Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Saxiif]

This summer there's some college students filling in for the extra classes at the hagwon and some of them really really remind me of how I used to be before I went to Korea and its really driven home how much Korea has changed me. For example:

-I'm a lot more confident than I used to be, I used to be a real weenie before coming here.
-Just about all of my college-days idealism has been sucked out of me. All that's left is thick streak cynical anti-authoritarian.
-I can't believe the shit I put up with at my first job without any complaint. I don't do that anymore.
-I have some idea of how to promote myself and latch on to the good jobs, I didn't have a clue when I first came here.
-I used to be really shy now I have such a big mouth and never shut up just like just about every other expat here. Having to entertain the little demons all day does that to you.
-If it wasn't for my wonderful amazing perfect fiance, I'm sure I could find a girl who would stand having sex with me without too much effort. Which is a far far far cry from my college days "get really drunk and hope for the best" modus operandi.
-Korean style convenience has really grown on me. I visited home and I couldn't order fried chicken and beer at 2 AM, the minimart was a long hike and it closed sometimes and I had to pay really random non-round amounts of basic stuff. WTF!
-I'm thinking about having kids. What the *beep* happened to me
-Hippies piss me off now.
-I don't listen to hardcore punk anymore. Well at least not much.
-Recycled crappy hip hop pissed me off even more than it did before, if that is possible.
-Cheap people really really piss me off now. I can fight over who gets to pay the bill with the best of Koreans. So many foreigners are so goddam cheap, the bastards.
-I've come to realize that I spend way too much time in bars, I seem to know where really good bars are in every single region of Seoul. I NEVER went to bars back home, but the bar culture's really grown on me.
-I can't imagine weathering a nasty hangover without spicy soups.
-I can imagine nothing better than raw fish dunked in hot sauce.
-I get in arguements with Koreans in which I tell them its OK to eat oh so very tasty dogs and they disagree with me.
-I have my more Americanized students tell me that I'm more Korean than they are

Korea it does the mind (but not the liver) good

[jajdude]

I seem to recall this very question from a while ago, or maybe a few years ago. It's a good question. Not sure I know the answer. But I feel like some change has happened from several years in Asia. I just can't pin it down at the moment.

[jlb]

Now that I'm back in Canada, I have a lot more consideration/respect/sympathy for the non-white people.

While I was in Korea, it was the first time I had ever experienced racism. For example, people arguing one time about who had to sit on the train beside me or people telling us to be quiet on the bus because we were speaking English.

So now when my friends or family make little comments about stuff like this in Canada, I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of it and it feels pretty crappy. I will sometimes tell them my experience in Korea and I have opened a few people's eyes I think.

I've changed in a lot of ways but this is the example that first popped into my head when I read the question.

[periwinkle]

[quote="jlb"]

While I was in Korea, it was the first time I had ever experienced racism. For example, people arguing one time about who had to sit on the train beside me or people telling us to be quiet on the bus because we were speaking English.
quote]

Someone told you to be quiet because you were speaking English? WTF? How did you handle that? I can't believe someone would be that rude. Well, actually, I CAN believe an ajossi or ajumma would be that rude, but it still boggles my mind.

[dulouz]

I'm skinnier.

[mullethunter]

i find myself dressing more feminine, and wearing more makeup here (i even wear high heels occasionally, something i NEVER did back in canada) i'm not saying i was a slob in canada, just a jeans and sneakers kinda girl. i have to say that i like that, and some korean fashions have really grown on me (though someone please shoot me if i ever buy a pair of those jelly shoes, wtf!)

oh yeah, and i got rid of the mullet. you see, i'm the kid in the family picture, and growing up i always thought that mullets were cool, because everyone in my family sported one, (man, grandma's was beautiful, grey mullet gently swinging in the breeze), but when igot here, i realized that mullets are only for crap boy bands. glad korea set me straight on that one!

[Saxiif]

[kermo]

[kermo]

I've been here just under a year, and I think that being in Korea has helped me to be quite content to be alone for long periods of time. There's still more traffic and noise in my head than I would like, but I've discovered a lot of stillness here.

I have a newfound sexual confidence, but I think it's largely from being among too many GIs, and carefree teachers who put the "lust" back in "wanderlust". When I go back to being a little fish in a big (-breasted) pond, I may find that I settle down.

I'm smarter... at least if my recently acquired drinking skills aren't eroding my previous knowledge, I will leave here with an extra language, more musical skill and plenty of cultural flexibility.

I'm better-looking. I've lost weight, been kicked into shape by a ruthless gym instructor, and now I can stand and put my palms on the floor, or sit, bend and touch my forehead to my knees. I'm not about to audition for a Chinese circus, but getting to that point made me feel like farkin' GUMBY.


My fashion style has suffered. I wear Konglish over couture, because it's all I can find. I wear more frills than I have tolerated since I was three, and my decent clothes are getting quite worn out.

I'm less trusting. I have met so many creeps and cads that my healthy skepticism has bloomed into all-out horror. Nevertheless, I find I can get along with just about anyone who speaks a little English, and I have more tools to deal with the tools than previously thought.

[Kimchieluver]

I got married.

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

[Dan]

[lunalilo]

[mullethunter]

[quote="lunalilo]
Are you really the kid in the picture?
[/quote]

yes, i must admit, and i still carry the emotional scars from it but... my dark past has shaped me into what i am now, and that is a hunter, in search of the perfect mullet trophy shot. my first year here i taught at a kiddie hagwon in yeosu, and one of my students had a mullet; he was the one that got away i guess.

[Return Jones]

Doubt it. That family picture has been circulating on the web for years.

http://images.google.ca/images?q=mullet%20family&sa=N&tab=wi