Interesting. That's kind of hard to do in a foreign country with not that many other people to talk to. That must have been a very long and slow year in Korea.

lol there were 20+ foreigners in my neighborhood in Masan

LMAO this is outstanding hahaha, spoke how do you support yourself in South Korea, play poker, teach English

madison, honest question. zero troll.

reading you has reminded me of several friends i've had that have spent years in korea. they become very jaded to a lot of the korean cultural norms (racism, life as an assumed second class citizen, court systems, old guys being rude) and swing pretty heavily to the opposite end of the spectrum and really tend to hate on a lot of the folks that are enjoying their time in korea. it always struck me as very hipster and kind of disingenuous. the guy who writes the expat hell blog or whatever the name is is a prime example of what i'm talking about.

do you feel you've shifted to that side of the coin and if so do you feel like you'll ever swing back to some sort of equilibrium? i only lived in korea for 2 years so i never made it that far, though certain things DID annoy me (i'm tall, so the blatant staring used to make me uncomfortable.) and if not do you think there will ever be a time where the job and community provides insufficient happiness to deal with the situation?

i ask because this is a problem i see MANY expats face as they live longer in korea and it's one i may face in the upcoming years as i transition back there.

It's gotten better in my time here so maybe in 4 more years i won't be too bad. I do live on Jeju and it's very traditional so that might explain why I feel more strongly about certain issues than others.
Women on Jeju are told not to marry men from mainland Korea. They must marry good Jeju man.

Within a short period of time, I went from:

excited about new culture ----> liking new culture -----> being disgusted with said culture -----> enjoying culture while accepting its flaws.

Sadly, I didn't really get out of step 3 before leaving SK. Of course, I had some problems at home that influenced my mind set at the end of my contract, but I still never got to step 4.

Now with more experience living in a different culture (China), steps 2 and 3 were way shorter and I got to step 4 fairly quickly.

I'll be in Korea from mid December until late January. I'll spend most of my time (if not every day) in Seoul. I'll spend time with my girlfriend and play online poker most of the time.

I've been to Seoul twice, got many friends there but I am posting here to ask if any of you know where I could sleep for 6 weeks. I don't need any luxury things (I've already slept in really small Korean houses), just need a single room and preferably in the center or north/south east of Seoul.

Any advice ?

I think you should check craigslist and google for apartments in Seoul.

It's pretty hard to get a place on your own if you don't have a Korean national helping you.

Best bet is to have your gf call around and ask for you. I'm not sure about Seoul but on Jeju you have to pay for a year up front and key money too. We do have some Pension places around for short term but those tend to be pricey and near tourist locations.

Yeah my girlfriend told me she could probably find a single room for not too much , but since she never had to find an accommodation for her, I thought maybe you guys would know more about it.

Thanks anyway

I had my coteacher search for me. Just have your gf check papers/online. GL

Yeah, seems like it's the best thing to do.

Thanks

Craigslist search short term. Go anywhere near a subway

Here is something to watch out for in Seoul and around Korea. This is a very common problem.

Comes from the Korea Times English version:

Predatory taxi drivers
Tougher action for those ripping off passengers

Taking a taxi in Korea is one of the toughest challenges for foreigners. First, it is hard to hail a cab. Then, it is not easy to communicate with the drivers. What’s far worse is that cabbies usually rip off passengers.

A recent episode shocked the public as a driver of “call vans” charged a foreign tourist 330,000 won ($290) for a 2-kilometer ride in downtown Seoul. The sum is 100-times the normal fare. Many foreign residents and tourists have frequently complained about being overcharged, not to mention poor service.

I've had it happen a few times. Just take a pic of the cabbies photo and name and report them since they'll get fined.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news...02_107310.html

Obs this happens all over the world but since it's become a huge problem I thought it would be good to post it for people thinking of coming to Korea.

I took approximately 300 cab rides/year while I lived in Seoul and never once did anything fishy happen. Still, the fare rules are pretty clear and not hard to read, everyone has a phone with a camera on it, and there are 'police' within shouting distance almost at all times. Of the list of things that would worry me about living in Seoul the top 90% are probably cultural differences and of the other 10% predatory cabbies is somewhere near the bottom.

The article itself outlines why it's not really an issue:

"It is, however, regrettable that the greedy and violent cabbies have yet to disappear. They should get the blame for tarnishing the image of Korea among foreign tourists. The authorities should leave no stone unturned to crack down on taxi drivers who rip off passengers in blind pursuit of money. "

Koreans' own groupthought image of their country and fellow countrymen and the fear of looking bad in any way actually give you the upper hand if this happens. Just be calm and act like an adult and not a child. ezgame.

Did you read the whole article? 17 drivers fined, 2 arrested and ticketed on Jeju near the airport with violence used to keep other cabs away. Seems like a problem to me!
It's def. not the normal and most taxi drivers are on the level but it happens more than you think.
Anyways, I only posted it to increase awareness for those who might have this situation come up. Better to be informed and not have it happen than the other way around.

I've taken over 100 taxis so far. My only of a ripoff encounter is a jumbo taxi that would have taken me from Seoul station to gangnam on my arrival. He said 100k won to take me and I politely told him **** off. It does exist. Just don't ride a black or minivan taxi. Anything orange or silver is good. The orange ones are the newer cabs. If a cab driver is standing outside its unmetered and he's going to flat quote you to where you want to go.

Here's some pics i took with my new iPod. Lost two phones here already damnit.

Gangnam station out of exit 10 8pm Friday.


6am this morning in Sinchon underground shopping way with some friends.


Moved into a new apartment. I got really lucky because my previous roommate has good connections here. We got this 3 bed apartment for 1.8 mil. 900k deposit.

Posting photos of everything

So im not in Myeongdong anymore. Im in a more residential area near jamsil. Myeongsong was good because its right in the heart of Seoul but I kinda outgrew the honeymoon period of going around every day. I pretty much know what I am doing every week.

Our landlord is a chill Korean guy. He encouraged me and my buddies to have parties and call him over when there's one.

Here's the photos of my new place. Completely lucked out.

Your place looks sweet!

Layout of that apartment is exactly the same as the layout of a unit my friends were in in the Xii building outside Samgakji station. At like 40% of the price. well done.

That place looks awesome. I lived in a place similar to that layout near the city hall/dongdaemun. We all had an amazing time. Seeing those pics have made me miss Korea a bit

I think it may be from the same builders.

I'm wondering why the up is higher than down. Anyone know? maybe it's just the United States that has it backwards.

I notice that full tilt website is blocked. I wonder how long until the same thing happens to stars?

Just get a VPN.

Access porn and all the sites

VPN'ing to stars isn't something I'm willing to risk though.