Korean Job Discussion Forums

amyjade · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Victoria, BC

Nice to hear some patriotism!

As for my vote, I guess i was one of them lucky ones who didnt incur a loan and just wants to see the world. Here in BC, tuition is going up (30%) every year! I'm glad that I got out of the system before that happened... but my heart goes out to those who were attacked by these drastic changes mid way and are trying to pack all their courses in before the next boost of tuition increases OR working like dogs in their highschool years because Loans are limited and you need at least A's to get into university. (whew)

Times are tough, so i say kudos to those who are travelling to see the world! Being educated doesn't necessarily mean you need to have have a piece of paper with your name on it.... its about opening your minds and experiencing life through what you learn from other people. I hope this experience will make me appreciate what lies beyond university or what my parents think is "dicking around".

By the way, I love Canada. I feel lucky to be born here and even luckier to be able to be the geeks we sometimes are. We are not the products of our media (not entirely) and I would be honoured to meet and converse with other Canadian "headcase-fem-nazi-fat-obsessive compulsive-americanized-nice-caring-breathes of fresh air" out there.

Take it easy and GO CANUCKS on your 4-1.
:wink:

Cheers.

jsmac · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Gangwon-do

Canadian Teacher · Joined: 22 Jan 2003

I also love Canada but I do not love the path that it has gone down in the last twenty five years. The truth is, Canada is crippled but the dececits run up by governents from 1971-1993. It is really sad for most of the Canadians posting here that they did not get to enjoy the Good Years in the 1980s. Things flew then, tuition was cheap (I paid less than $1000 in 1984) wages were higher, taxes lower. The thing was even then it was pretty obvious that the whole thing was on borrowed $$$ and lots of it. The fact is that the standard of living in Canada for a working stiff was WAAAAAAAYYYYY better twenty years ago than now.

That is the reason I left. Starting in about 1987, the party really started ending and by 1993 when I left, it was hangover time. In Korea I can keep a good standard of living and work only a few hours a day. I hope that president elect Roh does not make Korea into another socialist cess pit.

Canadian Teacher

CRH · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

First of all
It wasn't the "socialists" that sent everything sliding down the slippery slope in Canada in the early 90's...Anyone who calls the NDP a socialist party has a screw loose anyway(although they share part of the blame for being a bunch of weenies most of the time UNLIKE Smallwood who would be rolling in his grave if he knew the state of everything)...What sent Canada down the slope was the corrupt, slimy, money hungry, PC I'm all right jack A******'S that decided to try and privatise EVERTHING while lining there fat cat buddies pockets at the same time...

Second
I love Canada even though sometimes I feel that I have been dealt a raw deal because of the period of time I came of age there (then I catch myself whining and tell myself to do something about the situation I am in).I have been on the farewel ( anyone else care to admit it???). I have worked so many crappy temporary labour jobs I have lost count. I have lived on the street in Toronto (in the winter)...I feel that a lot of younger Canadian's are being given short shrift in that they're education (which they have worked hard for) is being treated like a roll of cheap one ply toilet tissue. I myself have framed my degree and it hangs in the can so I can ponder it while I'm doing any serious thinking...

This is the third year I have spent in Korea. I have taken some breaks to travel and go back home, and I am continually saddened by the way things are taking shape back home. I still love it though...I don't know if I am a glutton for punishment or not, but I can't help it...I am also running from student loans (yes running)...Afew years ago when I had no address they even phoned my brother up (he was living in L.A at the time) and they tried to strongarm him at three in the morning for a chunk...You can keep them at bay though- Don't keep any serious amount of money in a bank account at home, and if they ever get threatening with you (they have with me) get a lawyer and they will back down and leave you alone...The Ontario goverment publishes a pamphlet that states EXACTLY what a collector can and can't do and say to you....If you know the rules that they play by it gets a lot easier....

I can't remember what my initial point was, but I think I will be going home again soon (hopefully not coerced by a nasty political situation)...I just want to wish all the Canadians out there the best of luck with there lives here, and there financial worries back home....It could be worse we could be permanent residents of the land of the morning calm...
Take it easy
(and I know it's stupid but)
go leafs go
crh

khyber · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Compunction Junction

over 1000 views and only how many? 37 votes!!!????

i'm not sure what to say about that. But, doesn't it seem, well, maybe weird? or inconsistent or something?

Captain Obvious 2.0 · Joined: 09 Jan 2003

jsmac · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Gangwon-do

So "socialists" are the reason tuition is 3 or 5 times as high as it was in 1989? Sure. Socialists can always be counted on to lead the charge when it comes to draining public money out of education and privatizing health care, after all...

As for level of student loans equating with ability to get a good job based on that pricey education, there is no necessary correlation. The level of debt a student accumulates varies from person to person: a single parent, for example, usually racks up way more debt than a student who lives in a dorm or at home with parents, because the cost of living is much higher (more food, higher standards of housing required, no time for job, etc.). I agree that there are a lot of people for whom the money would be better spent on a technical education, but a LOT of high school graduates and their families see a university education as a key symbol of class/social status, so they feel compelled to go to university because, well, that's simply what is done. Sort of like how, for my parents' generation, it was simply not an option to not get married and have children by the time you were 25. But surely "if a person has a high level of student loans" AND can't write clearly and effectively, then "someone waisted [sic] their time in university."

Guy Incognito · Guest

Personally, I think if I had taken up selling pot like everyone else in Nova Scotia, I'd probably be beter off.

Canadian Teacher · Joined: 22 Jan 2003

I often wondered why the government of Canada would lend huge amounts of money to 20 year olds to study underwater tiddly winks. Seems like a pretty stupid thing to do. Nor am I blaming socialism for Canada's woes but I will say this, coming from a person who was voting all through the 1980s.

Nobody can spend 30% more thant they earn inefinately. This is what the Canadian government did for over twenty years. Now 40% of the money spent by the federal government is nterest payments on old debts. The demographic time bomb that is now exploding in Canada was easy to see 25 years ago. It is just that politicans were falling all over themselves to bribe voters with their own, or borrowed, money.

I have heard the tired old line "make somebody else pay" too many times to count. However, if you want a social programme, it has to be paid for and it will come from the middle class because they are the group that pays the most taxes. There is no free lunch.

Canadian Teacher

VanIslander · Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2003 10:54 pm Post subject:

I'd like to say it was for the food and climate but I hadn't known either was so great Very Happy

compared to Lethbridge Surprised

Regina

and Windsor Very Happy

Though don't get me thinking about Vancouver Mr. Green

FliptheCoin · Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2003 11:33 pm Post subject:

Thunder Bay, Ontario!!! all the way

No loans to pay off, just wanted to see the world, and I like kids, so it seemed appropriate. Perfect timing too, nothing to discourage me from just boarding a plane and leaving, no kids, no mortgage, etc.

Eventually want to get a job in my field, and am hoping to make a gradual transition from teaching english to a higher level international resource management type position. Just a dream? Used to think Korea was a dream and I've come this far... Its encouraging to think I'm only 24 and I've done this much already.

little miss s · Joined: 27 Apr 2003 Location: The Ddukboki Cart

I am another Nova Scotian in Korea. I came for the job.... as a certified teacher listening to my friends gripe at home about subbing and not getting term or full teaching positions, I don't feel so bad about my choice to come here. I miss home, sure, but I have already paid $25,000 in loans in a year and a half. ( And I went home after one contract and tried the teaching thing in another province.... no luck, no jobs)

I think my biggest worry now is the eventually transition to home. I tried once... had a rough go at it and felt the pull of a stable job and big savings potential.... Who knows what will happen when I finally leave again. ( Is it the Korean vortex, will I get sucked back again?)
Hey, let me know if any of the Keith's photocopy parties will happen again... I'm in!

BTM · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Back in the saddle.

BC boy here. Haven't lived in Canada for more than 10 years, been travelling for about 15.

I like Canada, but it kinda bores me, and until I can go back and buy a nice little house beside a lake for cash, the heck with it. Truthfully, I'll probably end up buying a condo in Thailand or something instead.

I do keep thinking about going back, though, and I keep changing my mind.

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

>What sent Canada down the slope [were] the corrupt, slimy, money hungry, PC[s].

No. Generally we can lay all this on Trudeau's shoulders, who spent Canada into an unsustainable level of debt. Mulroney's government didn't help, and wasn't strong enough to make the necessary cutbacks. The result was that when cutbacks came they were so unavoidable and unpleasant that Chretien's cabinet simply unloaded them onto the provinces, who in turn inflicted them on taxpayers and students. Conservatism is not necessarily good, but socialism has undoubtedly given us the jobless, stagnant, driftless situation we face. The unemployment numbers America faces are still better than Canada's are in good times.

Why am I here? Last year I taught in Mexico and I was having a chat with some other teachers.

The Aussie said: Do you have free tuition or living allowances when you go to a Canadian university, like in Australia?
Reply: Uh, no, tuition has sextupled since my brothers went to college, student loans policies have become stricter, and remission has shrunk to nearly nothing.

The American said: But you must have generous scholarship plans or graduate internships like in America?
Reply: Well, no, there are some scholarships but no large-scale corporate employment schemes for new graduates.

The European said: But you must have some sort of plan which lets you pay back your loans gradually if you're out of work, right?
Reply: Erm, no, the student loan board has seized my tax and GST returns, blacklisted my credit, harasses my parents, and generally refuses to make any sort of compromise without a court order.

The Others: So why do you stay in Canada? The wonderful climate? Jobs-a-plenty? The wild and crazy women?
Reply: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! (Sound of falling off chair)

Okay, the women really aren't so bad (I love Newfie women). But I left because I desperately needed work. I also wanted out of that overtaxed icebox. After Korea, I have no intention of going back.

Ken:>