Korea: The good, the bad and the ugly.

So, it is time for me to write a final piece on my time here in Gimhae, South Korea. With only three more days to go I find that I am trying to summarise my feelings on this last year and so I shall write them down and share them with you.


I haven’t had a particularly smooth time since I last updated this blog due to a fall out with my manager which, for once, was not my fault at all. The argument was a build up of a lot of things but I pretty much knew that it would have to happen eventually because my boss told me on one of our meetings that he didn’t like strong women. I am stubborn to the core, am not afraid to fight for my beliefs or to stand up for myself and I hate taking orders from people that don’t know how to do their job properly. So, we were never meant to be. So this argument, which my boss decided to instigate whilst I was in the middle of teaching a class of adult students, has changed our relationship quite drastically. I no longer have any respect for him which he can’t comprehend (especially as I am a younger woman) and he also knows that he stepped totally out of line but doesn’t know how to apologise to me. So, for the last three weeks there has been a lot of tension between us. This incident and the fact that he then moved us into a studio flat with only a single bed for us to share for our remaining two weeks has obviously tainted my view on some things.

But, let me begin with the good and the things that I have enjoyed about being here. The first thing that springs to mind is the mountains. I have absolutely loved living in a mountainous country where I can easily go hiking in the countryside whenever I want. The landscape is dramatic and beautiful and I really admire the way that it changes colours so dramatically during every season; the bare and barren winter where the trees are stripped of any flesh, the golden warmth of autumn where the mountains almost glow, the lush vibrant greens of the summer and the flourishing cherry blossom of spring. Each season has its own assets and I have really enjoyed living in a country where I get to experience the cycle of such definite seasons.

People have also had a significant influence on my opinions and feelings about Korea. I have met both good and bad and they have affected me in different ways. There is no doubt in my mind that the majority of women here in Korea, especially those who are providing a service, are kind, generous, amiable people. Some of them have gone the extra mile for us and have made our time here to be more comfortable than it could have been. The family that I have spent time with in the last six months have been one of the highlights of my time here. They have shown great pride for their country and have wanted us to experience the best parts that it has to offer. They have also shown great interest in our lives and our culture and we have shared opinions on a huge array of topics. Their generosity has been overwhelming and they have been a very positive influence on the way I feel about the last year. I think it is incredibly easy to come to Korea and do the same that you would do in your own country- wake up, go to work, come home, go for a drink, bitch about work, go to bed, repeat. Koreans don’t always make it easy for you to immerse yourself in their culture and the continuous pointing, staring and shouts of “foreigner!” make it difficult for you to be anything more than an alien here. And so I am thankful to the family I met for allowing me to have a genuine experience of Korean life and for treating me as a friend not a foreigner.

As well as the local people here, I have met some wonderful people from other Western countries which I am very thankful for. We have been incredibly lucky to have some really kind, interesting and welcoming western teachers at our school and their friendships have been a fundamental part in the last year. They are people that we hope to keep in touch with and I’m sure our paths will cross again in the future. It was also really great to live close to Sarah and Jake, whom I have missed a lot since their departure at the beginning of March. Friends are very important when you are living in a rather strange world that doesn’t work the way you are used to.

And it has been wonderful to save a substantial amount of money for the first time in my life.

There are, of course, negatives about being here, which I will try not to dwell on too much. I don’t know if I would ever come back to Korea, but if I did, I would NEVER work for a Korean businessman ever again. In my experience, they are sly, dishonest, selfish, manipulative, unappreciative, uncaring, canny, unorganised, unreasonable and ruthless. While I may be tainting all Korean businessmen with one brush, I know of so many people that have had various problems with their managers usually through no fault of their own- myself included. They value money above their staff’s welfare and they will always try to squeeze a little bit more out of you without giving anything back. Never again would I work in a private academy.

I really hate all the concrete here and the endless blocks of drab apartments. The cities are grey and charmless and each and every one looks the same as the last one. I have never really been able to feel the soul of Korea in the cities, they lack character and appeal for me- I find myself longing for the cobbled streets of Dubrovnik or the historic architecture of Rome.

Another thing I despise is K-Pop which I hope I never have to hear again. It really is hollow music, mass produced for all the muppets who idolise the talentless idiots that sing it. Wherever you go, there will always be one shop or market stall playing it. I know that the UK has a whole host of disgusting boy-bands and pop idol winners, but it is very easy to escape it. In Korea, listening to K-Pop isn’t a choice; it is a way of life.

One thing that has really stuck with me about this place is how proud people are of their country and how willing almost everybody is to work for Korea’s future. Whether this is good or bad, I am still not sure, it is almost definitely a mixture of the two, but it is certainly interesting. People here really do care about Korea and its international reputation. They want it to do well and so they do things to ensure that- protectionism is one of them. Korea has recovered from the economic crisis with a vengeance and its future looks positive. People here always buy Korean because that is what is predominately on offer. This means that there is a massive lack of variety, but it helps to strengthen the country’s economy. Everybody here, from the kids to the grandmas will tell you that they are proud to be Korean and they genuinely believe Korea is the best country in the world. Sometimes this frustrates me because it can come from arrogance rather than knowledge, but I do feel that Britain could do with a few spoonfuls of this attitude. The younger generation don’t really care about Britain, they take it for granted. Even worse, some vandalise and destroy it. In Korea, people care about their surroundings- the public exercise parks are undamaged and kids are allowed to run free because the crime rate is so low. So, despite how incredibly frustrated I have felt about the pig-headedness of some Koreans at times, I think there is a thing or two us Brits could learn from them....maybe.