Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Blinky Bill]

I have just read the post "Korea Pro's and Con's" on this discussion board. Like many other posters, there are things I like about Korea and things I don't like. I also have good and bad days in Korea.
After reading that post, I asked myself, do the posters who really like Korea and have more pro's than con's, do they also have a happy working environment and a happy personal life in Korea. If so, does that influence their personal attitude to Korea.
In contrast, do the posters who have a bad working environment (bad hagwon, bad students, bad school) or have a bad personal life (no friends, no hobbies, etc), does this then reflect on their negative attitude to Korea.
I will admit that if I have a bad day with students, it does reflect on my attitude to other things in Korea. When I have good days with students, the things that annoy me do not seem as big a problem any more.
My personal life has a positive influence over my attitude to Korea as I have a wonderful wife, a wonderful Korean family and a small number of close Korean friends.

[Ya-ta Boy]

It definitely does me. When I have a rotten day at work, my patience with things Korean diminishes to zero. When I was teaching back home, a similar thing happened...after a bad day, I'd just want to go home and avoid any more people.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Me too. Fortunately my work environment is pretty good and my personal life here is all right. I like Korea. It's a hopelessly moronic place, but if it had its act together they'd have no need to pay me so much to do such a simple job.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[jlb]

I think working environment has a huge effect on general attitude about Korea.

Most people spend half of their waking hours, M-F at the job so if it's crappy, your other half of the day would have to be spectacular to make up for it.

My first time in Korea, I had a crap job and it was a struggle to stay sane and happy. I would try to pack as much in on the weekends as I could to forget about my horrible week and ended up being exhausted.

This time around, a way better and less stressful job (x100!) and I feel much more content and satisfied being in Korea in general. I feel okay just hanging around town on weekends and enjoying life a bit more.

[JeJuJitsu]

[Pateach]

Yes, one's day at work, health that week, and social life definitely affect how one looks at Korea. There are a lot of things about Korea that I respect and enjoy!
I have a pretty good work situation, and am happier on a good day.
Although, I have experienced some apparent racism here, like being asked to move in cafes when I am there by myself reading, because the group of women were "too close to the American." Also, Korean men who cut in front of all the women in a line just annoy me, no matter WHAT my day was like...

[CabbageTownRoyals]

OP: I would find it very hard to believe anyone that would argue otherwise.

[Satori]

I dissagree completely. When I was back in New Zealand, if I had a bad day or week, or a bad job, or a bad social life, it didn't ever make me think negatively about New Zealand, it made me think negatively about my own life. It's the same overseas. I take responsiblity for my own life, and very rarely think in large country-sized terms about things.

[Demophobe]

People just want to blame someone or something for their troubles, be it an entire country or just the boss, etc. Wah! I'm a victim!

I taught some EFL in Canada and heard many of the foreign students blame Canada for their bad days.

People, eh?

[tomato]

■ commitment to the job

This is an obvious one. If this is what you intended to do while you were going to school, then you would probably enjoy the job--despite the dingaling administrators.

■ working with the right age group

Every once in a while, someone starts a thread with "I'm going to come to Korea in a couple of months. What is the best age group to work with?"

That is a question which only the OP can answer. That's kinda like sking "Who is the right person to go out with?"

■ interests

If you have an interest which can be pursued overseas, you will most likely be happy. Are you interested in the fine arts and folklore of different cultures? Then Korea enough stimuli to keep you busy. Or are you interested mainly in Western sports and media? Then maybe you had better not.

The question "Are you willing to learn the language?" should count at least 50 points. Take a look at this forum. Compare the whining threads with the threads discussing Korean grammar and vocabulary. You won't see very many names in both places.

■ introversion-extraversion

I started to include this one, but decided not to.
If you are bookish, there is plenty to study here. If you are sociable, there are plenty of nice people here.

■ birth order

I was the youngest in my family, so I didn't have any 동생's to take care of. I grew up thinking I was a perennial baby, and I still haven't been able to shake off that self-image. That is why I am always leery of any Korean who shows the slightest sign of thinking I am naive and helpless.

I am afraid I don't score on this one.

[CabbageTownRoyals]

[djsmnc]

My attitude in Korea worked on a month by month basis, depending on how much I pulled between each paycheck.

If I pulled a lot and had a lot of money left in my account, then Korea was great. If I pulled a lot but didn't have any cash saved, Korea seemed over priced but with a lot of good opportunities. If I pulled little and saved a lot of cash, it seemed like Korea was a bit lonely, but a great place to be frugal and prepare for future endeavors. If....well, the last one has never happened, so I've always had high regard for Korea!

[oldfatfarang]

My attitude on Korea depends on how I feel about Koreans staring - and their being unfriendly on the street.
But I had a great day in Korea today.

I did a little social psychology experiment today.
I walked into town, caught a bus, went shopping at E-Mart, and then caught the bus home.

My experiment was to practice my 'Thai smile." I smiled my head off -everywhere I went. I got heaps of "hi's" and "hello's", and lovely smiles from little kids/parents, 2 middle school girls, a beautiful 30'ish lady, and an older lady shop owner.

Why was I smiling? I'm leaving Korea in December for Thailand. So I wanted to see if Koreans react like Thais do when you smile all the time. Seems Koreans do react to a smiley-friendly 'foreigner'. Perhaps I should have done this experiment a while ago - maybe I wouldn't have resigned.

[Satori]