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Korea pros and cons, let's see your list
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519forlife



Joined: 26 Sep 2006

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 8:30 pm    Post subject: Korea pros and cons, let's see your list Reply with quote

Cons:
Dirty(streets look like garbage dumps)
The puke on the streets and the subways
The stench of Soju on the subway in the evening
The disrespectful kids in public school
The whole age makes right culture
The "foreigner" card being played relentlessly
The acceptance of men hitting women
The rude(by western standareds)people
The eating habits of Koreans(disgusting)
The shatter paper being put in a garbage can and stinking up the place.
The lack of (or quality of)lesiure activities
Now this might just be me, but is there a disproportionate amount of people lacking common sense here?

Now the Pros
The public transportation system
The food
The cost of living
The easy and plentiful jobs
The girls, although really the majority are butt
Being sought after because you look unique
Learning a new language for free
The whole education system that hungers for whitey based on his or her looks and not qualifications.

When you add it all up even though the cons out number the pros the pros definatly trump the cons. That's why we're all still here. Anytime I get almost fed up with this place I just think about the $$$ and how this is just a developing country like Somalia or The Phillipines and all is cool again.
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Dev



Joined: 18 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cons
Imported goods (especially food) costing double the price of back home. Koreans in our countries would scream if we did the same to their products.

Racism directed at migrant workers

Pros
Korean friends are very generous sharing food and resources
Korea's a very safe place to walk around at night
Most services in this country are very fast
Being allowed to drink beer on the street.
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butlerian



Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Location: Korea

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:26 pm    Post subject: Re: Korea pros and cons, let's see your list Reply with quote

519forlife wrote:
Cons:
Dirty(streets look like garbage dumps)
The puke on the streets and the subways
The stench of Soju on the subway in the evening
The disrespectful kids in public school
The whole age makes right culture
The "foreigner" card being played relentlessly
The acceptance of men hitting women
The rude(by western standareds)people
The eating habits of Koreans(disgusting)
The shatter paper being put in a garbage can and stinking up the place.
The lack of (or quality of)lesiure activities
Now this might just be me, but is there a disproportionate amount of people lacking common sense here?

Now the Pros
The public transportation system
The food
The cost of living
The easy and plentiful jobs
The girls, although really the majority are butt
Being sought after because you look unique
Learning a new language for free
The whole education system that hungers for whitey based on his or her looks and not qualifications.

When you add it all up even though the cons out number the pros the pros definatly trump the cons. That's why we're all still here. Anytime I get almost fed up with this place I just think about the $$$ and how this is just a developing country like Somalia or The Phillipines and all is cool again.



A few interesting points, but a lot of them don't really compare with 'Western' countries. For example, I'm from a Western country (the UK), and a lot of the cons you mentioned also exist in a similar way there - for example, much of the urban parts of the UK are dirty - dirtier than Korea - there is lots of vomit on the streets etc due to binge drinking. And, at least you can actually get the subway in the evening here without a good chance of being attacked. In Liverpool, the train system in the evening is a no go area for most people.

You say the kids in public schools are disrespectful - that depends what public school you work for. Generally, the students at the school I work for are very respectful and usually bow to me as they walk past. In England, you're more likely to be stabbed than respected working in an inner city public school.

Acceptance of men hitting women? Of course, it does happen sometimes but in my experience I would say that the majority of Koreans do not support this practice. There are exceptions, but there are also exceptions in Western countries.

The rude people? When my parents came over from the UK they were very pleasantly surprised about how POLITE people over here are, IN GENERAL, compared to at home. All children saying hi and smiling etc, instead of swearing or whatever like many do in the UK.

These are just a few of my observations about this post - feel free to add more to disagree. I think the food is neither a pro or a con - having unique Korean food is good, but the lack of variety of international foods is a con, so it is a bit of both.
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Newbie



Joined: 07 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

PROS
1. easy work
2. abundance of leisure activities (op, they're out there. tonnes of em)
3. proximity to exotic locations
4. respectful middle/high school students
5. the odd (and for me, they're rare) overly kind stranger.
6. my fiancee
7. cheap (for us non apartment renting folk)
8. safety (perhaps not always safe for foreigners, but more or less safe)
9. turning my soon to be father in law into a "foreigners are great" from a "I hate foreigners I can't believe my daughter is dating one" in just one meeting.

CONS
1. nationalism
2. my fellow Canadians
3. dirt, trash, filth etc.
4. not enough hockey
5. no Home Depots
6. food is okay, but can't be compared to what's available back home
7. office politics ... to me, their much worse here.
8. "no foreigner" policies
9. "hi, hi" giggle giggle "i'm fine thank you" giggle giggle
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dridgway



Joined: 18 Sep 2006
Location: Suwon, S. Korea

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

9. "hi, hi" giggle giggle "i'm fine thank you" giggle giggle

I'll second that one. Care to elaborate on Con #2?
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Hollywoodaction



Joined: 02 Jul 2004

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pros...to many to mention

Cons...Just two, check that, three big ones.

1)The government's cover up of the real levels of pollution in this country. Sorry, but if you kind find heavy metal pollution within an 8km radius of some disaffected mines (as they recently revealed), imagine how far these metals are spread by the smoke towers at smelters.

2) Factories routinely turning off their anti-pollution devices on holidays and weekends. Next time there's a holiday, take a walk by your local industrial park...or rather, don't.


3) Korean media's eagerness to print government agit-prop and the fact it's always about Japan, the US, and foreign residents, but never about North Korea.
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Newbie



Joined: 07 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dridgway wrote:
9. "hi, hi" giggle giggle "i'm fine thank you" giggle giggle

I'll second that one. Care to elaborate on Con #2?


Yeah, sorry. Shouldn't paint them all with such a brush. but IN MY EXPERIENCE, many fellow Canucks have been rather annoying in this country. Harmless, but annoying. But hey, I'm from Toronto, so it's probably just me!
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ajgeddes



Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Newbie wrote:


CONS

2. my fellow Canadians


Thanks Rolling Eyes
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Dev



Joined: 18 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Newbie wrote:
PROS

9. turning my soon to be father in law into a "foreigners are great" from a "I hate foreigners I can't believe my daughter is dating one" in just one meeting.


CON

Racist Koreans Very Happy There are too many of these types. You got through to 1. That's a start I guess. Very Happy
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Milwaukiedave



Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong

PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah I agree in terms of what I call "drive by" English. I get that all the time, even at the public school I work at.

Maybe we should include as a "con" putting up with Konglish.

"Hiee nice to meet you."

"Whata is your namea?"
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jaganath69



Joined: 17 Jul 2003

PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 2:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ajgeddes wrote:
Newbie wrote:


CONS

2. my fellow Canadians


Thanks Rolling Eyes


You should grow a thicker skin Rolling Eyes although the OP should have said 'some' of my fellow Canadians. Bravo his life for identifying the ugly expat abroad. I felt the same way about some expatriate Aussies whilst living in the UK in the 90s.

Sorry to derail the thread.

Pro

Cheap eats and beers wherever you go
Online services which make life easier once you crack them


Cons

Korean conceptions of workplace best practices
nationalism/xenophobia which is more often just ignorance of others and their needs
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Pak Yu Man



Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Location: The Ida galaxy

PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 6:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pros- you can eat out every night and still have $$
-easy ife style
-free time
-wife

Cons -wife ㅋㅋㅋ
- K: "go home yankie!" "Huh? I'm Canadian." K: "Same Same"
-apathetic students
-dirty whores everywhere....whores on wheels. Or is that a con?
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kimchi_pizza



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Location: "Get back on the bus! Here it comes!"

PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Con: Korea is......Korea Evil or Very Mad


Pro: Korea is......Korea Very Happy

Hey, it is what it is....for better AND worse. But is suits me just fine and that's all that matters.
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Qinella



Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib

PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

519for life.. was 519 your area code growing up?
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Dev



Joined: 18 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kimchi_pizza wrote:
Con: Korea is......Korea Evil or Very Mad


Pro: Korea is......Korea Very Happy

Hey, it is what it is....for better AND worse. But is suits me just fine and that's all that matters.


Con:
Korean people


Pro:
Korean people

For me, it depends on the day which category they fall into. Very Happy
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