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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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 Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:02 pm Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| Well we don't get our pension back so that sucks for us. |
Since you've paid in more than ten years, once you reach retirement age in Korea, you can to get it (paid out slowly over a long period of time for the rest of one's life). Retire in Korea, edwardcatflap. Problem solved. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah already gone into that. I was empathising with my fellow countrymen, the vast majority of whom couldn't hack it here for that long. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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| So you are thinking of retiring in Korea? It's a good option to keep open anyways. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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| No way, I was told you can access the money from outside the country. If that turns out not to be the case, I'll just write it off. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
Oh man, that hasn't happened since 2008. Here's another nostalgia story:
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| With the way they are going.... EPIK will probably find a way to reduce the holidays even further next vacation and hagwons will seem more appealing. When I first taught with EPIK, I had no desk warming at all, I was off for 2.5 months in Winter and around 1 month in Summer. I was also free to work for external camps in that time. Usually, I pulled in around 5 - 6 mil a month for winter. Sadly, those days are long gone. |
(@.@) 5-6 mil a month for two and a half months equals 12,500,000 to 15,000,000 won. (!_!) |
Speak for yourself. Some got that, but others did have to desk warm or at least partially. In my rural area, we either had to do camps at schools in my area (different from schools I taught at during the semester) or go into the local education office and sit there. But, it was usually from 9 to 12 and then we had the afternoons off. No 2.5 months of vacation. But, through the semester, we got extra days off for exams, field trip days, etc. When I taught elementary, I did my classes in the morning, ate lunch and went home at 1 PM. In middle schools, I was out the door by 2:15 PM. So, it was mixed slackness.
Now, I'm in a bigger city and pretty much do an 8 hour day and partial days during the vacations. So, it's ok. Took some getting use to though.
As for someone else's comment about the won, it's going back up. 1 Million won is about $1,012 Cdn right now. (Levels not seen since 2008). |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:05 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
Well, for Brits. Not everyone on in this board is a Brit. The most common nationality represented on this board is Canadian. Sucks for them. Sucks for Americans, too. (And the U.S. dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world.) Sucks for the Irish (who use the Euro). Sucks for the Aussies. Sucks for the New Zealanders. Rules for the South Africans.
The won's value went up (relative to their home economies/poorly performing currencies at least, which have been crap) for: Brits and Saffers.
The won's value went down for: Canuks, United Statesians, Aussies, Kiwis, and the Irish.
Generally speaking, the won's exchange rate became worse for expats. |
As I just said, it has been going up for Canucks lately. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Weigookin74 wrote: |
| camps at schools in my area (different from schools I taught at during the semester) |
In 2006 you got paid extra for those camps though, no? Everyone I know who did camps back then got paid big bucks for them. (Now those camps are unpaid.) Some people I talked to said they made 40,000,000 won per year at public schools back then including the bonus money they made from camps. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:24 pm Post subject: |
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Weigookin74, I was responding to:
| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| I'm pretty sure now is around the best it's been |
Not true for Canadians (or Americans, Aussies, Kiwis, or Irish). True for Brits and Saffers, however. |
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Ralph Winfield
Joined: 23 Apr 2013
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| Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 4:13 am Post subject: |
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[quote="T-J"]
'91-'97 making 5 million a month with a 700 exchange rate and lower prices, 400 won subway, 800 won smokes, 900 won base taxi fare, 1,000 won brew....
Those were sweet days indeed!!!
Still good now but am glad I started when I did. Not sure... Scratch that, I'm pretty sure I would not chose Korea if I were starting now. If I were in my first years I'd more than likely be elsewhere.
[/quote
Are you an American of Korean ancestry?
Thank you. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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백인.
T-J, what jobs were you working to make so much money? Mostly privates? Most others around you were making that kind of money, too? (@.@) I wish I could have experienced that too. ($_$) |
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Smithington
Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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| Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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Hooker Hill back in the late 1990's was an absolute blast. Start at Seoul pub then head up the hill to Stompers around 11pm. The hill itself was one big outdoor party with hundreds of people partying into the wee hours. It's hard to imagine today, but Hooker Hill was the place to be on a Saturday night. It was just a great night out. The beautiful women trying to pull you into the clubs just added to the buzz and entertainment of the place. But the hill was just the place to be if you wanted to enjoy your Saturday night, and sadly there's nowhere resembling the place in Itaewon anymore.
How the mighty fall.
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rkc76sf
Joined: 02 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:25 am Post subject: |
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| Smithington wrote: |
Hooker Hill back in the late 1990's was an absolute blast. Start at Seoul pub then head up the hill to Stompers around 11pm. The hill itself was one big outdoor party with hundreds of people partying into the wee hours. It's hard to imagine today, but Hooker Hill was the place to be on a Saturday night. It was just a great night out. The beautiful women trying to pull you into the clubs just added to the buzz and entertainment of the place. But the hill was just the place to be if you wanted to enjoy your Saturday night, and sadly there's nowhere resembling the place in Itaewon anymore.
How the mighty fall.
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It was, totally, you had Stompers and Polly's Kettle House was always full and the club beside it you'd party until the sun came up. There was also Grand Ole Opry (still is) and you'd have some smaller hole in the wall clubs. It wasn't just all hookers, although they were there, too, but not as much. It was fun and wild, I was there New Years 2000. Now it's more commercial, not like the days when Burger KIng was on the corner. |
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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:35 am Post subject: |
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| I stopped going to Itaewon years ago. The reasons I went there are almost all gone now. Friends say the area has now priced itself into the realm of any other area in the city. |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 4:46 am Post subject: |
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Unless I am mistaken, TJ owns and manages his own business. I assume he did so in the 1990s as well.
Personally, I kind of miss the "old" Korea of the 1990s. It had that Wild East feeling to it, not as mapped out, not as accessible, not as organized. It was far more chaotic than it is now and with that something of Korea has vanished. |
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