Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bundaegi]

o.k., not meaning teaching while intoxicated, but how many of you do not drink at all? I stopped drinking two years ago, and would like to return to Korea after I get my masters this December, but am anxious about the environment of heavy drinking.

Now, where I live in the U.S., it's a pretty heavy drinking city being a brew town, but it is about 1/12 the size of Seoul, (but probably has the same number of bars)

So, you waegukin who don't drink, tell me please, can you still relate to Koreans without bonding through soju? I know Korea can be stressful, what are your best outlets for shaking off the pressure?

I met some people my first time in 96' who didn't drink at all, but they were in the minority. Please tell me your thoughts on this one.

[the_beaver]

I don't drink and I have to admit that it's the single biggest block to relating to Korean men. The women don't care but most of the men do (except my friends but it took me years to train them).

My best outlet for shaking off pressure? Man, stress and pressure are for other people.

[mindmetoo]

My feeling is so many people work at night and get into a habit of waking up at 2 pm that the only thing to do after work in Seoul at 11 pm is hit a pub. An ESL job can provide a lot of cash for a youngin' to drink away. Luckily I'm beyond my clubbin' years. Even t hough I work at night, the thought of getting up after 8 am sickens me. Gosh I'm sleeping my day away!

[katydid]

It's kind of funny...I never really drank that much when I was at home cause most of my friends weren't so into going out and drinking and when I did it was fairly expensive.
My first year here, I was a bit of a teetotaler all in the guise of saving money and not wasting my weekends sleeping or hungover.
My second year, I just got into it more, maybe went out every weekend, sometimes staying out till it was light, sometimes going home around 2.
And now if I go into Itaewon or Hongdae or wherever yeah I'll drink...I just try not to go overboard. I save it for the weekends.
Korea has made me quite the social drinker. However, had I stayed home, journalism probably would have eventually turned me into quite the alcoholic.

[krats1976]

I've never been a drinker and am quite oblivious to any sort of peer pressure on that particular issue. Most of my coworkers are respectful of my choices and never bug me about it. The only person who ever did was the second owner of my hagwon, but he was such a stereotypical Korean-executive-man-type that I found it more amusing than anything.

I guess it's the away-from-work social scene that would be the problem. My friends outside of work are all non-drinkers too, so we just go do other stuff. There are things to do in this country that don't involve alcohol... it just takes a bit more effort to find them.

[crazylemongirl]

I'm probably the wrong person to give advice on this topic but... try and get a job where you have to be at work early in the morning. I notice that my booze intake dropped when I took my current gig as there's nothing like 40 kids and hangover to make life hell.

As for relating to people and booze. I work with women although on MT my principal was doing the soju rounds. He gave me a glass and was slightly taken a back by the fact i was one shoting them. So we went round for round until the korean teachers decided to step in.

[dull artist]

[quote="crazylemongirl"]I'm probably the wrong person to give advice on this topic but... try and get a job where you have to be at work early in the morning.quote]

I totally agree. My drinking's been cut in half because of the early summer schedule. However, the weekends are fair game. It's sad to say, but I can't imagine being sober in Korea. Who cares about bonding with Korean men? I like to get drunk and meet women.

[SuperHero]

one beer every 4-6 weeks. I like the taste of beer but I really don't see the point of getting drunk. I got over that in high school and university.

[Zyzyfer]

[justagirl]

It's probably much the same you remember it being. From my view of the people I've met, either people drink themselves silly every weekend (or more often) or they tend to go to church.

I don't think you can relate well to Koreans without drinking it up with them, unless they also go to church. It's quite unfortunate. My husband and I just don't like to get drunk and we've seen too many problems caused by alcohol. But in this culture, I don't think you can get by with not drinking if you want that close connection with Korean friends.

Unfortunately I guess it comes across as being "better than you" in the attitude, or "aloof" if you don't drink and get drunk. That's the thing...just drinking isn't enough. You have to get drunk...at least from my experiences.

justagirl

[the_beaver]

[skinhead]

How could you resist?

[mog]

[bundaegi]

Thanks for all the posts, I agree, people tend to either drink themself silly or assault you with a bible, but I actually have the same problem here trying to find balanced folk, big surprise, eh?

Here if there is an outing with co-workers, it entails going to a bar, or a restaurant with a bar, that's cool, but most people make a point of drinking way too much, I certainly used to do the same, but it is not what I want to do anymore.

I taught in Japan several years and formed some really close relationships with guys, of course we got faced often.

I had a hard time finding any straight Korean men I would like to hang out with. I just don't want to believe that alcohol is a requisite for trust and friendship. Any other experiences out there guys?

[beast]

Not drinking is a good way to cockblock yourself.