Korea Megathread VI: Free Soju is Still Too Expensive

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > Korea Megathread VI: Free Soju is Still Too Expensive

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Love Stole the Day posted:

This is how you goons sound when you complain about and generalize Koreans in this country

Oh, go eat some butts.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2015 06:43

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# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 08:48

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Andro posted:

Is up-skirt photography a good excuse?

Um, when is it NOT?

# ¿ Jun 11, 2015 09:32

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

AmbientParadox posted:

so I guess in the end we survived the MERS outbreak of 2015

and the only poo poo I got canceled was stuff I actually WANTED to do

# ¿ Jun 22, 2015 13:17

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

DontAskKant posted:

If you really want to save some change you can exchange the bulk of your money at money changers in Myeongdong. The exchange rate is generally near the base rate. But depends on how much your time and effort is worth.

Seconding this. My parents were here in May and they were decidedly pleased with the rate they got in Myeongdong, more so than anywhere else.

But my mom hates kimchi, so I don't know how much weight you should give their preferences...

# ¿ Jul 2, 2015 09:43

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

GreyPowerVan posted:

So when the OP says that there is less demand for EFL now, is it still fairly easy to get a job doing that or is there a waiting list or what?

Don't.

just...don't. The whole appeal of Korea was that you could make a lot of money for easy work. Well, it's very far from easy and I am here to tell you that even if you DO get a public school job, they'll still do sketchy poo poo to you.

Go to Japan. Go to China. Go to Taiwan. poo poo, get a lousy job at a Berlitz in NYC and live in a horrible part of Queens and commute every day. ANYWHERE ELSE IS BETTER.

Love Stole the Day posted:

And where exactly are you finding these magical 8k a month jobs? Because that sounds like bullshit imo unless it's some lovely Gangnam job with horrendous work schedules and no vacation.

Calm the gently caress down. A simple, "Where did you see this? That sounds really weird" would have sufficed, you incomprehensibly hostile poopmonster.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2015 12:36

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

nullscan posted:

Yeah. So get out of my country you white devils.

I'll be gone is less than six weeks, I promise!

# ¿ Jul 9, 2015 13:38

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

I don't like my job, my coworkers, or my city, but I have no beef with Korea itself. It's okay not to like things, as long as you're not a jerk about it, as the meme goes.

# ¿ Jul 10, 2015 02:44

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

CommonShore posted:

I actually have a doctorate in English...This EPIK gig seems to me like the fastest-accessible not-a-scam route to a radically different life than the one I've lived for the last 7 years.

No offense, but did you hit your head REALLY hard recently?

You did not get a doctorate just so that you could be screamed at by a 29-year old who barely graduated teacher's college because she was too busy getting drunk because you made a typo in a Powerpoint.

Do not be an EPIK teacher. Do not go to Korea. If you really want to teach, look at the Middle East, but this is not a good place.

EDIT: Let me save you all some time- I don't care if you disagree. This is my actual daily life.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2015 06:55

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

ladron posted:

Is she hot?

No, she kind of looks like Rocky Dennis.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2015 07:06

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Bugblatter posted:

I mean, the point I would make is just that: It is your life, and your position is really unfortunate, but you always talk like its universal or the norm for Korea. Honestly, it's not generally that nightmarishly bad.

That said, this guy should be able to do better than Epik. Even if he just does public, at least aim for GNET.

I have never denied that and frequently say that I am happy that most people don't end up in situations like mine.

However, it doesn't change the facts of my daily life. Nor is my situation that unusual. Almost everyone I know here has at least one insane coteacher, or unforgivably sheisty administrative staff, or particularly bad kids. I've never said it was uniquely Korean, just that it seems like nearly everyone is being abused somehow. Korean teachers included!

My point was that if you have a PhD in English, you are wasting your time with EPIK because there are much better opportunities out there, in more interesting places, to boot.

And GF loved Ulsan, so I'm just some kind of freak.

Fleta Mcgurn fucked around with this message at 07:55 on Jul 16, 2015

# ¿ Jul 16, 2015 07:52

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Arctic Baldwin posted:

People posting about their situation like its the only way it goes here isn't as fun when it doesnt contain casual (or overt) racism

My coteacher made loud yelping noises today in order to drown out my goodbye speech to the fourth graders loving JEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There ya go!

# ¿ Jul 16, 2015 11:00

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

CommonShore posted:

I'd rather avoid getting into any about why I'm an idiot for making the decision I've made. I personally know eight or nine people who have done EPIK, some of them many times over, and most of them are also grad school types. I'm close enough to some of these folk that they would speak up if they thought I was doing something boneheaded and misery-inducing. They're not saying anything remotely like what I'm seeing in this thread. If you're having a bad time, my condolences.

I've been combing through ads on international job boards, academic job boards, and places like Dave's ESL Cafe (which site I find disappointing). Good to know that the universities don't actually advertise the jobs in any of these places that I'd expect to see them. I have a Korean friend-of-a-friend who knows more about that, so I'll push through that channel a bit more.

Yes, I hit my head hard recently, but I had applied for EPIK before that. I'm avoiding the Middle East, the Gulf especially, for political and climate reasons. I like being outside, and I'm pretty sure that it would take me five minutes to die in that kind of sun. I find it pretty depressing when I see a vertical list of "Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Emirates" positions, but that's how it goes. A good friend of mine is doing one of the Kuwaiti university jobs right now, and that looks like a nightmare of direct sunlight and authoritarian government to me. I don't care if it pays 3x as much as EPIK - it's not worth it to me. I've been looking at positions worldwide outside of that. I had an on-campus interview for a tenure-track job pretty far north in Canada this spring, and I didn't get it. I've also been watching Nunavut/NWT postings but nothing in my wheelhouse has opened up. EPIK was always the backup plan if none of these other trees bore fruit.

I absolutely 100% know that I'll be working with kids, and I actually already volunteer time to work with kids now and then. My general plan is to do a year of EPIK to get some super low-effort cash working with kids instead beating my head against the wall for entitled teenagers at a Canadian university. I don't care if I have to work in someone else's classroom. I've been a TA 10x and I know how to let someone else drive. If I'm liking Korea/Asia generally, I'll then begin to hunt for one of these better, university positions for year two, ideally teaching English as literature instead of (or at least alongside) ESL.

I didn't call you an idiot.

And I am also a "grad school type," if that's how you classify someone with a graduate degree.

Anyways, sorry for offering another perspective. Keep your elbows out, is all I'm saying. I'm sure you'll have a great time as long as your school doesn't act like mine.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2015 00:49

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

It took a week, but I finally managed to convince my school that the Korean labor laws regarding severance pay isn't secretly "an American law you are remembering wrong," which is what they tried to convince me of. Like I can't read.

# ¿ Aug 10, 2015 10:50

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

I'm supposed to leave tomorrow and if anything stops me I will personally march across the Bridge of No Return, find Kim Jong Un, and EAT him. And promptly die of cholesterol poisoning.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2015 04:57

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

BrainDance posted:

Hi, I have a question that isn't really a Korea question (really it's an American question.) but I figured people here may have some similar experiences and be able to help.

The girlfriend (yes it's Peach) and I are taking an extended vacation in the US. Back to my home state to meet/stay with my family, show her around Michigan and I have an important wedding. I guess none of that matters.

From what little I can tell of American immigration law, she can stay for 90 days on a tourist visa (or whatever). Is there any way for her to stay longer than 90 days without us getting married? I'm guessing visa runs to Canada don't work. Her becoming a student seems like a very expensive and pointless way to just stay in America for a few extra months. I can't think of anything else.

Is there anything? Any other visas that are practical or other things that will allow my girlfriend to stay in America longer than 90 days?

If you're going to Michigan, can't you guys just go to Toronto for a weekend or something and then come back? Not sarcastic.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2016 09:38

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Bugblatter posted:

(I don't particularly think there's anything on Jeju that needs to be prioritized over the mainland sights on a short trip though).

Do you know Hallasan? It's a beautiful mountain in Korea!

YBM 4 LYFE

# ¿ Mar 31, 2016 13:18

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Whizbang posted:

That video from period 2 where the black girl plays like 2 notes on a gayageum and the Koreans burst into applause is the worst.

This will never fail to make me laugh: http://www.thewaygookeffect.com/2011/02/10-worst-dialogues-of-public-elementary.html

# ¿ Mar 31, 2016 16:48

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

What book series is this, anyways? I don't think it's YBM and that's the only one my school used.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2016 09:39

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

DontAskKant posted:

The word of the day is gauche.

After being asked to stay on, for now the 4th month, after being "let go" due to an unfavorable evaluation based on lack of patent law knowledge for an English editor position, the HR guy asked me if I knew a native speaker to fill my position. They haven't been able to find someone since they started looking on January 1. So, already awkward.

Here's the kicker. HR guy asked me after my birthday cake break today. Happy Birthday, do you know any bilingual editors with legal experience and low self esteem to replace you?

Tell them to go gently caress a rake. Also, happy birthday!

# ¿ Apr 6, 2016 14:53

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

OhYeah posted:

Hello Korea thread guys,

I have a really subjective question and I would like some comments from people that have actually been to Seoul. They really want my daughter there in the summer for at least two months, is at as safe as Japan? She's been there twice, to Tokyo and Osaka and never had any problems, apart from random creepy men hitting on her in the subway and being asked is she would like to be a high-class prostitute.

Is this a troll?

Who is "they"?

"Some people that have actually been to Seoul..." you do realize it's nigh-near impossible for anyone to go to Korea and not hit Seoul at some point, right?

Your daughter will experience the same issues she did in Japan, I guess. She'll be safe and fine. If some douche hits on her, whatever.

Paris, London, and Milan are perfectly safe if you're not a moron. Seoul is probably safer.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2016 15:50

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Half-Korean kids in my elementary school were picked on by other students and treated more harshly by the teachers if their mother was the non-Korean parent because "they are foreigners and we don't have to treat them like Korean students." If they had a Korean mother, the teachers would come to their aid if they were bullied.

I am quite sure that this is not the norm, but we were in freakin' ULSAN, so it's not like a half-Korean child was so loving unusual.

# ¿ May 10, 2016 07:37

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

Bugblatter posted:

I teach at two elementary schools and two middle schools and have taught at others... I've never seen physical violence. Thunderdome?

You're kidding me. A day didn't go by at my elementary school where someone didn't make someone else bleed. poo poo, kids from my school and Let Us English's school had a rumble- kids brought baseball bats to it!

gingersmurf posted:

I'm becoming increasingly irritated with what I perceive as military spouses doing illegal activities. Maybe I am off base, I don't know. But I am having a difficult time finding the answers on the internet so I am asking you fine folks for information / input.

The issue is spouses doing home-based businesses, such as hair cutting, baking, making and selling goods, things like that. The Legal Office on base has apparently told individuals that if they don't live on base, they don't need base permission to do such things. The spouses seem to take that as an okay to go ahead and make some money. However, we (military dependents) are here on an A-3 visa. To the best of my knowledge, we can not make money on the economy here. In order to do so, one would need a different visa, correct?

What is the legal information I can present to these people? At the very least, it seems to me that they are abusing their visa status here in Korea as well as not being accountable to the Korean authorities (like paying taxes).

Any and all help is appreciated.

...why are you against this?

# ¿ May 12, 2016 08:23

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

DontAskKant posted:

Korea Megathread VII: It is weird and probably someone's fetish.

# ¿ May 17, 2016 10:34

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

To the person who wanted to move from Japan to Korea: unless you are deep in the inaka now and then move to Seoul, I don't think it's a very good transition. Korea kind of has the worst parts of living in Japan (insane and inefficient bureaucracy, racism, WE INVENTED EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, crowding) with few unique benefits. I think Korean people are generally up their own asses a lot less, but overall, I prefer Japan.

# ¿ Aug 23, 2016 04:35

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# ¿ Apr 30, 2024 08:48

Fleta Mcgurn: Oct 5, 2003; Porpoise noise continues.

guri posted:

I went from Japan to Korea and am awfully happy here.

I accept and cherish your difference of opinion. I respectfully present an alternate view.

e: I really just wanted to say how I felt. Wasn't slagging anyone or anyplace off. I hate how anything negative that gets posted here about Korea compared to other countries immediately ends with fighting. Think I should stop posting in this thread/reading it altogether. Welp, goodnight.

Fleta Mcgurn fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Aug 23, 2016

# ¿ Aug 23, 2016 05:44

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > Korea Megathread VI: Free Soju is Still Too Expensive