Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bosintang]

[jajdude]

Actually the question is very simple.

Where would you have a better time?

But the answer is mysterious.

You think money, you think enjoyment.

And no one knows the answers.

All of us are different.

[trevorcollins]

[shawner88]

All I know is that I'm having three times the life and three times less the worries I had in Korea. And my girlfriend is 300xs better...

[SarcasmKills]

[The Man known as The Man]

[shawner88]

[JongnoGuru]

[billybrobby]

[shawner88]

Just to follow up. I got the job here in China. $2400 USD/month, +$200 housing (average rent in China) 8:30-3:30, teaching elementary school to a few students in an international school. 3-4 classroom hours. My own big classroom with a computer and internet access. Very nice campus for mostly Korean kids, of course. Can you believe foreign kids pay a whopping $15,000 tuition in China at international schools?

[JongnoGuru]

[ryleeys]

1 year in Korea
Going on 6 months in China...



I hate to say it, but moving to China was a huge mistake for me (though perhaps not for others).


China is going through a Gilded Age right now. When I visited here in November, it struck me as new, different, culturally interesting, and many other things that struck my fancy. Having been in Guangzhou for 6 months, I'm extremely dissappointed.

Chinese have done so much to do away with anything remotely resembling the Chinese culture that I expected from my studies. Money is the overpowering force, in a much more different and much more malignant way than in Korea or the States. Case in point:

- It's not uncommon for a shop owner to refuse selling a product to a foreigner for a higher price than he'd sell it to a Chinese, simply because he isn't ripping off the foreigner enough. He might sell a silk scarf to a Chinese for 10rmb, but wouldn't dream of selling to a foreigner (and lets them walk out of the shop) for less than 40rmb. It is literally seen as their cultural and ethnic right to take advantage of foreigners.


The little that remains of temples, parks, and other cultural heritage sights is covered in a layer of filth. 95% of the rest has been paved over in concrete.


In terms of rudeness to strangers, Chinese have taken it to a new level. They are very polite to people they interact with on a regular basis, but strangers are literally seen as non-human objects interfering with their daily business. Examples:

- Try getting off an elevator; it's not possible. They crowd around so much that anyone on the elevator is forced to remain on as the flood of people rushes in. (I don't know about Korea, I lived in a small town and didn't ride elevators often.)

- Walking down the street results in severe bruising from people "intentionally" aiming for you to establish the sidewalk as their space or to test the foreigner.

- Standing in line? Fuggetaboutit. If you try to form a line, you will never be served. Only those that push to the front will be served (of course, any foreigner attempting to match the Chinese are met with severe criticism).


The racism here is outrageous. If you think Koreans hate Japanese, try China. I don't even want to go into this, it's so frustrating. And yeah, it is almost as bad for blacks and Americans.


Overall, I've become very disenfranchised with China. I've come to the conclusion that the China I "knew" and even "loved" died 50 years ago. I greatly regret coming here. But, such is life... and I'm sure there are many others who have adapted better than I have.





P.S.
- And if you think Korean employers are unscrupulous, you have no idea till you've worked in China.

[guangho]

Finally Rylees hath spoken. I have no illusions- either a cushy international school gig in China that pays 4-5 times what the Chinese will, or it's back to Korea.

[fidel]

[numazawa]