Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ippy]

In about a month I leave korea for good to go work in Japan, but i reckon theres a tonne of stuff i love about korea that im going to miss, so lets see if i can think of something for everyday that im here. Obviously not being a particular korea-phile or going out of my way to find korean stuff thats great, some of this is going to be a stretch, but as a bit of a tourist thats been here for a mere two years, i leave on genuinely great terms with the place. Of course, im not trying to suggest that i have some kind of unique or interesting insight here, just that i liked the place and i want to celebrate why even if it will be a little bit superficial

So heres day 1:

The diva:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X6JibM86-M
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xeu353_jo-kwon-2am-diva-single-ladies-fo2_fun

A genuinely funny, catty, bitchy guy and one of the obvious talents in korea. He can be a little smug and i loathed the way he treat cute little ga-in the first time he brought her back to the 2am house. But you cant help but love that hes too big for the camera.

[Gorf]

You'll miss girly men? Then I guess you'll miss half of the Korean population.

[ippy]

im off to japan dude, girly men are in abundance, but theres girly men, and then there are divas. Jokwon is a DIVA!

[ippy]

#2: 할머니 (korean grannies).

http://ojsfile.ohmynews.com/STD_IMG_FILE/2008/1014/IE000971812_STD.jpg

If they're not working like demons, or carrying their bags and bags of product on the local bus down to the market, or just cackling under a veranda yapping to their mates as the sun goes down, theyre yapping at me.

Now i dont speak any korean (which is in part why this thread will kinda suck), but with korean grannies IT DOESNT MATTER. Theyre on a completely different plane anyway, so no attempt will be made to progress a conversation, they'll just yap at you as if you completely understand and will take your smile as enough reason to continue (and molest you).

Korean grannies are awesome. I <3 their cackle, i love the fact theyll foist upon you whatever the hell is at hand no matter how unappealing it looks, and i love just how affectionate and happy they are even though the work they do makes my generation X/Y nature shudder at the thought of it. I'm definitely going to miss korean grannies.

[Koreadays]

you wont miss a thing, because you are moving to a new country to explore new things and have a new adventure...

[ippy]

i lived there for four years Japan isnt all that new to me, but i admire your pioneer spirit

[tatertot]

I hate Jo Kwon. That guy is so annoying, and he's in about 50% of all commercials aired on Korean TV.

[Lazio]

[ippy]

HE'S NOT GAY!!! (that laugh is the laugh of sarcasm - im sure he absolutely is, or if he 'isnt', hasnt quite realised he is yet). Maybe he threw a quarter in a wishing machine at the fairground when he was little and dreamed of being big like tom hanks.

You people and your labels! wheres your sense of the mysterious and magical?

Also come on now, the guy is on a different level from every other kpop idol out there.

But thats beside the point.

Day 3.

Family Outing.

Bit of an odd thing, i grant you since the only way i could watch it was on the interweb with a translation anyway. And it was pulled last year when the taecyeon/yuna 'scandal' became boring as hell to watch (and aside jo kwon and bong sun the others never pulled their weight) so its not like i can technically 'miss' it. But the original series was awesome.

In the winter of 2009 and a mere three months after i arrived in korea i started watching this programme online and fell in love with korea almost ENTIRELY on the back of it.

It was warm, self deprecating, funny, charming, (set up/scripted), and was fiercely proud of these little rural enclaves and traditions. The games, the punishments, the banter, the nicknames, and the old grannies whisked away to the holiday of their dreams (in seoul in the rain) and just everything about it made me smile.

I really miss that programme. Maybe its because im british, and maybe because british tv is cynical and overly self aware, or maybe because we just dont have 'idols' that can be respectful in rural places without sneering and focusing on their experience of 'slumming it', i dunno, but there was something wonderfully gentle and kind about that programme that made it uniquely korean and uniquely entertaining.

Sure, it went off the boil after chunhee and park yejin left. But it still had some great moments. Naturally i'd post them up, but sometime in 2010 they were almost all completely wiped off the internet.

Heres one with a bit of banter and hyori being half variety/half vicious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m53gKze1rzs

and one of the few clips of stupid games they have left

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb7YVyJXovc

[Ruby Thursday]

That kid has been stuffed more than all the Christmas turkeys in all of Boise, Idaho.

[myenglishisno]

Going to go work at a dispatch company in Japan? See you back here in six months

[ippy]

haha, dude, ive already worked for them in nagano. Pay isnt that great (230,000), but its liveable. I also live on the outer limits of the tokyo subway, and about 2/5ths of the way to nagano (and im all about the snowboarding). In addition i have loads of friends in japan and my contract is only until march, at which point i'll have my visa so i can actually pick and choose a bit more. Oh, and i really dont fancy jumping through all the hoops you need to jump through to get your visa for korea.
Basically, i wouldnt bank on it

[myenglishisno]

[ippy]

haha, it was probably my company, they are NOTORIOUS for bidding way below the market and then passing on the er, savings(?) to the poor ALT. Still i kinda lucked out. They wanted me back and gave me one of their higher paying placements (thankfully rural japan is awesome for me). And no key money, no need for a car, and reasonable rent (just over 30k/month) means its easy liveable. I guess its very much like korea in that way... so long as your super flexible about where you want to go (and if you really dont mind the boonies - though ill be mukade proofing the hell out of my place just in case), you can make a comfortable wage. If its all about kansai, tokyo, or nagoya (*shudder - who the hell would want to live there?) then youre going to be treat like a piece of machinery.
Despite the lowish wages though, they were nonetheless a nice company to work for. The job was also pretty decent even if one of my coteachers was a bit... you know... I do like japan though, so i'm pretty much staying until the market over saturates there again.

[myenglishisno]