Korean Job Discussion Forums

[UncleDoug]

Hello fellow Cafe patrons;

The subject line says it all. I'm a university teacher in Japan, and dont have much contact with Korea or Korean issues. However....

the issue is my niece back in Canada. She has developed a real fetish for all things Korean, especially k-pop. She graduated from high school last year, but didn't go on to university. Instead, she wants to pursue her dream of living/working/marrying in Korea.

Personally, I think it's ludicrous. She should at least get a college degree before thinking about it. But she'll have none of it. She wants to attend university in Korea, then marry a cute guy and get on with her life. AFAIK, she isn't really doing much to prepare, such as studying the langauge or culture. She is just infatuated.

I'd like to 'dissuade' her gently, without being a grinch. Any advice, hints, horror stories, would be appreciated!!

[bobbyhanlon]

I don't think you can stop her. Maybe try to encourage her to take Asian studies with a year in Korea, or enrol in a summer course in Korean language here. She'd soon realise that Korea is an actual country, not a wonderland.
In my old Korean class, half of the group were Japanese girls who came here because they fell in love with Yonsama, or Kwon Sang-woo, etc. They often said they were disappointed that ordinary Korean guys weren't like them...
Also you should tell her that not having a degree is basically no different to having leprosy, as far as job-hunting in Korea is concerned..

[Times30]

She's probably been watching too much K-drama and K-pop. I have a cousin whos the same exact way. But I guess I understand it too because I love Korea just as much.

Anyways you should probably tell her to take a trip there first and then decide to go to university there. Let her decide if it's the wonderland she wants then.

She's probably capable of doing all the things she set out to do. You need to make a point that you have faith in her to do all those things. But she also needs to be wary and take it a step at a time and don't all in her chips right away

I used to love Japan and planned on teaching there but after 2 trips there it wasn't the wonderland I thought it would be... movies and tv shows really glorify everything.

[lemak]

Break her kneecaps, lol.

I remember seeing some statistic a couple of years ago where they interviewed tourists leaving Korea at Incheon Airport. Something like 80% of Singaporeans said the country was a disappointment - mostly citing that it was nothing like the Korean dramas on TV, lol. Real life Korea is loads grungier, more trash, more vomit, colder, dirtier. I guess the same goes for everywhere. The U.S is nothing like Beverly Hills 90210, but at least there are plenty of American movies and TV shows that *do* show the seedier, uglier underbelly of the place.

Korea almost fraudulently seems desperate to portray itself to outsiders how it would like to be, not how it really is.

Your niece will be a nothing in Korea. 18 and largely uneducated. Not many (if any) jobs available to her - maybe she could get a job in a factory making the labels for Milkis bottles. Likewise no local guys will be interested in her for anything as romantic as a long term relationship or marriage so she'd need to be comfortable with settling for not much more beyond being a hole in the mattress for Jeong Min and his ilk.

Terrible idea. If she's really keen as others have said get started at school back home and if she can maybe transfer for a year to a school in Seoul or someplace to see what she thinks. If she's *really* keen Korea will still be there in 3 or 4 years when she graduates from school and she can get a teaching gig and experience the place for real. I doubt it'll live up to her lofty expectations.

[coralreefer_1]

If she isnt studying the language...she wont have a shot at any undergrad program in Korea. Foreigners with NO Korean ability can slide by in graduate programs, but at the undergrad level there isn't much.

If she wants to attend university here...how about suggest she come over...study the language in one of the university programs. This will give her not only a change to experience REAL Korea (which may turn her off) but also get her foot in the door in the case that she truly wants to come to Korea for loftier purposes.

Doing so doesn't make you look like the bad guy. I mean, she probably looks up to you as someone with knowledge and experience since you yourself are living in working in Asia. Should you decide to try to tell her what a bad idea it is...you may turn her off and put a freeze on any relationship you have with her.

[andrewchon]

I'd say let her do it. Most girls don't have any idea what to do, at least she has one.

How about ths scenario: get her a non-binding book deal as a travel writer. Get her some travel funds and let her loose in Korea. Insert a clause: Be married in two years or she has to go to university.

There are millions of people on this earth wishing they had taken a journey of sef-discovery but had no chance/no courage/no idea and end up in a safe but unsatisfying life. They come to people like, well me for instance, to ask what's it like to travel? I tell them if you go on an adventure with a return ticket then you'll never know yourself.

[Steelrails]

She's an adult who can make up her own mind and doesn't a bunch of men to tell her what to do.



And fall flat on her face and learn when the fantasy land bubble bursts.

[UncleDoug]

Thank you all for the good advice. Basically, whenever I try to tell her a bit of the reality of being a young white girl in Asia generally, she always says, "yes I know, but..."

I even found a university not too far from her home that has exchange programmes with several schools in Korea, but she doesn't want to go to school away from home. Just make the big jump to Korea. I dont get it.

[nora]

[ttompatz]

Make sure she has a return ticket, her own money and let her go.

Her chances of success are near "0" but so were Henry Ford's and Bill Gate's. Look what happened to them.

She should know that she has 3 options:

Working tourist visa (H1). Good for 1 year. Will allow part-time employment.
Tourist entry stamp (B2). Good for 6 months on arrival. Exit ticket usually required if flying in.
-Can't work.
-Can hang around Korean universities and troll for a BF/husband.
Enter as a student. Gonna take work and money.

.

[Paddycakes]

18 is legally an adult, but you're still not really an adult.

The power of the "Korean Wave" is real.

It's especially strong in South Asia.

A lot of the Filipinos for example love K-Dramas; they have a romantic view of Koreans and they often dream of marrying Koreans.

Of course they don't realize those dramas portray life for the top 1 percent.

It's kinda like Americans who think all "English" people are like something out of "Pride and Prejudice".


Your niece should come... just make sure she has enough money to escape back to Canada.

Also set her up with a friend in Korea who can look out for her lest some Korean guy try to take advantage of her and she winds up in prostitution.

[Son Deureo!]

Why not encourage her to do a degree program in Korea? The Korean government has been offering lots of scholarship money lately to foreign students interested in studying here. She might even be able to qualify for a scholarship that would offering her a tuition waiver and living stipend, plus free Korean classes.

Here are some links to ROK government web sites (in English) that should be a good starting point for you and your niece's research:

http://www.studyinkorea.go.kr

Korean Government Scholarship Program: http://www.niied.go.kr/eng/contents.do?contentsNo=78&menuNo=349

[Steelrails]

I have to say, if the situation were reversed and it was some K-dude's 18 year old Korean niece wanting to go to the US to learn English and live there, everyone would be saying what a great idea it is. Reverse the situation and she might as well be signing her death warrant.

[Son Deureo!]

I wish you wouldn't generalize about NETs' responses to this thread.

[Scorpion]

How on earth would any Canadian 18 year old have even heard of K-op or K-dramas? I have nephews and nieces in Canada. They've never heard of either. I suspect the OP is pulling our leg. What 18 year-old N. American kid (other than a gyopo) is infatuated with Korea?

LOL.