Korean Job Discussion Forums

[spark05]

Do you walk up and greet people walking down the street or what? My husband and I are both gyopos and when we walk down the street with our 3 year old we probably look just like any other Korean family. So I don't think anyone would ever approach us, unless they hear us speaking English maybe.

How have you all met other English speakers?

[SuperHero]

At work and church

[Demonicat]

by posting random things on this board then following through-> see make a movie, Dungeons and dragons, vampire, dave's matchmaking...

[jlb]

I met quite a few at Church and through the Church, got involved with a local group of teachers who taught at a university in my neighborhood.

I think if I came back, I'd join something like adventurekorea or whatever it is and do some foreigner trips.

[joe_doufu]

See the sticky thread about the monthly Book Exchange. That's a good way. I also meet people (mostly japanese, actually) by taking a Korean language class in Gangnam. Also, I randomly talk to people on the street. This is normal for foreigners in smaller cities around asia - talking to other foreigners out of the blue - but in the capital cities like Seoul and Taipei it's frowned upon. So about half of the people I talk to shy away like "who is this weirdo talking to me?" and about half respond positively.

[Corporal]

I try not to. It's weird to seek out your own kind purely on that basis.

[the_beaver]

[krats1976]

Work and church for me too. I went to an English service when I was in Seoul my first year in Korea.

Now I go to Korean services, but I work with a large group of foreigners and I have a few Korean friends as well, so it's all good.

[Tiger Beer]

Almost never in the street - feels weird to me.

Mostly current co-workers, past co-workers, introductions from friends, and just plain going out and bar-hopping.

[TheUrbanMyth]

I'm with Beaver and Corporal on this one. There's a quote that goes "Half of the foreigners who come here are crazy, and the other half go crazy after a while here" While an exaggeration, it is not too far from the truth. See freaky waygooks thread for an example of what I mean.

[joe_doufu]

[Corporal]

[Ya-ta Boy]

You might try asking the next foreigner you see where the local hang out is. Most will answer that much.

But be warned. Some foreigners here are so socially inept that they think that anyone who speaks to them in un-accented English are sexually deviant government spies who are out looking for a new torture victim. I am not exaggerating.

[Captain Corea]

[the_beaver]