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Wiltern
Joined: 23 Sep 2009
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 Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 5:37 am Post subject: |
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| No_hite_pls wrote: |
| Who's Your Daddy? wrote: |
| 18 months left for me here, but that's only because I have a family, so it has to move slowly. If I were single, I'd just finish the contract. |
I have family here too so I got stay for 14 more months myself. I don't know if I can make it that long. |
What is it about having a family that deters one from going home earlier? Is this some immigration rule? |
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Dodge7
Joined: 21 Oct 2011
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| Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 5:47 am Post subject: |
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| Going home and getting out of here is akin to getting out of Rikers on parole with all your buddies giving you high fives through their jail cell doors. |
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Jodami
Joined: 08 Feb 2013
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| Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 8:42 am Post subject: |
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Happy burger flipping op!  |
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NilesQ
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 8:49 am Post subject: |
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Careful what you wish for. You just might get it. 
Going home is like anything else; you cant know the reality of it until youve had the experience yourself.
When we go home for visits, everything is great. Its usually in the summer, people want to see you, and youre the center of attention. That changes once youve been back for a while, the hum drum of everyday life sets in, and you are working full time.
Im back home now and am glad i came back. However, there are days I wish i was in Korea again. Both can be great, but you have to choose according to your goals and what you want out of life. |
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Who's Your Daddy?
Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.
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| Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Wiltern wrote: |
| No_hite_pls wrote: |
| Who's Your Daddy? wrote: |
| 18 months left for me here, but that's only because I have a family, so it has to move slowly. If I were single, I'd just finish the contract. |
I have family here too so I got stay for 14 more months myself. I don't know if I can make it that long. |
What is it about having a family that deters one from going home earlier? Is this some immigration rule? |
In my case it is the cost of day care. Here we're getting free day care. I work, but my wife doesn't, our son goes half day to day care, and my wife cares for him. We can survive on one income alone, (and we're saving money even).
Back home the cost living is high, so my wife would have to work too, but the cost of day care is also high, so 70% of her after-tax earnings would be spent on child care. We'd probably save almost nothing.
So there is an economic argument for staying with a young child. [When Canadian schools start kindergarten at age 5, we'll be there though.]
But, like the OP, it is hard sticking around Korea when your heart isn't in it. I'm doing it for my family. |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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Going home is not all peaches and cream. In fact, lots of expats who pine for home over a long period end up turning home into some sort of paradise. Reality then intervenes and you get reverse culture shock.
You also cannot ignore that your Korean spouse will have to adapt and may not love it all back "home". You will typically be their main support and only friend at first.
My wife and I have been living back in Canada for 5 years or so now and it was an adventure for her (good and bad!) and for me.
Best advice I can provide is to prepare for your move well in advance and arrive with a plan so you hit the ground running. Otherwise you are setting yourself up for a very rough ride. Walking down the street may be free and may make you happy but food, housing, insurance and other things are not free and can eat up those savings in a hurry!
Good luck OP, I wish you guys all the best when you make the move. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:20 am Post subject: |
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To the OP, don't be surprised if you want to come back. Many who returned home did come back to Korea or wish to.
Nothing wrong with coming back, though. |
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rkc76sf
Joined: 02 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:27 am Post subject: |
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| Dodge7 wrote: |
OP I'm very happy for you, truly. I can't wait to be in your position, unfortunately my Korean wife and I have to stay and bank money here because she has a job that she couldn't get in America that pays pretty well.
We'll go back to America in about 10 years or so I am assuming. But good for you and enjoy the lifestyle back home and freedom and all of the amenities and the US provides. You've put your dues in and now take some time off and enjoy! |
Good lord, you're a better man than me. I've been here 7 years, but only one was spent on the 'outside' as an English teacher. The rest has been on the 'inside' with the US Army and for me not having to work for Koreans and working with people who have commonalities is like night and day. (Not saying good or bad) |
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No_hite_pls
Joined: 05 Mar 2007
Location: Don't hate me because I'm right
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| Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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Almost eleven months left now till departure from Korea! I have been here 6 years and when I leave 7 years.
I'm going home to America. America is just so big with so many different climates to explore. Don't get me wrong I love Canada too. The Canadian Rockies are so beautiful but the climate is better in the states. I going to do so much camping with the family when I get back it's cheap and I love it. I am also going to put up two green houses in my back yard along with about ten fruit trees. Man, I can't wait to go home. |
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No_hite_pls
Joined: 05 Mar 2007
Location: Don't hate me because I'm right
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| Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Wiltern wrote: |
| No_hite_pls wrote: |
| Who's Your Daddy? wrote: |
| 18 months left for me here, but that's only because I have a family, so it has to move slowly. If I were single, I'd just finish the contract. |
I have family here too so I got stay for 14 more months myself. I don't know if I can make it that long. |
What is it about having a family that deters one from going home earlier? Is this some immigration rule? |
Immigration is part of it but there are other reasons too. |
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loose_ends
Joined: 23 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 11:32 am Post subject: |
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| No_hite_pls wrote: |
Almost eleven months left now till departure from Korea! I have been here 6 years and when I leave 7 years.
I'm going home to America. America is just so big with so many different climates to explore. Don't get me wrong I love Canada too. The Canadian Rockies are so beautiful but the climate is better in the states. I going to do so much camping with the family when I get back it's cheap and I love it. I am also going to put up two green houses in my back yard along with about ten fruit trees. Man, I can't wait to go home. |
10 fruit trees heh?  |
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KimchiNinja
Joined: 01 May 2012
Location: Gangnam
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| Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| No_hite_pls wrote: |
I'm going home to America. |
I'm there right now, let me sum up Amerika...
...fatties, drones, assassination, torture, oil, debt, snooki, weed, gay marriage, profit, data, profit, bombers, big mac, assault rifle, drugs, debate, more profit... |
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Waygeek
Joined: 27 Feb 2013
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| Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 9:51 am Post subject: |
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| rkc76sf wrote: |
Good lord, you're a better man than me. I've been here 7 years, but only one was spent on the 'outside' as an English teacher. The rest has been on the 'inside' with the US Army and for me not having to work for Koreans and working with people who have commonalities is like night and day. (Not saying good or bad) |
I'm sure! Working with the U.S. Army here, the bar fights, the general street violence, the machismo, that high-speed shoot-out a few weeks back... much much better than that quiet Hagwon job! |
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I'm With You
Joined: 01 Sep 2011
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| Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 2:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Yaya wrote: |
To the OP, don't be surprised if you want to come back. Many who returned home did come back to Korea or wish to.
Nothing wrong with coming back, though. |
I'm one who returned and came back. It was more difficult to return home than I had imagined it would be. Overall, a difficult transition after being away for so many years, which long-terms here shouldn't underestimate. I found it really hard to adjust to life back home and also didn't want to own and drive a car. |
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KimchiNinja
Joined: 01 May 2012
Location: Gangnam
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| Posted: Tue May 07, 2013 3:26 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm With You wrote: |
| I found it really hard to adjust to life back home... |
Dude, all day I'm trying to adjust to the fact that I'm supposed to talk all the time (in the elevator to strangers, to the clerk in the grocery, in the office meeting, to random people in the hall at the office). In KR it's okay to be silent, people speak when they have something to say. In the US you are required to say something ALL the time, which is maybe why people say so many dumb things. It makes people nervous if you are not making up some silence-filling fake pointless babble constantly.
The wide open spaces, sidewalks, clean ocean air, blue sky (not milky white), grass...must admit that's nice. No smell of garlic BO... |
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