Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zulethe]

March, 1993 I just graduated from Western Washington University in Bellingham WA about a 30 minute drive from the Canadian border.

At the time I knew I wanted to travel and the only country I heard about teaching in was Japan.

I had an interview with the JET program and bombed miserably. My Korean friend in college suggested Korea so I went to the job placement center at my university and started my search.

I applied to one particular job and about a week later this guy who could barely speak English called me in the middle of the night and kept saying �when you come to Korea.�

After taking care of my personal business I booked a flight and was off to Korea.

At the airport I was met by a 6�4� Korean who had scares all over his face. His name was Mr. Lim. Mr. Lim took me to a Yogwon, for which I had to pay, and told me to wait until tomorrow.

The next morning I was picked up by Mr. Kim, who I thought was my boss. He took me to his house where I met this tiny, timid, scared looking American.

Mr. Kim went on endlessly about how powerful he was in the community and that he had connections to the Korean mafia. He further informed me that Mr. Lim had been in hiding in Los Angeles because he was wanted by the Korean government.

I spent the first couple of nights at his house listening to him sing on his singing machine. Of course Tiny nor I got anywhere close to it.

On day when Mr. Lim was taking me to get some things, as I was walking back from the store, Mr. Lim had our taxi driver jacked up on the car by the throat. I later learned that the taxi driver had not taken the most direct route to the store.

This is where things get good. The tiny dude was never allowed out of Mr. Kim�s sight. He was charged with running errands; washing dishes, etc�I am not kidding folks.

On top of that, Mr. Kim was not his boss!!! He had been there for a month and during his off time he was instructed by Mr. Kim to run all sorts of errands. I would later learn that Mr. Kim was just the recruiter!

I digress but Mr. Kim also instructed me it was Korean custom to bring the most expensive bottle of Chevas regal as a gift.

Keep in mind at this time I thought Mr. Kim was my boss. I kept asking him when I was going to start work but he kept skirting the question.

After 3 days, I finally got the little American guy alone. He told me he was afraid of Mr. Kim and that every time he tried to escape his authority, Mr. Kim subtly threatened him with his connections to the Korean mafia.

So Tiny was basically an indentured servant.

As soon as I learned he was not my boss I went straight to the airport and got on the first plane for Cheju Do. This is one of many, many experiences that first year.

[joltaxt]

tl;dr

[Senior]

Get a blog!

[mc_jc]

It was wild back then- but fun at the same time.

- There were still not that many foreigners in Korea except for those assigned in the US Army or missionaries

- Itaewon was a "Texas" for foreigners that started from the very entrance of the street to Hannam Dong. By 1994, it was a crowded party that was virtually non-stop.

- The exchange rate was awesome compared to today; 700-800 won to $US

- A foreigner had their pick of women, married or single; it was bachelor heaven. [Mod Edit]

- Teachers were exotic and rare to meet- they were even more sought after by women than soldiers because they were considered educated and working in professional jobs.

- You could go to Dongdaemun (then called "Tongtaemun" by foreigners) and buy top-quality custom made clothing at rock-bottom prices.

However, there were many shady characters back then. I remember before Dave's changed to this forum format, there was a guy who would regularly post about his run-ins with his boss and his mafia cohorts who would continuously beat him up. He would do a runner for what seemed like every other week and when he got to a new place to work, he always said the same thing about his new bosses.

I think things changed in stages after 2000.

But no one could deny that it was considered the good ol' days back then.

[redaxe]

cool story bro, i see what you did there but it's tl;dr

[CapnSamwise]

My first job in Waydongfar took place in an upturned washtub. I had to teach Shakespeare to a borderline-deaf masochist and his giant baby companion.

Now when I say "giant baby", I am not making fun. The dude was a 30 foot tall toddler. He had rocks for teeth and would occasionally get people trapped between his ham-sized toes.

One day I got in a bit of a fight with my boss, I ended up bicycle-kicking him apart and then hammer throwing his assistant, who was a dragon (literally like a real dragon, fire and everything) through a window.

[Zulethe]

[mc_jc]

A lot of people, including myself, would hang out at Polly's patio area or just sit on the wall and watch the mayhem below. Some adventurous people would make their way to the rooftops of some of the clubs and sit up there all night- I think you remember that.

The last major brawl I saw was on September 8th, 2001. I was hanging out at the King Club and one group of soldiers fought with another group, busting up chairs and what-not. Then after 9/11, everything suddenly became quiet around Itaewon and the action moved to Hongdae.

Honestly, I don't think Itaewon fully recovered after that.

[hockeyguy109]

Why is it that at least half the people I meet in Korea come from Washington State??? Seriously, why not some other state?

Olympia representing!

[mc_jc]

I'm from the other side of the country...

[djsmnc]

[hockeyguy109]

[Jeunesse]

Post more, please. This is interesting.

[CapnSamwise]