Korean Job Discussion Forums

[melly_k]

Hey everyone - I am leaving soon to teach in Korea and naturally I am a little nervous (shh don't tell). I am wondering if anyone would care to share the experience of their first two weeks. How lonely was it? How did you go about meeting other westerners, besides your co-workers (because at my school they are all couples!)? I know it depends on the school/area/etc, but if you could help me picture what this will be like at first, it would be a great comfort. Thanks!

[Saxiif]

My first two weeks in Korea were easily the most surreal in my life. Spent them holed up in a love motel (the guy I was replacing was sticking around for a bit to train me so I couldn't move into the apartment yet) being confused by the existance of two Starcraft channels on the TV, wandering around in ginseng fields at 7 AM thanks to jet lag, eating all kinds of stuff tha I didn't know what it was, having students amazed by the existance of leg hair and having the worst hangovers of my life. Was bizarre enough that I enjoyed it...

[Scotticus]

First two weeks were the honeymoon weeks. Everyone seemed so much nicer than back home. People smiled at me for no reason. All the women looked younger and cuter... and much, much smaller. The kids were cute and I was in the "try everything once" mode, so I was ingesting a ton of new food.

One of my first "wtf" moments was, having landed in Seoul maybe an hour before, being confronted by the "wtf-ery" of dancing girls at a store opening. At that point I thought Korea was going to rival Japan in "holy shit, I can't believe I'm seeing this" moments, but it tapered off a bit after that.

My "I hate Korea" period came about six months in. Triggered by my gf having a run-in with a drunk adjoshi. Then I was in my "I'm gonna stomp your Korean face if you *beep* with me" stage. It was decidedly less pleasant than the honeymoon period.

[twg]

"Darrr... I'm sleepy!"

"Darr... what's going on? Why isn't anyone telling me anything useful?"

"Darr... Them's some tall buildings!"

[dmbfan]

Ah, a stroll down memory lane.........


I arrive on a Sunday, May and was in the classroom Monday morning. The supervisor picked me up at the airport, took me to Pyungtaek and showed me around a little bit. I met one of the other teachers, and then I was taken to my apartment. I was lucky to have EVERYTHING already there. The teacher that I replaced (did a runner) had been there for two and a half years, and basically I did not have to buy anything (which was good, because I had a total of $30 in my pocket!). The supervisor would leave me alone, and let me sleep, so I finally had to tell him "Yeah....I'll see you tomorrow then......OK..bye bye, now".

The next two weeks were filled with such cool, diverse, interesting and overwhelming things. It seemed that at first, I had a job in which was really respected (honeymoon phase). It seemed that people liked whitey, and Amerians at the school. I met all the foreigner crew in Pyungatek, and by far, the BEST group of teachers I have ever known. Every group I've known since, has been a punch jerks. They were mainly Canadians, but they were all cool, and good to go.

I ate new food, was taken out for dinners, saw the "NSDG's"..(new store dancing girls). It was an interesting time in my life....something I wish I could go back to.

Then, the honeymoon phase ended, and I realized exactly where I was..........Pyongtaek Wonderland.

The downward spiral began.

dmbfan

[kigolo1881]

I had a really good time the first half of the year.

Arrived on a friday afternoon, had to wait 30 mins at ICN for the tardy teacher, who got us lost on the way home.

Saw how busy and exciting the huuuge satellite cities were, being really disappointed to find out in which village I ended up.
Moved my stuff into the really nice but small shoebox apt.

Went out for a little dinner with the coteacher, met other foreign teachers at the bar that night. Started drinking from 8 pm until 5 am saturday morning. Promised to come to the pub school that very morning at 9 am to say hello. Went back home crashed til late saturday evening.

Got invited to join in on the school's 2 day fieldtrip on monday and tuesday. Then just observed the classes for a week.

There were no real surprises at first.....
THOSE were the gooooooood times.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

I arrived on a Monday night. Korea was oddly exactly as I though it would be. Tuesday morning I had orientation at the school. Wednesday I observed a demo class. Thursday I started work. Stayed in a hotel until Thursday night.

The only thing that really surprised me was how good the food was (and still is). I thought I might lose weight in Korea but it's a challenge with all of this good food!

I didn't really make meeting other foreigners a priority until I got settled in, but then I'm a homebody.

A word of advice: make sure you have toilet paper in your apartment when you get there! Luckily, I'd brought some kleenex with me.

[Mosley]

Wow. You're leaving America with a visa in hand. You've bested me.

Quote: " You're right. I'm dumb." Yep.

Yep. You're an "ameteur"[sic]. But like Incognito, you'll be telling us what a great teacher you are 72 hrs. after landing here. You're calling ME a loser, mate?

[Flash Ipanema]

I didn't have bad jet lag, but I think it had a lot to do with arriving around 7 pm, so by the time I got home I was able to go straight to sleep and ended up waking up around 7 am, feeling fine. My recruiter met me at the airport and waited with me, talking, until my bus showed up. Then I waited at the bus station for about 10 minutes for someone from my school to show up. He pointed out the school on the way to the apartment, then helped me get my things upstairs. The place had nothing but a bed, a crappy folding table and a crappier chair. Oh, and about 5 squares of toilet paper.

The next day, Thursday, I wandered around my neighborhood a bit and found a PC room, a 7-11, and a porridge shop where the women spoke english. On Friday the same guy from my school picked me up and mentioned there was another apartment in the same building available if I wanted to see it. It belonged to the teacher whose contract just ended and she left almost everything, including food. So I packed up all my crap in 10 minutes and took the other place. Once at school I had to take over the classes of the teacher who just left, but it wasn't hard. I also met another foreign teacher (who incidentally got the apartment I had just vacated). The following week another foreign teacher showed up, so we've been hanging out ever since. I admit, I totally lucked out.

And Desperation, is it really necessary to post on a topic not to contribute, but for the sole purpose of trash talking? Everyone's experience is different, no one knows how much or how little research anyone else did, and since managers make more of a difference than anything else, bad chains can still have good schools.

[ajrmacle]

I was scared to death when I first came over here. But the first two weeks were great. I got into my place at about 1am, freaked out beyond belief by all the neon and the fact that 5-year-olds were riding their bikes around my neighbourhood in the middle of the night. All the neon was a bit of a trip too. Moving into the heart of Gangnam was really being thrown into the belly of the beast.

There were only 2 other foreigners at my school, which didn't matter because they were both awesome. Quick friends and the one who'd already been here a while had no trouble showing me the ropes. I basically spent those first two weeks cruising around Apgujeong trying to become aquainted, trying a different Korean dish to order in every night, and quickly becoming comfortable with everything.

But, like some others who've already written above, I had some trouble getting over the 6 Month Hump. I had about two months of "I can't effing stand this country", which then subsided into the best summer ever.

One thing you need to do is just roll with it. Korea is nothing if not bat$hit crazy. Seriously. It's mentally insane. There will be lots of decisions made and orders given to you at your school that will leave you scratching your head, but whatever. We have nice normal countries to go back to in the end.

Also, Desperation, I worked at a Wonderland for my first year and had no trouble with it. And there's no way you can properly research location online. My girlfriend thought she was getting a nice place in a good suburb. Turns out the "suburb" is just a bunch of apartment towers, rice paddies, and a Gimbab Sarang. Go figure. Take a pill.

[DRAMA OVERKILL]

I arrived at 8 pm, was picked up at the airport, taken to my simple-furnished apartment to drop off my pack, and then immediately taken out to a galbi restaurant - my introduction to the great Korean barbecue, goju peppers, and of course, soju. Went "home", got into bed and thought "Oh my god... what the hell have I gotten myself into???!!!"

1 pm the next day off to work - jetlagged, but actually I didn't mind. Thrown into a kindergarten class and was told "make them like you." The work scene is not what I remember best, though.

The social scene - meeting Korean people, a few foreigner friends, all kinds of weird Korean food, and pubs that stayed open all night, etc.

Learned my address, how to cab around, my please and thank yous, etc.

It was a heck of a time. Was a bit homesick, but I loved the "authenticity" of the place... Oh, I bought a lamp, too... Still have it...

[wo buxihuan hanguoren]

The first two weeks I kept comparing Koreans to the Asians in other Asian countries I'd lived in before/visited.
I thought they were really rude and unfriendly, wondered why no one ever smiled, thought they were lousy noisy drunks, and I thought 'Oh crap this place is colder than I thought it would be, where can I buy a decent coat or jacket?".

I really liked the food though; before I realized that most of it is all the same without much variety three months later.

[normalcyispasse]

I had virtually no jetlag. I met a few foreigners on my first evening and was out riding motorcycles that evening.

I assimilated so quickly into my new way of life that it was actually kind of astonishing. I had my "what the HELL am I doing moments" while I was on the plane and in the airport over here, but after that I simply felt as if, hey, this is how things are.

[beachbumNC]

Well, this is for the OP.

I've been here just a week. My first classes are tonight at 7. My boss gave me a week to get rested and get used to everything and adjust and all that.

So, the trip was SHEER HELL. 27 straight hours of travelling on different planes and different airports and on a bus. Narita airport in Tokyo is a nightmare. Had jet lag pretty bad for a couple days, but it wore off pretty quick.

I don't think the people are any more or less nice or rude than anywhere else. Coworkers seem like coworkers at any other job. NOBODY speaks English but the basic words you need to get by are easy to learn. Bring plenty of cash because it seems like that's the only thing people use here. No plastic.

My apartment is really nice and has all the basic stuff. My school helped me out with getting the internet hooked up and gave me a BAD ASS cellphone. Cable is free

So far, I think Korea is damn cool. Weird and wacky, yes. I can already see how it can stress a lot of people out. But so far I'm having fun here, and I can't wait for my first classes. Have fun!

Oh, and try and score some Klonopin to knock yourself out during the flight.

[potblackettle]

My first two weeks were wonderful/terrifying and incredibly satisfying.

The worst part was the 4 hour drive from Incheon to Mokpo with my boss, her husband and her friend. I was EXHAUSTED (we had our wedding reception the day before I left). I felt terrible because I've just met these people and I basically kept passing out every 10 minutes... We finally arrived at like 4 in the morning and the men carried all my bags upstairs. My director was so cute, she wanted to show me everything, cook me food and take me on a tour. All I wanted to do was sleep. I finally got her to leave and I took a cold shower (I couldn't figure out how to turn the hot water on.) I felt a lot better when I woke up the next morning.

I was really lucky, my director, her husband and their kids totally took care of me. The daughter took me to Emart to go grocery shopping for the first time. My director helped me set up my bank account/internet/etc.

My sleep schedule was seriously screwed so I was waking up every morning at like 6 am and going for 3 hour walks. It was great.

Make sure you find out where the foreigner hang out in your town is... I came on here my first Friday and said, "Hey, it's my first weekend, where do I go?" Several people pm'd me and gave me directions to the foreigner bar. I met a ton of very cool people that first night and made friends that I still love 8 months later.

By the time my husband showed up a month after me I had a pretty good handle on things and was able to show him the ropes.

If you have a positive attitude and go with it your first two weeks should be great! Just remember, it's not scary, it's exciting.

And if the octopus is still moving make sure you chew it well.

I see a lot of people saying that at 3 months or 6 months they started to hate it... that never happened for my husband and I. I'm almost 9 months into my contract and I still freaking love Korea. My husband and I have signed for another year. We love Mokpo and I love my job. Why would I want to go back to working 65 hours a week? I work 30 hours a week, make great money, love my students, live in a nifty city and spend my weekends traveling to uninhabited islands or tea fields. ASA! (Not to mention my Korean teacher gives me mints when I know the right form of a verb!)