Korean Job Discussion Forums

[joe_doufu]

Well, it's not ten years but it's a milestone. I just finished 6 months of working in Korea. I feel like I just got here. Actually I'm a little surprised I made it. In other news, the hagwon hasn't gone out of business (yet) but I'm pretty sure pay will come in installments this month.

[sheba]

My 6 month mark is in 2 days.... woohoo for us!

I was expecting to stay my year regardless of how bad is was but I didnt expect things to be so good and Im surprised that I havent had any cuture shock yet!

I hope things are going just as well for you joe!

[roybetis1]

Six months tomorrow. This place is heaven so far (compared to Japan).

[tomato]

Roybetis, tell us why Korea is better than Japan.
Every once in a while, we see a message from someone who thinks the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.
So we will be interested in a testimony from someone who has actually been on the other side of the fence.

[Swiss James]

hey Joe, don't I remember you having a terrible time when you first arrived? Are things going better now?

[blunder1983]

1 week and 2 days to the halfway point for me.

Its all good, i got a mini bit of culture shock which lasted about two months but nothing serious. Cant believe how fast the time has gone. Who is staying another year? I'm off to Taiwan, for scuba and surf!

[sheba]

So long as things keep going as they are then Ill be staying another year and probably with the same employer....

[roybetis1]

Somebody asked me why I think Korea's better than Japan. I probably should have said that so far my six months in countryside Korea has been better than the 10 years I spent in Yokohama.
First the level of racism. I have never been treated in a dismissive, racist manner here. I've gotten the occasional odd look, but thats all. In japan my coworkers repeatedly would refer to me as that "gaijin" (which is an offensive word for foreignor). The governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara has repeatedly called chinese "dogs", and suggests putting foreignors in camps in the case of national emergency. He and other politicians complain about foreign crime even though its been repeatedly shown that the level of crime among immigrants is significantly less than the native population. He was reelected by a landslide.
In Japan I felt distinctly unwelcome and constantly stared at. Here I don't feel welcome all the time, but its a helluva lot better than Tokyo. Also, after ten years I speak pretty good Japanese. 95% of Japanese are absolutely incapable of understanding Japanese when its spoken by a white person. Japanese children however have no problem. I don't speak good enough Korean to compare.
The kids in Korea are much better behaved, although this could be because now I'm in a small town as opposed to a big city. My coworkers are much nicer. In Japan my classes with the coteachers were considered an inconveniance at best, and they had no problems telling me about it. I got yelled at repeatedly by japanese teachers. I'm doing the same job here, I don't think I'm doing anything different and everybody's all smiles.
The kids in Japan are also lot more stressed out. Nearly everyday I'd see a junior high kid in tears and there were a few attempted suicides in my schools.
I won't even get into the Yakuza (mafia) as I don't know what its like in the bigger cities, but I can't imagine it being as bad as Japan.

[tzechuk]

Seems so much longer than that, joe... congrats anyway.

[SuperHero]

[tzechuk]

[Wrench]

Almost 9 months for me.

[joe_doufu]

Well, I don't know if my school is even going to be in business much longer. I'm thinking of making a move to China, as I've more than met my pre-"going to china" savings target. I was thinking about leaving before the Chinese New Year vacation but if the school closes on me I may leave sooner.