Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Brooks]

Yaya,
Japan is a cold place and I think foreigners pick up that trait.
The Tokyo area is so crowded yet so many people are anti-social.
At work people are forced to get along with each other so in their off time people just want to be alone.

People are too "busy" to have time to chat.
Even people you could know, if you don't work with them after changing jobs, you won't see them again.

Some crazy foreigners in Korea but decent ones too, people tell me.
Going out in Korea is cheaper than in other countries.

[Fallacy]

[Mr. Pink]

[Brooks]

Compared to Japan.
Yes, Korea costs more than it used to, but at least you can afford to take a taxi after the night is over. Can't do that in Tokyo.
Bit of nostalgia.

[Fallacy]

[Yaya]

Blood money is still rampant in Korea, and Koreans fall victim, too. Plus don't bother intervening when a woman is being beaten lest you the expat gets busted by cops and stuff.

[isitts]

[Yaya]

[World Traveler]

[denverdeath]

[Adam Carolla]

Miss:
After 8 years, I had a pretty good repository of knowledge over where to get what particular dish. Where I live now (in the Mid-West U.S.), dining options are...limited at best.
Friends from around the world.
Teaching. (Very rewarding at the right school.)
Cheap travel to other countries

Not miss:
Living conditions (small, cramped housing)
Driving (self-explanatory)
Noise
Air pollution
Random odors
Cockroaches in restaurants (although, oddly, some of these places made the best food)

[silkhighway]

After almost a decade..

I definitely miss:

- eating out cheap delicious Korean food all the time
- the busy markets and pedestrian areas
- the public transit system and walkability of most areas of Seoul and surrounding areas
- late night and luxury intra-city busses
- international friends
- traveling opportunities to other parts of Asia
- the easy access to mountain hiking

When feeling nostalgic, I kind of miss:
- the noise, grit, and chaos of so many people existing in such a small country
- short skirts, long legs
- the drinking scene (noraebangs, the bars, corner stores)
- Love motels
- the quirky interesting people you meet


I definitely don't miss:
- the negative working environments, attitudes, and people you come across when you're involved in ESL teaching
- the grind of ESL teaching. I actually liked it but my career is a lot more complex and rewarding now.
- the mental isolation and always being reminded you're different
- the feeling of being in a constant state of temporariness and having no stability.
-cockroaches, strewn garbage piles


The strangest single thing i found myself being nostalgic for:
- the hot custardy sweet desserts that you find in subway stations. I don' even remember what they're called.

The single thing I would have been surprised that I don't miss more:
- the hotsprings and saunas. But as it turns out, I have access to similar facilities now but with Canadian decorum and comfort.


Enough time has passed and change has happened that I'm really a different person now than when I lived in Korea. On the whole, I have warm memories of Korea, but much of what I'm nostalgic for is nostalgia for my mid 20's. I'm sure if I was going to Korea now my experience and perspective would be very different than when I lived there. Now, I have a lot of worries and concerns that were never on my radar a decade ago. E.g. financial, family, health...

[Nick Adams]

[ThingsComeAround]

I miss:
Food
Korean food varies greatly. In NYC, it is mostly bland or expensive
Scenery
Seoraksan > Catskills
Public transport (kind of)
Buses > subway
Don't miss:
Low self-esteem
So many women there felt plastic surgery is required
Winter
My water pipes froze at least a dozen times
Stagnant wages
Music
Awful Western movies shown 24/7 on cable

[chungbukdo]

I left this September. I think I first came for uni in 2008-09, but I was in and out, spending a lot of winters in Thailand.

I miss some Western friends I made, but I only miss one or two Korean friends who were able to take off goggles and get close. One, although not a strict Buddhist in the religious and ritualistic sense, lives her life by bringing compassion, kindness, and understanding to herself and others.

In Canada, I am INSTANTLY around better people. I have mentors. I have people who are passionate about things. I have people who are excellent at things and want to share that. I Canada and the US I have people who are more than their phones and wasting time at work. They're not people who haven't lived a fucking wink and have never done what they wanted or even figured it out. Once in a while in Korea I had a contract with a president of a company or a really high level executive who has some degree of passion and execution to his work. I still keep in contact with a couple students like that. Sometimes I feel like they're still waiting to live life, though

In the current town I'm in (I have been moving around cities) I miss being in a 24 hour city. Las Vegas was actually more satisfying than Seoul in this respect, but both are great. I felt like there are just a lot of weirdos out in LA at night.

I miss being single in Korea and walking around a street like near Sukmyung Womens University and talking to the hordes and hordes of beautiful, single, lonely women. There's something more exciting about that than using Tinder.