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ladron posted:drat You were in Seoul though, right? I like Seoul but the people there do definitely suck compared to the southeast. Virtually every encounter I ever had with like a taxi refusing me or people just being straight up racist pricks was in Seoul. Living in a city with no US military had its perks. Also Seoul has weird poo poo like "air pollution" and whatnot that we didn't. But you do go back from China and are immediately like wow, everything is so clean and people are such careful and considerate drivers.
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Dec 10, 2017 03:43
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Honest question, why go teach English in Asia if everywhere out there is so miserable? Clearly one can't up and change careers on a whim, but it seems the amount of pain in the rear end this causes people would make a salaried gig in the States far more attractive. To be clear, I'm not throwing shade here. I am curious why those of you xpatting it up are doing so though.
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Dec 10, 2017 04:13
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China's not everywhere.
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Dec 10, 2017 04:17
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I've been very happy as an ESL teacher, as in a legitimately licensed ELL specialist. Living in China is draining in a very particular way. I've lived in eight countries and China is the worst living situation I've experienced- not because it's particularly awful, but because it's uniquely awful. And I still liked it better than I liked Korea.
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Dec 10, 2017 04:20
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Henan is ok. It’s as Real China as Real China gets. Zhengzhou is a loving huge city with poo poo tons of people there but I think they’ve finished the subway by now so the traffic wasteland of 2-3 years ago has likely subsided. People have fun in Zhengzhou. I knew a lot of cool expats living there, and some badass rappers and poo poo. It’s a weird city where you see ridiculously hot women in McDonalds at 2am and you can just walk into a nightclub and people hand you drinks for being a foreigner.
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Dec 10, 2017 05:07
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Fleta Mcgurn posted:China's not everywhere. China begs to differ
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Dec 10, 2017 06:10
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Ceciltron posted:China begs to differ China...is Jesus?!
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Dec 10, 2017 10:57
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Grand Fromage posted:You were in Seoul though, right? I lived and worked in seoul but I did tons of research in the sticks, and hick koreans are just as bad as their city cousins, they just don't speak english and one doesn't really interact with them ever.
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Dec 10, 2017 11:04
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ladron posted:I lived and worked in seoul but I did tons of research in the sticks, and hick koreans are just as bad as their city cousins, they just don't speak english and one doesn't really interact with them ever. A city large enough to be its own province is hardly the sticks. I didn't like being out in rural Korea much.
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Dec 10, 2017 11:18
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Grand Fromage posted:A city large enough to be its own province is hardly the sticks. that is true, I was just saying there's a giant gap between seoul, busan, daegu, daejeon, and every place else. like there is a continental shelf level drop off in terms of education, culture, attitude, etc, once you are out of a main city's sphere of influence. a 2008 study showed that 42 percent of the population had never spoken with a foreigner (Choe, Sang-Hun. November 1, 2009. South Koreans Struggle with Race. The New York Times).
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Dec 10, 2017 11:31
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ladron posted:that is true, I was just saying there's a giant gap between seoul, busan, daegu, daejeon, and every place else. like there is a continental shelf level drop off in terms of education, culture, attitude, etc, once you are out of a main city's sphere of influence. a 2008 study showed that 42 percent of the population had never spoken with a foreigner (Choe, Sang-Hun. November 1, 2009. South Koreans Struggle with Race. The New York Times). Yeah but rural Korea is lovely since it's nothing but old people, and olds are universally the worst in Asia. Now imagine those lovely rural attitudes, but multiplied a few times (when I worked public school I spent a couple days a week in a tiny town so I have some experience), and for the majority of people in one of the largest cities in the world. China. All I was saying is the attitude of Koreans in Seoul is noticeably worse than it is in the other cities. On the flip side, by sheer number of people there are enough cool ones in Seoul to make yourself a little bubble of decency.
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Dec 10, 2017 11:43
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Grand Fromage posted:Yeah but rural Korea is lovely since it's nothing but old people, and olds are universally the worst in Asia. so china's worse than the worse parts of korea, be they seoul or not? even koreans hate/envy seoulites.
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Dec 10, 2017 11:47
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I always thought people from Seoul were pretty nice, but then again I hate Ulsan so much that it probably skews my opinion of other places in Korea. I think I liked everywhere else I went in Korea just because it was not Ulsan.
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Dec 10, 2017 11:54
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ladron posted:so china's worse than the worse parts of korea, be they seoul or not? Yes and no. Advantages in... I'm going to specifically say Sichuan since I haven't lived anywhere else: People readily and immediately accept I'm speaking Chinese 90% of the time. They also seem to have little trouble understanding my bad Chinese. I have never once been asked a do you know chopsticks/can you spicy type of question. You order a food that's mostly chilies and you just get it, no problem. There's relatively little of the machismo poo poo. Much less nationalist stuff, at least openly. No Jesus poo poo. Similar things are the attitude to strangers (I think this is worse in China), the way people will be friendly and go out of their way for you once you get to know them a little (about the same). The beep boop reaction when you do something unexpected. I think this is worse in Korea but it's not a huge difference. Worse things: the staring/general othering is incomprehensibly worse here. Last time I was in Korea nobody gave a gently caress about whitey anymore. Public behavior is atrocious. There is no attempt at politeness or any level of decency. The ignorant farmery poo poo is like 70% of the population in this city that's about the same size as Seoul proper. Utter filth and squalor everywhere. No drinking culture at all, you can put this in positive or negative depending on your attitude. The Generic Asia Conversation is even more common here than Korea. It's hard to make a separation with just how much worse the country is, though. There's no comparison there, China's a garbage pile compared to Korea. To be fair China started having an economy much later than Korea so if you compared China 2017 to Korea 1990 maybe it'd be more apt.
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Dec 10, 2017 11:59
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gently caress I need to go back to Chengdu
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Dec 10, 2017 12:05
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Grand Fromage posted:Yes and no. Advantages in... I'm going to specifically say Sichuan since I haven't lived anywhere else: quality post, dude, thanks~~
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Dec 10, 2017 12:23
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Japan is nice! But job/life satisfaction all depends on your personality and expectations. Also, I can never afford to live in Silicon Valley again unless I become a surgeon or something lol
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Dec 10, 2017 12:24
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simplefish posted:gently caress I need to go back to Chengdu
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Dec 10, 2017 13:14
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Come back and eat laziji.
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Dec 10, 2017 13:35
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If it weren't for the lovely drivers and the foodborne illness Huzhou would be one of the most pleasant places I've ever lived. Not exciting, but nice.
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Dec 10, 2017 15:24
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Doesn't this kind of thing come up in every thread/place/conversation with expats? And in the end everyone seems to have had radically different experiences and so no one can come to any conclusion? I dunno, Korean people never bothered me. But I can take a lot of "strange" behavior and there definitely was plenty of that. I'm happy as long as I've got my hobbies. I would ask "how is the martial arts in China?" but that seems like a really dumb question.
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Dec 10, 2017 16:03
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simplefish posted:gently caress I need to go back to Chengdu you got punched in the nuts in Chengdu lol
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Dec 11, 2017 00:09
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The Great Autismo! posted:you got punched in the nuts in Chengdu lol lol yeah still wanna go back though
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Dec 11, 2017 03:56
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BrainDance posted:Doesn't this kind of thing come up in every thread/place/conversation with expats? And in the end everyone seems to have had radically different experiences and so no one can come to any conclusion? If you've seen the GBS thread(s) the experience is pretty much the same for most people, with just some small variations like on whether taxi drivers were friendly or were dicks. Even so I think most people will have the experience of "Am I on Candid Camera and literally everyone on the road/in the office/at the supermarket is loving with me right now????" but how you react to that depends on the person. several goons taught in Zhengzhou over the years and they seemed to have fun with it in a woodstock/burning man sort of way
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Dec 11, 2017 04:23
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simplefish posted:lol yeah By who????
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Dec 11, 2017 09:28
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Warbird posted:Honest question, why go teach English in Asia if everywhere out there is so miserable? Clearly one can't up and change careers on a whim, but it seems the amount of pain in the rear end this causes people would make a salaried gig in the States far more attractive. To be clear, I'm not throwing shade here. I am curious why those of you xpatting it up are doing so though. Most English teachers just teach for 1 year for an adventure and then return home to continue/start their careers. For the teachers that stay, hopefully they move beyond entry level positions. A qualified teacher can earn more money in China than back in the US, and cost of living is much lower. Usually the teachers that stay are the ones that enjoy all the benefits of being a special foreigner in China has. I personally make more than a teacher of equivalent qualifications and working experience back in my home country, and live in a nicely furnished loft in an apartment above a shopping mall/district and subway station. Transportation costs are much cheaper and I don't need a car, and during my three months holiday I get to travel extensively. I've thought about teaching at schools in Korea and Japan, (and elsewhere in the world) but I can save significantly more in China, and still have a sweet lifestyle in a modern downtown city. I'll eventually leave China for another country to experience.
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Dec 17, 2017 12:30
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I will have a layover with my wife in Beijing. I'd really appreciate recommendations for an area with decent cafes and restaurants where we can kill a few hours - you know, walk around in the snow, look at a landmark or monument or interesting architecture, then dart back into a cafe for a hot chocolate. Somewhere good to have dinner too, Peking duck or dumplings or other northern China cuisine. Actually I think what I am asking for is the bit of Beijing that is like if there was snow in Hong Kong with northern food. Is that a thing there, does that exist to be found? E: Sanlitun? Or is that more of a fiesta and nightclub area? simplefish fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Dec 22, 2017 |
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Dec 22, 2017 18:53
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A big chunk of sanlitun is gone but if you want northern food and duck there’s Mr. Shi’s dumplings which is close enough and as for duck I rather defer to someone else
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Dec 23, 2017 02:12
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Jesus loving Christ, Beijing...
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Dec 23, 2017 04:55
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Beijing duck sucks and is overrated. There I said it. Some place a little more cultural to wander around than sanlitun is nanluoguxiang, and it has the bar/cafe angle covered as well. It can be a jammed hellscape of Chinese tourists but since it’s winter it shouldn’t be a problem this time of year. Duck down some of the side alleys and wander into the hutongs for a while. Snow, lol. It’s incredibly dry in the winter and snows a dusting maybe twice a year. A white Christmas is a reeeal long shot in Beijing despite how cold it is.
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Dec 23, 2017 05:41
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wow wrongest opinion ever posted itt
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Dec 23, 2017 05:56
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There are no bad duck-based foods, fight me.
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Dec 23, 2017 05:57
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I’d certainly give them a shot, but duck tacos and/or pizza seems like it wouldn’t be great.
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Dec 23, 2017 06:09
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Adding duck to a dessert doesn't count, I mean actual foods people eat. I see no problem with a duck taco. On a pizza seems like a waste but would be fine. The main problem is crispy skins is the best part of duck and you could pull that off with a taco but not a pizza. Actually now that I'm thinking about it, Peking duck is basically a duck taco already. 
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Dec 23, 2017 06:11
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The worst duck preparation I've had is the standard Korean duck, which is smoked, sliced thin, and has rubbery skin. But even that is not bad it's just that the smoking makes it taste like ham and is wasting the profound Duckness that could instead be there. Cantonese bbq ducks in Hong Kong might be my favorite.
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Dec 23, 2017 06:13
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Known Lecher posted:Beijing duck sucks and is overrated. There I said it. no, no, not at all, post reported
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Dec 23, 2017 06:35
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some strong feelings about duck itt
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Dec 23, 2017 06:56
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is peking duck a sandwich
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Dec 23, 2017 07:07
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peanut posted:is peking duck a sandwich it's a hotdog
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Dec 23, 2017 16:10
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Go to Beijing and get LiQun. It's nearish the temple of heaven. Pay me later.
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Dec 23, 2017 17:35
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