Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hypnotist]

Well every other top 5 seems to come up once a week...

1. The fashion. It's ok, I guess. The Konglish is sometimes funny but generally nothing much stands out.
2. The fast food. Yeah, ok when pressed for time.
3. The level of litter. Notice it occasionally but it's not like London on a Sunday morning.
4. Soju. Yeah, I'll have a glass or two, then can we drink more beer?
5. The English-language films on TV. Good enough to waste a few hours here and there.

This turned out to be less revealing than I'd hoped. Oh well.

[numazawa]

Yeah, I hear what you're saying. You know, I used to be very apathetic. But now I don't care.

Anyway, I was going to draw up a list of things I felt ambivalent about, then I thought better of it.

[ChimpumCallao]

ok...i'll bite...

1) the food. not great, not awful...good when hungry
2) the shopping...see above (good when needy)
3) the 'culture'...couldnt care less.
4) the people...nice...not nice...varies...don't care
5) the weather...could be better...but its aight.

[Mashimaro]

korean women

[joe_doufu]

The whole not having to work until 3pm thing. It sounds good in theory, but actually it's kind of boring and screws up your sleep cycle.

[eamo]

Korean food.......Not boring. Not too exciting either. Just okay.

Korean cars........They're very, very.....what's the word?....er... standard.

Korean temples.....They're just okay. Worth a visit but not captivating.

Korean countryside.....Some nice parts. Not really breathtaking though.


I personally believe of all the foreigners that come here to work or just for vacation about 10% love it, 10% hate it, and the other 80% are just half 'n' half.

[anyway]

1. the language
2. the food
3. the language
4. the pop music
5. the language

[joe_doufu]

The selection of fruit available at the markets. I love those Asian pears, but am disappointed by the scarcity of avocado, and am unimpressed with the grapes and the yellow mini-melons of summer.

[Reflections]

* Foreigners whose blog relates to their life in Korea.

I mean the culture here is pretty substandard anyway, but bloggers just bring it down another notch where its just downright unbearable.

* The food and the various smells it generates. With closed windows...Uha>

[joe_doufu]

learning Korean. yes, it's mentally stimulating. but so far, it hasn't helped me make any new friends and i'll probably never keep up with it after leaving. i can honestly say it's been good for my love life (a little bit), but that's only because i met some Japanese girls in the classes.

[VanIslander]

This thread is about apathy when it is supposed to be about ambivalence

I have conflicting feelings about, am truly ambivalent about...

(1) the spicy food - on the one hand, I love it and eat it nearly everyday, on the other hand, I've had some weird gut aches after a few years on it, and I worry a bit about the longterm effects on a cuisine in a country with such high rates of stomach cancer.

(2) being different than the locals - I like the attention and yet I don't like it. It's nice to get unsolicited help when needed, to get the free "service" and directions and other benefits of being like a rock star, yet it's not nice to feel like a freak and an outsider all the time; it's annoying to be subject to social pressure even though one doesn't feel the peer pressure.

(3) hagwons - I have enjoyed teaching small groups of mostly elementary-aged kids, especially with their ability to learn, yet... some days I haven't the energy to keep up with them and either they or I get impatient and unsatisfied. And I'm also ambivalent about my future: my longterm plan was to teach university classes. I want the long vacations and shortened teaching schedules but I don't want the inattentive students and lack of real progress; my hagwon has been too satisfying for me: I have yet to return to finish my master's, a degree I don't need to continue the ESL teaching I love, but necessary for the teaching I used to think I wanted, and might still adjust to, even though on a good day I don't think I want to.

(4) the part of Korea I'm in - There are a lot of benefits of living on Geoje Island, and I've taken advantage of most of them. On a warm sunny summer's day I think this is the best place to be, as I head for the beach or hills or just out for a walk. But on the long winter nights, on those days I want to just hang out with other native speakers, I wish I was located in the centre of Busan or Gwangju or elsewhere. I can't get enough of this place I sometimes think, but at other times I think it's time to go; I've only repetition to look forward to, when I should be learning about new places, even though I enjoy the sense of familiarity and don't find it boring.

(5) Dave's ESL Cafe - I love it and I hate it. I enjoy the contact, the info, the commonality and humour, but the negativity and repetition gets to me and I have to leave for days or weeks at a time. I never know when I log on whether this place will cap off a good day or be an annoying postscript to an otherwise fine day; likewise, it can save a bad day or simply add to the crap on the worst of days.

Now, that's ambivalence!

[uberscheisse]

pork.
pork.
pork.
pork.

and more pork.

seriously, why would anyone eat that crap? it smells like a dead man's jockstrap when it's cooked. i'd rather eat dog.

walk through any neighborhood and count the samgyeopsal places. it's so retarded... especially when a NEW one goes up. "just what the city needs, another samgyeopsal restaurant!"

[SPINOZA]

I'm certainly not ambivalent or apathetic about San Gyop Sal. It's fookin' delish! What's the name of that one that's basically SGS but bigger chunks of better quality meat and is a little more expensive? (in my part of town that means 8 bucks as opposed to 6). God that's quality gear.

Ambivalent:

* class sizes. Sometimes 'the more the merrier', sometimes totally dreadful.

* prices. Love the cheap Soju, the cheap K-food, cheap cabs, cheap subway, hate the price of sh1te beer and prices of pretty much anything in the trendy areas (only to be expected I guess).

* Hongdae/Itaewon. Great once or twice per month but any more would just irritate me.

Apathy:

* K-temples. Nothing to get excited about, as opposed to being in Florence or Sydney, yet not a total shower either. They're not the originals, they've been restored, and that shows.

* Bosintang. It's nice but the Koreans really overrate it. Is the enjoyment really worth whupping the bejesus out of the dog for an hour? I don't think so. Just chop the f_cker's head off and have done with it. Too expensive as well. Too much fat and it never fails to leave me overly-full even if I leave some. Interesting though and I like it - so not quite apathy, I just think it's overrated.

* Being a freak. The cool rock star effect has worn off now and I also don't get pi55ed off when random buggers stare at me for half an hour. Not bovvered, unless you're gorgeous.

[SPINOZA]

Another thing....

apathy:

Air pollution. Half the time I'm sure the haze around Seoul is just fog or other weather-related stuff. Today was cold and clear - why? A massive storm the day before perhaps? I'm not used to air pollution at all but the supposedly bad air quality in Seoul doesn't bother me, although I do concede that millions of cars on the road in a metropolis of 22 million is bound to cause some air pollution, like LA. People exaggerate I feel (no offence to anyone who holds those views).[/b]

[flakfizer]