Korean Job Discussion Forums

Homer · Guest

Excellent question.

The answer really depends on the person and on their attitude and mindset.

I have been here 7 years, got married here and have a rich life. I also liked Korea from the start because I let myself see beyond the initial difficulties. It is also important to realise that a lot of our experiences here are warped by our own preconceptions and mindsets. You have to learn to look beyond the first impression and to ask the right questions instead of passing judgement quickly.

Also, life in Korea and abroad in general is not for everyone. That is a fact that is often forgotten in the mix of things. There is no shame in not being able to thrive in another country. However, too many people take the easy road and simply blame the country while never looking at themselves.

In the end, it is about personal preferences and about how a person approaches things. Like it was said in this thread, some people do not find what they need in Korea and end up being unhappy. Others plug into the life here and thrive. That is just par for the course.

Neil · Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Location: Tokyo

I think this thread's title gives a misrepresentation of people's experiences in Korea. As from what I can see, a lot of the regular posters here tend to be of polarized views which seem to be either Korea is the greatest place on earth to live, or the worst place one could imagine.

Most people I've met here tend to take the middle ground in that Korea has some problems for your average foreign Joe but it is as nowhere as bad as some make it out to be and you can have a good life out here.

So "hard time" or "thrive" is too much or a loaded question. I reckon most folk in Korea are in the 50/50 camp IMO.

peppermint · Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 2:31 pm Post subject:

WEll said Neil. I think part of it is that when you're really unhappy with one part of your life, everything else seems a little grey by association. Combine that with the fact that a lot of people either don't enjoy teaching or have a less than great work environment. In our home countries we could just find a better job, but here, we pretty much have to leave Korea.

kelly · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

I understand that maybe true, if you're really unhappy with one part of your life everything else will seem a little grey, and no matter where you are you can feel like that, but you've got to do something to change this part of your life, because otherwise you'll be unhappy and miserable all the time, and lord, thats not good for anyone. If you let everything get to you here, you'll hate it. I think everyone is different, some people let things really get to them and this makes it hard for them to enjoy their time here. I think to enjoy Korea, you need to sit back, don't take anything personally and just enjoy the short amount of time you have here..

Medic · Joined: 11 Mar 2003

Have been here a while, and have found that I enjoy teaching elementry school kids. Their enthusiasim fires me up every time. University students are basically dead fish, but when I go and do my part time with theyounger set I am up and running afterwards for the whole week. Love the English winter and summer camps too, because there are a lot of good fellow expat workers we can interact with and who usually fire me and other workers up with their enthusiasim as well.

In between of course we all have other interests. One of the things I really enjoy though is visiting tabangs. Korean tabangs usually have nice cute tea ladies who are very good at keeping you entertained for the price of a cofee. Some of the places are kinda dirty, but there are still a lot where you can chat with the cute ladies anyway. I usually poke my head into the tabang check out the scene and either stay or go depending on the quality of the staff

Homer · Guest

Kelly makes a good point here. It is indeed mostly about how you approach things.
Another excellent point made here was that many westerners here are just not cut out to be teachers and hence hate their jobs. This will of course color the rest of their life in Korea in a dark light.

There are many ways to thrive or be happy here. Strangely enough, these things are usually what is needed for you to be happy anywhere. That is, doing things that you like.

just because · Joined: 01 Aug 2003 Location: Changwon - 4964

I think some people are just hopeless and will complain about anything.

Trust me...the ones that are the worst were like that before they came here but now the family security blanket has been swept out and they have no freakin clue.

Thats not many but you just meet some people and shake your head.

Harpeau · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Coquitlam, BC

little mixed girl · Joined: 11 Jun 2003 Location: shin hyesung's bed~

i'd say just like everything else in the world, people's reactions are going to be different.

someone who went to cancun every winter as their 'foreign exposure', might not be so cool with korea. whatever whatever.

popping into a foreign country with no background knowledge of the language, culture, etc etc isn't the smartest thing in my mind, and it seems that many ppl go that route. ??

philinkorea · Joined: 27 Jan 2003

ive thought about this to. i heard about korea while in australia and me and 3 friends came at different points. 3 of us had a great time and the other hated it. hated the culture, recently described as a backward introverted culture.

in fairness he was indian and got some abuse for that, got messed around by a k girl and lived in a not so great apartment in a not so great area and wasnt really into teaching.

i think you really have to get stuck in and be positive to make the most of your time. im coming to the end of my second year and ive had a great time, second better than the first.

first year i lived in suwon and always felt a second would be good.i got a job in central seoul teaching adults. i always try to make the most out of my classes to make them good and get good feedback from students, i checked out the school to make sure it was sound. I made a girlfriend and although we broke up are still good friends. Ive been reading lots about korea to, studying korean and have been travelling around quite a bit, theres cool places to go. ive really liked it here.

i remember someone writing once how it seems a lot of people when coming here go through all the effort but then just sit in their own hole expecting things to happen. things can go wrong and when everythings so alien i think its easy to get stale and become inactive. using this site is great for advice and you need to be positive and just get stuck in. theres potential to have a great time here