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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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eventually
Joined: 30 Nov 2011
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 Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 4:20 am Post subject: |
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here's what i have a difficult time understanding: i'm no huuuge Korean fan/asian fan, but i'm here and i'm soaking up the experience and am enjoying expanding my horizons for its own sake. why the hell wouldn't you take the opportunity presented to you to become a more well rounded and interesting person, by being an INTERESTED person? soak it up and enjoy the experience, you big scaredy cats. nobody is forcing you to love it, or even stay, but you have to at least try. i imagine when you chat with folks after you return home and they say "Oh, that's interesting, you lived in South Korea? What was that like?" and you expound on the difficulties of making Kraft Mac N' Cheese with a rice cooker and how hard it is to find a McDonald's or CostCo that isn't crowded nobody is really going to be impressed. if they thought you were dull before you left, they'll realize you were dull here too - just dull in a different country...
sorry, you all may be very nice and lovely people, but i had to get that off my chest. |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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i imagine when you chat with folks after you return home and they say "Oh, that's interesting, you lived in South Korea? What was that like?" and you expound on the difficulties of making Kraft Mac N' Cheese with a rice cooker and how hard it is to find a McDonald's or CostCo that isn't crowded nobody is really going to be impressed. if they thought you were dull before you left, they'll realize you were dull here too - just dull in a different country...
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In my experience the 'folks back home' would actually find that kind of stuff a lot more interesting to listen to than how you learned Hanguk and went on a temple stay. It's something they can relate to. Plus lots of amusing stories about how stupid foreigners are. That always goes down well |
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VTsoi
Joined: 10 Jan 2012
Location: Seongnam, ROK
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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| eventually wrote: |
why the hell wouldn't you take the opportunity presented to you to become a more well rounded and interesting person, by being an INTERESTED person? soak it up and enjoy the experience, you big scaredy cats. nobody is forcing you to love it, or even stay, but you have to at least try. i imagine when you chat with folks after you return home and they say "Oh, that's interesting, you lived in South Korea? What was that like?" and you expound on the difficulties of making Kraft Mac N' Cheese with a rice cooker and how hard it is to find a McDonald's or CostCo that isn't crowded nobody is really going to be impressed. if they thought you were dull before you left, they'll realize you were dull here too - just dull in a different country...
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And yet this is the attitude of what seems like 60%+ of foreign teachers here. Getting people to visit a museum or try a new Korean restaurant is like pulling teeth. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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| creeper1 wrote: |
^^Looks like the old-timers need some attitude training from Matty022 who joined this site in 2012. 
Matty get back to us when you unpack your belongings.
Having said that the blog is mostly right.
Respect for teachers - don't see much of that there these days.
Comfortable living - this one cannot be argued with. High salary in a cheap country.
Women mad for you - not really Maybe I am ugly:?
Friendly people - well some are, some aren't. I will say that they don't try to scam you as much as they do in my current location (China)
No experience needed- This is great for new grads! You can walk into the classroom immediately if you have any type of degree.
The main reason Korea is so great is money. ESLers make bucket loads of money!
Koreans seem to have no limit to the amount of money that they are willing to spend to educate their kids.
Employiing foreingers has been going on for at least the last 20 years. This massive spending has lead to precious little improvement in the general standard of English so the market is stilll huge.
Massive, truly massive amounts of money is up for grabs in education in Korea.It doesn't neceassarily have to be at your main job. 
To quote two poster on here
Captain Korea - " I find it relatively easy to make 6 million a month"
TJ - " Almost unlimited earning potential" |
Comfortable living? It's not bad. But not luxurious. Perhaps there should be two distinctions. Those born with a silver spoon and who come here for something to do ought to be compared to those were born with no advantages and had to take out large debts to be able to go to university. A radically decreased exchange rate since the Great Recession of 2009 has meant those debts take much longer to pay and more won now has to be sent home to meet obligations meaning less money here in Korea to live with.
It did seem prior to this recession there were more people who came here to pay off loans and had large debts. It seems after the start of the recession, I'm meeting more foriegners who either have no debt or very little.
So, if you are actually able to keep all of your 2 point what Million salary in Korea then you're living the life of a high roller, until you get married that is. But, if you have real debts, this fallen exchange rate will mean you get by. You live ok, but not extravagantly. Guess it's better than flipping burgers back home part time or living in your parents basement. |
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mrknowitall10
Joined: 07 May 2012
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| Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 4:35 pm Post subject: cheers creepers |
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| im off bk to korea this fall. heard a few ppl talk about how the status is not regarded as high these days. its a shame, but theres stilll plenty of other benefits |
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