Post: #26

Good info in here, specially by BusanCanuk.
Dash man, looking at your itenary it looks cool, but make sure you spend at least 2 if not 3 weeks in BKK. You'll love that city trust me man.
Good idea about starting a blog about life in Korea. I'd be following your exploits with a lot of attention as I did your very well reported Colombia trip. Keep us updated man.

Post: #27

Cool video of Busan. Really favoring this place over Seoul.

Post: #28

I couldn't have written a better review of Korea....

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/world/...ral&src=me

Xenophobic, sexually repressed and depressed. Hard to beat that combo.

Post: #29

(05-25-2011 02:41 PM)LostGringo Wrote:  I couldn't have written a better review of Korea....

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/world/...ral&src=me

Xenophobic, sexually repressed and depressed. Hard to beat that combo.

Plenty of fun open ppl in cities like Seoul and Busan (from my intel). If you cant build a social circle and get ass (local & tourist) than thats on you. Step your game up is all i can say! I will be hitting up bars and clubs weekly, going to salsa events, smashin ho's, & relaxing on the beach. Cant wait!

Post: #30

Dash speaks from experience again.....oh no wait! At least you half made it clear you hadn't been this time...half!

Post: #31

@Gringo

Please dont bring that garb to my thread. My info just like the one regarding Peru was backed up by another poster.

Unless you have something to contribute to the topic at hand do us all a favor and keep the flaming to yourself or atleast use the PM features.

Post: #32

I also find the tendency of treating plans or second-hand information like facts to be really confusing.

This thread originally started off as asking for advise so I will offer some: use your two week long holidays to go to Shanghai and Osaka. From those cities you can take interesting day trips. Save your long weekends for travelling around Korea. After the first year (even if you are going to continue teaching for a second year) take an extend period to travel around SEA.

In terms of which city in Korea, probably also important to consider the specific schools in each city. Are you going to find work before arrival or pound the pavement once over there?

Good luck

Post: #33

(05-25-2011 06:36 PM)Gringo Wrote:  Dash speaks from experience again.....oh no wait! At least you half made it clear you hadn't been this time...half!

haha I thought I was the only one that noticed this. It's tough to know exactly where he has been.

Post: #34

(05-26-2011 04:54 AM)Beavis Wrote:  I also find the tendency of treating plans or second-hand information like facts to be really confusing.

This thread originally started off as asking for advise so I will offer some: use your two week long holidays to go to Shanghai and Osaka. From those cities you can take interesting day trips. Save your long weekends for travelling around Korea. After the first year (even if you are going to continue teaching for a second year) take an extend period to travel around SEA.

In terms of which city in Korea, probably also important to consider the specific schools in each city. Are you going to find work before arrival or pound the pavement once over there?

Good luck

Naw I will be accepting a job via online / calling in August. Then fly over to SoKo. Coming without signing a contract is risky as you risk not getting reimbursed for the flight which can be 1 - 1.5k My 2 weeks vaca revolve around women/partying/nice beaches. Thailand and Philippines fill those roles quite nicely.

Post: #35

(05-26-2011 09:38 AM)zoom Wrote:  

(05-25-2011 06:36 PM)Gringo Wrote:  Dash speaks from experience again.....oh no wait! At least you half made it clear you hadn't been this time...half!

haha I thought I was the only one that noticed this. It's tough to know exactly where he has been.

He gets points for improvement. He doesn't need to go, he's already an expert. Sorry Dash I couldn't resist.

Post: #36

(05-26-2011 10:43 AM)redneckpunk Wrote:  

(05-26-2011 09:38 AM)zoom Wrote:  

(05-25-2011 06:36 PM)Gringo Wrote:  Dash speaks from experience again.....oh no wait! At least you half made it clear you hadn't been this time...half!

haha I thought I was the only one that noticed this. It's tough to know exactly where he has been.

He gets points for improvement. He doesn't need to go, he's already an expert. Sorry Dash I couldn't resist.

As many hours as I have been on places like Davescafe & Waygook I better be damn near close to an expert! lol As im not working at the moment, im spending HALF of every day reading and researching EVERYTHING South Korea and ESL related.

Post: #37

I think im gonna switch Shanghai with Beijing. I cant go to China and not check out the Great Wall.

Anyone been to Beijing? How is the nightlife? What are the must see things for a 3-4 day trip?

Post: #38

good luck!

Post: #39

(05-26-2011 10:52 AM)Dash Global Wrote:  I think im gonna switch Shanghai with Beijing. I cant go to China and not check out the Great Wall.

Anyone been to Beijing? How is the nightlife? What are the must see things for a 3-4 day trip?

Nightlife is good there, culturally much more interesting than Shanghai. Beware there are many different parts of the wall to visit. I recommend MuTianYu, 1.5 hours or so from Beijing. The closest to Beijing is BaDaLing (hour) but the views are not as good and there are more vendors hassling you there.

If you want to get to Korea earlier in abouit mid July summer school kicks off in Asia and there are tons of classes to be had. Not sure how the reimbursement will work since it is before fall semester. Dave's esl will have the answers.

Post: #40

I hate to be that guy again, but I have to ask this question as this thread and some of its anecdotes have again piqued my interest in Korea. I'd really appreciate BusanCanuck's input on this, but anyone else is welcome.

The question is on Black guys and Korea: how do they do? How are they perceived?

Again, sorry to be that guy who poses this ubiquitous racialized question again, but I have to ask because the region intrigues me and I have never heard good things about black men there. The general perception I got was that they struggled mightily with the women and were often perceived to be as low as animals, facing a lot of hostility. The guys I spoke to all unanimously suggested that black men simply avoid the peninsula altogether and head to Japan, The Philippines or China. That bugs me, because I really like Korea and would like to at least be able to entertain the idea of visiting for an extended period of time, perhaps regularly.

The thing is that most of these anecdotes come from guys who were in Korea almost a decade ago (maybe as recently as 04 or so). What I'm hearing in this thread is that there has been a lot of change and liberalization in the country in just a short time. Thus, I'm interested in knowing how someone who is ideally living in Korea now (BusanCanuck) perceives the situation for black men there and the perception and reaction they receive from relatively young(say 35 and under) women there. I'd also like to hear from anyone who has been there recently(09 or later).

Post: #41

Having been researching Korea EXTENSIVELY over the past month, I will give you my opinion on this. It should be inline with what BusanCanuck will say....

Yes Korea has underwent alot of changes over the last decade in terms of openness and breaking away from traditional norms. This is ALOT more prevalent in SEOUL and its satellite cities. If you are black I would HIGHLY suggest sticking to Seoul (Itaweaon District) and try and swoop at the numerous clubs that play hip hop and rap. This is where the urban korean chicks that like black guys hangout. Im not fully sure about Busan though as I dont think there is many black guys there like in Seoul due to the US military base. Your best bet is to stick to Seoul. Obviously you will be fishing from alot smaller pool than say a white guy but with 6-7 million people you should be able to find something.

Hope that helps. Curious to see BusanCanucks take on this.....

Post: #42

Dash-

You definitely couldn't go wrong with Busan, or with Seoul for that matter. One thing that I like about Busan, is that each area feels like an entirely different city. It's probably the most unique place that I've been to in Korea.

In North America, growing up isn't easy sometimes. A lot of us have to deal with violence, drugs, etc.... In Korea, there's none of that, but the kids have to deal with a whole slew of other bullshit. Each year of school gets harder and harder and the pressure to be "#1" is always there, so they have to study at their regular school,which is gruelling enough, then most of them get forced to go to 'hagwons'. They have school after school is over. By the time that they get to middle/ high school, their lives are basically nothing but studying. Those who buy into the system and let the pressure get to them tend to carry that with them all their lives, so they become very concerned with their 'face', or their image/ status/ appearance with others. You'll learn a lot about the concept of 'face' when you get here. When dealing with Koreans, it's important to never let them lose face, learn to navigate around that and you're golden. That's part of the reason why the suicide rate here is so high. I don't think that I'd want to be a young man going through the Korean school system. When I taught middle school, I'd try and make class fun for the kids, a place where they could be themselves for a little while.

That being said, Korea is a very fun place in my opinion. the only days that I have that aren't interesting, are the days that I stay home and jack it.

It gets better for the kids after they get out of high school. For a lot of them, university is like high school for us. they've made it, so they can unwind and be themselves a little bit more. They become exposed to new ideas- to them it's like what being 15 or 16 is like for us. The younger generation are becoming much more free in my opinion, I've even noticed a change since 2008 when I first got here.

Athlone-

I know quite a few black guys in Korea and come to think of it, most of them are pretty successful on some level here. I've only heard one dude really complain. He was a GI from Houston Texas, but the thing is, he was a huge, intimidating looking guy. He came across like a hardman.

If you listen to a Korean pop song, you'll find that it's got a lot of hip-hop influence. For the younger generation, a lot of them associate black with cool, so times are definitely changing.

I was with a hard 9 one time, very fine chick, and she talked about how her old boyfriend was black. I kind of knew the guy and I happen to know that at the time that he would have been screwing several other chicks, all of them at least 8's. The guy was the type of guy who would do well anywhere, and he was doing damn good here in Korea. He'd been there for like 7 or 8 years too.

Bottom line is,black guys may face prejudice from the older generation, but not very overt. They also may be ruled out by part of the younger generation which still wants to conform. There is still a huge pool of young girls that you can pick from. Now I'm not a black guy, so I can't answer from first-hand experience, but from what I've seen, and the guys I've talked to when we spoke on the subject, the racial problem is overblown in Korea.

One thing that you don't want to do though, is come across as intimidating, or too hard. The same would go for an intimidating looking white dude. A man who does well in his own country, or in other countries, will have a good time in Korea, regardless of race.

That being said, Koreans spent most of their history as a 100% homogeneous society, so none of us will ever be fully integrated into their society. That's more of a good thing though, because we don't have to play by all their hierarchical rules and Confucian etiquette. As a foreigner, you get a lot of freedom here, just so long as you don't break their laws.... then you're fucked.

Post: #43

Busan,

Have you ever been to the latin night clubs? Seems like it would be an easy place to meet chicks that are obviously interested in other cultures and be relatively easy to open to dance and work some game.

There is two of these clubs. One is called Latinos (popular on friday night 9pm-1am) and the other is Latin Fever (popular on sat nights 9pm-1/2am). Believe they are in the Seomyeon area. Would love to here a trip/venue report from you if you ever check it out on a weekend!

Post: #44

(05-26-2011 10:31 PM)BusanCanuck Wrote:  Athlone-

I know quite a few black guys in Korea and come to think of it, most of them are pretty successful on some level here. I've only heard one dude really complain. He was a GI from Houston Texas, but the thing is, he was a huge, intimidating looking guy. He came across like a hardman.

If you listen to a Korean pop song, you'll find that it's got a lot of hip-hop influence. For the younger generation, a lot of them associate black with cool, so times are definitely changing.

I was with a hard 9 one time, very fine chick, and she talked about how her old boyfriend was black. I kind of knew the guy and I happen to know that at the time that he would have been screwing several other chicks, all of them at least 8's. The guy was the type of guy who would do well anywhere, and he was doing damn good here in Korea. He'd been there for like 7 or 8 years too.

Bottom line is,black guys may face prejudice from the older generation, but not very overt. They also may be ruled out by part of the younger generation which still wants to conform. There is still a huge pool of young girls that you can pick from. Now I'm not a black guy, so I can't answer from first-hand experience, but from what I've seen, and the guys I've talked to when we spoke on the subject, the racial problem is overblown in Korea.

One thing that you don't want to do though, is come across as intimidating, or too hard. The same would go for an intimidating looking white dude. A man who does well in his own country, or in other countries, will have a good time in Korea, regardless of race.

That being said, Koreans spent most of their history as a 100% homogeneous society, so none of us will ever be fully integrated into their society. That's more of a good thing though, because we don't have to play by all their hierarchical rules and Confucian etiquette. As a foreigner, you get a lot of freedom here, just so long as you don't break their laws.... then you're fucked.

Darn, that still sounds kind of tough. I'm a relatively big guy (5'10, 208-college football) and I like to lift a lot. I look kind of like your stereotypical, meatheaded black college runningback, and I know that intimidates some around me already. I love lifting and don't plan on ever stopping, so I know my shoulders won't get much smaller. I'd like to be somewhere where my musculature is an asset, not a liability. My college campus is definitely NOT that place, and SK girls are sounding a little too similar to the local females personality-wise for my taste.

Looks iffish, but I guess we'll see.

Post: #45

I wouldn't worry about your build... It's more the way that you come across.

That being said, I know a guy who works on one of the ships in Busan Harbour... He's from deep down south... Gold teeth, tattoo teardrop and everything... And he pulls as good as anybody.

Korea not being a place for black men is a thing of the past. In 2011, it's a place for everybody to enjoy.