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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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OCOKA Dude
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 12:55 pm Post subject: |
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| nrvs wrote: |
| I took a few classes in Mandarin in university and I was ready to go to Taiwan to study and teach English. Then, I met my Korean-American girlfriend at home. She had similar plans to go abroad...but to Korea. She's a Korean national and wouldn't qualify for a working visa in Taiwan. So, Korea it was. |
If your gf is a Korean National, she is not Korean American. FYI, Korean Amerian = US Citizen |
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OCOKA Dude
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 1:12 pm Post subject: |
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| death from above wrote: |
i was a middle management corporate robot *beep* back home.. i watched mindless idiots get promoted time and again.. you know the story, promote mediocrity.. i listened to ignorant people talk about the same *beep* day after day, the same *beep* i saw on tv at night. i watched small-minded idiots amass power while the generous, intelligent, or open-minded got trampled upon.. so, eventually, i quit the ignorant, money-grubbing job that i hated.. i excommunicated my hot, manipulative girlfriend.. i sold my car and put all the useless objects i have collected into storage.. and i headed for the hills. i spent 3 months in my dad's cabin by the river.. and attuned myself to nature, unemployment, and virtual isolation.. aka madness. that situation can't last, so i started looking for a job, but i found that i have plenty of experience but no marketable skills.. i felt like Arthur Dent, The Great Sandwich Maker, all this useless knowledge and experience but no real skills.. perfect for.. corporate management! but, when i was job-searching, i found an opportunity that required no real skills, was positive, helped people, paid enough to survive while allowing plenty of leisure time, and was in a far-away land i had only read about in books. so i came here 3 weeks ago. i have found korea to be a deeply beautiful country and everyone i have met has been very kind.. in america, when someone gave me something, the first question i asked was, "what do they want?" here people i have only just met have helped me immensely without asking for anything in return. in short, korea offered me an opportunity to repent my many sins, a tabula rasa where i can be the kind of person i want to be.
so if society, any society, wants to call me a "loser" for trying to change my corrupt life, i feel only pity for them. |
I've heard it said that coming to Korea is akin to entering purgatory. It's neither heaven nor hell -- just a place for foreigners to exist in limbo as they make amends for their "sins", e.g., paying off student loans, recovering from breakups, buying time in the face of a poor economy back home, running from the law, abandoning prior lifestyles, etc.
Some makie it and are able to return home no worse for wear and a little richer. Some never make it and have to continue on in Korea indefinitely. I think that is the most tragic fate for anybody, i.e., being unable to return to their home country under favorable conditions. |
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rumpolestitskin
Joined: 12 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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I came here for one year for a bit of a change. I wouldn't consider myself a loser, just someone who wanted a break.
To my calculations I've been to 29 different countries in the world, and have lived in 4. It doesn't realy bother me too much if Korean's think I'm a loser. After all, "A fish in a bowl knows not of the sea" (or something like that).
Let the priviledged few who have some knowledge of the world line up at the embassy and vote with their feet. |
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whitebeagle
Joined: 09 Feb 2003
Location: UK
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| Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 2:12 pm Post subject: |
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Teaching in Korea doesnt automatically make you a loser, but it can if you let it.
In my two years I would say I saw an fairly even split between...
i) those who came, had a laugh, got something out of their job, made some cash, and then got the hell out.
ii) those who came, loved zero responsibilities, didnt give a damn abt their job, got drunk for 12 months, woke up one day in a minor panic about their future, signed on again, repeat.
Now I think its obvious who Koreans, at least those who these people came into contact with, would regard as a loser. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2005 6:52 pm Post subject: |
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| rumpolestitskin wrote: |
| After all, "A fish in a bowl knows not of the sea" (or something like that). |
Right. Koreans use a similar expression- 'a frog in a well'. |
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