Korean Job Discussion Forums

[AdamH]

[livinginkorea]

I think that most of us are seen as "losers" by the majority of Koreans. Some of us are more like clowns who play with kids then real teachers and we are happy to do that. Most of us wouldn't be able to teach back home 'cas we aren't qualified so I for one am glad that I could come here with my computers degree. Some of us get married to a Korean just to stay here. Some of us go back and forth to Japan on a tourist visa. Whatever your reason for staying you have to ask yourself - am I better off? Most of us find that we are.

A lot of our co-teachers are jealous of us as we get paid more. If you work in a hagwon the chances are that your co-teacher is getting about half your salary. Koreans constantly lie and tell you that they earn more but most don't. Hagwons jobs themselves are looked down upon by Koreans. They are looked as people who couldn't get a real teaching job.

I think myself that there are a lot of losers here in Korea. Especially people who are unsuccessful with their life (work, girlfriends, feel depressed) back home and come here and suddendly become kings. Women actually like them and they seem to be in the spotlight all the time. Of course who would leave that? They sleep around and teach privates and cause problems for the rest of us. They think that they are so great and then immigration catches them. Then they try and find a way to come back because they want to be that "king" again. They can't go back home where they think that they are losers. Of course it's just a state of mind.

It's the people who are so afraid of leaving that really annoy me. They don't want to go back to their boring life back home. I meet a guy about 4 months ago and he was so scared of his boss firing him. I thought why doesn't he just quit and get a better job? Another guy hadn't been home in 3 years and didn't want to visit his sick mother. Crazy or what?

I was offered a nice cushy goverment job before I came here but I still wanted to live in another country. I'm definitely not a loser as I have made something of my life. If you haven't then I think you are.

I always wanted to see the world and experience life in another country. I think that I am a very adaptable person and didn't have any major home sickness. I saw people who weren't able to adapt or stand up for themselves and went home early. Or maybe they didn't want to become losers?

In the end of the day it doesn't matter what I think or anybody else. It only matters what you think.

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

O.K it may seem like a "loser" profession but it seems like you get flamed (by other westerners) when you say you much prefer living in your home country than Korea. I can honestly say that my husband is the ONLY reason I stayed here so long. The work back home is much more fullfilling and better than teaching here even though I make much more money in Korea. I already think 2.5 years here has been too long for me here. Don't flame me....it's just that Korea's not for me at all and never will be. But to others who love it here and love the teaching...I think that's great and it's a great testament to your character for knowing how to adapt here.

But I am leaving in a few days for California....I'm sure there will be some things I'll miss about Korea.

[billybrobby]

[rapier]

[chronicpride]

[scarneck]

[rapier]

[Lao Wai]

I don't think I am (was) a loser for teaching in Korea. I had just graduated from university (21 Years old), and was itching to get away and do something. The thought of more university made me feel nauseous. The whole idea of teaching English in a foreign country has always seemed adventurous to me. I had wanted to do it since high school. So, when I finally made plans to go to Korea, nobody was surprised.

Korea changed me a lot. I became much more outgoing and really expanded my view of the world. I hung out with people from a variety of countries who were in their 20's, 30's, and 40's.

I didn't always love everything about Korea, but teaching there allowed me to travel to Japan and the Philippines. I also expanded my palate. I was such a picky eater before I went to Korea. Now, I'll eat just about anything.

I taught for two years, and in my second year I applied to do my education degree back in Canada. I was eventually accepted (although, for a couple weeks before acceptance I worked at a call centre in Canada). You want to talk about feeling like a loser! There is nothing wrong with this work, but you sure as hell don't need a BA in Psychology to do it.

I wouldn't have gotten into the education program without my Korea teaching experience. Before I even finished my education degree I got a job at an an international school in China, near Hong Kong, teaching grade four. I wouldn't have gotten that job without my Korea experience.

So, I've been back in Canada for about a month now. I enjoyed China, and I got to travel to Thailand and Cambodia. However, I am now ready to settle back in Canada (I think). However, that being said, there's no way I'm settling on the East coast, where I am from. I'm heading to Toronto ASAP. It's diverse, and it has great restaurants.

Actually, I sort of feel like a loser right now, because for the first time in a long time, I have nothing lined up (I.e. a job, or university). All of my friends are settled in their careers, married, and starting families. I have no real possessions to speak of. I'm staying at my parents' place right now, and will be staying with a friend in Toronto until I can find a teaching job. Still, I'm optimistic that things will fall into place. I also realize that this is the price I have to pay for doing all of the travelling I've done, but I don't really mind. I knew it was coming.

Even if you don't make teaching a career like I did, I'm sure that there a number of ways you can make your teaching stint in Korea work for you back home. And, in my opinion, you don't ever have to come home if you're happy overseas. Even though I'm finally biting the bullet and buying into the "normal" life back home, I still don't think others are losers for not doing the same.

[Ody]

i have everything society says a woman my age should have; husband, home, and children. do i care? well, i love my family; but i sometimes forget that i am blessed to have them. i sometimes feel like a "loser." this has nothing to do with others' perceptions of me. the reasons why i might feel so low are, of course, personal. my bouts of feeling a failure are part of the process of growing in myself. ultimately, i have little use for the presuppositions of strangers.





EDIT: WORDING

[death from above]

i was a middle management corporate robot *beep* back home.. i watched mindless idiots get promoted time and again.. you know the story, promote mediocrity.. i listened to ignorant people talk about the same shit day after day, the same bullshit i saw on tv at night. i watched small-minded idiots amass power while the generous, intelligent, or open-minded got trampled upon.. so, eventually, i quit the ignorant, money-grubbing job that i hated.. i excommunicated my hot, manipulative girlfriend.. i sold my car and put all the useless objects i have collected into storage.. and i headed for the hills. i spent 3 months in my dad's cabin by the river.. and attuned myself to nature, unemployment, and virtual isolation.. aka madness. that situation can't last, so i started looking for a job, but i found that i have plenty of experience but no marketable skills.. i felt like Arthur Dent, The Great Sandwich Maker, all this useless knowledge and experience but no real skills.. perfect for.. corporate management! but, when i was job-searching, i found an opportunity that required no real skills, was positive, helped people, paid enough to survive while allowing plenty of leisure time, and was in a far-away land i had only read about in books. so i came here 3 weeks ago. i have found korea to be a deeply beautiful country and everyone i have met has been very kind.. in america, when someone gave me something, the first question i asked was, "what do they want?" here people i have only just met have helped me immensely without asking for anything in return. in short, korea offered me an opportunity to repent my many sins, a tabula rasa where i can be the kind of person i want to be.

so if society, any society, wants to call me a "loser" for trying to change my corrupt life, i feel only pity for them.

[KiteOperations]

[Kwangjuchicken]

God's will, not mine.

[skconqueror]

[Kwangjuchicken]