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Korea 20 yers later
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Nelson Bennett



Joined: 15 Nov 2014

PostPosted: Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:49 pm    Post subject: Korea 20 yers later Reply with quote

No one is staring at me. The National Museum in Seoul is filled with school children, but only one comes up and wants to practise his English on me.
The air is cleaner, Koreans are better dressed, and no one bats an eye at the sight of a Oeguk. In fact, I see quite a lot of foreigners.
Eighteen years after I left Seoul, in 1996, after spending a year teaching English with an ECC language school, I returned the last week of October at the invitation of the Korean government to cover Foreign Investment Week (I am a reporter for a Canadian business newspaper).
I really didn't think I'd ever be back, but there I was, 18 years later, standing on a peak in Bukansan (it was spelled Pukansan back then), looking down on a city that was much changed. I could actually see the city. In the mid-90s, the smog was so bad, you could barely make out the city. The buses ran on diesel then; they run on compressed natural gas now.
I am struck by the changes. Some of them are not necessarily for the better. The old world charm of Insadong is being plastered over by tourist glitz. It is not as I remember it. Many of the old Hanok buildings have been razed and replaced with newer, unattractive buildings; many of the cool old antique shops are gone. It has a decidedly garish, tacky tourist look to it now. There is a Starbucks now where there probably used to be a 100-year-old shop. They also removed the old Tongdaemun market (now spelled Dongdaemun).
The whole city seems cleaner, and it is certainly more tourist friendly. I see English signs everywhere now, whereas before you really had to be able to read Hangul.
Even in the mid-90s, Seoul was booming. It still is, and Koreans not only seem to have more disposable income (and more debt, I learned), they are also more stylish. When I was here in the 90s, there seemed to be lot of fashion victims. Young women often looked as though they had just fallen into a pile of ill-matched clothes -- the combinations seemed bizarre, and the markets were filled with badly executed knockoffs. Koreans seem better dressed now, and the name brands they wear are the real deal -- not fakes. Many speak English quite well, and I can't help wonder, when I see some young man or woman in their early 30s, whether I might have taught them their first words in English.
Although I am here for a conference, I took an extra three days and managed to see some old sights, like Gyeongbokgung Palace, and some new ones, including the Seoul National Museum.
When I came here in 1995, I was disappointed to find the grand old national museum building being torn down. It was under deconstruction the whole time I was here. It was being torn down because the old colonial style building had been built by the Japanese during the last occupation, and they wanted no reminder of that period.
Short through the visit was, it was a hoot to see South Korea again. And I would definitely like to come back one day. (I do miss kimchi and bulgogi), and I miss hiking in the mountains and visiting Buddhist temples.
It was also a hoot to see Dave Sperling's ESL Cafe still going strong. Even in 1995, in the infancy of the Internet, Dave's ESL Cafe was the place to go to find teaching jobs overseas, vent frustration when you were in the throes of culture shock, or get the low-down on the best and worst schools. Thanks, Dave, for providing this forum. You have helped countless teachers find jobs and learn to adapt to foreign cultures.

Nelson Bennett
Vancouver, B.C.
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basic69isokay



Joined: 28 Sep 2014
Location: korea

PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds like Busan now haha
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atwood



Joined: 26 Dec 2009

PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I read you article dealing with SK. Interesting that it has FTAs with 47 countries yet prices for consumers remain quite high.

A very recent complaint is that prices at the soon to open Ikea are much higher than they are at Ikea in the U.S.

So the FTAs are good for the businesses, which is what you were reporting on, but don't seem to be as beneficial for Korean consumers.
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Sesame



Joined: 16 Mar 2014

PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 5:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wonder if Korea sucks more now than in the mid 90's, I'm assuming it does.
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Died By Bear



Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Location: On the big lake they call Gitche Gumee

PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 6:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sesame wrote:
I wonder if Korea sucks more now than in the mid 90's, I'm assuming it does.


Back then, Koreans weren't infected with all the negative publicity ESL teachers have gotten over the years. Living in Korea as a white man was the equivalent to being a rock star. Very Happy
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Cave Dweller



Joined: 17 Aug 2014
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In some ways for sure. Sometimes I like being anonymous and not swarmed with little brats saying 'hello' like the previous poster mentioned. I came in around the ass end of that. It was cute at first but annoying later when I just wanted to be left alone.

Now there are a whole slough of foreign restaurants and imported goods available. In the 90's, I'm gonna hazard a guess that imports were few and far between.

Sesame wrote:
I wonder if Korea sucks more now than in the mid 90's, I'm assuming it does.
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mithridates



Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 5:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Korea in the 90s:

http://imgur.com/a/7dDMe
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teachyou1004



Joined: 29 Jun 2011
Location: SF Bay Area

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 8:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Winter mornings in 96: Loved the lobby of my hagwon with her large ass gas driven space heater with an oversize kettle of tea steaming on top. Upon entering the lobby, the smell of bori-cha, kerosene, wool, cigarette smoke, and that unmistakable garlic breath smell from those blowing on their hands as they huddled around that great big heater. That thing gave so much comfort, but in the back of mind I always wondered when that baby was going to blow.
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Shimokitazawa



Joined: 14 Dec 2007
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 9:07 am    Post subject: Re: Korea 20 yers later Reply with quote

Nelson Bennett wrote:
No one is staring at me. The National Museum in Seoul is filled with school children, but only one comes up and wants to practise his English on me.

Nelson Bennett
Vancouver, B.C.


I knew you were a Canadian before I got to the end of this message.

So, what is it, 4 / 5 TEFL teachers in Korea are Canadian?

What is it with Canadians and Korea?

How did Korean TEFL come to be dominated by Canadians?

You go to Japan or Thailand and you can't find a Canadian TEFL'er. Yet here everyone is Canadian.

Why is that?
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saram_



Joined: 13 May 2008

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And how come there are so few Australians here..
Has anybody got an answer to that?
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joelove



Joined: 12 May 2011

PostPosted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There aren't that many Canadians there poster above. A lot, but not that many. In past there were more (higher %) partly because of the 6 month tourist visa arrangement between Canada and SK and fewer restrictions, so some were just using that and working illegally.
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basic69isokay



Joined: 28 Sep 2014
Location: korea

PostPosted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Canadians get more money due to exchange rate.
Also, some NE Canadians have told me the economy there is absolutely terrible, so coming to Korea is a popular option.
Also, the winters have to be a factor making people want to leave.
Seems like the central part of Canada has many oil jobs though, that's where I'd go.
I too have noticed it's mostly Canadians in Korea. And Americans of course, but our population is 10x higher, so thats expected.
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Shimokitazawa



Joined: 14 Dec 2007
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

saram_ wrote:
And how come there are so few Australians here..
Has anybody got an answer to that?


The Australians are all in Japan.
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Weigookin74



Joined: 26 Oct 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:28 pm    Post subject: Re: Korea 20 yers later Reply with quote

Shimokitazawa wrote:
Nelson Bennett wrote:
No one is staring at me. The National Museum in Seoul is filled with school children, but only one comes up and wants to practise his English on me.

Nelson Bennett
Vancouver, B.C.


I knew you were a Canadian before I got to the end of this message.

So, what is it, 4 / 5 TEFL teachers in Korea are Canadian?

What is it with Canadians and Korea?

How did Korean TEFL come to be dominated by Canadians?

You go to Japan or Thailand and you can't find a Canadian TEFL'er. Yet here everyone is Canadian.

Why is that?


The exchange rate use to be worth something to us. (I kick myself daily for not having gotten here 2 or 3 years sooner. Could have been out of debt with the old exchange rate.) It sucked for others, especially Americans. Plus their economy (USA) was booming for many years amd their exchange rate sucked. Americans just didn't have the motivation because they couldn't make the same amount of money. They only flooded into here out of desperation in 2009 to now? I think the smart ones will probably go home or elsewhere as the won will drop to pretty bad levels for them over the next year and beyond according to analysts.

So, I don't think there are as many of us Canadians as before the recession. The won went down badly from 2008 to 2013. Then again from the end of 2014 to who effin knows? (Had one ok year in between - 2014 - but sure not like the old days.)
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Weigookin74



Joined: 26 Oct 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:29 pm    Post subject: Re: Korea 20 yers later Reply with quote

Nelson Bennett wrote:
No one is staring at me. The National Museum in Seoul is filled with school children, but only one comes up and wants to practise his English on me.
The air is cleaner, Koreans are better dressed, and no one bats an eye at the sight of a Oeguk. In fact, I see quite a lot of foreigners.
Eighteen years after I left Seoul, in 1996, after spending a year teaching English with an ECC language school, I returned the last week of October at the invitation of the Korean government to cover Foreign Investment Week (I am a reporter for a Canadian business newspaper).
I really didn't think I'd ever be back, but there I was, 18 years later, standing on a peak in Bukansan (it was spelled Pukansan back then), looking down on a city that was much changed. I could actually see the city. In the mid-90s, the smog was so bad, you could barely make out the city. The buses ran on diesel then; they run on compressed natural gas now.
I am struck by the changes. Some of them are not necessarily for the better. The old world charm of Insadong is being plastered over by tourist glitz. It is not as I remember it. Many of the old Hanok buildings have been razed and replaced with newer, unattractive buildings; many of the cool old antique shops are gone. It has a decidedly garish, tacky tourist look to it now. There is a Starbucks now where there probably used to be a 100-year-old shop. They also removed the old Tongdaemun market (now spelled Dongdaemun).
The whole city seems cleaner, and it is certainly more tourist friendly. I see English signs everywhere now, whereas before you really had to be able to read Hangul.
Even in the mid-90s, Seoul was booming. It still is, and Koreans not only seem to have more disposable income (and more debt, I learned), they are also more stylish. When I was here in the 90s, there seemed to be lot of fashion victims. Young women often looked as though they had just fallen into a pile of ill-matched clothes -- the combinations seemed bizarre, and the markets were filled with badly executed knockoffs. Koreans seem better dressed now, and the name brands they wear are the real deal -- not fakes. Many speak English quite well, and I can't help wonder, when I see some young man or woman in their early 30s, whether I might have taught them their first words in English.
Although I am here for a conference, I took an extra three days and managed to see some old sights, like Gyeongbokgung Palace, and some new ones, including the Seoul National Museum.
When I came here in 1995, I was disappointed to find the grand old national museum building being torn down. It was under deconstruction the whole time I was here. It was being torn down because the old colonial style building had been built by the Japanese during the last occupation, and they wanted no reminder of that period.
Short through the visit was, it was a hoot to see South Korea again. And I would definitely like to come back one day. (I do miss kimchi and bulgogi), and I miss hiking in the mountains and visiting Buddhist temples.
It was also a hoot to see Dave Sperling's ESL Cafe still going strong. Even in 1995, in the infancy of the Internet, Dave's ESL Cafe was the place to go to find teaching jobs overseas, vent frustration when you were in the throes of culture shock, or get the low-down on the best and worst schools. Thanks, Dave, for providing this forum. You have helped countless teachers find jobs and learn to adapt to foreign cultures.

Nelson Bennett
Vancouver, B.C.


Interesting perspectives. Is the air (and other pollution) and certain features you describe similiar to China today?
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