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Daughter moving to Seoul for a year

Thump553

Thump553

Lifer
My daughter is going to teach English in an elementary school in Seoul, South Korea for a year starting this fall. I know next to nothing about Seoul, what should she expect? Is it an expensive place to live? She will be learning Korean while over there-is that doable/

Finally, her laptop is dying/dead. Better to buy a replacement here or get one over there?
 
My brother in law spent a few years in Seoul when he was a teenager (his father was a contractor for the airforce). The best story he had was about his sister, who was walking down the street. She noticed a store that had a cute little dog in its window. She didn't know Korean but she could barter so she fixed the price and the shop owner took the dog, she assumed he was getting a leash or something to carry the dog home. He came back with a little bag and tried to give it to her. It took her a minute or two to realize it was the dog meat. She screamed and ran off leaving the shop owner there with the meat.

Apparently she was traumatized and refused to go shopping for months.
 
Originally posted by: Bignate603
My brother in law spent a few years in Seoul when he was a teenager (his father was a contractor for the airforce). The best story he had was about his sister, who was walking down the street. She noticed a store that had a cute little dog in its window. She didn't know Korean but she could barter so she fixed the price and the shop owner took the dog, she assumed he was getting a leash or something to carry the dog home. He came back with a little bag and tried to give it to her. It took her a minute or two to realize it was the dog meat. She screamed and ran off leaving the shop owner there with the meat.

Apparently she was traumatized and refused to go shopping for months.
Click to expand...

:thumbsdown: 🙁
 
Originally posted by: Thump553
My daughter is going to teach English in an elementary school in Seoul, South Korea for a year starting this fall. I know next to nothing about Seoul, what should she expect? Is it an expensive place to live? She will be learning Korean while over there-is that doable/

Finally, her laptop is dying/dead. Better to buy a replacement here or get one over there?
Click to expand...
I spent some time over there this and last year. Seoul is a big sprawling place so it's hard to say what to expect, but generally it has some similarities with other big cities like New York City. After the initial culture shock I'm sure she'll have no problem living there, as it is more accessible to foreigners than other places in Korea. The mass transit system is also in English, and she'll be able to shop at Costco or a super-Walmart type store if she wants.

Housing is expensive but I imagine that is taken care of by her school. Everything else is cheap or comparable to living in the U.S. Saving money shouldn't be a problem.

Contrary to my expectation, laptops and electronics aren't really much cheaper or better over there than they are here. Prices are about the same, and she'll have to buy an English OS and change the power cord when she moves back home.

I'd say learning some Korean in a year is doable, as the language is (in my opinion) more straightforward than Chinese or Japanese.
 
Originally posted by: Bignate603
My brother in law spent a few years in Seoul when he was a teenager (his father was a contractor for the airforce). The best story he had was about his sister, who was walking down the street. She noticed a store that had a cute little dog in its window. She didn't know Korean but she could barter so she fixed the price and the shop owner took the dog, she assumed he was getting a leash or something to carry the dog home. He came back with a little bag and tried to give it to her. It took her a minute or two to realize it was the dog meat. She screamed and ran off leaving the shop owner there with the meat.

Apparently she was traumatized and refused to go shopping for months.
Click to expand...

There are special dogs raised that provide the meat. They are usually not too little nor really cute.
 
She should expect a mysogenist, hyper-religious and xenophobic culture that will probably be outwardly plesant but secretly resent her even being there. Traditional Koreans consider western culture and westerners to be immoral and inferior. This was the impression I got after a year of dating an American Korean with a traditional South Korean family living in Korea. Eventually her friends abandoned her and her family threatened to disown her for dating a caucasian. She eventually submitted to an arranged marriage with an abusive Korean man.
 
Originally posted by: Snatchface
She should expect a mysogenist, hyper-religious and xenophobic culture that will probably be outwardly plesant but secretly resent her even being there. Traditional Koreans consider western culture and westerners to be immoral and inferior. This was the impression I got after a year of dating an American Korean with a traditional South Korean family living in Korea. Eventually her friends abandoned her and her family threatened to disown her for dating a caucasian. She eventually submitted to an arranged marriage with an abusive Korean man.
Click to expand...

truth.
koreans are very conceited.
 
Originally posted by: Snatchface
She should expect a mysogenist, hyper-religious and xenophobic culture that will probably be outwardly plesant but secretly resent her even being there. Traditional Koreans consider western culture and westerners to be immoral and inferior. This was the impression I got after a year of dating an American Korean with a traditional South Korean family living in Korea. Eventually her friends abandoned her and her family threatened to disown her for dating a caucasian. She eventually submitted to an arranged marriage with an abusive Korean man.
Click to expand...

:roll:
 
Originally posted by: Snatchface
She should expect a mysogenist, hyper-religious and xenophobic culture that will probably be outwardly plesant but secretly resent her even being there. Traditional Koreans consider western culture and westerners to be immoral and inferior. This was the impression I got after a year of dating an American Korean with a traditional South Korean family living in Korea. Eventually her friends abandoned her and her family threatened to disown her for dating a caucasian. She eventually submitted to an arranged marriage with an abusive Korean man.
Click to expand...

Sounds just like Uhmerica.
 
Originally posted by: Snatchface
She should expect a mysogenist, hyper-religious and xenophobic culture that will probably be outwardly plesant but secretly resent her even being there. Traditional Koreans consider western culture and westerners to be immoral and inferior. This was the impression I got after a year of dating an American Korean with a traditional South Korean family living in Korea. Eventually her friends abandoned her and her family threatened to disown her for dating a caucasian. She eventually submitted to an arranged marriage with an abusive Korean man.
Click to expand...

you can insert any culture/race/ethnicity into the description above.
 
Originally posted by: Snatchface
She should expect a mysogenist, hyper-religious and xenophobic culture that will probably be outwardly plesant but secretly resent her even being there. Traditional Koreans consider western culture and westerners to be immoral and inferior. This was the impression I got after a year of dating an American Korean with a traditional South Korean family living in Korea. Eventually her friends abandoned her and her family threatened to disown her for dating a caucasian. She eventually submitted to an arranged marriage with an abusive Korean man.
Click to expand...

:roll:

Originally posted by: Thump553
My daughter is going to teach English in an elementary school in Seoul, South Korea for a year starting this fall. I know next to nothing about Seoul, what should she expect? Is it an expensive place to live? She will be learning Korean while over there-is that doable/

Finally, her laptop is dying/dead. Better to buy a replacement here or get one over there?
Click to expand...

Property costs are ALOT higher over there.

Korean isn't that hard to learn either.

Buy over here. No guarantee that the specific battery will be available in Korea.
 
I'm loving all the ethnic stereotypes and prejudices making their way out in this thread...

In Korea the cost of goods is generally more expensive, especially in Seoul... buy any electronics you need here, you won't find it any cheaper there. Don't forget converter plugs. If anything those who know your daughter immediately will probably be friendly as it is the norm to be friendly to your child's teacher (even to the extent of near-bribery with gifts). After all, even if they are generally xenophobic, the child's knowledge of English can influence his/her future considerably in terms of college/career prospects. It's in their best interest to treat the teacher well and hope the teacher gives proper attention to their child.

There will certainly be culture shock, so be prepared for that.
 
A lot of koreans try hard to act and appear like western whites. I dont think a place like seoul would be a problem unless dealing with back streets and alleyways.
 
Thanks for all the comments (correct that, most of the comments). The school she works for is providing her living quarters as part of the package (she thinks single person apartment, I'm expecting something more like a dorm room). She should adapt there pretty well-she spent a half year in Buenos Aires and a half year in London in college.

Time to hit the Hot Deals section for laptop and camera deals, I suppose. I assume it's better to get a cellphone over there.

One final question for those experienced with Korea-is there anything you would suggest she bring-that is hard to get or uncommon there? Or as gifts for her students (kindergarten, first & second grade, I think)?
 
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