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Ninjaniki
Joined: 05 Jul 2008
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 Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:10 am Post subject: Who else is having positive experiences in Korea? |
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| I am really having a good time here in Ilsan. I feel very lucky. My school and the teachers there are wonderful, and I have pretty sweet modern officetel right next to everything. I have found the Koreans to be very helpful and kind. Would anyone else like to tell of their positive experiences? |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:15 am Post subject: Re: Who else is having positive experiences in Korea? |
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| Ninjaniki wrote: |
| I am really having a good time here in Ilsan. I feel very lucky. My school and the teachers there are wonderful, and I have pretty sweet modern officetel right next to everything. I have found the Koreans to be very helpful and kind. Would anyone else like to tell of their positive experiences? |
Enjoy the honeymoon!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_shock
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Ninjaniki
Joined: 05 Jul 2008
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:23 am Post subject: |
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| It is no honeymoon. You have to take the good with the not so good wherever you go. You did not have to post that culture shock link. Korea is the 5th country I have been to and the 3rd I have lived in. On top of that I grew up in a big city and I have interacted with people of different cultures all my life. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:30 am Post subject: |
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| Ninjaniki wrote: |
| It is no honeymoon. You have to take the good with the not so good wherever you go. You did not have to post that culture shock link. Korea is the 5th country I have been to and the 3rd I have lived in. On top of that I grew up in a big city and I have interacted with people of different cultures all my life. |
It was not meant to be a rip...
AND
I don't care who you are... culture shock affects EVERYONE to one extent or another when you change countries and cultures.
Enjoy the honeymoon.....
I hope you can still say the same next year at this time (some of us still can) but there is a reason why many can't.
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:41 am Post subject: |
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My first nine months were a total bliss too! 
After nearly six years of pretty good stretches of fun times, I'm really looking forward to the next two years here.  I return Monday from a summer spent back home. I don't need the money, having just inherited. I actually really enjoy teaching and feel very safe and content in Korea, with some things left to do before I'm done with this country.
However bad the bad may get, the good gets pretty darn good.
Love the coasts, enjoy the food, like most of the people, appreciate the job and the lifestyle I lead.
Finding one's own balance between assimilation and alienation, between what you accept and adopt from the culture and what you maintain from back home, can be a struggle, but not an endless one. (I've found my own balance. Learn the language well? No thanks. Demonstrate some interest in their history and ways of thinking? Sure. Travel the country like a keen tourist? Oh yeah. Watch Korean t.v.and listen to K-pop? Not so much by myself but when with a local, uh huh. Accept Korean values at face value as theirs? As much as possible. Adopt Korean values? Don't think so. Become Korean or try to be accepted by Koreans by acting like them? Nah. Like Koreans and be nice to them regardless of their attitude and expectations? Absolutely. ...etc...) |
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Ninjaniki
Joined: 05 Jul 2008
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:48 am Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
My first nine months were a total bliss too!
After nearly six years of pretty good stretches of fun times, I'm really looking forward to the next two years here. I return Monday from a summer spent back home. I don't need the money, having just inherited. I actually really enjoy teaching and feel very safe and content in Korea, with some things left to do before I'm done with this country.
However bad the bad may get, the good gets pretty darn good.
Love the coasts, enjoy the food, like most of the people, appreciate the job and the lifestyle I lead.
Finding one's own balance between assimilation and alienation, between what you accept and adopt from the culture and what you maintain from back home, can be a struggle, but not an endless one. (I've found my own balance. Learn the language well? No thanks. Demonstrate some interest in their history and ways of thinking? Sure. Travel the country like a keen tourist? Oh yeah. Watch Korean t.v.and listen to K-pop? Not so much by myself but when with a local, uh huh. Accept Korean values at face value as theirs? As much as possible. Adopt Korean values? Don't think so. Become Korean or try to be accepted by Koreans by acting like them? Nah. Like Koreans and be nice to them regardless of their attitude and expectations? Absolutely. ...etc...) |
I love your answer and your attitude. |
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ciccone_youth
Joined: 03 Mar 2008
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:04 am Post subject: |
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I also love your answer, VanIslander. That's how I feel.
After 6 months, I'm still feeling some of the excitement of a new culture, even though some things are frustrating. But overall I'm loving the experience, and it's only for a year so i'm making the most of it. |
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hugekebab
Joined: 05 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:06 am Post subject: |
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| Ninjaniki wrote: |
| It is no honeymoon. You have to take the good with the not so good wherever you go. You did not have to post that culture shock link. Korea is the 5th country I have been to and the 3rd I have lived in. On top of that I grew up in a big city and I have interacted with people of different cultures all my life. |
What were the other two countries?
You will go through those phases, it happens to everyone. |
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aka Dave
Joined: 02 May 2008
Location: Down by the river
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:08 am Post subject: |
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I'm in my fourth year and it's definitely my best year. I love my job. My apartment sucks, but I really don't care much as long as I have a cot and three hots, and of course the internet.
I teach at a University, so it's a good gig, and I've been diligent about the gym and diet, so I feel good. It's football season, and I figured out how to get all my games online, so I'm a very happy camper in that regard.
When I think back to teaching high school French in the US with a 45 kids in the classroom, I'm really grateful to be here. The best gig I had before this was teaching French at UC Santa Barbara (a *very* nice place to teach) as a grad student. But I actually prefer my current job. At the end of most classes the students chant "Thank you!"
Last edited by aka Dave on Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:11 am; edited 1 time in total |
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endo
Joined: 14 Mar 2004
Location: Seoul...my home
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:09 am Post subject: |
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silly newbs  |
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hugekebab
Joined: 05 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:13 am Post subject: |
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| bogey666 wrote: |
| ttompatz wrote: |
| Ninjaniki wrote: |
| It is no honeymoon. You have to take the good with the not so good wherever you go. You did not have to post that culture shock link. Korea is the 5th country I have been to and the 3rd I have lived in. On top of that I grew up in a big city and I have interacted with people of different cultures all my life. |
It was not meant to be a rip...
AND
I don't care who you are... culture shock affects EVERYONE to one extent or another when you change countries and cultures.
Enjoy the honeymoon.....
I hope you can still say the same next year at this time (some of us still can) but there is a reason why many can't.
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I'm going to have to back the OP on this one.
EVERYONE? well maybe.. a big MAYBE.
a bigger and more RELEVANT question would be "to what EXTENT"?
I'm going to copy the first paragraph from your Wiki link
| Quote: |
| Culture shock refers to the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, uncertainty, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within an entirely different cultural or social environment, such as a foreign country. It grows out of the difficulties in assimilating the new culture, causing difficulty in knowing what is appropriate and what is not. This is often combined a dislike for or even disgust (moral or aesthetical) with certain aspects of the new or different culture. The term was introduced for the first time in 1954 by Kalvero Oberg.[citation needed] |
what fucking HORSESHIT.
anxiety?
disorientation?
uncertainty?
confusion?
WTF is this?? Oprah? Dr. Phil?
I haven't felt a SINGLE ONE of those things. What I have felt is "bemusement".
I'm sure this applies to mental midgets and people with minimal interaction with other cultures, who've never traveled.
you see some things you like and other things you don't like (just like back "home"). You adapt and put yourselves in situations where you maximize the positives and minimize the negatives.
and you tell yourself.
life sucks.... then you die.
that pretty much helps overcome feelings of fear, anxiety, disorientation, confusion and all this other complete shrink bullshit.
vanislander seems to have it figured out, no? |
The phases stuff is pretty much spot on though, don't you think? It was with me...I'm approaching/have reached the latter phase and now I realise I cannot live here for another year (I can maybe do another half a year after my full years contract. The culture is just too monosyllabic for me, it all just feels like one endless repetition.
There's a lot of good here, but the entertainment culture bores me s******* and the work culture drives me f******* mad. |
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joshuahirtle27
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:13 am Post subject: |
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I'm having a good time. The only annoyance is that I can't figure out how my school determines the hours I work in a month which calculate whether I get over time or not... That and WL's food is gross.
I've been here 6 months and I have my "man this place is annoying" moments. But, I had those in Canada too and I speak the same language as most of them. |
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EzeWong
Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:14 am Post subject: |
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My kids asked me today do I love korea,
A great big smile went right over my face and I looked at them. And I said
"HELL YEAH BABY"
hahahahaha the co-teacher gave me the dirtest look for the profanity but it HELL YEAH IT WAS WORTH IT. I really don't think culture shock is a problem. One has to learn how to adapt and appreciate everything different.
Sure things are weird but I love em! and I make fun of them all the time mentally so it's a hoot.
For example, the home plus greeters, a little different but hell thats cool that they have a job where all you do is bow all day, killer abs when they go home and sex up the wife.
Or like they have coffee vending machines, I imagine like an incredible machine inside with balls, chutes, springs, and buckets all in there... Theres probably a hamster in a wheel in there for power....
I mean, so far what's not to like? I haven't experience any negative culture shock. I get offered FOOD all the time, and since I'm a thin stick that loves to gorge I'm sooo freaky happy. munch munch is all the teachers near ever hear cause I'm always snacking on rice cakes, shrimp crackers or other bizzare crap.
People are so polite even though they don't have to be. People are so accomadating and understanding. All you have to do is smile and bow and they are YOURS. I've gotten free fruit, laundry detergent, meals, etc and everyone loves me because of my dazzling teeth and perfect 90 degree angled bows.
Even today, I took a look at what was for lunch.... Ug I didn't want to touch it with a 9 foot pole. I skipped on one of the side dishes cause it looked like fish balls (Which I hate). Later one teacher sits down and she's like "These are small eggs". I frigin got up immediately and got a bowl of it. lmao they laughed. The eggs were great btw.
lmao, theres a lot of little things there that one can take enjoyment in. Koreas great OP, and I'm totally with you
Korea Fighting!!! |
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i4NI
Joined: 17 May 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:26 am Post subject: |
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| What's funny and sad is some people on this board genuinely get upset that other people are having a good time in Korea. Misery loves company. |
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bogey666
Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Location: Korea, the ass free zone
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:33 am Post subject: |
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phases stuff is pretty much spot on though, don't you think? It was with me...I'm approaching/have reached the latter phase and now I realise I cannot live here for another year (I can maybe do another half a year after my full years contract. The culture is just too monosyllabic for me, it all just feels like one endless repetition.
There's a lot of good here, but the entertainment culture bores me s******* and the work culture drives me f******* mad. |
oh.. I agree.
BUT - we as FT's are 'different'. I don't have to deal with the typical Korean BS that I have no interest in dealing with - e.g. some of the food, getting blasted on soju, the Korean "work culture"... Korean "music".
none of that crap has a direct and daily influence on me, because i can choose not to have anything or very little to do with it.
My attitude is PRECISELY like Van Islander's in almost every respect. I also love the fact that I can pretty much get the F out of Dodge for a month every summer and for 6 weeks every winter and go somewhere where I can catch up on all the debauchery and stuff I may miss here.. and get it elsewhere. While getting paid, no less!
now if you were to tell me that I had to become "Korean" in almost every respect and then become a little worker ant adjosshi for Hyundai.. etc.
then yeah.. I would have feelings more consistent with the Wiki culture shock post, except instead of being bemused and amused as I am NOW...
my "feelings" would turn into a very big extended middle finger.
is that "a feeling"? |
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