Korean Job Discussion Forums

maddog · Joined: 08 Dec 2005 Location: Daegu

I know this a somewhat vague and general question but, to those of you who've actually lived and worked in both countries, where did you have the best overall experience? I know there are many factors, such as specific location, salary, working conditions, etc, but I just want an overall opinion. Cheers.

MD

Satori · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: Above it all

Overall, Korea. Dont have time to go into details.

cangel · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: Jeonju, S. Korea

Japan. I spent 6 years in Japan and had nothing but great experiences. After 3 months in Korea I have had ups and downs. The ups are awesome but the downs are unlike anything I experienced during my years in Japan. I do enjoy Korea, but their lack of basic manners, blatant diregard for all laws, and mass xenophobia place them a far second behind Japan-not that Japan doesn't battle with some xenophobia, it's just that they're too shy to ever say/do anything about it.

Bramble · Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Location: National treasures need homes

Depends on your situation, but overall, Korea was a better experience for me. Both countries have their good points, though.

mastap · Joined: 10 Apr 2007

Bramble · Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Location: National treasures need homes

Dev · Joined: 18 Apr 2006

[quote="Bramble"][quote="mastap"][quote="Bramble"] but the level of English is a lot higher in Korea quote]

You've got to be kidding! Very Happy

Go into any store in Tokyo and young salespeople can serve you in English.

In Korea, I don't even bother to speak to salespeople because they're useless in English pretty much 100% of the time.

From a side by side city comparison, Tokyo is much better than Seoul.

Dev · Joined: 18 Apr 2006

Bramble · Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Location: National treasures need homes

[quote="Dev"][quote="Bramble"][quote="mastap"]

Dev · Joined: 18 Apr 2006

.[/quote]

Not sure about that ... I liked Tokyo, but I couldn't afford to go to whenever I felt like it. Mad

The whole Osaka area is great, though.

I was really referring to the students' level of English ... it's kind of silly to work with kids at that level if you don't have some ability in their language. But maybe the OP will find a good job in a good location (Kyoto? Kobe?) ... There's a lot of competition, though, and small towns aren't always great places to live.[/quote]

Not true. There are lots of teaching jobs in Tokyo and Osaka, but you're right in that they're less easy to get. Still not that hard either. Most people usually sign up with one of the Big 3 academies, Nova, Aeon, or Geos and then look for something better while working at one of these companies. If you're a good teacher, it's not that difficult to move into a better position in another company.

Bramble · Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Location: National treasures need homes

in_seoul_2003 · Joined: 24 Nov 2003

Definitely Japan.

No one staring at you. No one pointing their fingers and no one gawking (I'm speaking from my own personal experience here). They seem so much more non-chalant about a foreigner, like "Whatever, no big deal."

Better food.

Just as helpful. I had people coming up to me to assist me with the subway system.

Managed to walk down every street without ever once coming shoulder to shoulder with anyone. Most shoving and bumping in Seoul is entirely unavoidable but it happens anyhow.

The art galleries. Even the art galleries in the cities of a million or so were ten times better than the biggest galleries in Seoul. The art in Japan just struck a deeper chord with me.

Truer cosmopolitanism. I experienced a greater mix of other cultures in Japan.

rocklee · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul

Japan, but Korea is pretty good sometimes. Don't have time to go into details right now.

mercury · Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Location: Pusan

Japan VS Korea is like comparing a Lexus to a Kia. Japan is high society, Korea a little farm on the outskirts of town. Japanese food, music, people, society, culture, manners, gadgets, history, language, is cool! Waking up in Japan is like waking up in a 5 star hotel. Waking up in Pusan was like waking up in a zoo Wink

cangel · Joined: 19 Jun 2003 Location: Jeonju, S. Korea

Aww, geez, someone had to go and mention NOVA. I was a NOVA weenie for 3 long years. The thing with the national insureance in a farce. Basically, somene working X number of hours is considered "full time" and thus MUST be enrolled in the national scheme. Thing is, it's a 50/50 proposition and expensive, like USD 250 for the instructor per month. So, what the weasels did was reduce the class length during part of the day to 40 instead of 45 minutes which extended our intervals between lessons to 15 minutes-all told, we fell just short of "full time". The deal is, in those 15 minutes, 10 minutes are considered break minutes. So, in the other 5 you must pull files, choose a lesson, fill out the files, and write the student's performance-for a max of 4 students (optional-but they ding ya if you don't for not going above and beyond and company spirit and cr@p). It's a snow job. Also, the apartments are expensive. My 3-bedroom NOVA abode cost Yen 53,000 (per person) but a Japanese man also in a 3-bedroom with his family, same building, was paying Yen 88,900 (total) a month... Terrible company.