Korean Job Discussion Forums

Keepongoing · Joined: 13 Feb 2003 Location: Korea

Thomas Wolfe" wrote a book called "You Can't Go Home Again"

What about you? When you go back home is everything the same? Do your friends relate with you? Have your perspective changed so much that things will never be the same again???

Dev · Joined: 18 Apr 2006

I have two answers for this, one positive and one negative.

Negative: You can, but it's very difficult. If you've spent over 5 years out here, the companies back home treat you like an immigrant. Your overseas work experience doesn't count. They only consider domestic work experience (well, unless you're working for an international company). Tough. Might take you 2-3 years of grunt work to get re-established back home.

Positive: A buddy of mine said something like "The water of the stream always changes" meaning that home will be inevitably a new and fresh experience. That means exciting too as opposed to same old, same old.

faster · Joined: 03 Sep 2006

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

I was a bit worried about this when I went home for a month last summer. I actually felt quite comfortable back in Canada, impressed by how clean and calm it was, how unbelievably polite the drivers were, and how at ease Canadians were around each other in social situations, especially when meeting people for the first time (it was my sister's wedding so there were lots of introductions. I even got told off by my sister for bowing instinctively to her new in-laws.

However, after a month I was right bored of the place and happy to get back here. Canada's a great place to visit but I don't think I'd ever want to live there again.

newintown · Joined: 01 Jan 2007

ajgeddes · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Location: Yongsan

I have an easy time relating to my friends at home. Most of my friends have travelled around the world and both my two best friends aren't married to Canadians, nor to they live in Canada anymore. We have mostly all went off and done something different. When I see them we talk about our stories and it is fun to see what has happened to everybody else after they left our town.

Other than that, I feel the same as YBS except for that I don't think home would be as boring if you were working a full-time job. I am pretty sure I would be bored here too if I were here for a month not working.

kimchi_pizza · Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 4:58 pm Post subject:

Yea, it's kinda tough going back home after living and teaching overseas going on 6 years. I went through when I was in the service and again as a teacher.

Friends have moved on with families of their own and family members have visibly aged and gained weight. A lot of weight. It was also hard to share stories when there isn't anything they or I could personally relate to. My family didn't even seem interested in any of my oversea's experiences as they didn't ask a single question except, "When are you staying home?"

How do you look your mother in the eye and tell her there's a good chance you may never live there permanently? That you're perfectly happy where you are now. Then with every phone conversation later you can hear the hopes in her voice that you'll return and the sadness in her tone when you say, "I'm staying another year".

Yea, it's tough. But you land where the winds sweep you. They swept my grandfathers from all over Europe to the States. They swept my mother from Montana to Ohio (which might as well've been another country) and the winds swept me here. Going against the winds is tough even if it means going back home.

blaseblasphemener · Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 5:24 pm Post subject:

yingwenlaoshi · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: ... location, location!

I am the wind. Where I go, I've already been.

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

I've been back home for about 2 months after four years away. I left for Korea pretty much straight after graduation.

I've found it very hard to relate to most of my varsity friends who are all going down the hatching, matching and buying a house path whereas I'm not really ready to settle down yet so I find myself very removed from society at the moment. As luck would have it, I live just up the road from our mini 'korea town' so I've gone into the restaurants a couple of times to enjoy the food, speak Korean and more importantly be around people who can relate to my experiences.

As for employment YBS said, it's a mixed bag.

I want to work in government as a policy analyst so my job search has taken a while due to long hiring processes in the government sector, particularly at entry/graduate level.

Some places see my overseas experience as being completely irrelevant at best or at worst a disadvantage as I've been 'out of the loop' for a few years. However some places have seen my time in Korea as a real asset.

I'm down to the final interview for one government ministry that typically gets 3-400 applicants for a dozen positions because I was able to demonstrate that my Korean experience would add value to their organization and also got an offer to work in the embassy of another Asian country because I have strong inter-cultural skills.

Mosley · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Just remember this when you go back home: When a friend or relative(who's never been to Asia) says "I'd love to see all your pictures!" what they really mean is "I'd like to see no more than a dozen."

Alyallen · Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 7:14 pm Post subject:

My family moved to the United States, so they understand what it's like to move away and then return to the home country and see how things have changed. I don't get pressured to come home any sooner than I want to because they see the value in what I did.

My friends are people who were willing to keep in touch and aren't afraid to see more than a dozen pictures of my travels. Wink

Plus it helps to have a boyfriend who is experiencing the "foreigner life" in your home country. I think it gives me a more unvarnished view of my country, so I guess in a way I have a realistic expectation of what awaits me when I get there....

I think going home hits people hardest when they think home will be the same...

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

yingwenlaoshi · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: ... location, location!

Depends on the friends, but I think that nowadays people are much more family oriented and stick close to the family and socialize ouside that immediate circle very little. They're too busy and put a lot of focus on their kids. Parents are keeping their eyes on their children much more.

Depends on the level of redneckness. Then again, your redneck friends might have an even harder time fathoming going to Asia.