Korean Job Discussion Forums

[byrddogs]

In an effort to not junk up this thread (like so many others before) can we try to not quote the whole OP when responding (especially with a one word response that adds absolutely nothing at all)?

[CentralCali]

OP: What utter rubbish. And the worst part of it is you can't write worth a hoot.

[PatrickGHBusan]

[zombiedog]

I just hit the 4-year mark in Korea, and feel like I'm just beginning to figure it out, and still going through some phase or other of culture shock. How can I sum it all up: "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."

[Adventurer]

[Mw182006]

[flash viego]

That was hilarious. Is that a real guy?

[Captain Corea]

Seems like a fair bit 'o stalkin going on.

[yfb]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[ippy]

Be fair on the dude, hes only been in korea 5 months. He also doesnt have too much experience by the sounds of it outside of where hes from - or at least in a genuinely challenging and differentculture (i suggest this only because he directly referenced his trouble disconnecting from latin script).

Of course hes not going to know it all... or maybe even anything, but his intention is to just help others figure out the stuff he probably found annoying to figure out when he came here. Its just a perspective. Instead of using him for some kind of self definition against him as "experienced!" why not just correct him on his mistakes, gently and without personal attacks... and maybe help other people reading this looking for GENUINE information by providing them with fair corrections.

OP: have fun in korea dude, culture shock is probably going to blow your head off to be honest (its possibly unlikely youve hit it yet - you still sound pretty much in the honeymoon phase where you think youve got your head around it). Not everyone gets hit by it, and not to the same extent, but the more youve got it 'figured out', the more chance its going to mess up your day If youre here for a few more years, the nice thing about culture shock is its a) an ongoing process and b ) Its USUALLY something you always look back on and say "ah! THAT was culture shock! im fine now though!!!"...

As for learning the language... learn it or dont. But do understand and appreciate that there are massive benefits to learning it even just in the sphere of finances. Throw in the cultural, personal and emotional benefits and opportunities afforded you by learning it, and it just makes sense that you should make every attempt to pick it up.

But not everyone wants to integrate. Some people are happy staying as tourists one removed from their culture. This isnt bad either. Its just significantly more lonely and laden with massive issues over the more trivial aspects of every day life (as well as depriving you of choice and costing you far more). For example: Need to send a remittance back home? Cant speak korean? Now youre either harassing one of your co teachers to babysit you and thus peeing away your independence and maybe even your dignity as a grown up capable of dealing with your own issues like an adult, or realllllllly annoying the poor dude/woman at the bank (and all the people behind you in the queue) as she pulls teeth trying to get basic information from you.

Punchline is of course that i never learn the language wherever i am so im not saying youre a worse person ethically, you (and by dint me as well) are just a bit lacking in obvious common sense or clearly read notes from the underground and decided that the dude in it was right in declaring that to fly in the face of your own self interest is the actual affirmation of your humanity

In truth youre daft if you dont though. Theres honest to god no reason not to learn the language. Integration doesnt mean co-option. It just means you have access to the same things that korean people have access too. This means you can find all the dance classes, piano lessons, guitar lessons, tae-kwon do lessons, flights, buses, apartments, super secret awesome clubs and bars, and whatever else you need to meet people with the same interests as you and make friends with them. Alternatively you can just hope that the other two NETs nearby in your tiny town are actually nice people and you happen to get along famously. As you mentioned from your own experience, the clash or personalities in the very close-knit NET community invariably means a lot of snipping and backbiting and just a whole heap of trivial bullshit that youre honestly best avoiding if you can. Learning the language doesnt guarantee youll have an amazing experience in korea, it just means you have more opportunities. It also means you have an actual hard skill that you can stick on your resume. And yeah, korea isnt a largely spoken language, but korean companies are doing alright in the wider world. Its not like learning Gaelic here.

Anyways, good luck. If you want to be a superstar agian, you likely need to learn the language. I mean you can be a superstar of the NET community... but er... you know...

[CentralCali]

[Zyzyfer]

[le-paul]

[Kuval]

I'll definitely agree my post is full of assumptions, and I seemed to have forgotten to post that I also strongly advocate learning of the language native to an area.

But yeah, there's a reason why I said it was my 5 month opinion... and not my cemented factual analysis. I don't know all about this country... and I'm not sure where in my post I said that, yet so many people have hastily said that I'm the ignorant one. For a board full of English teachers, comprehension and general reading seem to be overall lacking.

To some other people who have posted interesting responses, thanks guys. That's exactly what I was going for. I like to understand the world in my corrected ignorance, and everything I say is an assumption. In fact, most of everything I do in my entire life is just based upon assumptions... and if the right evidence is provided, I can change a major belief that I hold.

Simply calling someone ignorant isn't enough to change anything though, and I do find it comical. You call someone naive in an attempt to enlighten them. All the while, that person is still learning.

But whatever, IT IS STILL THE INTERNET! Hahahah, you don't have to go very far to see that.

As far as people claiming that this was posted a billion times... I mean, I dunno?

Things that I read before I got here included spitting, people staring at me, blatant hate and racism, and other things of which I did not touch on. Mostly because I haven't flat out experienced those things. I have experienced double standards at time, where I am not allowed to be loud in a bar area... but the table full of drunken Koreans can be as loud as they wish. To claim this never happens is ignorance. To claim it is justice is a lie.

Sorry if it felt like an essay, it was random thoughts I had. I didn't structure it and it was whatever came to mind. Perhaps that was my own wrongdoing, and that made for some difficult reading. My bad.

I posted about sex with my girlfriend because I wasn't used to how different such a biological function could be. It seriously blew my mind when my ex gf acted the way she did.

I posted about expats because I think it really needs to be said that many people that are here are just asshats. Now... I've also met some very beautiful people here that are going to be my friends for the rest of my life... but I wasn't prepared to see a bunch of qualified individuals acting in this fashion.

There's the dude that deals prescription drugs, the guy that spits beer at waiters, the dude that cheats on his wife, the girl that tries to sleep with all the expats, the other girl that tries to but never succeeds because she's rumored to have stds, a few guys that seem normal when theyre sober and change personalities when they're drunk... some regular good people, and then there seem to be about 20-30% of really awesome dudes and dudettes that kinda keep away from the new group. This is the fact for my city, and that much is what I've witnessed.

True, everyone drinks a lot more... but there's a drinking culture here unlike the one back home. We sometimes have beer with meals back home, there's almost always soju with meals here. Sure, many of us drink a lot... but I think it's not as visible because it has more to do with a night life... and drinking in public is illegal. This is just one of the assumptions I've wrapped my head around.

I tried to not be entirely positive or entirely negative. I mean, there's much about Korea that definitely HAS been posted a billion times... like the great transit, the wonderful culture, the cheap clothes... but nobody has ever told me that whether I like the look of Korean girls or not, I'm going to quickly become attracted to them. Nobody told me that. It was a bloody shock to me.

I'm definitely in culture shock.... and there are some things that are foreign to most cultures. Like saying goodbye to friendships after 5 months. I did this just the other day to my best friend in Korea. He and his girlfriend had their contract expire and they didn't want to renew. Just a solid dude vanished. This has a strange effect on my feelings towards everything. I'm just not used to forging friendship and watching it disappear.

Anyways... thanks internet.