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Ok, lets be positive about korea now...
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rapier



Joined: 16 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 6:24 am    Post subject: Ok, lets be positive about korea now... Reply with quote

I've managed to come up with a list of great things about Korea! i hope some are new to y'all..Feel free to add to the list, and be cheered up. This is a big effort from me, the closest to a tribute to Korea so far.

1)Contract et al- includes money saving potential, free apartment, convenience( you can come here anytime, at short notice),paid airfares etc...
2) Almost complete lack of crime: your things don't go missing even when you leave them accidentally.11) You are unlikely to be hassled or intimidated by freaks, wierdo's or troublemakers (unlike many western cities).
3)Transport: buses are cheap and prompt; the subway is the same, and well signposted in English.
4) Imitation goods: you can pick up anything including all the fake brand names relatively cheaply.
5)Food; its tasty and inexpensive to eat out, and the diet is healthy!
6)People: Koreans are generally helpful and generous once you get to know them.
7)The women are good looking, too.
8)Things to see and do; theres plenty of national parks, beaches, waterfalls etc and good day trips if you can be bothered to get out of Seoul.
9)Mountains; its impressive that the mountains are left untouched by development- not built on. Anyway, koreans build upwards, not outwards, conserving space.
10)Internet access- everywhere!
11) gadgets: wonderful:- you can get a handphone with email,camcorder and large photo storage capacity for only 300.000 won..
12) private lessons: easy- go make yourself a fortune..
There- now that I've started, I could go on. Wer'e incredibly lucky to be living here!!!
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waterbaby



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Location: Baking Gord a Cheescake pie

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 6:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's a few of mine off the top of my head...

1. Having lots of little people tell me they love me ... often
2. Preferential treatment
3. The stationery shops... so cheap and so much variety and so cute!
4. Hilarious shoe fashions
5. Having slabs of raw meat brought out to your table and then cooking it yourself and cutting it up into bite-sized pieces with a big pair of scissors.
6. Singing your head off in a noray bung until you have no voice left for the working week ahead.
7. Low hours and low stress for good pay.
8. Blossoms in spring
9. Ondol heating in winter (and early spring)
10. Dave's ESL Cafe Korea Job Discussion Forum Wink and members get-togethers.
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indiercj



Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's my short list. I am korean by the way.

1. The overall dynamism in people and the society to change. Everything change so fast. The city, the political environment, the system(maybe because there were not much established in the firts place). Yes sometimes it seems to be irrational(waste of a lot of things) or somewhat unstable but just watching it is exciting. Razz
2. The tasty and healthy food. despite the relatively recent frenzy for meat and instant food we still eat more vegetable than any other people in the world(i read this from a UN food program report).
3. The accessibility to everything. Though i have my car, i barely use it these days. I live in Seoul where i just need to walk 5 min for the bus station, 10 min for the subway. I have more than 5 grocery stores, video rental shops, a barber shop, a public bath, dozens of restaurants, a school yard where i can play catch and what not all within 100 m radius. And it isn't even a commercial area! I use my bike a lot to move around. There's a public library 15 min away, World cup stadium and the its parks linked to the river side open spaces are 20 min away, a E-mart 25 min away, i can shop and see movies and have fun in Shinchon either by 15 mins bus ride or 20 min of bikking. I really enjoy the way i am living right now.
3. Saunas and JJim jil bang. good place to relax.
4. Security.
5. My girlfriend(Ok. this should move up the list)
6. 'SKA' and around HongDae. Gee i hang out in that area since highschool! Shocked
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Circus Monkey



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: In my coconut tree

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, a few times I was caught in the rain without an umbrella. Usually a nearby Korea saw my plight and we shared an umbrella for part of my journey.

CM
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Rand Al Thor



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Locked in an epic struggle

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 5:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ubiquity: everything is everywhere (except maybe foreign products)
cheap public transit
clean public transit
efficient public transit
kimchee
hotuk
Gyeran bbang
DalkDoriTang
cheap clothing
my students
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rudyflyer



Joined: 26 Feb 2003
Location: pacing the cage

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 6:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

1) public transit, cheap, frequent and comfortable
2) taxis (except after midnight) again affordable and plentiful
3) no need for a car and all those hassles
4) mo yok tangs, tried one over the weekend now since my hotel's hot water was non-existent, I know why y'all swear by them
5) low work hours, long vacations
6) free rent and internet
7) paid enough to save and take long vacations in incredible places like Thailand. This summer I'm trying Boracay
Cool no crime, can't imagine taking the subway at midnight in the US
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mokpochica



Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Location: Ann Arbor, MI

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 6:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love:
1. How people have such enduring friendships here and how it is easy to gather a large group of Korean friends and get together.
2. That travel and tourist things are pretty cheap (except if you're paying for gas) and there's always a festival to go to.
3. That friends and students link arms with me when we are walking.
4. That the vast majority of people are supportive--and forgiving-- of me when I speak Korean, even though I make mistakes. (I have not found this to be true in some other countries.)
5. That glasses are of such good quality and so cheap here! And digital eye testing is kind of cool too.
6. the food
7. going to sauna/mogyotang/jjim jil bang after climbing a mountain.
8. seeing enthusiasm rather than indifference from my students.
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Zyzyfer



Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 6:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love the insane level of convenience when it comes to shopping for something. I do find myself spoiled, however, when a neighborhood doesn't have a real super.

I also love those little hole-in-the-wall places you find here. I love that about anywhere, but there's a ton of them here.
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jaderedux



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Lurking outside Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

1. my sweet BF of course.
2. SAUNA....SAUNA...SAUNA
3. BIG OL' SLABS OF MEAT cut and cooked at your table.
4. Public transportation
5. Getting goofy gifts from my students.
6. Parents bringing me Kim Chi
7. My students....yelling hello at me as they pass in their hogwan busses
8. My students bowing to me in the street
9. There are mountains every freaking where.
10. NO snow to speak of.
11. Busses
12. Amazing people sometimes. So damn generous it knocks your socks off.
13. Soup capitol of the world........
14. Nice places to picnic
15. Nice places to ride a bike.


So many more but I have to go to class

Jade
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weatherman



Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: Korea

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with a lot that has been said, but for my two cents:

Highly urbanized, with great economies of scale.

Low teaching hours, lots for sleeping, or doing other projects.

People really live their lives here, and I like that. Korean society rocks!

Korean food. From expensive to carts out on the sidewalk, always a good eat.

Beautiful mountains, and countryside in general, (but I hardly leave the city)

Did I say anything about Korean women? Do I have too?

Can live a simple life here without a lot of bagage, the car being the best example.
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rapier



Joined: 16 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2003 10:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

to add; i really do think the heated floors in winter are the best invention going. Especially after spending years in those freezing rented rooms in Europe.
Dentists here are professionals. They do such a good job compared to ones back home.
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canuk2



Joined: 28 Mar 2003
Location: Kumchon, Seoul

PostPosted: Mon Apr 14, 2003 5:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kangjatung The pig back bone potato soup.

hotuks

anjungsal

'Our' pork restruant where the waitress is teaching me Korean and I her english when she is not busy serving.

And most of what other people have mentioned.
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crazylemongirl



Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...

PostPosted: Mon Apr 14, 2003 6:13 am    Post subject: ok here goes Reply with quote

As a newbie (2 months and counting) I like:

Hotchs and other delicous korean food

The fact theI don't miss my car because of a great public transport here and the gearbox has blown up in my old one Shocked

Random acts of kindness by strangers (I have still to buy and umbrella and some guy insisted that he walk me from the supermarket to my bus stop so that I didn't get too wet)

The trees in Blossom in the spring

Snow in winter (didn't have that where I'm from)

That heating system..

That none of my students have thrown desks/chairs/anything they can get their hands on, at me yet (if you think korean kids are badly behaved, try special education ).

DVD/PC Bangs

Daves esl and other random get togethers

CLG
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Len8



Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Location: Kyungju

PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2003 6:32 am    Post subject: Ok, lets be positive about korea now... Reply with quote

I love the young kids I see on the streets. They are well dressed, and have bundles of energy. They run and play with relative abandon, but I also sense that everyone watches out for them. You could say that they are kind of communal property, and I think that's very refreshing. In the U.S, Canada, England, Australia...., young kids are guarded like hawks. Everyones afraid of that other person or persons, and their kids pick up on it as well. They know that no one is going to watch out for them but Mom or Dad, hence their reserve, and lack of assurance which comes from having a little less freedom to run and play with relative abandon.
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Yaya



Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2003 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have few things to add to the lists above, as they basically sum up what I freakin' miss about the motherland. I'm in Los Angeles now, and though this city has the largest ethnic Korean population outside of Korea (about 500,000), the atmosphere isn't the same at all. For starters:

1) Last call for booze is 1:30 am. If you find an illegal joint that serves after hours, you'll pay 40-50% more.

2) Car theft is rampant. The used car I bought had the stereo deck twice stolen, and I always put a club on my steering wheel. Pity those who buy a sports or luxury car

3) Hordes of weirdos abound (and you thought Korea had that monopoly). Many are pretty women who are trying to break into Hollywood and have issues coming out of their ears.

4) Mass transit sucks and goes nowhere. Yeah, there are buses and subways but SoCal people are so car crazy (it's unbelievable how many businesses related to cars operate here).

5) LA (and believe it or not, the US) is corrupt. Everything from the LAPD to City Hall has kickbacks and the like involved. Californians pay high taxes yet many wonder where the hell their money goes to (keeping lazy people on welfare, perhaps?).

I could go on and on, but darn, I live in LA now and have to make the best of it. Still, like when I was in Korea, I can leave anytime.
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