Korean Job Discussion Forums

[janafromfrance]

I left France for Pusan. I think now I regret it. I have been really feeling down, I never felt this way one day in France. There was always some fountain or some art expo to cheer me up. There was always some interesting people at the cafe I could listen to, but here it is just shouting and the men all stare at me and in France at least the guys were really cute, but here the only cute guy I saw was some guy wearing ear phones and llooking like he was from maybe Canada (his swear shirt had a big toronto across it). The food I have eaten is not tasty, just hot and soups that are filled with over cooked vegetables, garlic, onions, pork or beef, and the bathrooms are all freezing cold, and even tonight I went to a movie and some guy comes and sits right next to me trying to get to know me DURING the movie!!!?? Is it just me?? I just wanted to vent. I do not know if I can last 11 and a half more months. And one more thing, the people seem so rude to me everywhere I go.

[Deep Thirteen]

What movie did you see?

[English Matt]

Welcome to Korea

It'll get better.....Korea can't hold a candle to Europe. I'm moving to Berlin next summer, and had the opportunity to spend some time there this past August.....coming back to Korea my heart felt heavy and all the joy went out of me. You'll either cope or you won't. If your motives for being here are financial.....stick it out and make concrete plans to get back to France, or somewhere else you feel you would be more at home. If not, then I wouldn't advise staying.....it takes a lot of effort to make it work here, and why put in the effort when there are more enjoyable places to live.

You've been here for such a short amount of time however.....wait until you make friends, have an internet connection in your home. Once you have learnt some of the language and found food you like, once you find a nice little park, a cool little cafe or a westerrn bar where you can go to and vent with friends....you'll feel better.

[janafromfrance]

Thanks for the support. Both of you.

I saw the Soloist. It was ok, I liked Ray, the movie where
he (main actor) got the best actor, and Robert Downey played an ok role.

This korean guy about 25 just pops up next to me and starts trying
to have a conversation with me and I was so annoyed. He then kept trying to get my phone number, and I finally left and moved closer to the screen. Ruined about 10 minutes of the movie, and nobody even said anything. I will never go to a movie here alone again, he even waited outside for me and I just waited by the popcorn stand till he left.

[Bloopity Bloop]

I foresee great things out of this thread.

[ldh2222]

(OP: I'm sure you read this board before you decided to accept the position to come over here.)

To you and others who make the jump here, don't believe every good thing you hear on this site! People need not embellish stories ;I

[UrbanStyle]

cheer up - you will meet some cool poeple and fine food you like- have u been to one of the millions of bakeries? i like the yummy pastries. if you like you can pm me and I can give you the info of some of my friends in pusan.

[andrewchon]

So far, OP's story parallel's Sunji Iwai's "April Story". It is terrible to alone in an unfamiliar surroundings. Then one must remember what was the purpose of coming to Korea. Was there something definite?

[Old Gil]

Korean people very kind, Korean food very delicious, you just don't understand Korean culture.

Snark aside, OP have you been to KyungsungDae (경성대), subway stop is Kyungsung University. Lots of foreigner stuff there, maybe not up your alley but worth checking out. See if anybody wants to learn French/English, do some language exchanges (K-grils are always looking to learn female accent/intonation/usage), check out hanlingo.com, make some local friends. Check out FB for Busan groups as well, there's a few.

[nomad-ish]

i've lived in europe as well, and korea will definitely take some getting used to after living there. i really didn't like the food at first too, but after a while i could tolerate some things and found others i really, really liked. as for the culture, it's just very different from what we're used to. you'll get used to being stared at (it'll probably still bother you though), you'll come up with some defense mechanisms to get rid of any creepy guys looking to hit on you, and you'll slowly become less polite about it. this isn't very helpful, i know, but the first few months over here are always the hardest, it gets better... eventually

[eIn07912]

Wow. Two weeks in and already willing to call it quits.

That's quick. Not as quick as me though. I was ready to get on a plane the day after getting here. My first week was a nightmare and I swore I wouldn't stay 4 months.... That was 3 years ago.

OP, it gets better. Korea will never be France, but you'll learn to adjust to it all. I've never been to Pusan, but I thought it was the culture and art center of Korea. Maybe you could take a train up to Seoul once a month or something. Lot's of good museums, art shows, performances all over the place here. Plus, you're really close to Kyung-Ju being in Pusan. If you're a history buff, you'd really enjoy it out there.

As for finding cute guys... well, East Asia is where white boys that couldn't date back home come to be playboys. I'm straight, but there are very few guys here I'd consider "attractive." I've even made posts on such a topic of us all being a rather unattractive bunch. Try the online dating scene. It's rather popular among locals and foreigners.

Korean food is an acquired taste. I hated all of it when I came over. But then you eat more and after a while, some of it ain't so bad. There are no world class Korean chef's for a reason. Nearly all world class chef's get trained in French cuisine. So, you're going from one extreme to the other. So don't expect to eat well here. But "bo-sam" and "gal-bi" and "sam-gyup-sal" is mighty good, so try those. "Seoulung-tang" is great too.

Use this forum to vent and find out what to do or things to avoid. You're one of us now. And like it or not, we're all in this together. It really is "us vs. them" out there. And as foreigners, we all stand together, or we hang separately! Viva la Revolucion!

[lookingforworkinasia]

Busan has a pretty cool film festival every year. You can look forward to that. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll find much in terms of an "art" scene or anything. Creativity doesn't seem to be a strong point for Koreans, or something they seem to enjoy on a regular basis.

Your choices are limited in Korea, but you should be able to find something of interest. I don't know as much about Busan, but if you hook up with the local expat community they should be able to direct you. When I'm in Seoul I frequent University areas like Hyewha or Sinchon. There's almost always cool little events happening in those areas, and if not there's tons of cool cafes or bars you can visit.

Also, to my understanding, women aren't very independent here. I don't know any foreign or Korean women who do things like go to movies on their own. It's unfortunate that women seem to be unable to enjoy independence here, but that's what my impresion has been.

[Forward Observer]

[nathanrutledge]

[mulligc3]

Yep, That's the way it is. I agree on the men thing. If you are looking for a man and aren't into Asian men it's tough. Go to the cinema again, that was a bad experience , if it happens again change seats and just say shush to him.It's Ok to be rude if he is being like that.
There are some nice Korean foods and you have a kitchen to cook .
Throw yourself into your job and the kids, they are fun and take up a hobby.
Try something new.
I'm going back to Europe soon and will go to to France for a bit and I'm looking forward to the men. Yummy!!