacher who is new to Korea is often much easier if they have a ready social group to depend on. It's hard to do your job well if you're miserable and lonely outside of work. |
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JustinC
Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Location: We Are The World!
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| Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| JustinC wrote: |
Yes, join any hogwon because there might be a foreigner there (or two, if you're extra lucky) who you might get on with. It's all about making friends and the teaching is just a minor detail. I can see absolutely no problems at all with that strategy
Or try reading a few posts on this forum |
Be fair. The transition for a first time teacher who is new to Korea is often much easier if they have a ready social group to depend on. It's hard to do your job well if you're miserable and lonely outside of work. |
Was I a bit harsh? I'm not so sure. Online friends are often there when real world ones are not. If you're the only foreigner in a school it doesn't mean you can't meet up with people outside of work, but you may have to put a little effort into it. A little isolation can be a positive, giving you some time to yourself to get or improve some skills. Plus how much integrating will you actually do if you're hanging out with your foreign work colleague/s? In my experience it wasn't all that much and I couldn't wait to see the back of them at the end of the contracts.
After witnessing many social groups I'd say getting into one that is in tune with your own interests and won't immediately start you on the 'been there, done that, Koreans are so ... blah, blah, blah' mindset are not good. This goes for what ever country you go to. The long-termers are ones I usually avoid* as they're already WAY past the honeymoon period and you know how misery loves company.
*Of course a few of my best friends here are long-termers, but I met them all by going out and socializing in new groups of people I met, mostly, online. Once you're past the awkward stage it's all good. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 3:49 am Post subject: |
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| It really depends on your personality, but personally, I'd have been pretty miserable if I was just flying solo for a month or two. That said, I know I was really icky to work with the people I did at my first hagwon, as we were all really close, had similar interests, and they make up some of my closest friends in the world. Yes, this did kind of keep me from becoming close to a lot of other people, but that's strictly because I lucked into such a great group. I realize not everyone will have the same interests. |
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