Korean Job Discussion Forums

conbon78 · Joined: 05 Jun 2008

Has anyone gone home just to visit?
How did you/do you feel about it?

I'm going home for a visit soon and its been 1.5 years and I almost don't want to go. I don't feel excited. I am already annoyed with my family for all of the things they have planned to do. It basically makes me not want to go.

How did some of you deal with it? Did you feel the same?

Freeghen · Joined: 01 Oct 2009

Not sure what your family has planned for you when you get home, but if they have plans to take you places and spend time with you - consider that a good thing. Unless it is scrubbing toilets and shoveling horse crap, be happy about it - it just means that they love you and have missed you.

If it is a 24 hour family-a-thon day in and day out. Just explain that you are still jet-legged and need some time to rest. They will understand.

Go home and enjoy being pampered and fed.

lukas · Joined: 22 Aug 2009 Location: Bucheon

I've been here 3 months and I have anxiety when I think about going home. I'm going to stay here 2 years at least I think, and even after that I don't think i'd want to go back home without a really good reason... such as a job or going back to school. Are you doing one of the above when you go back home?

dharma bum · Joined: 15 Jun 2004

I felt the same way when heading home after my first year here. Living in Korea had made my family seem somehow less important and real - out of sight, out of mind, or something like that I guess - and some of their comments about Korea (and other things) were also rubbing me the wrong way. Crossing the ocean has a strange way of changing your perspective and your priorities, though, and I quickly found myself happy to be home and wondering why I had been so hard on everyone.

So, from my experience, even if you don't care much about visiting home now, I bet you'll be surprised by how quickly your feelings change, your family seeming more important and Korea seeming a world away and unreal.

Also, no matter what your feelings, you might want to visit your family just because it's (presumably) important to them and they miss you .

crescent · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Location: yes.

redaxe · Joined: 01 Dec 2008

Ugh, my parents have been divorced for several years and are STILL fighting in court over money and refuse to see each other, so every time I go home to visit for the holidays they compete for my time, it's really annoying and makes me not want to go. I always end up feeling glad I went though. It re-calibrates my persepective on life and what's important in it.

Try to spend more time out with friends and less time in the house with family while you're home. Also, try to get some exercise because it helps relieve stress and will help compensate for all the food they're sure to be feeding you.

spaceman82 · Joined: 01 Dec 2009

janafromfrance · Joined: 07 Nov 2009

crescent · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Location: yes.

balzor · Joined: 14 Feb 2009

I was anxious and excited to go home for 3 months. Now I am bored out of my mind with how slow-paced and laid back everything is. I am ready to return to Korea in 2 weeks. CAN'T WAIT!! However, I agree with people above, it was good to see everyone and to reaffirm why I am teaching overseas and I realize how easy I really have it in Korea. All my friends are married, half have kids and mortgages and are stressed. I really do appreciate my life right now even tho I eventually want the family for myself.

janafromfrance · Joined: 07 Nov 2009

Rory_Calhoun27 · Joined: 14 Feb 2009

DrugstoreCowgirl · Posted: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:17 pm Post subject:

I'll be visiting home for a week soon and I can't wait. Living in Korea has made me see how important my family really is to me.

Mr. BlackCat · Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Location: Insert witty remark HERE

One thing I always get a kick out of is people who come to Korea for a year and then when they go home are all like, "WOW!! It's so different here! I can't get used to it! I can't stop bowing and the stores are so big I get agoraphobia and people are so loud, etc., etc., etc." Really? So you were able to adjust within a few months to a new and completely different culture but once you return to the one you've grown up with your entire life it's shocking and inconsitant with your being? I'm not saying that you don't notice the differences more, it's the ones who claim Korean culture is so ingrained in them now that they can't possibly go back. These are usually the same people who come on here telling people how they understand Korea better and that 99% of people who disagree are negative and useless.

I'm not saying the OP or anyone else so far is one of these people. I just mean, it's home. It's where you grew up. It's familiar and pretty much the same as you left it. There is no reason to be nervous or anxious. It's like being nervous about seeing a movie you've seen 10 times. Bored, unimpressed, not excited, I can understand.

My family and I aren't too close, we email here and there and talk on the phone on the holidays (sometimes). I don't get cards for my b-day besides one sister and I have to say my full name when I call my parents so they know who it is (followed by, "Oh...why are you phoning?"). But, you know, it's great to see them every once in a while even though it's usually just for a dinner when they mock my life choices and talk about how terrible their lives are. Wether it's just out of duty or out of real love, your family will always back you up when times really get bad. How many people in Korea (or anywhere) can you say that about? And yes, I'm only getting to this realization more as I get older.

sketcha · Joined: 05 Sep 2007 Location: Seoul, South Korea

it was a bit strange for me

it seems like everyone/the world has moved on without out you