Korean Job Discussion Forums

[skintboy]

I used to think my drinking wasn't exactly saving me any money back 'ome, but ever since I've come to these Korean shores, I've been drinking a lot worse. Anyone else out there feel the same?

[fortysixyou]

You're drinking more here than you were back home, you mean?


Yeah same here. I'm attempting to be sober though, and I'm wondering if it's possible to be completely sober in Korea without being a complete shut-in.


Thoughts?

[patongpanda]

The more successful you are, the more you drink, research finds

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/the-more-successful-you-are-the-more-you-drink-research-finds-772332.html

I IS TEH WINNAR

[haute 4 teacher]

Since New Year's I have:

watched (almost) every movie made in the last year.

Read 3 novels.

Walked to the store everyday (just for something to do).

Cooked almost every night.

So...without boozin' it at the local Hof I got not much else to do. Wish it was warmer so I could at least go hiking.

I did go out once, dropped 10 man won, and stumbled home. That was fun.

So, yes. Complete shut-in is pretty much necessary. I'm looking for a cheap, fun, fulfilling hobby.

Any suggestions?

[ceesgetdegrees]

Good video games will hit the spot if you are that way inclined. i have 4 months to go, at the end of which i plan on hitting south east asia for 2 or 3 months partying hard. I've done the korean nightlife to death and to be honest it doesn't really interest me that much any more(thailand ruined it for me) so apart from catching up with some friends once a month for a drink, thats it. Work, gym, home...money money money in the bank bank bank. no pain, no gain i guess.

[jacob7207]

force yourself to do other things that you wouldn't do. Like go hiking. Go running. Read a book. If people can't understand, or refuse to understand that you want to make a change in your lifestyle, *beep* thm.

[fortysixyou]

[fortysixyou]

[cheeseface]

If you are feeling like your drinking is getting to be a problem, like every morning waking up thinking "damn I won't drink tonight" and in the evening finding yourself opening another couple of bottles, you have probably got yourself into a bad habit that's hard to break.

It may sound like strange advice but try drinking milk, once you have had a glass or two no way do you want to put any beer onto it, same goes for smoking.

I was drinking 10-14 bottles of beer everyday for the last three and a half years here, and smoking over 20 cigarettes. The last two months I've only been drinking on Friday's and Saturday's all thanks to the milk!!!

[Yaya]

I posted this earlier, but I wonder what all of that drinking is doing to one's liver.

[haute 4 teacher]

Well, I believe all the drinking has resulted in my liver becoming this mystical, enchanted wonderland full of pixies, gnomes and unicorns. Every once in a while a magical fairy comes by to sprinkle fairy dust on it and heal all the wounds in all the land.

Or, having achieved at least a 6th grade education, I can assume that it is bad for my liver.

Thanks for the (judgmental, obvious AND off-topic) query.

[Yaya]

It ain't off-topic, dude. I think discussion of the ill effects booze has on a person is on topic, especially since the original poster said he drinks more in Korea than he did back in his home country.

My friend recently got the results of a health check, and his liver was found to be fatty.

[haute 4 teacher]

Perhaps I overreacted. It's just that every time a drinking/smoking/sex with prostitutes thread comes up someone inevitably points out the health risks.

Now, knowing the visa regulations being what they are, I think it is reasonable to assume that most of the posters have at least a BA.

So, I get frustrated reading all the negative reminders all the time. I have a mother, sister, girlfriend and cat whom all reinforce the ill-effects of alcohol (as they do another shot, glass or bottle of vodka)(cat included).

And the topic is about other things to do beside drink. I told a friend of mine about not drinking in Korea (he lived here for 4 years) and his response was "then what the hell are you doing with your time?".

I think the general solitude coupled with the linguistic/cultural frustrations on top of the lack of media or entertainment options contributes to one drinking a lot more here than at home. In the years I've been reading this web site it seems to come up every couple of weeks.

But we're trying.....

[ultra]

COUNTRY PROFILES WESTERN PACIFIC REGION
WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004
World Health Organization 2004
REPUBLIC OF KOREA

WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004
Source: WHO Mortality Database
Morbidity, health and social problems from alcohol use

The annual incidence of acute pancreatitis per 100 000 people has increased from 15.6 in 1995 to 19.4 in 2000.
Alcohol consumption is a main contributing factor to this disease.
The yearly change in the proportion of cases with alcoholic liver diseases of chronic liver disease patients shows the dramatic increase among the Korean population from 1.5% in 1980 to 24% in 1993.
The analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients in the Republic of Korea indicates that 84% of male patients are heavy drinkers, whereas most of the female patients are not habitual alcohol drinkers.

The number of alcohol-related traffic deaths has increased by an average of 12.7% annually.
The ratio of alcohol-related to total deaths has also increased from 3.1% in 1990 to 6.7% in 1995.
Analysed in terms of age groups, 75.6% of the alcohol-related accidents involved drivers between the ages of 21 and 40 years old.
The rate of car accidents caused by drunken driving is about 10-fold higher than in any other developed country.

Country background information
Total population 2003 47 700 000
Life expectancy at birth (2002) Male 71.8
Adult (15+) 38 160 000 Female 79.4
% under 15 20 Probability of dying under age 5 per 1000 (2002) Male 8
Population distribution 2001 (%) Female 7
Urban 83 Gross National Income per capita 2002 US$ 9930
Rural 17
Sources: Population and Statistics Division of the United Nations Secretariat, World Bank World Development Indicators database, The
World Health Report 2004
References
1. Park SC, Oh SI, Lee MS. Korean status of alcoholics and alcohol-related health problems. Alcoholism:
Clinical and Experimental Research, 1998, 22(3 Supplement):170S�172S.
2. 2001 National Household Health Interview Survey. Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, 2002.
3. Alcohol per capita consumption, patterns of drinking and abstention worldwide after 1995. Appendix
2. European Addiction Research, 2001, 7(3):155�157.
4. WHO focal point data. Response to WHO survey on burden of disease attributable to alcohol:

http://www.mojohd.com/mojoseries/threesheets/episodes/view/south_korea
More South Korea Facts...
3,000,000,000 bottles of Soju were consumed by South Koreans in 2004.

[OiGirl]

If your cat is doing shots of vodka, you have some other problems...