Korea is the best place for Korean-Americans to live and grind since they're guaranteed with a renewable 2 year visa..

Lifestyle wise I'm not sure I agree with that. I've known a significant number of Korean Americans that end up having an awful time in Seoul.

As a Korean-American who has never been to Seoul (living in Japan atm), I'd be really curious to know some of the reasons why this is. Korea is probably next on my list for a short vacation.

They just kicked it off tonight with the freeroll (step 1). Step 2 is on Sunday 55000kw buyin which guarantees 3 tickets to Step 3 330,000kw. Not sure when Step 3 is though.

I lasted a total of about 5minutes tonight. Four limpers and I got my BB special of 79os, flop comes 8TJ rainbow (btw, I can't even remember the last time I flopped a straight). Allin against T5os from MP. turn T, river 5. Damn fullhouse . Had to look it up, I was 95% fav after flop and 77% after turn. Gotta luv freerolls.

Highlight of my night was getting to see a guy walk up to the roulette table and bet 200 on just one number at roulette (Black 29) and it hit.

I meant living specifically and not visiting. I'm a white guy, so I really can't speak definitively on the subject. The few that I've known have disliked it for a number of different reasons, but ultimately it just comes down to cultural differences that they can't seem to overlook: the groupthink, societal pressure to the norm, focus on youth/beauty, and questioning one's own identity.

Korean society can be rough to foreigners. We've had a number of differing opinions in this thread over the last however many years. I think the negative things brought up are exacerbated toward gyopos because there is even more negative cultural bias wrt stereotyping: Looks Korean but doesn't speak perfect Korean, thinks he's special but hasn't done his military service and never will, girls like him more than me but he's full of **** and not really one of us. Those sorts of things.

This is by NO means the opinion of all obviously. But I have seen my gyopo friends struggling with these issues. Now, just for a visit? ****in A, come check it out for a few months by all means. But I think one doesn't start to get a real feel for what living in Korea is really like until about 6 months in the grind.

This probably came off more authoritarian than I wanted it to. I'm admittedly kind of an idiot. But I am observant. And I've been here for awhile.

I think Kyopos definitely face the issues loosekanen talks about but, on average, if you compare them to the typical foreigner, they enjoy their time in Korea way more.

Of course you will get crap sometimes for not speaking the language/understanding the culture as well, but if you are aware of this and show an effort to "reconnect" with your roots (even more so than a foreigner has to, since they expect more), that will go a long way.

That's actually something I hadn't connected. Those problems I mentioned all probably fall under than "reconnect" umbrella. Whereas I, a white guy, am lauded on the surface at least for speaking survival Korean and being as polite as I know how to be, kyopos are expected to do so and the conflict likely arises with their desire, or lack thereof, to do that to the extent of which it's expected. Like, I knew Koreans are very proud and protective of their culture, but I had never made that connection. It's probably something I can never really understand as even a very proud American has what, 10% the cultural history of Koreans? Interesting.

Male "Gyopos" are just treated with all them negativities by Korean males for a couple of reasons.

1. They didn't serve in the army for 21 months as most Koreans males did.
2. They speak English when they're with Koreans.


Mostly, gyopos are just treated with disrespect because the view of them by Korean population, mostly, is that they come here for cheap medical check-ups and etc.

i tried living in seoul this year for 6 months ( i am an MTT pro ) and i couldnt stand it

the sunday grind starts at 1-2am depending on what side of daylight savings you are on (they dont have DST) and the weekly grind starts at 3-4am

the cash games here are quite juicy though, and the saturday tournaments are some of the softest i've ever seen

i also grew tiresome of the general sense of entitlement and arrogance that wealthier people in this country have. and seriously, i am no feminist, but men here are so casually disrespectful toward women it often makes me tilt.

it was difficult for me to choose a place to live as cheaper/lower income areas although safe, were further away from the city centre, good restaurants and seoul's great infrastructure, while the nicer areas (gangnam, etc.) were full of douchebags and princesses as i described in the paragraph before.

also i disagree with the general 'disrespect' that korean males show toward gyopo males.... i actually read it more as inferiority/intimidation, and have never once felt marginalized the same way as i felt growing up in an all-white canadian suburb.

i am a korean kyopo now living here in korean for almost a year. I speak good Korean but not perfect, so everyday life is usually not a problem.

Disrespect towards me I havent had that much so far. I have also often talked about the Army thing. And like 99% of the people who I have talked about that said that I am really lucky and that I shouldnt go there. They say like its a nice experience but I definitely shouldnt go there (I have Korean citizenship but grew up in Germany, due to special reasons I dont have to go to the army).

Disrespect towards women, well... i think if you look at the guys who have girlfriends most of them (not all of course) are like their girlfriends slave (haha, i am a little overexaggerating but basically thats kind of true).

Meh, you might be right as Korean males spend $$$$ to get TOEIC/TOEFL scores high enough to put on their resumes.

sorry ya, clearly i should have been more specific, i was more referring to the older generation of men

seems like almost a role reversal in my generation and younger

Urbanlights,

I just watched the Sunday Million Replay and didn't realize you finished 10th in the event. Congrats Man! Even more congrats on your large Super Tuesday scores!

Are you going to be playing in the upcoming APPT ME here? I'll be trying to win a seat through the satellites and if lucky enough to win one, I'd sell it at a discount.

It would also be great to have a chance to invest a percentage in you for this live event.

yes, id totally agree on that

i don't know if congratulations are in order when i lost 5+ figures in tournament equity in a hand where i was a 2:1 favourite

i've definitely been luckboxing alot lately lol...

--

oh ya, is anyone interested in buying a large amount of stars for KRW? i am looking for around 7-9 mill.

RY

lol i think i need to clarify some of my posts because it somewhat makes me come across as another closeminded westerner.

growing up in Toronto, Canada, i feel i've been brought up in one of the most liberal and open minded environments in the world...

that being said, i would never EVER expect the same personal liberties as i enjoyed back home in another country. it probably helped immensely that my parents worked in the travel industry and i benefited from massive travel discounts that enabled us to basically see alot of the world before becoming adults despite being middle class and generally frugal..

i also dual majored in korean studies (and economics) in probably the top asian studies dept in the western world, so i understand that my perspective of the intricacies of society here is probably unreasonable to expect out of both foreigners and locals..

i think the major flaw or bias that madison79 seems to have and loosekanen refreshingly seems to lack is that we intuitively expect a first world country as economically developed as south korea to be equally socially developed. even when you completely ignore historical justification for xenophobic attitudes (which i think is still a legitimate argument), you need understand one thing--south korea was as poor as north korea 40 years ago, infact there was a brief period when they were poorer. after experiencing an "economic miracle", the south korean economy is now a powerhouse in east asia, with innovation and technological capabilities that even Japan is increasingly beginning to fall behind in.

that being said, the methods for this growth weren't as 'miraculous' as it seems. forced industrialization under a long tenured military dictatorship, horrendous working conditions, little to no consideration for the lower class; korea's living standards during this time was probably just as bad as if not worse than england during the industrial revolution. this type of inorganic growth i believe stifles social progress, and actually impedes economic progress past a certain plateau (for instance, highly educated korean women are massively under-utilized in korea due to antiquated attitudes, as it is shown in the pay disparity between sexes that few if any first world country can rival).

still this is a highly debatable topic where even i have yet to pick a side--is rapid development at the expense of certain groups (minorities, lower class, women) a worthy tradeoff for overall prosperity?

hopefully some of my opinions have shed light to some of the weird social issues that foreigners (myself included) have a tough time adapting to while living in seoul. but unlike madison79 who has chosen to loudly--and both ignorantly and arrogantly IMO--protest, i have simply chosen to leave. i still love seoul, i love this country, and i will always feel 100% ethnically korean, but right now i dont feel like this is the right place for me and my family to live, mostly based on alot of what i said before.

i grew up watching TNG, and as an atheist since before a double digit age, i feel jean-luc picard was my personal substitute for jesus--and one of the lasting impressions the writers of that show left on me was the 'prime directive', a notion that trying to "help" a culture may infact harm it. trying to shove liberal attitudes down the throat of koreans will only cause bitterness, resentment and lasting xenophobia and will not leave enduring impressions.

so i hope my previous comments and generalizations does not indicate any lack of hope for my 'motherland'. i have no doubts that one day south korea (maybe just 'korea'?) will be a land free of all these flaws that many of us have experienced living here. but we as westerners need to give this society a little space--maybe at times we should be a little bit more respectful (i know i definitely need to be), and other times we need to be observant and simply experiential rather than being emotional and reactive (again, another big flaw in my character).

with that, i take back nothing i said earlier, and my resentment of certain aspects of this culture live strong within my psyche.

"when in rome, do as the romans do."

You just have to lol when a Canadian comes in here touting his academic qualifications to understand different cultures and then starts talking about a lack of "social development".

Get your hand off it mate.

i dont know if you actually read my post or not, but i'm ethnically korean and this discussion directly stems from how natives behave/treat my specific type? i have both an insider/outsider (being raised korean and speaking korean 100% fluently/with an academic understanding of various issues in korea) perspective on korean culture / society

i understand how someone could interpret qualifying my perspective as "touting"--i probably could have articulated it better, but absolutely i think sharing the origins of perspective when it comes to race relations is important..i was just trying to say that i am heavily both intellectually and emotionally invested in this subject and that i have a relatively uniquely balanced perspective--not coming from a place of superior perspective as it seemingly came across as (although my wording definitely makes it seem that way).. its a sensitive topic for sure, but needs to be discussed and not really dismissed as you seem to be suggesting..

south korea's social infrastructure is lacking, this is hardly a point of contention or debate within academic or any other circles... women are treated poorly here, as are the disabled, the elderly, immigrants, etc. pretty much anyone who isn't either a westerner or a wealthy korean male is marginalized in someway or another, at least relative to the standards in countries with comparable wealth. or maybe your point is that discrimination in society isn't relevant to social development?

anyway back to poker

i really need to buy some KRW

can ship on pretty much any poker site, skrill, and CAD in the form of EMTs.

anyone else going to jeju ATOP/IPO immediately after APPT?

Yeah honestly i thought urbanlights post made a lot of good points. from a social perspective, Korea's development is equivalent to America in the 1950s. I don't think this will change any time soon, since confucian cultures value social harmony so much and nobody wants to disturb the peace, so to speak.

But this social conservatism is the same reason why the girls are hotter and take such good care of themselves, so from a guy's perspective, you really can't complain. Korea is a man's world.

There's a reason why Korean guys who study/work abroad for a few years always end up back in Korea for good, whereas a large number of Korean girls who study/work abroad end up wanting to settle down in another country once they have gotten a taste of the western world.

how much do you need?

like 7-9mill krw

you'd have to ship first most likely

ah, ok, sorry, cant provide that. good luck though!

I ll take the stars money. We can trade in seven luck or walker hill directly if you want. I won't be back to seoul before the 18th of February.

Edit : Skrill Usd or euro is even better

hey im leaving seoul tomorrow but if you speak to tyson (the lead floor manager at walker) i can arrange to facilitate the trade

also if you transfer to my KEB account i'd ship you right away.. i am a very reputable person on these forums, i've paid out over 100k in the past 2 months alone on big scores/packages