Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Diana X]

the food is totally scary (though i loved it when i ate it back in the states). just looking at what people eat in restaurants makes me run for the pringles at the 7-11 near my apt. i bought some "margerine" and it almost made me hurl. got some kim bop, ditto. i've been living on spaghetti & sauce w/ tofu. where oh where can i get some tasty vegetable jap chae like the awesome stuff i ate in koreatown, nyc?

the streets are so narrow and drivers have casually little regard for pedestrians. unlike other countries that have aggressively little regard. here they just float by you as if they don't really notice you. in other countries i've been in, the mere fact that pedestrians exist seems to be taken as an outright offense to members of the driving community.

the students & everyone else in general are weirdly reserved & not warm or friendly

there is lots of air pollution, my eyes keep running & itching

anyone have a copy of the iliad or the odyssey?
it's really awesome having my own apt. it's my first teaching gig where the school set me up with one. i love it! totally makes up for all the other stuff.

will businesses be closed over these upcoming holidays? should i stock up on food over the weekend?

also, i'm bored. let me know if anyone wants to hang out this weekend. looking to do stuff outside if possible, generally explore, and make some friends!


p.s. i'm in daejon. haven't been to seoul yet.

[laogaiguk]

[Smee]

Even in Bundang thingsi were closed on Chuseok day, and the day before there wasn't much available. Load up on ramen, spaghetti sauce, bread, eggs, things you'll think you need. Also, I heard there's often a run for money at the banks on Chuseok, meaning everyone's withdrawing money at the same time so there's nothing left. This weekend take out enough to last the week.

Your imperssions are fair . . . so long as they're not negative! You've got a year ahead of you. It'll be interesting for you to look back on this post in 12 months and see how many of these things you even notice.

[Diana X]

yeah, intended tone isn't negative. just random notes & thoughts.

here are some more:

korean women at my school wear really nice clothes, but i don't think they get paid a lot.

is soymilk available in large containers? i have only seen it in the tiny ones.

was pleased to find quite delicious coffee at a cafe near my apt.

if i were to go to a bar alone & have a drink, would it be cause for (a mini) scandal?

please don't laugh at me, i'm pretty sure the answer is no, but i have to ask: is there any service like netflix available here?


thanks in advance.

[ChopChaeJoe]

Drinking in bars alone is very depressing in Korea. there's no one to talk to because everyone keeps to themselves at their boothes. Still, no one will mess with you or look down on you because of it.

You will be expected to order a food side-dishee.

[eamo]

[Homer]

Doesn't this belong more on a blog?

Just a thought.....

[Qinella]

Not a whole lot in the way of foreign food in Daejeon unless you're around Eunhaengdong (은행동) or Dunsandong (둔산동) but really the latter doesn't have too much.

For food you might like (do you like spicy food?), try to go into any restaurant looking place and order one of these:

김치찌개 kimchi jjigae

참치찌개 chamchi jjigae (same as above, but more tuna in it)

순두부 sundubu (tofu based soup with random things in it)


If you're not into spicy food, try these:

~보끔밥 ~boggeumbap (random types of fried rice)

육개장 yukgaejang (some kind of broth based soup with beef)

갈비탕 galbitang (same deal but with pork)


Anyway, these are some food options to help you out a bit. They all come with random side dishes, some good, some horrifying. Average cost 4,000 won. If you can't pronounce those words right, maybe you could print it off and just show one to the person working there.

Also, have you learned how to read Korean yet? That should be your priority A #1 while you have all this time off next week. It makes life much easier here.

Cheers~
Q.

[SuperFly]

I woke up late today, wife got mad at me. Mother in law and brother in law & hos wife are visiting us and we're heading to Laguna beach in California for the chusok week. Work is boring...people just call me for favors...

"Oh SF, we need this P drive moved to such and such a server"

"Oh SF, please come and fix Judys laptop, it's got a blue screen"

"HELP! I can't log into my databases!"

Am I a network admin or a helpdesk monkey? Judy if your freakin laptop is blue screening, call HELPDESK you idiot! So sick and tired of these whining babies complaining about the network running slow...why don't they just email Angleo and tell him how they feel? Why email me and biatch about it to me? Is it my fault that the company is cheap?

Then I get the below email from my boss who makes 100K a year:

[gang ah jee]

[zappadelta]

[ChopChaeJoe]

I think for a western pallette, Sam-gye-tahng should be satisfied.

No way to type Korean here. It's just chicken soup.

[The Man known as The Man]

[billybrobby]

Ramen and spaghetti sounds pretty grim. Check out this link:

http://www.woori.com/product/Product.jsp?page_code=02&page_remark=009488&i_code=665179

That red box is curry and rice and, believe me, you can live off of it (provided, of course, that you like curry and rice). It's found in every big chain convenience store around.

Soymilk is available in cracker box-sized packages and cereal box-sized ones too. That's the biggest I've seen.

http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/10931085/VEGEMIL_B.html
http://www.sahmyook.co.kr/shop/pro_read.php?gno=109&page=1&key=all&searchword=&PHPSESSID=ab769993603a5cf3a47c32f57e3c9857

Regarding netflix, I think there are DVD rental places that do delivery. But you have to understand, with the internet, video stores are of a dying breed in South Korea.

[Qinella]