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crazykiwi
Joined: 07 Jun 2003
Location: new zealand via daejeon
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 Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 12:05 pm Post subject: |
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It is hard coming back. I too came back to do the teachers diploma. Best decision of my life. In the end, i was in Auckland, but due to relationship breakdown, moved to wellington to complete the course. New city, new friends, new life! It's bloody hard to adjust, but iot was just like wheni first arrived in Korea. Had to get out there and explore, join some sports teams, finds some like minded mates, even if shock horror, have not travelled as extensively as me! And now im a qualified teacher, now earnign pretty much the same as over there, except, and this is the real reason i like home so much.....the pies are here, the sausage rolls are here, the fish and chips for 4 bucks is here and the clincher, my friend buddy is here! Crazylemon girl, come down to weingtpn and come have a party wif me. make sure to make it a "glad im home" party for you! Seroiusly, come down, we can complain about korea, aAND munch fish and chips!
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angelheart
Joined: 29 Apr 2007
Location: stranded on the island
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| Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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Just along with everybody on this thread I've left Korea more then once.
And I'm definitely having trouble adjusting back to my normal life.
It helps if you have a clear vision as to why you are going back. But even with those clear visions like taking masters or getting teaching credentials there will be a time when asking yourself "What a hell am i doing working in (city) at (age)" (to those who know the song") will result in the inevitable moving forward. It just depends on direction. Either it's back to Korea, or to some other unknown destinations that promise alluring adventures. |
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bosintang
Joined: 01 Dec 2003
Location: In the pot with the rest of the mutts
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 4:07 am Post subject: |
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| angelheart wrote: |
Just along with everybody on this thread I've left Korea more then once.
And I'm definitely having trouble adjusting back to my normal life.
It helps if you have a clear vision as to why you are going back. But even with those clear visions like taking masters or getting teaching credentials there will be a time when asking yourself "What a hell am i doing working in (city) at (age)" (to those who know the song") will result in the inevitable moving forward. It just depends on direction. Either it's back to Korea, or to some other unknown destinations that promise alluring adventures. |
What the hell am I doing drinking in Seoul at 28? |
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The Perfect Cup of Coffee
Joined: 17 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 4:11 am Post subject: |
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| bosintang wrote: |
What the hell am I doing drinking in Seoul at 28? |
Living? |
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K-in-C
Joined: 27 Mar 2003
Location: Heading somewhere
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 4:38 am Post subject: yO yO |
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| Chonbuk wrote: |
| who wonders if there are any other ex- expats living in Vancouver area on this site? |
I was in Vancouver until the end of June. I spent 5 months back in Canada. I am back in the ROK at my fifth job. I completed two out of the four previous ones. It is not so bad being back in Korea but the city I live in is the main depressant. I am already longing to go back but I know that I will get back and feel the same way there.  I have my mind set to make it though the year and then settle. I think...
What keeps you busy in Vancouver?
Best,
K-in-C |
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Paji eh Wong
Joined: 03 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 4:50 am Post subject: |
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| angelheart wrote: |
It helps if you have a clear vision as to why you are going back. |
I have yet to try to leave, but this is one of the big problems I see with living in Korea. It is really, really difficult to come up with a clear vision of what to do next. Everyone is in the same boat. Everyone comes here for 1 year to try and figure out what to do next. Everybody's coming from something they don't want to go back to. Beyond that, there are very few work experiences outside of teaching English. There is no community. There is very little social structure. The closest thing we have to a role model is Isaac Durst....
I just depressed myself. |
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The Perfect Cup of Coffee
Joined: 17 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 4:53 am Post subject: |
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| To hell with going back anytime soon. Going back is the safe boring thing to do that no one really wants to do but feel they must. Save going back for when it's time to take that long dirt nap. Enjoy the ride, it only goes around one time. |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:07 am Post subject: |
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| itaewonguy wrote: |
you will be back, only a few people who have lived here more than 3 or 4 years can actually live away from here.. the rest of us end up coming and going from here for years and years!! its like the hotel california!!
people who say IM out of here next year for good, I just laugh at them and say yeah yeah see you in 1 or 2 years! everyone COMES BACK!!!
as much as they hate it, they love it |
I read this and a chill went through me. I'm leaving in January after nearly 3 and a half years and I really really really don't want to come here. But I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens...
Maybe I'll leave at some point but I'll do my damnedest to make sure that I don't wash up on these shores.... |
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bosintang
Joined: 01 Dec 2003
Location: In the pot with the rest of the mutts
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:34 am Post subject: |
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| The Perfect Cup of Coffee wrote: |
| To hell with going back anytime soon. Going back is the safe boring thing to do that no one really wants to do but feel they must. Save going back for when it's time to take that long dirt nap. Enjoy the ride, it only goes around one time. |
Staying in Korea can be just as a safe, boring and ultimately unfulfilling routine as being stuck in a career you don't enjoy back home. It doesn't have to be one or the other.
Korea was an adventure for a year. Even two years. After that, well, it just became another doldrum life routine and I only stayed because it's so easy to stay because so little is expected of you here.
There will always be a job waiting and you can always return with a free airplane ticket and apartment waiting in hand. The trade off is you end up with crap jobs in a grey doldrum country, where you're treated like a outsider with nothing to offer the world except the English skills you were born with. |
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The Perfect Cup of Coffee
Joined: 17 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:41 am Post subject: |
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| bosintang wrote: |
Staying in Korea can be just as a safe, boring and ultimately unfulfilling routine as being stuck in a career you don't enjoy back home. It doesn't have to be one or the other.
Korea was an adventure for a year. Even two years. After that, well, it just became another doldrum life routine and I only stayed because it's so easy to stay because so little is expected of you here.
There will always be a job waiting and you can always return with a free airplane ticket and apartment waiting in hand. The trade off is you end up with crap jobs in a grey doldrum country, where you're treated like a outsider with nothing to offer the world except the English skills you were born with. |
Ahh, don't sell yourself short. Life in this country is what you make it, or any country for that matter. Hope it works out wherever you end up. And remember, there's always Mr. Kim's Happy Hagwon looking for teachers. Cheers. |
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twg
Joined: 02 Nov 2006
Location: Getting some fresh air...
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:42 am Post subject: |
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| bosintang wrote: |
| What the hell am I doing drinking in Seoul at 28? |
If I helps, I remember the song being referenced |
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bosintang
Joined: 01 Dec 2003
Location: In the pot with the rest of the mutts
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:46 am Post subject: |
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| The Perfect Cup of Coffee wrote: |
Ahh, don't sell yourself short. Life in this country is what you make it, or any country for that matter. Hope it works out wherever you end up. And remember, there's always Mr. Kim's Happy Hagwon looking for teachers. Cheers. |
I know. That's the depressing thought. "I think GEPIK is still hiring..."
I'd only come back to Korea on two conditions:
1) I'm in a different category. (ie not near-bottom-feeder ESL work, which means everything except university professor, teacher-trainer, or international schools)
2) I'm desperately unhappy in whatever situation I end up in (Read: I've failed.) |
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:53 am Post subject: Something doesn't compute.... |
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What doesn't add up about this? Here's a typical case history....
A young'un graduates from univ. w/a humanities or soc. sci. degree & finds that contrary to what the tenured radical told them in school, the world is NOT their oyster. So maybe the young'un works for a year or two in a crap job and thinks"Fook this". The young'un tries ESL in S. Korea for a year and finds it to be not half bad. So, the young Westerner stays for several years until he/she thinks "I gotta grow up & get a real job." Fine. So we're looking at an age range now of about 27-32. Typically, the said ex-pat comes in for a rude awakening: the years spent teaching English in Korea amounts to squat to most employers back home. Now what?
Well, unlike the vast majority who find themselves SOL when they go back home, the OP has found a position that few of the other ex-pats do. Think about it. She has a job where she can use her education. She has a civil service job(albeit w/a foreign employer). But...she got the job w/only a bachelor's degree(right?) and doesn't speak Japanese(right?). Strange then, that I know of ex-JETs w/master's degrees & Jap. lang. skills that can't get a job like that. But after only a few months, the OP wants to go back to Korea!
What doesn't add up about this? |
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bosintang
Joined: 01 Dec 2003
Location: In the pot with the rest of the mutts
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:57 am Post subject: Re: Something doesn't compute.... |
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| Mosley wrote: |
What doesn't add up about this? |
Only the OP can answer her situation specifically, but a good job isn't everything.
There are other things: loneliness, cultural shock, alienation, lack of adventure or life goals outside of your career. Basically all those things most of us experienced to some degree when we went abroad, but in reverse. And worse, because it's our own home and our culture we're alienated from, not a foreign one. |
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:22 am Post subject: |
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| Fair enough. But to ME it doesn't add up.... |
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