Korean Job Discussion Forums

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

Ok I know big girls don't cry, but I feel like I have shed more tears in the last 11 months than I have since infanthood. So does living here turn you into a big girls blouse?

clg

kiwiboy_nz_99 · Joined: 05 Jul 2003 Location: ...Enlightenment...

In a word, no.

That's because big boys don't cry. Very Happy

osangrl · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Location: osan

YES YES YES........CLG....im glad to see im not the only basket case. My boyfriend calls me psycho because i cry so much. I like my job, my apartment everything, it just gets to me....i don't know what "it" is yet, but ive actually had to go on antidepressents and i still cry a couple times a week!

when u figure out what "it" is let me know/.

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

I'm not on the anti depressant stage but I feel so out of control here. Things happen and I don't why. I think it's partly because of the language barrier. If things go wrong I can't just pick a phone and have someone that understands me.

That said I seem to have had far more dramas here than back home.

I suppose the KNTO is right korea is the land of surprises

matko · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: in a world of hurt!

Half of the fun of living in a foreign culture is seeing how you respond to certain situations.

I learned more about myself in one year in Korea than I had in my entire life before that.

Living abroad is a test of patience.

Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

ALWAYS think about it that way.

It has worked for me.

Take care and happy birthday!!!

kiwiboy_nz_99 · Joined: 05 Jul 2003 Location: ...Enlightenment...

It is certainly harder living here than at home. I dont know if this is just the guy equivilant of the weeping thing, but I found that for the first two years I would get super angry real quick, with Koreans that I though were f-ing me round, taxi drivers, store clerks, all kinds of service people. It can wear you down the fact that something as simple as calling up someone to come and fix your pc monitor is now a major production if you don't have a Korean friend around to help. I have a special little helper for those things now and I seem to have calmed down a bit.

ryleeys · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Columbia, MD

I typically get really depressed because of the greyness of winter back home... but this is ridiculous. One day I screwed up at work and didn't get yelled at, but kinda got that quiet lecture that my mom used to give me that just eats at me. I went to my apartment and just sat on the floor staring at the wall for 4 hours.

I feel numb to alot of the things now I guess, both good feelings and bad feelings. I think it started because of the way things were going back in the States, but Korea seems to be having weird affects on me.

katydid · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Location: Here kitty kitty kitty...

It is really stressful living here and even when you think you might be OK, there will be that one thing to set you off. Culture shock can last as long as 9 months, I've heard. Just enough time for you to get all settled, enjoy yourself for a few minutes, and get right back on that plane to go home.
I don't know...Korea has made me um, display my emotions more. I seem to have developed a short fuse on some things, and cry like a baby at others. I don't like that, but I'm working on it.
I don't like the expression "It can be worse," but Matko is right, those things that you don't think you'll ever get through, just take it one day at a time, one night at a time, hour by hour, and try to make the most of it. You can run away from what you are feeling (running away advisable if the director is a true dickhead) or you can make yourself stronger by getting through it.

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

Absolutely not!

I am no much more in control of my emotions in Korea! I think when things go all wrong and I don't know why in the US, it's very upsetting. But when things go wrong in Korea, oh, heck, it's Korea, things are SUPPOSED to be all screwy like this.

I always have a big bottle of St. John's Wort for the PMS week, and that's it.

wylde · Joined: 14 Apr 2003

start drinking excessively... things will improve

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

matko wrote,
Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

matko, you missed everything between stronger and death.

Here are some options that some people find in life.

1. Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stressed.

2. Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you want to abuse substances and consider committing criminal activities.

3. Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you have a coronary thrombosis.

4. Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you mentally ill.

5. Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you partially paralyzed.

6. Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you incapacitated.

Lloyd Christmas · Joined: 03 Jan 2004

Pyongshin Sangja · Joined: 20 Apr 2003 Location: I love baby!

Absolutely. I've felt like I was going crazy since September. More to do with women than anything, actually. I tried the drinking excessively. It sorta works. Sorta. Boo frickin hoo. Maybe a good round of dwarf tossing would cheer me up.

Mashimaro · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: location, location

I found myself just going 'numb' especially in the first few months..
No hot water... whatever timetable change.. whatever... That's after I got tired of getting angry... I guess it's part of 'culture shock' too..

Paji eh Wong · Joined: 03 Jun 2003

I found I was bored easily and had a hard time concentrating on things for long periods of time. I also talked to myself a lot more. I think it has to do with not understanding much of my environment and doing a lot of over-interpreting.

I also got attached to my students, and miss them now that I'm gone.

Hope you feel better.