Korean Job Discussion Forums

OnTheOtherSide · Joined: 29 Feb 2008

On the issue of leaving Korea early or pulling a midnight run, I hear a lot of very mixed things.

How many people do you think do it? What percentage of the people who come here end up bailing out early? Why do you think it happens?

I have seen a LOT more people leaving early than I expected to see. It looks to me like the average stay here is about 6-8 months.

I've been here for almost four months and i've watched my two best friends that i've made here suddenly take off and leave. Nothing was going seriously wrong with their jobs or their situations. They simple didn't like it here.

They didn't like this city, they hated the pollution, they weren't having much fun, they didn't enjoy teaching bratty kids, they weren't making too many good friends, they didn't like most of the other foreigners around here, they didn't like the drunken lifestyle that everyone lives here, they weren't having many beautiful or memorable experiences.... and I must admit this is where i'm at too.

Korea isn't awful, it isn't unbearable or excrutiating. It's just dull and monotonous. There's no soul. There's no coolness. There's no real love or beauty. There is nothing here that makes my spirit feel like it is truley alive and soaring. Where is the love in this place?

I must admit, a HUGE part of me wants to get out of this country. A year is a very, very long time to be on this wild ride. I think that I am officially at the point where the money and profitability is the only thing keeping me here. In spite of a few other good qualities, almost everything else is getting a big thumbs down.

Do a lot of people leave early simply because they don't like it here and decided a few months is all that they want to endure? I am trying to stay for as long as I possibly can. I don't want to jump ship until it is absolutely necessarry. But, this ship is sinking fast.

I am just waiting. Waiting to find some beauty in this place. Waiting for the love to show itself. Waiting for things to "click" and discover that there is actually something good going on here. Waiting to find that niche. Waiting. But how long can I wait?

Or maybe I should just shut up and watch my bank account grow?

Draz · Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Location: Land of Morning Clam

In Korea everyone is bipolar. Keep going out, eventually something cool will happen.

Ruraljuror · Joined: 08 Dec 2007

Your experience is very different from mine: I've never known anyone who has done a runner. Or even thought about doing a runner. Most people I know are generally very happy here, and end up coming back.

With the exception of the elderly. I've known 2 people who came here for the first time aged closer to 60 than 50 and they definitely didin't have much fun. They still fulfilled their contract though. Are you elderly?

Maybe it's your location. I'm in Seoul. Seoul is awesome. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. If you are somewhere else, you made a concious effort to live and work there. Why did you do that? No one knows this country better than it's natives and there is a good reason that 50% of Koreans live in Seoul or in it's outlying areas. And the other 50% wish they could.

Draz · Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Location: Land of Morning Clam

aka Dave · Joined: 02 May 2008 Location: Down by the river

Yeah, I agree with rural juror. I have a truly great job (won't go into the details) but the fact is Cheong-ju utterly sucks. And my students all agree.

OnTheOtherSide · Joined: 29 Feb 2008

I don't live in Seoul. And nope, i'm not elderly. But I am in my late 20's and feel like i'm too old for the scene around here a lot of the time. It feels very college to me.

I visited Seoul and it felt like a dirty, polluted, overpacked, extremely overpopulated, loud, threatening, paranoid, unnatural place to me. The bar scene was great for sure, and there were more foreigners to meet. But to live in such a huge, dirty concrete jungle, I couldn't do it. I would go crazy.

I also noticed that Koreans in Seoul are much, much more rude. I thought that the rude Korean stories on Dave's were exagerations until I went to Seoul and saw how poorly people behave there. In my city, Koreans act fairly mellow most of the time. The rudeness factor here is noticable, but it's not really all that bad. But Seoul is a pressure cooker of human intensity.

I'm not a big city person. I don't really understand the appeal of it to be honest. If anything, I feel like the place I live right now is too big and urban. Definantly too polluted.

What is better about Seoul anyway? Seoul is all hyped up but I didn't see the attraction to it. The nightlife seemed like the only thing about it that was good. And more things to do I guess? What makes Seoul better really? The vibe didn't feel too great to me.

A2Steve · Joined: 10 Nov 2007

Ruraljuror · Joined: 08 Dec 2007

Well I'm a city guy, so "dirty, crowded, polluted, loud, threatening, concrete" aren't bad words to me...they describe the exact kind of place I want to live in and raise my family. You sound like you aren't a city guy (or gal), so I'm not surprised you didn't like Seoul.

But it doesn't sound like you are enjoying your country life either. Maybe your problem is you haven't quite figured out what kind of person you are and don't know where you want to live? What kind of place do you want to live in? But let's be honest: Cities are vibrant, alive and exciting, as well as "dirty, crowded, polluted, loud, threatening, concrete". The country is peaceful, calm, beautiful, friendly and non-threatening...but it is also kinda boring. You have to embrace the good with the bad. Living in the country and complaining about it being boring is like living in Alaska and complaining about the cold. Kinda pointless. Likewise, complaining about a city being dirty and crowded.

But you do need to choose one path and embrace it to be happy in this life. You must love the bad as well as the good or you will always be unhappy, looking for some perfect utopia to live in.

And in case you are wondering, suburbs are NOT an acceptible third option. Those souless, evil monstrosities take the worst elements of cities and combine them with the worst elements of the country, while eliminating the great parts of cities and countries.

They are also the primary cause of my country's (America) sad, slow lurch to decay and irrevelance. If you are a "suburbs" person than we will not, nor can not ever be friends.

I will point out two more things.

You mention how you don't care for alot of the other foreigners where you live. That is one of the problems living in a place where there is such a small foreign population, your choice of friends is very limited. I've heard even in Busan, the second biggest city in Korea, every foreigner knows every other foreigner. Well there are thousands and thousands of foreigners in Seoul. Not just english teachers either. Businessmen, soldiers, prostitutes, you name it. In my Korean class there are 10 foreigners, and I'm the only english teacher. I've really enjoyed making friends with the military and business types. The point is, with such a large sample size the odds of you making friends with people you actually like, instead of just people you feel obligated to hang around with simply because you speak the same language, is much greater.

Finally, you make a shrugging acknowledgement that Seoul has a "better nightlife" and "more things to do". Umm...aren't those pretty good things? Do I need to expound on the advantages of living somewhere where they are "more things to do"? Having things to do is what makes life worth living! Your life is the time that you spend NOT working. If your life is merely drinking and complaining with people you don't really like, then you clearly need "more things to do". And a "better night life" probably wouldn't hurt either, though I don't have much use for it anymore (I'm married).

I am a huge advocate for ESL. I think it is a rewarding, lucrative and not-terribly dificult career, and can support a fantastic quality of life (the time spent NOT working). And I am an advocate for living in Seoul. I love this city, and all it's faults. I live in Itaewon and work in Myeong-Dong and there is no place else I'd rather be right now. I can certainly accept though that this lifestyle and this city is not for everyone, so if you are truly so unhappy there isn't much else I can tell you. You tried it out, and it wasn't for you. No shame in that. I hope the rest of your contract goes well, your school doesn't screw you, and you leave Korea with some pleasant memories when it is all said and done.

blaseblasphemener · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:23 am Post subject:

You're waaaay over thinking things, OP. Your first year should be a blur of fun, drink, friends. You're in a foreign country that basically doesn't enforce it's few existing laws, and you can't deal with that?

-buses are cheap, trains are cheap. Get on one, and go somewhere by the beach or in the mountains. go up to random young Koreans and ask them for help, strike up a conversation, and offer to buy them a beer. Make a new friend.

-Go to Busan, geoggi-do, sorak-san, muji, wherever. let loose.

-order some books from whatthebook or amazon.com/ca, and read. You have time, right?

-Learn how to cook.

-take taekwondo lessons. get a korean to help you find a teacher who will teach you. many will want to because they will be getting a simultaneous english lesson.

-explore all the foods of Korea. They can be wonderful, exotic, and restaurants are rarely dull.

-give yourself a kick in the a$$. You are a young man, in a foreign country. before you are married and settled down, live a little. do some internet dating if you must, but get in the game man!

OnTheOtherSide · Joined: 29 Feb 2008

LL Moonmanhead · Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Location: yo momma

Is the OP, male or female?

Only ever known the girlies cut and run.

OnTheOtherSide · Joined: 29 Feb 2008

reactionary · Joined: 22 Oct 2006 Location: korreia

Hey, it's the guy who was denouncing anyone who complained about Korea before he even got here!

How many months did it take you to change your tune? Bet ya miss superficial southern California.

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

IncognitoHFX · Joined: 06 May 2007 Location: Yeongtong, Suwon

You say you don't like the culture, but have you made any honest attempts to study the language or get to know the people?

You say Korea is "boring, dull and monotonous", so have you been everywhere? Agreed, the architecture here is very repetitive and it can be a bit daunting, but there are some cool as places if you go looking for them. Also, going to the countryside / down to Busan or Jeju-do will change your perspective.