Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ScottyG]

After having lived and traveled all over Asia for almost 5 years, I return home in order to try and grab one of those things people call a "real life." No more living out of a back pack. No more money invested in travel tickets instead of RRSPs. No more "teacher! no pencil!" echoing in my sleep. No more "you looks like Robin Williamsuh mix with Braduh Peet...but maybe if little fat" compliments to confound my otherwise routine daze. Subway. Classroom. Subway. Home. Maybe a drink now and then.

And I will indeed miss those subway rides. Ipod. Pocket book. Fairly relaxed commute....until of course one allows oneself to be distracted by the constant flow of eye-candy that interrupts ones concentration...say around....Gangnam station....all the way up to Ewha....not beginning to lose quantity nor quality say until....Dongdaemun, where a lack of style starts to creep in.

In any case, too many short skirts. And those bored cat-like expressions as they fiddle with their mobile phones. One tries to hide ones attempts to steal gratuitous glances that are markedly casual. If and when eye contact is made for one of those fleeting seconds, you can't help but smile and think that there is something wrong with a place that has such a high concentration of nubile specimens to behold.

You had no clue it would be like this before you came. In fact, your criteria for attractive women was fairly standard. Maxim magazine kind of thing. Jeniffer Lopez. Christina Applegate. Beyonce. Maybe even Tonya Harding.

But now you are ruined. Finished your tour of duty as a stranger in a strange land, you now ride the subway in the land of the familiar...which now seems stranger than the place where you were the alien. A city that has only a scattered handful of Asian population. Therefore, you must scan for eye-candy from your own race. And perhaps one in ten females looks like the kind of girl who was popular in high school. The Summer Wheatly types who filled out.

And so you date western women once again. And have meaningful conversations that are all too deprived of language miscommunications. You understand eachother completely. And its boring. You almost wish she would bring out her mobile phone and take a picture of herself. But she doesn't. Her phone doesn't even have a camera on it. And she doesn't have to run off at 11 pm to get home before curfew. This girl even drives a car. Your parents would love her. She doesn't spend an hour everyday just to put on makeup. But, you find yourself thinking that she probably should spend at least 15 minutes more.

All in all, your heart and mind rests in the east....where once upon a time you washed up on foreign shores and ate the fruits of the lotus...charmed by the siren songs of the orient...you can't forget the darkness of her long black hair...hanging like a curtain over you as her almond shaped eyes blaze with feline charm above.

Now, you get drunk in a country western bar among friends who have moved on since you have been gone. Married. Coupled. Three big screen TV's ahead of you when it comes to personal assets. Through a drunken haze you watch people line dance to the achey breaky, and you scan the bar for at least one girl who could steal your heart. Alas, there seems to be none. But you wish there was. Because....

You don't want this curse. You want the cravings out of your system. You want to be able to look at western women like you could before....you want to forget how it was to hold a kitten in your warms....the soft purring of her imperfect English...as only David Bowie could truly attest to...."shut your mouse."

Little China Girl....where art thou.

[cdninkorea]

I think you're gonna get flamed for this.

Not by me- I understand what you're saying a little, although not completely; I dated a white girl/woman/whatever term you prefer for five months earlier this year, so I'm not completely fixated on the K-girls/women/whatever term you prefer.

All I can say is that if your Yellow Fever is this serious, find an Asian girl wherever you are now. If there aren't that many, move to a major city where you'll find plenty. Moving may be a pain, and you might not want to, but if it's Asian women you want to be with and possibly marry, it might be worth it.

[SuperFly]

no no, he's writing a book and this is chapter one.

[periwinkle]

[oskinny1]

[SPINOZA]

Bowie's (Iggy's) China Girl is actually a metaphor for heroin.

"I'm a wreck without my little china girl
Wake up in the morning, where's my little china girl?"

Anyway, Scott, I'm crushingly bored on exam day at work and that was a great read - thanks.

[ScottyG]

Blast from the past. I just recieved fanmail for this post. AGAIN. And this just sums up my feelings even more. Nutshell clamped shut. Yellow fever is real, and explaining it in more politically correct terms would just be.....lame and elusive. Asian women rock. Thank god there are 600,000,000 at the very least to chose from.

[Qinella]

Good post man.. people are gonna nitpick like morons at the little parts they can extract and put in a petry dish, but the OP was good.

[hairy sue]

[eamo]

Good post.

You wouldn't fancy Tanya Harding after seeing her sex video....ew!......that girl looks a lot better with clothes on.

[declan]

I enjoyed reading the OP and after spending 3 years in Korea so far...and having being back home, I can surely relate to viewing things just completely differently...

Its not just about girls.

Its the whole lifestyle, food and just convenience (especially of Seoul) that rocks. Also met some wonderful people here, built great relationships, saving lots of money and I too wonder if there is any going back!!

Of course, there is I believe, but there will be so much to miss about Korea without doubt...

[kimchi_pizza]

[yingwenlaoshi]

Line dancing? Yes, that would be a total reverse culture shock.

I found the OP's post pretty good. I've been in Asia since January 2003. It's at a point now that I've created a mystery for myself about what it will be like to go back home whenever I do. Actually may go in August.

[Paji eh Wong]

[yingwenlaoshi]