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Will the Koreans Like Idlewild?


Ollie

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Hi all,

I have moved to the South West coast of South Korea to teach English. I live and work in a beautiful city nestled in mountains and situated by the sea. Hundreds of islands dot the coast and make up the city too.

Although it is a big city by our standards (300,000) it is relatively small for a Korean city. It is also relatively cut off from the bigger cities and it maintains a very traditional way of life. For example, there is much bowing, men adopt a dominant role, women assume a more traditional role, there are many people in traditional clothes and there are very little Westerners here.

There is a Western influence though on fashion, pop music ect. And some of the younger generation are changing, becoming more liberal. But where I am there is no rock, underground, indie or alternative music. That is a shame because the local western bar kinda looks like how Henry J Beans looked like. It looks cool.

I am going to try and introduce some idewild into the local western bar. Will make a change from the crappy American influenced girl and boy bands. I play idlewild, sigur ros, fugazi, king creosote and other stuff in my classroom through the speakers on breaks and when I dont have class. I wonder if the Koreans will like it? I've gotten one kid to say idlewild. They were interested in seeing what I was playing on the computer.

Shall let you know.

Cheers,

Ollie

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Hope you're enjoying it; I've heard precious little good about teaching in Korea.

There can be a lot of good opportunities if you find the right place - though from my research, it does seem to be Americans that end up in bad situations as opposed to Europeans. The money in Korea is definitely good enough to get a decent living from, anyway. I'd love to go teach in Korea or the Middle East for a year...but I'm not brave enough :p

Ollie my good man - how are you finding teaching with a Scottish accent?

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There can be a lot of good opportunities if you find the right place - though from my research, it does seem to be Americans that end up in bad situations as opposed to Europeans. The money in Korea is definitely good enough to get a decent living from, anyway. I'd love to go teach in Korea or the Middle East for a year...but I'm not brave enough :p

Ollie my good man - how are you finding teaching with a Scottish accent?

The money was the best in the world for entry level ESL jobs, but the Won 'tanked' (as the Americans say) like last month so I'm not sure now 8-)

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Hi,

My Scottish accent doesn't seem to be a problem. Sometimes though the children laugh at my pronounciation of their English names.

It's a cool place, although the tradition and Korean manners can be difficult to deal with.

Also, as I said, there are few Westerners here which means I have to broaden my horizons, so to speak, when it comes to meeting new people. I have to be much more accepting of different viewpoints which don't fit with mine.

As for the money, I think that most currencies have taken a dive since the American economic crisis. However, the won certainly has fallen and my pay is entry level. That said, I think I will still be able to save enough to head to and settle down for good in my next destination, America. I guess it helps that I have an American passport!

With regards to the Kimchi. Some of it's nice, some not so nice. The spicy sauce that they use is great though. Also, when you eat out with someone else or other people at a Korean restaurant you share the food from the same bowls ect. I felt a bit dodgy about sharing like this but hey, I'm in Korea. My Visa basically says 'guest' which means I must respect the culture here.

Yeosu, where I am, is absolutely fantastic. I'll try and post some pics for you. If you would like to be added to my email address for frequent emails, photos and updates about my experiences here please just say.

Oh and finally, the insects here are new to me, sometimes scary looking and many are very big. I've seen massive rats, weird centipede things, bats, ace looking dragonflies ect.

Anong he Kessy yo.

Ollie

P.S I am applying for a job as a sociology lecturer in Singapore next year, hope I get it!

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I'd love to go teach in Korea or the Middle East for a year

Funny you mention that you wanted to go to the Middle East. I thought about that too. I actually wanted to go Lebanon. But thinking about it now I don't know. Not even somewhere less dangerous like the United Arab Emirates. This is because of the culture. Korean culture is difficult to deal with. I don't know how women are treated in the middle east.

I would like to go to Lebanon but only as a researcher, journalist or acacdemic - a job where I am specifically focussing on topics related to the middle east and the people of that region. Not as an English teacher. But who knows? Maybe I will.

Ollie

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The money was the best in the world for entry level ESL jobs, but the Won 'tanked' (as the Americans say) like last month so I'm not sure now 8-)

It's just as bad for me in Poland, as the endless arguments between the prime minister and president are causing the Zloty to bounce around wildly, despite the country doing fine at the minute. There's been a few scare stories about Poland, but still absolutely nothing has happened to justify the recent slide of the currency.

It's infuriating, because the zloty was close to breaking the 4zl/1 pound barrier a couple of weeks ago, but it nearly dropped to 5 before recovering to 4.6 as of today. But what's even more infuriating is the way that it's dropped like a stone against the Euro. There's an argument that the Zloty has been intentionally overvalued since EU membership - so at the minute, it's hard to tell what to do in terms of justifying a demand for a pay rise.

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