Korean Job Discussion Forums

[red_devil]

Ahhhh the inexperienced. I find most of the whiners fall somewhere between Year 2-3. With of course some idiots that were never meant to come to Korea at all. And some long timers that want to leave but could never get a job back home. This is, of course a quick and dirty scale - use it as a cheat sheet n00bletts.

General rule of thumb it goes thus:

Year 1: Honeymoon, everything's different but refreshing - a couple things are odd maybe even irritating but hey you're in a new country making money, paying off your loans and the girls dig the white meat.

Year 2: The little things have become bigger things and you find yourself losing patience. In your mind the bad is starting to outweigh the good. You find yourself on Dave's ESL cafe more and more.

Year 3: You hate Korea, Koreans are the most racist, despicable, horrible humans on earth. You spend most of your time on Dave's ESL cafe bitching about how horrible your life is.

Year 4: You decided to stick it out and things got better. Your rage has calmed down in the wake of a cooler head. The bad things don't look so bad, your Korean girlfriend has helped in that regard - not to mention available sex. You're rarely on Dave's ESL cafe.

Year 5: Acceptance, some things you will never understand but "meh" whatever. You're here, you realize the differences of culture and have learned to live with them for better or worse. The Dave's ESL posters are starting to label you an "apologist" and you find yourself rarely on the site.

Year 5+: You're married, you have a kid that you sent to Intl' School. Two incomes and a steady stream of privates along with a cushy Uni job (you kicked the PS/Hagwon bucket a long time ago), means you're both sitting comfortably in the finances area. You might have already bought a home. You're more at home in Korea now and while you go back to Canada or the USA once in a while you find you miss kimchi and a good bowl of Seollung-tang and a swig of Makoli. Dave's...what? Oh that place where bitter ESL teachers congregate and ModEdit about Koreans, Korea, and Gyopos. I don't have time to waste on that BS.

[eIn07912]

Dude, it's not fair. Every time I just end up watching your avatar for a solid 5 or 10 minutes before I read anything.

[.38 Special]

[vegemite99]

Hmmm, no generalisations there at all.
Seems like theres a lot of wasted time there (years 2 3 and 4) forcing yourself to love the place. Personally Id prefer to go elsewhere where I don't have to try so hard.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Year four describes me pretty well. I'm just about to finish my second contract. I guess that makes me an early developer.

[Moldy Rutabaga]

Fairly accurate, I'd say. But a lot of heavier posters here have been around for a while!

Looking at the scale overall, I wonder if I would have come here originally if I'd known that Korea, like golf, doesn't have a learning curve. It has a learning cliff.

[eliross]

Nah I disagree, I believe most people who hate living here hated it pretty early on. I'm starting my third year and I've always found it hard but interesting if not enjoyable. My group of friends fall mostly in the 3-4 year range and they all have liked it to some degree from the start. Many of them do not have Korean girlfriends, like me, or wives. However, we all have decent jobs, mostly uni. It's a little known secret but you can land a Uni job with one year's experience and no masters degree. That is a big step towards happiness here.

[bobbyhanlon]

i'd say thats pretty much accurate. in my third year i was so sick of korea i just had to leave. i've come back for a holiday every year since, and now i'm seriously considering coming back. i can accept the fact that there are so many things about korea i don't like, since (at least for me) they are outweighed by the things i love about the place.

[redaxe]

LOL, I'm right in the middle of year two and it's held true so far (even though I'm not a teacher). I'm definitely outta here after my second contract is up.

[byrddogs]

How about you OP, where did you fall into your little scale of things? Do all of those describe your existence?

[eliross]

OK I got a few pm's about university gigs. I can't say I know all that much but here's what I can tell you (sorry to hi-jack OP). I'm finishing my second year in Korea and my first year in uni. First year I worked in a crap adult chain hagwan. Most of my friends work in uni and they've all been here a year or three more than me.

There are a handful of uni's that will hire without a masters degree and one year of experience. They're usually low paying (think 2.2 or less) but working four days a week or less plus five months of vacation leaves AMPLE time to make up the difference. You have to pay your own rent usually, organize your own visa (they sponsor but you have to do the paperwork), no severance, no flight , and well generally they expect you to take care of yourself and they're not going to support you outside of school. (No hand holding)

These schools fall into two categories. One type actually asks you about teaching and has you demonstrate a lesson plan during the interview. The other type could care less and will ask you ridiculous questions during the interview.

Both schools will be checking out to see if you look the part. Wear a suit and be well groomed. I know plenty of guys who come in jeans for a uni interview! Also don't talk about anything controversial during the interview. (keep politics, sex, and religion at home). You would be surprised!
Anyway you can occasionally see these schools advertising on Dave's. My buddy just emailed every school that advertised even when they asked for a masters. He had 3 years public school experience plus lots of extra work and an online TEFL degree (They liked that and asked him about what he learned). Still he got five job offers I think. You just have to go for it, be prepared, and show that you're willing to work in Korea for a bit. Anyway if you have specific questions you can pm me.

[soviet_man]

Yeah I suppose 5th year, of which I am in, is actually pretty close to the mark.

[Wad]

5 years hahaha...what light weights!

[Silk]

Implying that there is an inevitable shift to becoming an apologist is just ridiculous. Just maybe, some people can come to a foreign country and not "change sides" so to speak, or go from one extreme (butthurt) to another (blind) but always see with a clear view, and learn without being influenced.

[clyde]

Interesting thread. I am in my early fourth year, and have nuances to add. Regarding the frustration at Koreans; I have come to accept that this is a terrible culture, but the people caught in it are usually pretty great. It happens over and over again when I make Korean friends that they tell me how much they hate their way of life. This happens of course when you have made a tried and true friend. Soju buddies and co-workers don't count. I got married recently, and my Korean friends just couldn't believe how easy and happy it was for me. My wife and I went to the embassy and the local Gu-office and now we will see our families in Thailand and party it up over Christmas. Realize also that she is from a Middle-Eastern Muslim family and I am from a Christian redneck one. This freedom is something that most Koreans salivate over. Yes you can CHOOSE to have a big elaborate expensive wedding in the West, or you can CHOOSE not to. In Korea you almost always MUST choose a partner your parents are happy with. The parents MUST waste copious amounts of money trying to impress the in-laws. Then you just go to Jeju for a couple days like everyone else. I think that it is this sense of prescipted-ness that makes Korea so unpleasant. It is one of the by-products of existing in a tribal and homogeous culture. We as westerners tend to see the drunkeness and lack of common courtesy as indicative of the national character. This is an easy mistake to make obviously, because it is the most visible. I guess what I am trying to say is that once you are able to make some real friends here, your perspective changes a bit. Believe me when I say that xenophobes and racists are every bit as repulsive to many Koreans as they are to us. It is just a hard for thing for them to communicate to you. They may feel that they are doing their country and people a disservice by admitting it you or anyone else. The secret to living here isn't expecting to have the Korean's whole to change. You just have to seek out civility and kindness where it is, and more importantly just understand that it is there without having it spelled out for you. Is it easy and hassle-free to live here? No. Is it worth it after showing some personal perspicacity and adopting a laissez-faire attitude? Well it is for me.