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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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 Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 6:04 am Post subject: |
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| Rockhard wrote: |
| 90% of people I see, especially foreigners here, smoke, drink heavily, and are overweight. |
I've noticed that too. Why are Westerners here so overweight? I think it has to do with the white rice and booze. Western metabolisms can't handle that for the most part I think. I am so shocked by how hefty most lifers in Korea are. I hope I never get like that (which is one of the reasons I chose to leave Korea @.@). |
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Stain
Joined: 08 Jan 2014
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| Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 9:04 am Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| Rockhard wrote: |
| 90% of people I see, especially foreigners here, smoke, drink heavily, and are overweight. |
I've noticed that too. Why are Westerners here so overweight? I think it has to do with the white rice and booze. Western metabolisms can't handle that for the most part I think. I am so shocked by how hefty most lifers in Korea are. I hope I never get like that (which is one of the reasons I chose to leave Korea @.@). |
Hold on there. I drink heavily and I even put rice in my booze when I drink, but I'm not obese. Far from it. Not every foreigner in Korea is fat. |
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newchamp
Joined: 09 Mar 2013
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| Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 9:11 am Post subject: |
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| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| You should keep in mind that there are some people who just want a visa. They don't care about the school, the salary, conditions ect. They have far more lucritive activities going on outside the school. |
Maybe ten years ago. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Right. Without the F visa (and even with) it's hard to get good paying part time work these days. Ten years ago it fell from the sky. Even up until late 2012 I was getting decent opportunities for lucrative side work. Now I'm not. Maybe I need to look harder, but I think it's becoming rarer/harder to come by. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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reports have continually appeared in the media about molestation or drug use by foreign instructors or their denigration of Koreans, creating headaches for employment agencies.
A representative of the company 'Job In Korea,' which arranges for the employment of foreign instructors, said that ,"Before hiring a foreign instructor, they must submit things like a criminal record check from their home country. Misdemeanors like drunk driving here are also inquired into." "However the fact is it's difficult to inquire into their character by only looking into crimes. Currently when a teacher finishes a one year contract in Korea and moves to another hagwon, it's more difficult to make an inquiry into a Korean criminal record."
However, industry officials point out that employers' attitudes have not changed in that their first worry is the foreign instructor's appearance or nationality rather than their ability. In particular, 'appearance' is considered the top qualification for foreign instructors. A representative of a foreign instructor agency who requested anonymity said, "Every time problems with foreign instructors stand out in society, hagwon owners who employ them are very sensitive to it. But even in such a situation the first instructor they want to find is a 'pretty girl.'
Eric Kim (50), of another foreign instructor agency, ESL, said, "There are hagwon directors who say in a word [they want] 'White North American women in their late 20s.' Most, but not all, are like this." "There are hagwon directors who claim that after interviewing them over skype, the foreign instructor who arrives in Korea is different than the person seen over skype, or that their photos are different. It's also unusual in the US to request a photo during the hiring process. There is little consideration given to character or ability [in Korea]." |
http://ilyo.co.kr/?ac=article_view&entry_id=71491 |
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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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| newchamp wrote: |
| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| You should keep in mind that there are some people who just want a visa. They don't care about the school, the salary, conditions ect. They have far more lucritive activities going on outside the school. |
Maybe ten years ago. |
I know a number of people who look for jobs that will sponsor a visa provided it comes with as minimum a workload as possble, or a schedule that doesn't interfere with their outside gigs. Just because you don't know about these lucritive opportunities doesn't mean they don't exist. Many of these opportunities have nothing to do with teaching. Your reponse tells me you network with the wrong people.
I should also mention though that such work is illegal for people on an E2. I'm not encouraging anyone to break the law. |
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Unposter
Joined: 04 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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| This has to be the saddest thread I've read in awhile. Cheer up people! There is always China! |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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*looks around*
No creeper1 post? I thought a thread like this was like saying Beatlejuice three times for him…. |
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Chaparrastique
Joined: 01 Jan 2014
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| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 3:07 am Post subject: |
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| Unposter wrote: |
| This has to be the saddest thread I've read in awhile. Cheer up people! There is always China! |
Agreed. Anyone without significant established links to this country-or entering esl for the first time, should be looking at China, not Korea. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:17 am Post subject: |
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Yes, and a big reason for this is the usefulness of the Chinese language vs. the usefulness of the Korean language. Both are extremely difficult. Chinese is easier to speak and understand (though harder to write). Korean grammar and pronunciation is insane. So hard. So ridiculously difficult to catch the sounds people are making as well. It's not worth it to spend years and years and years of one's life learning Korean for most people in my opinion. The payoff isn't worth the thousands of hours required.
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| I have a very good friend who dated a Korean girl for years. He's naturally talented with languages, but even so, he only managed to acquire a form of pidgin Korean that only one person on earth (his girlfriend) could understand. The girlfriend's brother visited from Korea once, and he couldn't understand a word of what my friend was trying to say. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:31 am Post subject: |
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| Rockhard wrote: |
But worry not, there is a floor and that floor is called China.
As of today the average salary in China (10,000 yuan per month) is 1,737,444 won. We you factor in cost of living it's more like 2,100,000 won a month. |
Plus, you can factor in private lessons are fair game there. |
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isitts
Joined: 25 Dec 2008
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 4:44 am Post subject: |
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| Unposter wrote: |
| This has to be the saddest thread I've read in awhile. Cheer up people! There is always China! |
Agreed. Plus a crapload of other countries that need English teachers...that don't have restrictions on giving private lessons. Check out the international jobs forums.
Not sure why people act like Korea's the only country out there. I'm fine here for now, but I've been keeping my eye on a few other countries, too. If you've been teaching in one country for a while anyway, it can be nice to teach in another country for a change of....everything.  |
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creeper1
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 5:22 am Post subject: The obvious needs to be stated |
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The obvious needs to be stated.
World Traveler and his buddies are making out that Korea is a tough place to get a job and you have no future there.
He does all this just to limit competition for jobs and women in Korea.
World Traveler. I congratulate you on your decision to leave TEFL. Can you give an exact date for your departure and when we can expect you to disappear from this forum? |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 5:39 am Post subject: |
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| I'll leave Dave's if you do. (As you live in China, there is no need for you to be trolling this forum really.) Deal? |
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creeper1
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 6:01 am Post subject: |
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| I'm willing to quit posting on the Korea section. Do you mean all dave's forums including China etc? |
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