I work a regular 40 hrs. 8:30-4:30 M-F

However, I only teach 15-18 of those hours. I am at a public school and they require me to be there 40 hours no matter what (Korea...) I spend my time on the internet, playing poker, watching movies, listening to podcasts etc. It gets boring as hell but it beats a lot of other $12/hr jobs. I also get free housing and don't pay any income tax so the $2k per month I make goes pretty far.

It's a job. Don't love it, don't hate it. But I just graduated and wanted to get out of the U.S. for awhile so it's working out.

I make $400 per month doing private tutoring too. Wish I could find more work but it's illegal and hard to get your name out there.

There's been some heat on underground games, especially those involving foreigners. There was a highly publicized bust earlier this summer and everyone I've talked to seems to think that underground action has dried up for the time being.

why did you decide to pick a public school over hagwon?

Also, where in Seoul are you?

nice thread. I've been to Seoul a couple of times for work and traveled to other cities as well. I have colleagues that work in the National Instruments' office in the Kangnam area of Seoul...do u know them by any chance?? (ridic question, i know, since Seoul has such an enormous population, but hey small world stories are still great)

i did love the Korean food and alcohol when i was there, provided the main courses arent too exotic (i.e. squid, etc.). aside from the banchan, Korean food is cooked very similar to indian food at least as far as spices go (I'm Indian, btw).

unfortunately i was not there for a long stretch, only a few days on a seminar/conference tour, so my nightlife only consisted of going out to bars and getting hammered with the colleagues. found the girls there to be very pretty/cute but was too chicken**** to approach any of them beyond simple intros and table banter.

i think Seoul is one of the most expensive cities to live in the world, but u're right, as a college student or someone just starting a career it's not too bad.

i have a couple of questions (even after asking my colleagues to death when i was there):

a. as a pro poker player, im sure u have a lot of free time...plz post TRs of visits to other cities such as Busan, Daejon, etc.if u do end up going.

b. are locals still not allowed to gamble in casinos? what limits and variants of poker do casinos there offer?

c. my NI colleagues get most of their **** (i.e. rent/car) paid for by their company, even if this company doesn't do this for all their employees worldwide. is there a law in Korea that states that companies have to provide so and so perks to employees?

d. there seems to be a paradox to Korean girls. u claim that they are very conservative, etc. Why, then, is there such a high rate of demand for cosmetic plastic surgery on their part? (however, u'll realize that girls ALL over Asia, India included, seem to have this paradox about them. u're right in saying that it's a societal/image thing)

e. do u have both a Korean and US passport? or are u in Korea on a long term visa?

thanks and peace! keep up the good thread and posts.

Not trying to hijack the thread but I can weigh in on a couple of these.

b. You must hold a foreign passport to play in most Korean casinos.

d. You're right on the cosmetic surgery. An article just came out this week that stated that 50% of all Korean women have undergone some type of cosmetic surgery. I think it comes down to the ultimate goal for most Korean women: Marriage. There is enormous pressure for women to marry and have children by age 30 and I think that they are still a couple decades behind the West in terms of women's equality. This puts an enormous emphasis on beauty since it is probably a young woman's most valuable asset.

e. I work on 1-year visa specific to teaching English.

ty clockout! waiting on OP to fill in the rest of the details.

np Are you going to come back to Korea anytime soon?

how much longer are you here for and what do you plan on doing longterm?

lol, not all of asia is like nana plaza

xposted from msnl thread, help me out

I'm going to chengdu china in 2 weeks and then I've got 8 days to chill in Asia before I head out to Canada.

Anyone been to Shanghai and/or Japan? I'm currently debating between the two on where to stay. I'm 23 years old and love to get a feel for culture but I also love a good night life...

Well, I wasn't looking to get laid or anything like that on a first date.

I said plenty of interesting things. Various anecdotes, my experiences here and so on and build from that. I found that it's great to use those things because Koreans (at least ones who like foreigners) have interest in that. With the amount of stuff I've done in the mere 6 months I've been here, I have tons of stories. I try to stay away from those stock questions unless they're quiet because the questions are lame and I hate them.

superuber what do u do in korea mostly?

i wander around a bunch and usually end up drinking with a group of english teachers

I'm an English teacher in Masan. I hang out with a regular group of foreigners a couple of times a week and hit the gym most days. We're getting a bunch of new faces since some people left their job. So, it's been nice meeting new people.

I'd do some wandering around but honestly, there's very little to see in Masan. If I have trouble sleeping, I go on long walks in the middle of the night and can watch drunk people wandering all over my neighborhood and the one nearby. Relationships and pickups are difficult to get in my area of Masan because there are literally no women in my age group. They see what their life is going to be like here and get the **** out as soon as they're teenagers. The area is composed of ajuma, the occasional foreigner and nuclear families with children below the age of 14.

Most of the great times I've had have been outside of Masan. Though Seoul had some meh moments, it was overall a trip worth making. A week ago, I went on a road trip with some friends to Haeshindang Park and stopped at Geongju and Pohang along the way. Today, I was supposed to go to Busan to watch the Lotte Giants play. However, I drank too much at a friend's birthday last night and couldn't bring myself to leave the apartment. I'll be wandering around Daegu on Sunday.

you are the single biggest douche on this entire forum, every single post of yours makes me cringe.

maybe instead of getting a new wardrobe to help you, you should consider a drastic change in you personality.

hey syous,

not sure if its been said but where are you in seoul? im in jamsil so just wondering :P