Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Snowkr]

Just curious (as usual) about how people who are in Korea for the first time feel during the first week.
I guess it would really depend on where you work/live/play and if you are there alone or with someone else from home.

Anyone care to share? There are some clever people on this forum who seem to really tell it like it is...

[kangnam mafioso]

the first week is really weird, but kind of in a cool way. hopefully, you'll have a couple of days before working to get over the jet lag like i did. i'll never forget that first night getting dropped off at my apartment after having sam-gyup sal (grilled pork) with the people who picked me up from the airport. i ventured out into the neighborhood to find a store to by some things. the streets were narrow and crowded and all the signs were in korean. i was scared of getting lost. the streets were quite crowded even at 2 am and restaurants had people sitting on the floor and there were tanks out front with strange things (squid/ eel) swimming around in them. it was like stepping into another dimension or something. savor those first weeks ... a few months later things will become mundane again and you'll want to go home. if you survive that period, you may grow to like korea and not want to go back to the west. my suggestion would be to dive right in and enjoy dynamic korea. try all the food, the saunas, the singing rooms and tulam-ju-jams. get lost in the back streets of jongno and the smokey ambience of soju hofs and pojang machas.

[ninjamonkey]

[Grotto]

My first time in Korea felt a little surreal.

I was pretty exhausted by the time I got here and just wanted to sleep.

When I arrived at the apartment I walked in much to the shock of my boss(still had my shoes on).

I woke up around 4 AM and went and stood out on the balcony looking at all the other apartments and I was struck by how similar things were to back home. Apartments, traffic, and whatnot. But then it also hit me how different things were going to be at the same time, language, people, and that the adventure was just about to begin.

[Zyzyfer]

birds and bees

[Snowkr]

What in the world are bath houses?

Thanks for the quick replies. Keep them coming!

[Hyeon Een]

My first day was nice. I waited at Gimpo for a coupla hours then got a flight nearer to where I would be teaching. When I got there, the director of my academy grabbed me (literally) and said my name to reassure me. I was the only whitey on the plane so it was OK, I was glad I was 'found' easily.

He then drove at a good clip (maybe 180k/hr, 'cept when there were speed cameras..) to the academy. He told me he was going to get his brother to drive me to my apartment and settle me in, but then changed his mind. So we got there, I sat in the office for 40minutes whilst he taught. Then he came back, and said ok, in 40 minutes you teach one class, only one, OK? To which I said "I don't think so" and he said "I THINK SO! you english, you good teacher, OK?" so I said OK and asked for the book and he said "OK" then after 2 minutes of looking told me another teacher had the book so I couldn't see it before class.

So I said "OK" and laughed, coz I'd read Dave's before and this was textbook new-at-a-hagwan-crap and it amused me to experience the 'adventures' I'd only read about before. So when the next class started I received the book, and met my foreign and Korean co-teachers in the lift journey to the 3rd floor. The two foreign girls were shocked that I'd gone straight from the plane to the classroom, but I laughed them off. The class was nice, luckily.

Went out for dinner with the two foreigners after, had soju, threw food all over the shop with my crap metal-chopstick skills, got walked to a shop to buy beer and cigarettes, then went back to my apartment and smoked and drank til I passed out.

Next day woke up just in time for 3:15pm class (bitta jetlag y'know), taught 6 classes.. and thought.. "How the HELL can I do this every day..". Luckily it was Canada day so I got to meet the entire foreign population of the town. It was cool. 'most everyone was awesome. I had a wicked time. Except for one slight mishap.

I met a chap from Wisconsin. I thought he was alright, had a brief chat.. mentioned cheese coz that's the only thing I know about wisconsin and that was that. Until about 3am. At about 3am I was talking to one of my new co-teachers. She was a cute girl. I was mainly talking to her because I really had no idea what the hell to do in a classroom and hoped she might help me. Also she was cute, but the cuteness was only about 30% of my motivation.

What I didn't know was that the Wisconsin dude had a crush on her. So when, during mid-sentence, when cute co-worker was giggling at my charm and wit, I got smacked in the side of the head and pushed to the ground I was somewhat shocked. I was even more shocked to realise I'd flown about 12 feet and now my arms were underneath my body, and a crazy Wisconsian was sitting on me whilst pummelling my face and chest. This was my first night of interaction with the other foreigners in town.

Interestingly, about 5 minutes later, when cute co-worker was escorting me home and apologizing for the psycho american I found out that he was married to a lovely korean girl, but he was 'a bit strange'. He never came out to socialize again in my time in that city. Funny that.

It was a shame I couldn't move my shoulder at all for the next 3 weeks. The students must have thought it was a strange english thing to only use the bottom 1/3 of the whiteboard.. Anyway, alls well that ends well. After 2 months I barely felt any more pain in my shoulder at all.

The rest of my first month was good. Exciting, bewildering, hot, humid, strange, stressful, fun. Intoxicating, bizarre, surprising. The first month was probably the worst. The second month was probably the second worst. After about three months I really felt like I'd settled in, and grew to love the place.

It's a good country, don't be put off by first mont/3 month jitters. Just give it time, and make an effort =)

Oh yeah, and bathhouses:

Bathhouses ROCK. I love them. They, and peach flavored 2% are the best things in Korea. They are the non-sexual highlights of Korea. A bathhouse might be called a mogyoktang, a sauna or a jjimjilbang. JJimjilbangs have big communal (clothed) areas, the sauna/mogyagtang thingeys probably just include the nude same-sex area. They ROCK. Bunch of baths, awesome showers, saunas and steam rooms, and if you're brave a person who will wash, scrub and massage you for 10,000 won (about 10 canadian dollars). It's very relaxing to spend some time in these places.

I must admit though, when sober, I feel slightly uncomfortable getting a naked man to rub me down, soap me up and massage me whilst I'm also naked. It seems.. almost.. gayish.. but it does also feel good too

Oh, sometimes the men aren't naked, and wear little shorts.. I never got a rubdown from a guy wearing shorts though, only the naked ones. In the women's saunas I imagine they got women to do the scrubdowns.

-HE

[djsmnc]

Don't believe them. You will be standing outside of the airport with a Korean person pretending to be friendly to you, but who is actually a lackey for your overly demanding and rude hagwon owner. Sure, you will think that person is pretty nice, until one week later when you realize what your job involves.

While waiting for the bus, you will notice that you stick out like a sore thumb. You will be wearing a dress shirt with a necktie, but will realize that it is completely unnecessary. It will feel like everyone is looking at you.

After a long bus ride in the evening, replete with a million questions (which you will probably have to have repeated because it's all in Konglish) from the pretentious person, i.e. "Can you use chopsticks? Do you know what HP means on the side of that truck? In Korea, we say handphone, not cell phone or mobile phone", you will arrive at your new apartment.

MAYBE it's an apartment. It will at least resemble an apartment. If you are lucky, it will have air conditioning. Suspend your revulsion at the horrific color scheme of your apartment, which will most likely be seasick green with some granny handbag pink thrown in for brightness. Probably some brown in there too. Remember, your floor may look like it's wooden, but it's actually synthetic material.

Hopefully you don't have to work the day you arrive! I remember coming to Korea and having to do level tests the day I arrived, before I even knew anything about the curriculum!

Ha ha...curriculum...who said anything about curriculum?

[Derrek]

Want to make yourself laugh?

Stop at one of those barber shop places for a haircut.

But be prepared to bolt.

Hahhaa

[Dan The Chainsawman]

I was waiting at the airport for many hours with no one waiting for me. In the end my sister came and fetched me when I gave her a ring. Spent the night at her apartment, and was bombarded with phone calls half the night from the recruiter who finally remembered to check her phone messages.

Yeah ummm in the sense that I don't know the OP, dude if you go into one of the twin barber pole spinning places definitely have your running shoes on.

Quick rule of thumb Snowkr be ready for Jet Lag, its a bugger. I think its one day for every hour backwards it takes to recover or some hideous formula. I was told to get totally crocked on the plane, but the stewardess cut me off after so many beers.

I like bathhouses as well with the exception of walking around naked with little kids that really bothers me. So I just pick the times when most kids are at home.

[kangnam mafioso]

you know, bath houses aren't too bad if you bring a large towel with you (they only have those smallish towels in there). just cover yourself up when you walk from jacuzz to steam room and back, etc.

[Derrek]

ahahah... having a large towel like that only brings more stares.

When guests vist my home in Korea, and see my towel I brought from home, they always say, "WOW!"

[sheba]

I didn't have much jet lag because I had an overnight flight and slept most of the way...

Anyway the first week is really surreal! I didin't really sink in that I was in KOREA!!! Although the second I arrived, I was like "what the hell was I thinking!!??"

If you have never taught before then the nerves certainly play up! I've never been a great public speaker... but it only took a week to sort everything out.

Do you know when your first day of teaching is? Because I arrived Monday afternoon and spent the remainder of the day being introduced to everyone and shown around the area... then had to start teaching on Tuesday... I barely had time to unpack and settle in.

Oh, and I cried every day for the first 4 days from being lonely and in this srange new place. But then after a week, you relise just how huge this thing is that you are doing... you start the 'romatic' phase where everyone and everything is just so amazing and exciting and you cant get enough of the sights and sounds...

So basically the first week is quite a confusing time... a real mixture of a whole bunch of feelings.... once you get settled everything simmers down.

[JongnoGuru]

Public bathhouses are nothing more than a small footnote in any right-thinking person's "Korea Story". Yes, they're Korean, yes, they're probably different than what you expected, yes, many people like them and many people don't, but so TFW??? Blaaah...blaaaah....

It's extremely unfortunate that so many people seem to start working the day after they arrive (or even the same day ). I'd recommend a full week to get settled, find your way around the town/city you'll be living for the next year, learn how to take public transport, where to buy things, how to set up a bank account, etc. Hell, at least give your body a few days to recover from jetlag. Yet so many hit the tarmac working (teaching). How come? Can't it be arranged to allow you a few days to reorient yourself? Why doesn't it occur to people that showing up a few days before work starts is a _good thing_ and a _smart thing_ to do?

[Thunndarr]