Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jajdude]

In 5 minutes perhaps?

Just thinking whenever one returns to whitey land after x time here.

Well this idea has been done.

Damn no one will care or understand. Us expats live in a small world where but a few can grasp it all or any of it.

Now I think I get what VN vets went through.

By the way, anyone know any VN vets?

[fidel]

Jelly monkey hatstand flying chickenfish

[peony]

[fidel]

flibertity gibberty triangles cast upon the sun

[Demonicat]

LOL. I wasn't going to comment, but I can;t hold back anymore. I did my dues in West Africa (US Peace corps, Canadians think of VSO- I imagine its much the same). During my tenure there, I was shot at repeatedly, threatened by soldiers and insurgents, had 6 months worth of work wiped out by a biblical plague (locusts), shook hands with lepers, had a three inch hold put in my body by a botfly, ate brains, hearts, and eyeballs to stave off malnutrition (I'm 6'4 and went down to 160lbs- from 245). I saw people drop dead in front of me, s**t, I saw entire villages get wiped out from cholera, menegitis, and other simply cured diseases just becasue there were no medicines that people could afford.
yet...
when I came to Korea all I keep hearing is "you don't know s**t! I've been in korea for-((insert 1-5 year term), I KNOW hardship." Its f'ing ridiculous. I'm sorry, but Koreans can be rude, the dust can be hard, and it can be difficult to find a date on a Saturday night- but life here isn't hard. grrr.
I'm certainly not calling myself tough- the second I do that, a Russian or West African will pop on here and beat that, but I do have to say that the expats here have a SEVERE reality problem. Chill folks. If you EVER think that you have it hard, go help some NK refugees or talk to an Romanian worker by the docks. Damn. I know this wasn't the point of the OP, but I had to rant this time. Vaya con dios amigos.

[Rock]

Demonicat beats the record, and DC, I'm glad you're alive and that you feel so positive. For all it's worth, however, there's a lot of strain with being in a country where you've not been treated with the same dignity you're used to back home, which is what I'm sure a lot of people here equate with Korea, the barbarity of the manners and all, even one to the extent of referring to it as a Vietnam experience upon reflection.

Is this uncalled for? What you've mainly related is the actual third world, or the under-developed world, where such living standards are to be expected. I'd never go there and expect not to see the suffering those people must face.

But in Korea, there's a sense of something culturally that adds to a different mindset which clashes with most Western people here. Asian cultures differ in quite a degree to our Western/African/Mid-Eastern ways of life, thereby making it all the more alienating.

I do often wonder about what the VN vets went through, not because of the physical hardship, but because of the twisted ways of thinking they must've encountered.

[Son Deureo!]

I think I understand what the OP is talking about. He's not so much saying that he relates to Vietnam vets because teaching English in Korea is as difficult, but rather that both are transformative experiences that people from back home can't relate to if they've never been through anything like it before.

And no, I haven't found a way to relate it to the folks at home. They have no frame of reference for it, don't know what to ask, and so I find it difficult to discuss my experiences here with them.

[rawiri]

[quote="jajdude"]

Now I think I get what VN vets went through.

By the way, anyone know any VN vets?[/quote]




answer to question...yes

answer to observation...no you don't....you don't have the slightest inkling of an idea of what they went through.

[skookum]

The world is full of people who don't relate. Some of it is 'cause of prejudices. Some is due to lack of knowledge. For example:

People in the medical business are quite comfortable talking about pus and slime as they eat their lunch. Those not in this field may feel uncomfortable.

Cops often feel civilians can't possibly relate to the law-enforcement experience.

Christians, especially the evangelical or fundamentalists ones, feel not understood and are often willing from the start to assume that I won't accept their basic premises.

Combat veterans, gays, pagans, Muslims, racial and ethnic minorities, intellectuals, farmers, people with little education, ex-cons, vegetarians, polyamorists, people with disabilities of one kind or another - all feel they get little respect or understanding from the world at large.

Some people DO respect George W. Bush 'cause he's a good ol' boy who they can relate to. And there are many that don't.....

Even Mother Teresa had her share of critics who were willing to attribute all kinds of motives to her work.

I've noticed that when talking to people who don't share my experience that they will relate better if I'm not complaining about something they don't understand or care about. They are more likely to want to hear about my adventure. That may not be all of what is true for me, but it's what they can hear, and sometimes produces an opening for further communication.

[mithridates]

I think that's what dreams are for. I can't count the number of times I've had the dream where I've done something stupid, get caught and have to go to jail for the next decade or two. I got the exact same feeling when watching 25th hour last year. Each time I thought it was real and the farthest I've ever gotten is on the bus that goes to jail, but I think I can honestly say I know what it feels like.

[kangnam mafioso]

[Freezer Burn]

Didnt we all decide to travel here and work here, there was no one holding a gun to your head to come, so why bit*h and moan about it now that your here, or back home.
After reading Demioncats (sp) tales and experiences nothing about what i have been through here in Korea or China will ever match up.
I think when i go home im going to laugh about it, rather than rant about it.

[jajdude]

Just a little clarification. I didn't mean to imply I know what a war is like. I just meant that this experience of living in Asia is totally foreign to many people. War is also totally foreign to many people. So they are both hard to explain as it is hard for many people to grasp what either experience is like. For those who know the experience there might be some sense of feeling not understood or even alienated after the experience has passed into memory.

[rapier]

I can relate to most people I'm proud to say. I mean I've lived for several years on each continent..(except America, although I have spent much time with Americans).
I've met a lot of different nationalities and got a picture of where they're coming from.Although I always felt that not many people can relate to my exp though. How can they? realistically speaking.

Demonicat is right of course- i went through similar hardship in the third world..but its like a separate book compared to Korea. I don't really judge these people by the same standards at all. Although I do think westerners are generally pretty spoiled, self-absorbed and bratty by comparison.

[skookum]