Korea's fast lane

Do you ever have those moments where you stop for a second and realize where you are? YOU. Living and working in Asia. Seeing adorable little Asian kids running around everywhere, everyday. You feel like Gulliver- someone just picked you up with their giant hand and dropped you in the middle of Asia. Alone. Well that was my experience and I'm here to tell y'all about it.

Welcome to my first blog !!!!   ^_^

Korea is packed with foreign teachers all here for more or less the same reason... the money and the experience. Half of them (the foreigners) didn't even know Korea existed before coming here. Honestly, I knew Korea existed but to me it was a blur -  Chinese, Japanese, Koreans etc and even today I still find it a little difficult to distinguish between them. It's a valid stereotype, the same way Koreans/ Asians think all black/brown people come from Africa. Pssshhhh.

There are some distinguishing traits which all of y'all should know. Koreans for example, are taller than Chinese and Japanese. Japanese on the other hand are able to grow a lot more facial hair than Koreans LOL. No just kidding. My travels haven't taken me to Japan yet (scared of tsunamis). Finally, Japanese people tend to have longer oval faces, wider eyes and a more pronounced nose. Chinese have wider faces than Japanese and Korean's. And... Korean's have wide flatter faces, squarer cheek bones, smaller eyelids and according to randomwire.com a high proportion of Korean women have had cosmetic surgery thus confusing things. LOL. Anyway it's all just generalization like saying all black people can sing, dance etc.


So back to the main reason. Korea is one of the highest paying countries in the field of EFL teaching (after Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, I think). Korea is probably not as beautiful as the other countries but definitely exciting and interesting nevertheless. AND easy to save money.  

Next week will mark my 22nd month here in Korea and below is a list of the top 10 things I love about this place: 

1. The money

Not gonna lie about this. As a student straight out of University, this job gives me everything that I want and need financially.  The 2 million + that I get in my bank account every month makes me very happy. I haven't saved much though, but I'm okay with that :) Ka-ching baby !!!! 

2. Buying anything that I want

This is probably the most liberating thing about the working world. Being able to buy whatever your heart desires. Whether its clothes, shoes, household stuff or techno goodies. Being here has allowed me to get in there with everything. I get to feel important about myself because I can walk into Zara and ACTUALLY totally buy whatever I want. Of course my bank balance wouldn't be too happy about it but anyway you live once, don't you   >>>>>  ^_^ 

3. Amazing friends

The amazing friends that I made here will be immensely missed. My Facebook friends list rocketed from 400 and something in South Africa, to just under 700 in Korea. I'm trying to keep my list under 700 because that's my limit  hahaha NOT.  I've made friends from almost every continent, including countries like USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Korea, Thailand, China, Iran (don't ask), Uzbekistan and of course a ton of friends from South Africa. The next two months will be very emotional for me knowing it's going to be my last time with so many of these amazing people. Luckily I'll reunite with most of them in my motherland. For those of ya'll who I won't ever see again, well, you can catch me in Men's Vogue. January 2013 edition. That is all.

4. My job/ students

One of my favourite 2nd grade students
Chan Ho, at our school sports day. 

A few 1st grade students at my after
school class. 

After my second year at University, my life took an unusual turn (No I didn't get pregnant nor did I get hooked on drugs). I found myself on a path I never thought I'd follow. In my third year I got a part-time job as a writing tutor at my University, helping students with legal English. In my fourth and final year I was appointed tutor of first-year students, fresh out of High school. In the first year of my masters degree, again, I got a job which was somewhere between tutor and lecturer blah blah blah...  All this while completing my degree. With this being said, blah blah blah I never thought that I'd ever be in Korea teaching English. But then again, I never thought I'd ever do all those other things at Uni either. I love teaching. While it's not my passion, I love it a lot and the students make it worthwhile. I look at their cute faces everyday thinking about how I have to leave them in 2 months and how hard it's gonna be. I might shed a tear or two.  ㅠㅠ

5. Department Stores

This is one of my favourite places to shop. Why? Because it has the likes of Guess, Hang Ten, UniQlo, Levi's, Ralph Lauren, Clinique, The Face and Body Shop etc, all under one roof- SHOPPERS PARADISE!!! A little more expensive than other places (like markets) but definitely worth it. I go to a Dept store at least once a month to check out the sales (OOPS my secret is out!). 

6. Fashionistas

Fashionista: A designer, promoter or follower of the latest fashion. (Please get the pronunciation right if you plan to say this word in a conversation). Fashion-ista (like Vista).

Korea is probably the most stylish, well-dressed country that I've been to in Asia. Koreans, namely the younger generations, base their fashion on what local celebrities are wearing. In Asian fashion, Japan and Korea are definitely the trendsetters/ fashionistas. Again I don't think too much is happening anywhere else in Asia, despite not having been there. Nevertheless feel free to correct/ inform me. ^^

The picture on the right is a member of the popular boy band 'Big Bang' sporting a black skirt. I've since seen a few guys rocking black skirts too. It's mainly the fashion forward and trendy guys who are willing to take such risks. 

On the left, a picture of another boy group with one of the members rocking a skirt with leggings. Not quite sure what the guy on the far right is wearing but it's hot nonetheless :) 

 

Girls' Generation on the left working the little black dress. LOVE!  

The ladies, no doubt, are the most stylish of the sexes. 

7. The internet

Korea's internet is the fastest and best in the world. Don't believe it?? GOOGLE it. Or you can just believe me when I say that you can download a movie in about 10mins flat. Sometimes even quicker depending on your connection speed and where you are. For this reason many of us fill our time with movie and series watching, lots of downloading and just general mindless internet browsing. How much? FREE (although sometimes it's included in the rent of your apartment, but either way it's not expensive at all).  Definitely going to miss this luxury in South Africa. Oh, did I mention it's uncapped? Yeah take that MWEB!

8. Ease and convenience 

Living and working in a city where you have everything right on your door step is definitely a plus. Post offices in every area (Yeah I post stuff everyday... NOT), coffee shops and a ton of restaurants on every corner, cellphone stores and  optometrists (Yes I get my eyes tested daily, don't you?), a hundred marts (supermarkets/convenient stores) all over the place- you have everything you need conveniently located. To be fair though, Korea is tiny compared to South Africa and other countries so it's logical that everything is so compact. Anyway Size doesn't matter. Or does it? That's the question. ('',)

9. Gmarket

Gmarket. Wow. Where do I even start. From clothes and shoes to pets (yes, actual pets) and adult toys. This is a one stop shop for everything you want and need. But... sitting at your desk 'adding to cart' is dangerous because you get very mouse-happy and just end up clicking away for hours. Gmarket is truly THAT awesome and delivery is usually free or a mere 2500won (R18). All you need to do is register with your details and then you're good to go. You have the choice of paying with your credit card or you can do an internet bank transfer or ATM transfer. Among our friends, my friend Fay is the gmarket mascot-she buys stuff on there at least once a week- be it clothes, shoes, household stuff or bum warmers, she's really getting in there. Her school is already aware that at a certain time every week there will be a delivery guy with a package for her. I swear if she ever gets married she'll buy everything, including her ring on gmarket LOL ^_^ Fimil.

10. Being a novelty

That's what I'm talkin' about. 

Being tall, brown and skinny I'm kind of a novelty here in Korea. Why? Because the average height for men is about 173cm and I am a whopping 183cm! Yay for being tall! Also the fact that I have brown skin means I stick out in the sea of pale-skinned, colourless Koreans. Usually people stare at me. I'm used to it now and anyway it's not as much as it used to be. It's not surprising though. Having worked at a girls high school for a year, I know that it's every girls dream to date/marry a guy who
1) is above 180cm
2) has big eyes
3) doesn't wear glasses and
4) is skinny.
------> Here's to finding a Korean girlfriend!!!! Ha!

Thanks for reading my first blog. Please take time out to ready my next one ^^

Much love and peace,

Shauno