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To those still living in Korea...
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Mashimaro



Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: location, location

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 12:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Daechidong Waygookin wrote:
Life back home. Well, when I watch AFN or some shows like Access Hollywood, it all jyst repoels me. Why would I want to live in a country obsessed with celebrity trials, celebrity lives, trivial crap? Its so commercialized, so shallow, I cant see myself ever caring about 90% of the crap people back home care about, ever again. That would obviously make it hard to get back into life there.


yeah koreans are not obsessed with trivial crap at all Rolling Eyes inane dramas, the latest crappy pop stars (����ű� anyone)

Koreans are not only obsessed with trivial crap they are obsessed with what japan thinks about their trivial crap. Hardly a day goes by when the korean media doesn't mention about how popular star X is in japan.
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Blind Willie



Joined: 05 May 2004

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 6:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm confused, are you saying the crap TV is better back home because it's not in Korea?
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Ilsanman



Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 9:43 am    Post subject: yes Reply with quote

My experience of going home was strange and bizarre, a strange feeling I never expected.

I was high on the idea of drinking slurpees, driving my car, and seeing my old friends. I did all of that. I studied a bit, mostly Japanese, and I got my old job back for the time being.

The first messed up thing was that I couldn't eat properly. I ate a little salad and a 3 oz steak or so, and that was enough for me. It took me about a week to eat normally again.

After about a wek, I had fully readjusted. I pulled all nighters and watched crappy TV, ate garbage, studied a little, drove a lot, worked a little, and other stuff. I was constantly busy, due to my own choice. That was the only real difference in me.

I really didn't like what I saw around me. I saw young people as a social disease. I saw too many young people just being losers, doing stupid stuff that had absolutely no purpose to it. I saw drunk drivers trash their cars, people piss on sidewalks outside a bar, throw bottles at moving cars, and I couldn't help but feel ashamed. I am glad my Korean friends didn't see that.

After the lackluster of living at home again wore off (less than 2 weeks) I bought a ticket to come back.
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Blind Willie



Joined: 05 May 2004

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:11 am    Post subject: Re: yes Reply with quote

Ilsanman wrote:
I saw young people as a social disease. I saw too many young people just being losers, doing stupid stuff that had absolutely no purpose to it.

ha! Soon you'll be wearing your pants up around your nipples and saying things like, "Ooo, some rain's a comin'. I can feel it in me trick knee."
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mithridates



Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What part of Canada are you from, Ilsanman? That sounds a bit like Vancouver, but then again it could be anywhere.
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animalbirdfish



Joined: 04 Feb 2004

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 4:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mashimaro wrote:
Daechidong Waygookin wrote:
Life back home. Well, when I watch AFN or some shows like Access Hollywood, it all jyst repoels me. Why would I want to live in a country obsessed with celebrity trials, celebrity lives, trivial crap? Its so commercialized, so shallow, I cant see myself ever caring about 90% of the crap people back home care about, ever again. That would obviously make it hard to get back into life there.


yeah koreans are not obsessed with trivial crap at all Rolling Eyes inane dramas, the latest crappy pop stars (����ű� anyone)

Koreans are not only obsessed with trivial crap they are obsessed with what japan thinks about their trivial crap. Hardly a day goes by when the korean media doesn't mention about how popular star X is in japan.


You beat me to it. Look how obsessed everyone was/is by "Yon-Sama" and his popularity in Japan.

I don't think Koreans are interested in different things here, only that, as foreigners, we're able to remain a little more oblivious to it. I don't know about you guys, but my Korean is lousy. One upshot to this is that I don't have to understand what everyone's talking about all the time. I don't watch Korean television much - and can't tolerate much when I do - but from what the girlfriend tells me, they eat up the same petty crap that the West loves.

A few weeks ago, I heard some western girls talking on the subway. One of them was heading to Malaysia for vacation in February and the other one asked, "In February? Won't Malaysia be kinda cold?" I really wished I didn't understand English at that moment. Hearing this level of intelligence on a regular basis is one thing that really irks me when I go back to the west. As I said, it exists everywhere, but I usually don't have to hear it.
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Daechidong Waygookin



Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Location: No Longer on Dave's. Ive quit.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, Koreans have their obsessions. But its different. Take as an example the celebrity trials. If it isnt OJ Simpson, then its Michael jackson, martha Stewart, etc. The wholke frekaing country lives by thoise trials, like some soap opera. Its a social sickness. The power of celebrity is everywhere, all pervasive, to a far larger extent than here. Its like people back home dont have their own lives or that their own realities suck so bad they need an escape.

Another thing is the "plasticity" of cities back home. I like Seoul for the crazy, chaotic jungle it is. Thats a huge plus. Its not zoned to death. There is still life on the street level. Think of cities back home. Except for a few cities with very strong urban life, everyting is being moved into huge malls. Thos malls are surrounded by huge parking lots, they tear at the fabric of a city, like a huge black hole. Then there are the strip malls. Its like whole cities are built especially for cars, not people.
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mysteriousdeltarays



Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Location: Food Pyramid Bldg. 5F, 77 Sunset Strip, Alphaville

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I never handled the United States after Vietnam. I don't know why but I just can't sem to get in gear to feign enthusiasm for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

It is just, perhaps I'm wrong, I often, am but it just seems trivial and boring to me.

I'm never going to get over the effect of "eventfull" things happening everyday.

I like the kids I teach. I like them a lot.

I can see myself as a very elderly trigger happy security guard at K-Mart back in the U.S. Even more trigger happy late at night as a 7-11 employee.

I came here a long time ago. I honestly believe that God gave me a second chance. Maybe instead of killing people, I could help them.

That would seem like a nice thing to do.
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Daechidong Waygookin



Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Location: No Longer on Dave's. Ive quit.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mysteriousdeltarays wrote:
I never handled the United States after Vietnam. I don't know why but I just can't sem to get in gear to feign enthusiasm for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

It is just, perhaps I'm wrong, I often, am but it just seems trivial and boring to me.

I'm never going to get over the effect of "eventfull" things happening everyday.

.


It seems to me that people back home live in a coma. For you its the hawkeyes, for me its pretty much every aspect of popular culture back home, be it sports or music or whom Britney Spears is dating at the moment, or if Michael Jackson is guilty or not. Its not Korea that changed me, I think its just getting out of the suburban death trap and opening my eyes to the world. All that stuff back home seems plastic and banal and insignificant.
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animalbirdfish



Joined: 04 Feb 2004

PostPosted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Daechidong Waygookin wrote:
Yeah, Koreans have their obsessions. But its different. Take as an example the celebrity trials. If it isnt OJ Simpson, then its Michael jackson, martha Stewart, etc. The wholke frekaing country lives by thoise trials, like some soap opera. Its a social sickness. The power of celebrity is everywhere, all pervasive, to a far larger extent than here. Its like people back home dont have their own lives or that their own realities suck so bad they need an escape.

Another thing is the "plasticity" of cities back home. I like Seoul for the crazy, chaotic jungle it is. Thats a huge plus. Its not zoned to death. There is still life on the street level. Think of cities back home. Except for a few cities with very strong urban life, everyting is being moved into huge malls. Thos malls are surrounded by huge parking lots, they tear at the fabric of a city, like a huge black hole. Then there are the strip malls. Its like whole cities are built especially for cars, not people.


I agree that Seoul is a chaotic place, which is one thing I like about it, but don't you think that most Korean cities/towns tend to look dismally similar? No doubt this is because they've all been built in the past fifty years and in a helluva rush. To me, it's not so different than seeing town after town of strip-malls in the States.

Sometimes I think there are more similarities than differences between Korea and the States: power of celebrity (admittedly stronger in the US), architectural homogeneity, single-mindedly capitalistic (not a judgement, just an observation), etc. I find the US hard to take after being in places like SE Asia, where the architecture varies and the pace slows down. I don't think Korea really soured me on the land of my birth.

All complaints aside, it's hard to beat the States for variety in cuisine. There's a lot of things that I can't get in Korea but which lose their appeal when I go back to America - food from all over the world is not one of them. I indulge.
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Ilsanman



Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea

PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 6:09 am    Post subject: yes Reply with quote

mithridates wrote:
What part of Canada are you from, Ilsanman? That sounds a bit like Vancouver, but then again it could be anywhere.


Sounds like Saskatoon.
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Yaya



Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Daechidong Waygookin wrote:
mysteriousdeltarays wrote:
I never handled the United States after Vietnam. I don't know why but I just can't sem to get in gear to feign enthusiasm for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

It is just, perhaps I'm wrong, I often, am but it just seems trivial and boring to me.

I'm never going to get over the effect of "eventfull" things happening everyday.

.


It seems to me that people back home live in a coma. For you its the hawkeyes, for me its pretty much every aspect of popular culture back home, be it sports or music or whom Britney Spears is dating at the moment, or if Michael Jackson is guilty or not. Its not Korea that changed me, I think its just getting out of the suburban death trap and opening my eyes to the world. All that stuff back home seems plastic and banal and insignificant.


Yeah, I agree, dude. I couldn't care less about which celebrity is dating whom in the US, and I live in the entertainment capital of the world right now (and I'm working on changing that).

But I'm over 30 now and have to see the big picture. Of course, many who said that were also lost in the tsunami thus showing that life is so unpredictable. Anyway, I'm working on a return to Korea this year as I've had enough of the humdrum life (LA's Ktown is NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING compared to a small town in Korea), strip malls, bad traffic, difficulty in meeting people and high cost of living.
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Barking Mad Lord Snapcase



Joined: 04 Nov 2003

PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 5:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Daechidong Waygookin wrote:
Another thing is the "plasticity" of cities back home. I like Seoul for the crazy, chaotic jungle it is. Thats a huge plus. Its not zoned to death. There is still life on the street level. Think of cities back home. Except for a few cities with very strong urban life, everyting is being moved into huge malls. Thos malls are surrounded by huge parking lots, they tear at the fabric of a city, like a huge black hole. Then there are the strip malls. Its like whole cities are built especially for cars, not people.


For someone who has preached about law, order, and discipline, I find it ironic that you should glorify social chaos (despite its merits). I actually liked the scattered mish-mash of stores to be found around any Korean city, so that's the chaos I can relate to. The traffic - particularly Seoul traffic - is another matter entirely.

Also, as far as Australia is concerned (things may be different in your country), the whole point of malls is to encourage more pedestrian activity without obstacles posed by traffic. The merits may still be debatable; however, given my glimpse of Seoul traffic, I guess it needs a few more zones set aside for shopping on foot.
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chi-chi



Joined: 15 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 4:05 pm    Post subject: Re: yes Reply with quote

mods you may delete

Last edited by chi-chi on Sat Jul 30, 2005 6:50 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Crazyteacher



Joined: 13 Nov 2004

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:53 pm    Post subject: Leaving Korea Reply with quote

What the hell is wrong with you people? I have been in Korea almost 6 months. I hate it here. I won't even bother to explain why this whole damn country sucks. Really. I would go home right now, but would rather wait to save up enough money so I can have a real life in Canada.
I will be trying out Taiwan in about two weeks.
What are you comparing your lives here to? Were you COMPLETE loosers back in the States or England or Canada or something?
Seriously, get out of Korea. I am becoming a reactive, angry, combative person. I am starting to fit right in and it isn't pretty.
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