Korean Job Discussion Forums

ryleeys · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Columbia, MD

Yeah, but not liking it and not respecting it are totally different...

I've got all the respect in the world for people that settle down in one place and raise a family. Even more so if they deal with a job that they only marginally like so that they can provide a house, yard, and good life for family... that to me is what it means to be a man... that's how you earn my respect.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

hmm.. well anyhow rylees.. i don�t know where you come from or what you�ve done in the past exactly.. all i know is that you have wealthy or at least reasonably financially well-off parents (I don�t), you come from a wealthy urban city (i didn�t), you are 22 and making $15/hour teaching (when I was 22 I made $3.50/hour my 5th summer on an assembly line in a factory.. that comes out to about $100/week paychecks).. you mentioned before how you will inherent money or a house or something.. when my parents die I will inherent their $100,000 of debt and zero assets (if that actually gets passed on as my dad always jokes it will be). And now you are telling me about what its like to be a real man who works hard?

I�ve worked hard my entire life. This has nothing to do with disrepecting hard-working people, as I am one myself.

But at the age of soon-to-be 34 after having been in the job market for close to 20 years.. I will lose self-respect if I�m reduced yet again to a clog doing cubicle office work and having to file papers and answer phones for recent 22-year-old college graduates when I�ve done that exact same thing so many times in my past urban living job experiences.

Now if I can go back equipped with a grad degree and find an actual real job.. and not filing papers and answering phones kind of things.. then its all good. Anyhow, this has nothing to do with being hard working. It has to do with personal self-worth and what I hope for myself after nearly 20 years in the workforce.

ryleeys · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Columbia, MD

I respect where you're coming from too. Yes, I had a relatively privledged upbringing... never had to worry about food on the table and had decent clothes... but I also spent every weekend of my childhood doing chores or community service with my dad and if I wanted some baseball cards or something that wasn't neccessary, I had to buy it with my own money. That became easier in high school as I ended up getting a really good job for an architect... As it stands though, I'm saying that no matter what you do, be you a soldier, a doctor, a garbage man, or a teacher, I respect you if you put in your 8 hours a day and do what you can for your family... Honestly, I respect people that come to Korea to teach for a few years. It's only the people that are forever causing problems for themselves and forever running from them that I don't respect... I don't believe you fall into that group though.

Even so, just cause you've had a hard life doesn't mean you shouldn't respect people that grew up middle class because they are in the middle class because someone in their family did work hard to get there and they have to work hard to maintain it.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

I haven�t had a hard life. I�ve had an ideal life along my interests. Gee, sounds like a self-pity party to say I�ve had a hard life. Just hard-working as 99.99% of the population of the world. My life and lifestyle is ideal. Seen most of the world and the U.S., experienced almost everything I�ve ever wanted a multitude of times over. Damn and now I�m in Spain.. how much sweeter can life be for one person?

Anyhow, basically we just had experienced confusion over the meaning of the word �respect� in regards to �work�. I meant it as personal self-worth.. and you took it as a slight against hard-working people. Thats basically it.

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

metalhead · Joined: 18 May 2010 Location: Toilet

It is always wise to have a plan and stick to it, especially an exit plan from a place such as Korea.

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

Costa Rica maybe. Maybe coastal South Carolina or Georgia in the US. Low cost of living and low taxes.

No reason to move to anywhere as expensive or more expensive than Seoul upon retirement. Thinking of retiring early at 55, so we might hit a few easy going spots in SE Asia for a year or two before a permanent move before medical facilities become a concern lol...

wooden nickels · Joined: 23 May 2010

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

Never been, but have only heard good things. Thinking Savannah, or an area on the coast there.

Charleston has gotten WAY over priced, and Hilton Head is a bit to plastic for us. If things keep going the way they're going, Savannah is going to be the next Charleston...if it already isn't happening....

Fallacy · Joined: 29 Jun 2015 Location: ex-ROK

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

I said Savannah is up and coming, and might be the next Charleston, and, no, people from Charleston don't like the comparison. But what is sacrilege to people in Charleston? Realtors I know there admit that 60-70% of their best clients come from the north east.

What's to be protected? 7 figure minimum homes south of broad? Gated communities to the east and west of the peninsula and then yuppy enclaves and vacation rentals all along the coast? North Charleston, one of the worst places for crime in the US? Crime ridden central Charleston? Some of the worst performing school districts in the US?

Charleston and the surrounding areas aren't what they were even 20 years ago. A lot of the old character is gone, and that's coming from family that has been in the Carolinas for 30+ years. Personally, though, I agree that despite these drawbacks, it is a great little city with surrounding areas of different character still intact. Unfortunately, it has priced itself out of reality in my book.

Some of the areas inland of Charleston like Summerville look good, as do some of the areas to the north west of Hilton Head. Savannah, though, still provides the opportunity to live in a small coastal city without ranking the bank, at least for now.

Fallacy · Joined: 29 Jun 2015 Location: ex-ROK

Your assessment is accurate, and I agree. Credibility established. Upstate is not low country, so if you want ocean views, that just will not do. Some realtors would say the book by John Berendt first attracted the interest of relocating Northerners to Savannah, which in turn began pushing up local real estate prices there. PM me when you get your house set up. I will either drive the car down from the Piedmont, or throw the hook out from the liveaboard and row ashore for a visit.