Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Grotto]

Well I can think of several reasons.

We are pretty much well accepted worldwide...nobody hates us(at least I hope not)

Our governments politics are pretty relaxed.

We want to escape our mosquito infested summers, our mild winters of -30 degrees celcius or worse.

We like to experience other cultures, meet new peoples and not Kill them(sorry a t-shirt I saw a GI wearing)

Most canucks I have met overseas are either adventurous souls are outcasts looking for the silver lining.

We can drink copious amounts of alcohol and not die(sort of a reverance factor)

We will associate with any nationality. When I was in Suwon the Americans hung out with other Americans, the brits with scots and Irish, the Aussies with Kiwis and the Canucks were free to associate with any and all groups. Go figure

[bignate]

A little known fact: Trolls come in all shapes, sizes and demeanors....

[jajdude]

Most of my friends here, meaning 3 out of 4, are American. Have met a few from California. But yr right, lots from Canada: I guess not the biggest job haven.

[PEIGUY]

I'm from the Maritimes. Basically for me, I seen a poster back in 2nd year Univ. about teaching ESL and never really gave it much thought till i graduated this year. I eventually want to do a BED but I want to travel a bit and make a bit of money. I heard about the ESL market and decided to take a look. I stumbled upon Korea mainly by accident, just happened to mention it to a cousin of mine who had a buddy who went over and he got me in contact with a good school that he taught with and it went from there. The Maritimes, is not really a hot bed of jobs( lot of Seasonal Jobs), including Newfoundland and Labrador so we might as well say Atlantic Canada isn't a hot bed for jobs. I actually tried to look for a job this summer and take a summer off from the Military but when I looked there was nothing. All teh student jobs were paying minimum wage (6.50/hr Canadian) and i wasn't about to work for that when i have a Univ Degree. Speaking of PEI, with a university degree your basically 60% overqualified for any type of job that comes up, and of those 60% 30% wont' hire you because they think your moving out of province and doing something else (which is a major problem in Atlantic Canada the brain drain). So, when looks at Korea they see a pretty good job (unless they get in with a bad hagwon) where they make ab it of money while they decided what the next step should be along there Career Path. I can't speak for the Other regions of Canada, but Groto's list summarized a lot of the reasons, maybe others could add to it. Unless the provinces take steps to rectify the problem in Atlantic Canada, a lot more of us will be coming to Korea and other places because we are simply taking ab reak or we can't find jobs and are looking for something different before we move on with our lives away from the East Coast.

[Dan]

Cuz the Canadian job situation sucks?

And to the second poster: AHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAAHAHAAHAHA

Get a grip, you sound like a Korean.

[Zed]

Ok, Brian, what's with the obsession? Almost every single post you make is about Canada. There are other things to focus on in the world.




































Now go watch the hockey game, eh?

[ulsanchris]

The reasons so many Canadians here are primarily economic. THe Job situation isn't very good back home in Canada. Its tough to get a job straight out of uni back home.
The exchange rate is favourable for saving money. Its not as good as it was a little while ago but Canadians are able to save quite a bit of money while here.
Also I think on the whole Canadians are more adventurous than Americans and more likely to go travelling.

[Pink Freud]

I'm here because it gets me further away from the United States....

[crazylemongirl]

Actually I think that the people that are over represented here are kiwis. The embassy estimates that there are over 1500 kiwis teaching english here in korea that's huge when you think that the population of new zealand is only 4 million... but the come here for similar reasons to canuks to pay of loans and lack of meaningful job oppourtunities back home

[Demophobe]

It's an interesting question, sociologically speaking. Too bad we aren't all sociologists, and this type of question always boils down to subjective conjecture. My view; we like flying.
Sounds like you have a thesis subject anyways!

[indytrucks]

* SIGH *

I'll post what I wrote again, from another forum.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Dave's ESL Board,

Mr. Brian O'Brien is a troll and a sock puppet. His thinly veiled attempt at debate is trolling of the first order, I'll give him that. Mr. O'Brein subscribes to the same tactics he lambastes Noam Chomsky for. It would be better for all concerned if Mr. O'Brien was simply ignored.

Why it takes pages of this snoozefest for people to clue in is absurd.

Sometimes, trolling this board is like shooting fish in a barrel.

[mindmetoo]

Ignoring for a moment this guy might be a troll, I would say there are a lot of Canadians here for several reasons:

1) Canada's unemployment rate is very high. It was high even through the economic boom. It's very hard for a fresh grad to get a job, let alone a job that amounts to 40K a year like it does in Korea. While Canada's major urban centers (Toronto, Calgary) have jobs, many people live and graduate in economically depressed parts of Canada. For many Canadians moving to Toronto is the last thing in the world they'd want to do.

2) Americans, until recently, have had the military as a viable option if one can't find a job. Granted, the specter of having your head sawed off with a dull knife or your head blown off in Iraq while waiting in line to buy a Coke makes the reality of military service a bit more apparent. However, Canada's military is something like 50,000 people and shrinking. The military isn't an option for the unemployable.

3) Canadians have (slightyly) more international and multi cultural exposure. Being away from mom, apple pie, baseball, and McDonald's and living in a world with funny plumbing and people who don't speak English isn't, for most Canadians, the end of the world.

4) The Canadian accent is what many Asians think is the American accent. With the exception of some oots and aboots, Canadians generally sound like Americans Koreans know from movies and TV.

[Yaya]

[waterbaby]

[The Lemon]

Heh - and you're not even Canadian!