Korean Job Discussion Forums

[matcauthon]

Hi everyone!!! I posted a few months ago and I was, at that point, debating whether to spend another year in Japan on the JET programme or try a year in Seoul. Basically I didn`t recontract for a third and final year on JET but am still thinking long and hard about the ramifications of going to Seoul given the negativity that seems to emanate from these South Korean forums.

I`m currently toying between the idea of going to Seoul for a year OR finding a job in Osaka, Kobe or Kyoto (Tokyo is too expensive) with one of the "Big 4" there.

These are the main advantages of going to Seoul as I see them:

1.) A chance to live in a truly big city for the first time in my life, this is something I have never done before , not even in my home country (England).

2.) An opportunity to live in a country I`ve never been to before and to learn more about the world.

3) More saving potential in Korea than in Japan (at least if I work for the "Big 4" in Japan).

4) It seems that Koreans are generally more emotional and open than the Japanese; the Japanese often seem wooden to me.

5) South Koreans have a higher level of English than their Japanese counterparts - more fun to teach perhaps.

6) Housing is more comfortable (underground heating etc).

These are the main advantages of staying in Japan for another year as I see them:

1) A chance to further develop my Japanese language skills to a decent intermediate level.

2) Korean girls are rumoured not to be as "open" with caucasians as Japanese girls are.

The advantages of moving to Korea seem to clearly outweigh the advantages of remaining in Japan. I also feel it`s time to move on. My question therefore is: how many of your western friends/aquaintances seem content and happy with living and working in South Korea compared to those who seem disgruntled, alienated, bitter and resentful? I think I`m set on South Korea but I`ve been warned away from going there many times and I would really appreciate your feedback.

[Swiss James]

I don't teach here (although most of my friends do) but I think it's worth bearing in mind that a lot of people who are happy and satisfied with their teaching jobs/lives in Seoul don't post on message boards. This kind of place can be like a complaints department, it doesn't mean there aren't satisfied customers.

If you want to live in the big city, pay close attention to the location of your school- I know a lot of people who've been told they're just 45 minutes from downtown, or "in Seoul" when they're really in the surronding countryside or a satellite town. Nothing wrong with either of those, but it you thought you were going to be in the thick of things, yer gonna be disappointed.
Get the name of the area, and the closest subway station (if there's no subway station nearby, you definitely ain't in the city)- then do some reasearch.

By the way, you missed a reason

7) Korean food is better and cheaper than Japanese

[eamo]

Most of my teacher friends here in Seoul have been here a few years and have found decent, reliable jobs.

Getting the good job in the private sector (or even public for that matter) is the hard part of working in Korea. It can make or break your experience here. I worked in Japan for just a few months but was able to guess that ESL employers there are more consistent than Korean ones.

As for non-work lifestyle stuff. I find Seoul and Seoulites a lot more fun. In Japanese social situations, like a big dinner, my co-workers (foreign and Japanese) and adult students would start looking at their watch with the intention of going home around 10:30!!! You won't find many Koreans doing that.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[lunalilo]

Whiners are whiners no matter where they go. I'm pretty sure Swiss James is correct; satisfied customers are ones you don't hear anything about. It's the squeaky wheels which make noises. However, when there is a concentration of whiners, they give you terribly distorted views on things, even Korea. When I first browsed through the forum, my impression was that Koreans were some strange sub-specie of humans with horns on their forehead and pitch-fork tail on their butt, and bite the heads of babies. You need to take the vast majority of the posters' opinions with grain of salt.

By the way, you might want to try out Swiss James' website at http://lostseouls.com/blog.php?date=latest very fun and informative blogsite.

I nominate James for the future British ambassador to Korea.

[billybrobby]

Here's some my thoughts. But I'm not a teacher and I've only been in Japan for a week and Seoul for less than a year. I work a 9 to 6 kinda job.

1.) A chance to live in a truly big city for the first time in my life, this is something I have never done before , not even in my home country (England).

Seoul is huge but sometimes it feels so small. Being part of the foreigner community is like living in a small town inside of a sprawling megalopolis. You can walk into certain bars and be sure that you'll know somebody there. You can turn on the TV and be like, "oh, I know that guy." stuff like that.

Sometimes I feel like Seoul is very limited compared to its size. I mean, 11 million people and not one decent mexican restaurant??


4) It seems that Koreans are generally more emotional and open than the Japanese; the Japanese often seem wooden to me.

Yeah, for all the external similarities, Japanese and Koreans seem to have extremely different personalities (in a general sense, of course). One might suit you while the other doesn't. Me, I love pushing my way through crowds when I'm in a hurry, clanking glasses of beer together at 1 AM on a tuesday, and eating my soup with a spoon. So I do well in Korea.


5) South Koreans have a higher level of English than their Japanese counterparts - more fun to teach perhaps.

I've heard this too, but I can't be sure.


6) Housing is more comfortable (underground heating etc).

I don't know about anybody else, but my apartment is a damn closet with a bed and a toilet. But it's also super cheap and Seoul is so much fun I don't have spend much time in it.


2) Korean girls are rumoured not to be as "open" with caucasians as Japanese girls are.

well, therrs one way to find out, I guess...




oh, and I'd also recommend Swiss Jame's blog as a good look at foreigner life in Seoul. And, yes, these boards are more negative than the people you'll meet in real life.