Korean Job Discussion Forums

[plato's republic]

I've been living and teaching in Korea for four months now and so far my experience has been a positive one. I teach at a Hagwon and I seem to have found a good school with friendly, honest and reliable though somewhat disorganised staff.

Since I arrived here in the land of Kimchi, I've noticed certain things which struck me as odd, unique or just downright baffling. For one, the state of the roads in this country are apalling. Koreans seem to have a fascination for speed bumps. They are literally everywhere. I have severe trouble keeping my breakfast down when I get picked up by the school bus every morning. Also, most roads tend to have quite a few pot-holes. Are they not capable of constructing straight, flat road surfaces?

Another thing which has caught my attention is the sheer number of monotonous-looking apartment buildings which are nothing more than an eye-sore. Do Koreans construct the same style of apartment building up and down the country? I understand that space is at a premium, but do they not have any creativity when it comes to designing and constructing apartment buildings?

Then there are the numerous 'Bangs' dotted around the place. PC Bangs, Noraebangs, DVD Bangs, Bideo Bangs etc....Koreans sure do love their 'Bangs'. Actually I'm quite fond of them too

One of the things I like about Korea is the relatively low-cost of living outside of Seoul which enables me to save up money and have a decent social life at the same time, something which proved rather difficult when I lived in Japan. It's possible to limit myself to 150.000won a week or less which allows me to hang out in Seoul on the weekends and save money during the week when there's nothing to do anyway since I finish work late and live in a fairly quiet area.

All in all, things have turned out pretty good so far and long may they continue. Having lived in asia before I haven't experienced any culture shock or major problems since I got here and I don't expect to either.

What are the things that you like/hate about living in Korea? What things really bug you about living here? I'd be interested to hear about other people's experiences.

Peace

[JacktheCat]

[livinginkorea]

Reflections on me? Ahh shucks, you really shouldn't have!!

To be serious for a minute..

I love..

--the fact that the Internet speed here is WAY faster than back home!!

--my Xbox that can play copied games. I can get 6 for 50,000 won!!!

--the wide range of food but still you can get some western food if you want

--Koreans are friendly and helpful but sometimes they can be annoying and overbearing. Sometimes you need time to yourself.

--everything here is so cheap compared to back home.

--Korean culture and history.

--my job. It's the most rewarding that I've had so far.

--that I met my girlfriend here!!

On the negative side, I hate

--spitting!! It's everywhere and everybody does it!!

--people staring at me (but I'm getting used to it)

--the fact that they eat dog here.

--the smell of those toilets!!

--people who think that they can use me.

--drunk Koreans who can't shut up outside my house at 4 in the morning!!

That's all for now!!

[livinginkorea]

Also some Koreans have "closed minds" about international couples. Sometimes we get stared at but nothing serious has happened yet. Some people have bad experiences but none yet for me.

I guess this is a good and bad point.

[lastat06513]

Wait until you have lived here 1 year, 2 years....
5 years.....9 years....

What keeps me here is a sense of inertia, why disturb the natural balance of things by going anywhere else....

I hope you don't get that way....keep your sense of adventure

[Corporal]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

[plato's republic]

Well I just wish that my school's bus driver would slow down when going over them
nothing quite like a twenty minute bumpy bus ride every morning!
Anyway, Korean drivers are shockingly bad at driving, even worse than the Japanese. I don't think those speed bumps make much difference to the way they drive.

[ninjamonkey]