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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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 Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 3:25 am Post subject: What makes Korea a cool place to be these days? |
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| I did a 5 year tour there from the mid to late 2000s decade. Korea was interesting and exciting for most of that time. I lived in Apkujung/Sinsa dong for the first couple of years and then in the Jayang-dong/Konkuk Uni area for the last few. I really enjoyed living there, but as time wore on it did start to wear on me, and I decided to move on. I'm still interested in Korea, as I teach and work with Koreans in another country these days. |
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Ballerina2012
Joined: 17 Jan 2012
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 3:37 am Post subject: |
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What makes Korea a cool place to be these days?
A Job! No jobs in the USA.. |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 3:43 am Post subject: |
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| Ballerina2012 wrote: |
What makes Korea a cool place to be these days?
A Job! No jobs in the USA.. |
Good one; jobs are always nice. I noticed that about the US when I went back in '10. I'm lucky enough to have one of those in Shanghai. What else? |
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JustinC
Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Location: We Are The World!
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 4:50 am Post subject: |
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| Autumn is really cool (no pun intended) these days; dry, sunny days with little wind, no heating or cooling required in my apartment. Also the 'Hi Seoul' festival at the moment is pretty cool. |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 5:21 am Post subject: |
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| JustinC wrote: |
| Autumn is really cool (no pun intended) these days; dry, sunny days with little wind, no heating or cooling required in my apartment. Also the 'Hi Seoul' festival at the moment is pretty cool. |
Yep, autumn is a nice time there. I'm not cheap by any stretch, but I rarely ever turned on the heat, even through winter. |
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MetaFitX
Joined: 23 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:24 am Post subject: |
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Off the top of my head:
-Korea today is what Japan was in the 80's and 90's. THE place to be in Asia. K-Pop is HUGELY popular in Asia and is increasingly popular elsewhere (where you at Gangnam Style haters???). Korean dramas are likewise just as popular.
-Korea's economic rise has seen its stature in world affairs grow as well. Heck, the last movie I seen (Bourne Legacy) had a portion of the movie shot in Seoul. Another movie coming out (Cloud Atlas) takes place in a futuristic high-tech Korea.
-Korean language is becoming more and more useful. I read a story a while back that said Korean is one of the, if not the most popular language to learn in Singapore now.
-Korea's economy continues to rise. While Japan is fading, Korea is rising.
Hallyu Wave!! |
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Dodge7
Joined: 21 Oct 2011
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:32 am Post subject: |
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| MetaFitX wrote: |
Off the top of my head:
-Korea today is what Japan was in the 80's and 90's. THE place to be in Asia. K-Pop is HUGELY popular in Asia and is increasingly popular elsewhere (where you at Gangnam Style haters???). Korean dramas are likewise just as popular.
-Korea's economic rise has seen its stature in world affairs grow as well. Heck, the last movie I seen (Bourne Legacy) had a portion of the movie shot in Seoul. Another movie coming out (Cloud Atlas) takes place in a futuristic high-tech Korea.
-Korean language is becoming more and more useful. I read a story a while back that said Korean is one of the, if not the most popular language to learn in Singapore now.
-Korea's economy continues to rise. While Japan is fading, Korea is rising.
Hallyu Wave!! |
Keep smoking whatever it is you're smoking brother, because folks in the States and elsewhere can care less about Korea and know nothing about it besides Hyundai and Samsung. Korea's a minor blip on the popularity radar and that's it because of Psy. Don't get all riled up. Relax. |
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JustinC
Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Location: We Are The World!
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:40 am Post subject: |
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| Dodge7 wrote: |
| MetaFitX wrote: |
Off the top of my head:
-Korea today is what Japan was in the 80's and 90's. THE place to be in Asia. K-Pop is HUGELY popular in Asia and is increasingly popular elsewhere (where you at Gangnam Style haters???). Korean dramas are likewise just as popular.
-Korea's economic rise has seen its stature in world affairs grow as well. Heck, the last movie I seen (Bourne Legacy) had a portion of the movie shot in Seoul. Another movie coming out (Cloud Atlas) takes place in a futuristic high-tech Korea.
-Korean language is becoming more and more useful. I read a story a while back that said Korean is one of the, if not the most popular language to learn in Singapore now.
-Korea's economy continues to rise. While Japan is fading, Korea is rising.
Hallyu Wave!! |
Keep smoking whatever it is you're smoking brother, because folks in the States and elsewhere can care less about Korea and know nothing about it besides Hyundai and Samsung. Korea's a minor blip on the popularity radar and that's it because of Psy. Don't get all riled up. Relax. |
I could agree with you both; Korea has a low profile, which could continue. Also Korea's manufacturing has been improving consistently so that even its cars might be considered a force to be reckoned with soon. I've traveled in a few of them and they seem to be well made and designed. I've owned a Samsung tv, dvd player, video player, surround sound system, and phone so am a little biased and it's a tiny cross section. |
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alongway
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 6:53 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| -Korean language is becoming more and more useful. I read a story a while back that said Korean is one of the, if not the most popular language to learn in Singapore now. |
While I agree with some of the things you said, this I take issue with. But not just in regards to Korean. Other than English there are very few languages that are generally "useful" beyond the context in which you plan to learn and use it.
While many people like to tout China's giant population as a reason Mandarin is "useful" it's useless if you're going to do business in or live in Peru.
The only genuine utilitarian language is English. ESL is a huge business and the reason it's a huge business is because everyone is learning it. Korean is only popular in Singapore right now because Singapore has bought Korean culture lock stock and barrel. A friend told me they have more space dedicated to K-Pop in the CD stores than all other music from all other sources combined. Spanish is really the only language that is in several other countries outside of Spain, and might be the only other one that is remotely close to being a utilitarian language, but it still doesn't have the reach of English.
Korean might be useful if you wanted to impress and pick up university girls from singapore. Korean is certainly useful if you're living in Korea and want to do more than simply remain a wallflower.
| Quote: |
| Keep smoking whatever it is you're smoking brother, because folks in the States and elsewhere can care less about Korea and know nothing about it besides Hyundai and Samsung. Korea's a minor blip on the popularity radar and that's it because of Psy. Don't get all riled up. Relax. |
Actually, brother, Korea's profile has been raised considerably in the last few years. A lot of prime time TV shows have been connecting stories and characters to Korea where they'd previously be connected to Japan or China. This shows an overall increase in general interest of Korea. |
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Moondoggy
Joined: 07 Jun 2011
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 7:02 am Post subject: |
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| Dodge7 wrote: |
| MetaFitX wrote: |
Off the top of my head:
-Korea today is what Japan was in the 80's and 90's. THE place to be in Asia. K-Pop is HUGELY popular in Asia and is increasingly popular elsewhere (where you at Gangnam Style haters???). Korean dramas are likewise just as popular.
-Korea's economic rise has seen its stature in world affairs grow as well. Heck, the last movie I seen (Bourne Legacy) had a portion of the movie shot in Seoul. Another movie coming out (Cloud Atlas) takes place in a futuristic high-tech Korea.
-Korean language is becoming more and more useful. I read a story a while back that said Korean is one of the, if not the most popular language to learn in Singapore now.
-Korea's economy continues to rise. While Japan is fading, Korea is rising.
Hallyu Wave!! |
Keep smoking whatever it is you're smoking brother, because folks in the States and elsewhere can care less about Korea and know nothing about it besides Hyundai and Samsung. Korea's a minor blip on the popularity radar and that's it because of Psy. Don't get all riled up. Relax. |
things have changed a lot of folks in the states do care about korea. |
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mscoop1085
Joined: 12 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 7:25 am Post subject: |
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| Korea is not on the rise..They are screwed with a low birth rate, high credit card debt and stagnant salaries, high unemployment in the 22-30 yr. old range, too many people with degrees (think they will want to work a lower tier job), and their housing market will crash like the States did in the next 10 years. They have plenty of issues and will never reach above the top 10 economies in the world. It's too small of a country to ever beat out China or Japan. It will always be the red headed stepchild sadly to say. However, living here as a foreigner can be peachy! |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:20 am Post subject: |
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Korea will not be a top 10 economy but for the near future (say the next 30 years) it will likely remain a top 20 economy.
This means what?
Not a heck of lot for a foreign teacher.  |
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toby99
Joined: 28 Aug 2009
Location: Dong-Incheon-by-the-sea, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:31 am Post subject: |
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| Dodge7 wrote: |
| MetaFitX wrote: |
Hallyu Wave!! |
Keep smoking whatever it is you're smoking brother, because folks in the States and elsewhere can care less about Korea and know nothing about it besides Hyundai and Samsung. Korea's a minor blip on the popularity radar and that's it because of Psy. Don't get all riled up. Relax. |
I agree; most the world, especially the US, doesn't give a rats two-hole about Korea. PSY is little more than a funny cartoonish character playing off stereotypes of asians. It's easy when you're living in Korea to get caught in the bubble and chew up all the propaganda the government and media spews out.
That said, there are other, practical things that make Korea worth being on the radar for a horny young western dude: Culture of booze, public transit, cheap love motels, women with a penchant for white guys, etc. But lets not go overboard with how much the rest of the world 'cares' about Korea. Because largely, it doesn't. My two cents. |
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Triple007
Joined: 29 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 11:36 am Post subject: |
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| Public Transportation. Cheap Doctors visits. Collectivist Culture. Fastest Internet in the world. |
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lithium
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 11:43 am Post subject: |
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| Dodge7 wrote: |
| MetaFitX wrote: |
Off the top of my head:
-Korea today is what Japan was in the 80's and 90's. THE place to be in Asia. K-Pop is HUGELY popular in Asia and is increasingly popular elsewhere (where you at Gangnam Style haters???). Korean dramas are likewise just as popular.
-Korea's economic rise has seen its stature in world affairs grow as well. Heck, the last movie I seen (Bourne Legacy) had a portion of the movie shot in Seoul. Another movie coming out (Cloud Atlas) takes place in a futuristic high-tech Korea.
-Korean language is becoming more and more useful. I read a story a while back that said Korean is one of the, if not the most popular language to learn in Singapore now.
-Korea's economy continues to rise. While Japan is fading, Korea is rising.
Hallyu Wave!! |
Keep smoking whatever it is you're smoking brother, because folks in the States and elsewhere can care less about Korea and know nothing about it besides Hyundai and Samsung. Korea's a minor blip on the popularity radar and that's it because of Psy. Don't get all riled up. Relax. |
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