Should I or Shouldn't I?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Should I Go to South Korea?

  • Yes

    Votes: 19 86.4%
  • No

    Votes: 3 13.6%

  • Total voters
    22

melon

ONE love, blood, life
Joined
Oct 2, 2000
Messages
11,790
Location
Ásgarðr
I'm at a crossroads. I have a chance to work in South Korea for a year doing one of the "teaching English" gigs that are quite common. If you're wondering where in South Korea, it's in Bucheon, which is just west of Seoul. It's about a 15-30 minute subway ride to Seoul from Bucheon.

I've been talking with a friend of a friend whose been there for about four years, so this is quite the gig. It's in a school versus a private "hagwon." I don't have to sell additional products. It's an 8 hour work day, five days a week. The pay is decent. The plane ticket will be paid for. The rent and utilities are free.

The question now, really, is whether or not I want to commit myself to a year there. It's mostly practical in that I won't be able to afford to come back to the U.S. right away, if I don't like it. I might like it, but I don't know.

I guess I'm disappointed that I'm even at this level. I went to school to study media, and now no one even wants to hire me. I could spend the money to go to LA, but there's no guarantees that anyone there will be any more responsive than NYC was.

But here I am. Should I give up on "Jesusland" and head to South Korea? Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Melon
 
Go for it. I spent two years in Chile, a semester in Brazil and two months in Portugal. My international experience has taught me so much about myself as a human being and a world citizen. I consider my foreign experiences as very special parts of my identity.

But then again, if you hate it, it really can be a drag.

Good luck!
 
By the end of the year, I might find myself in a similar situation so I am watching this thread closely.

Assuming you wouldn't have a problem leaving home, friends and family, I'd say go for it. A year abroad would look good on your cv, though I'm not familiar with your line of work so maybe it's different in the world of media. I can see why it would be a bit scary, I spent five months alone abroad for my studies and I was nervous at first because I knew I had to finish my project and wouldn't have been able to go home if I wanted to. But in the end I made it by being flexible and addaptive (I'm just guessing if that's a word).

There's no beating about the bush here, it's a gamble. There's a chance you might hate it, but then prehaps you can save some money and buy a ticket back, it wouldn't be the end of the world. But in the best case scenario, it will be the experience of a lifetime. I know going abroad was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
 
My mother has been teaching ESL/EFL for a very long time, and she also worked as an educational consultant, so many of her coworkers and our family friends have gone abroad for these types of deals.

I asked her and she said South Korea is one of the better placements (the standard of living is high, but not as expensive as Japan or Hong Kong), along with Taiwan.

The only thing is, you don't really have experience in this and you've not been trained to teach English abroad, so I think for you it would be a much bigger learning curve than for somebody who'd been doing this for decades. That might be something to consider - do you LOVE this work (because teaching is a calling, no matter what people say), or are you just doing it because you've got nothing better to do? IMO, if it's the latter, stay home and save yourself the money.

I've lived abroad in a number of countries and I did enjoy myself, made friends, learned a lot of the local customs and languages. It can be an awesome experience. As long as you're prepared for a culture shock and isolation here and there, you will do well, you just can't hate it right from the start.

I made an exception posting in this forum for this thread, lol.
 
Last edited:
You only live once, so I say go for everything that is possible, but make sure you have internet acess
 
Melon-
Go, only if you promise to keep posting here and you promise to continue to keep the Hetros in line.:angry:

thank u
db9
 
South Korea has, on average, 20 Mbps internet connections...and cheap ones at that. Compare that to my 5 Mbps connection in Boston.

So internet access would be the least of my worries.

Melon
 
A friend of mine did this a couple of years ago, but she is also Korean and went there primarily to spend time with her grandmother and to strengthen her Korean. She loved teaching ESL. Her students consisted of everything from housewives and businessmen to the most famous fashion designer in Korea. She said, and I quote, "It's the only truly honest work I've ever done."
 
I say go.

You are young enough to spend a year.

I believe U2utah2U's statement about understanding being a world citizen is a great point.

These life experiences will only add to your immense pallet for future media work.
 
This is an opportunity! One that I think youwould not regret!

Do it!
 
Beware: Koreans can be ultra-nationalistic and ultra-insecure. To many Koreans, pride and self-image are everything, both at the individual and at the national level.

You ever hear stories of people doing things to "save face", like men who get laid off from work, except they don't tell their wife and kids and go out the door every morning and spend the day at coffee shops? Believe them.

Not saying that you should or shouldn't go, just something to be aware of.
 
speedracer said:


Most often one finds what one looks for.

Feeding sterotypes is of no value.

Being exposed to a different culture helped me see our own from a more objective vantage point.
 
deep said:



Most often one finds what one looks for.

Feeding sterotypes is of no value.

Being exposed to a different culture helped me see our own from a more objective vantage point.

I'm Korean.
 
Well, I've been reading up on Korean culture, actually. I'm past that stage, where it seems that any culture is better than American culture (even though I'm quite irate over "Bush Country" here).

I've also been told, though, that foreigners tend to fall outside Korean social structures, so they will probably ignore you, rather than expect you to live up to the expectations they put on themselves. Correct me if I'm wrong?

I don't know. I'm still wavering on this one. I'm going to send some more e-mails out. I just got another contact regarding someone who lives in South Korea.

Melon
 
I should tell you that I have two other options I'm considering, besides South Korea:

1) I have a friend going for a Ph.D in Minneapolis, and she suggested that I try to apply for adjunct professor positions there. I do have an M.A. in media, with plenty of TV/film and multimedia knowledge, so I qualify.

2) I leap to Los Angeles and stay with another friend, where I try my luck in getting a job there. The media industry seems to be very fickle, though, so my fear is that I will come back empty handed...and broke.

Melon
 
melon said:
Well, I've been reading up on Korean culture, actually. I'm past that stage, where it seems that any culture is better than American culture (even though I'm quite irate over "Bush Country" here).

They definitely don't like Bush over in Korea these days, so you've got that going for you. I just wasn't sure how you might react to the other prominent features of Korean society that I mentioned above.


I've also been told, though, that foreigners tend to fall outside Korean social structures, so they will probably ignore you, rather than expect you to live up to the expectations they put on themselves. Correct me if I'm wrong?

This is fairly true. If you fall in love with a Korean though, all bets are off.
 
speedracer said:


I'm reporting what I've seen and experienced firsthand. Your mileage may vary.





I agree there are cultural differences.


One of my brothers speaks fluent Japanese and lived there for several years teaching English.

I spent 10 days in Japan and it was a great learning curve for me.

The Japanese Americans I know say when the go to Japan they are seen as American to the Japanese.

I am currently dating someone who was born in Viet Nam in 1967.

Every culture has its customs and ways. I did see our American culture until I left the US.

Making value judgements, in my opinion causes one to be close-minded to understanding how and why they evolved.

I am sure if I was living aboard and I was pointing out some defects in American culture there would be someone like me countering my remarks.

I believe Melon is bright enough to adapt and learn from this different culture.


Speedracer - peace to you, I am sure you know more about Korean culture than I do.
 
melon said:
I should tell you that I have two other options I'm considering, besides South Korea:

1) I have a friend going for a Ph.D in Minneapolis, and she suggested that I try to apply for adjunct professor positions there. I do have an M.A. in media, with plenty of TV/film and multimedia knowledge, so I qualify.

2) I leap to Los Angeles and stay with another friend, where I try my luck in getting a job there. The media industry seems to be very fickle, though, so my fear is that I will come back empty handed...and broke.

Melon

Just make sure that you don't end up as an adjunct professor for the rest of your life.

Good luck.
 
I don't know. I know I don't want to do it for the rest of my life.

Melon
 
deep said:


I agree there are cultural differences.

One of my brothers speaks fluent Japanese and lived there for several years teaching English.

I spent 10 days in Japan and it was a great learning curve for me.

The Japanese Americans I know say when the go to Japan they are seen as American to the Japanese.

I am currently dating someone who was born in Viet Nam in 1967.

Every culture has its customs and ways. I did see our American culture until I left the US.

Making value judgements, in my opinion causes one to be close-minded to understanding how and why they evolved.

I am sure if I was living aboard and I was pointing out some defects in American culture there would be someone like me countering my remarks.

I believe Melon is bright enough to adapt and learn from this different culture.

Speedracer - peace to you, I am sure you know more about Korean culture than I do.

Fair enough.
 
speedracer said:
Just make sure that you don't end up as an adjunct professor for the rest of your life.

I'm actually looking to apply to the Media Arts and Sciences program at MIT for Fall 2006 for a Ph.D program, at earliest. I need to bone up on some of my programming skills, though.

If I got into that program someday, I'd be quite happy with it. Now I just need to ask myself if I want to dedicate myself to a Ph.D program.

Melon
 
melon said:


I'm actually looking to apply to the Media Arts and Sciences program at MIT for Fall 2006 for a Ph.D program, at earliest. I need to bone up on some of my programming skills, though.

If I got into that program someday, I'd be quite happy with it. Now I just need to ask myself if I want to dedicate myself to a Ph.D program.

Melon

Well, if you were applying for Fall 2005 and saying that you weren't sure about pursuing a Ph.D., I'd say drop it and save yourself 4-7 years of misery.

Maybe you'll be really fired up about it a year from now, who knows?
 
speedracer said:
Maybe you'll be really fired up about it a year from now, who knows?

Well, I agree. I was so burned out after my M.A. that the last thing I wanted to think about was school. If I'm not fired up over it in a year, I won't apply for Fall 2006.

I have to admit, though. The MIT Media Lab seems like quite an interesting place for a Ph.D, though.

Melon
 
melon said:


Well, I agree. I was so burned out after my M.A. that the last thing I wanted to think about was school. If I'm not fired up over it in a year, I won't apply for Fall 2006.

I have to admit, though. The MIT Media Lab seems like quite an interesting place for a Ph.D, though.

Melon

In this case, maybe taking a year to do something entirely non-media-related is the thing to do. Am I correct in guessing that this is one of your motivations for wanting to do ESL?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom