View Comments to “SeoulPodcast #74: Expats Unite”

1. Roboseyo Says:
   October 5th, 2009 at 12:53 am

   You SHOULD use Paul’s GO2MYPC thingy every time… including the “oh bugger! I got it wrong” part.

2. Brian Says:
   October 5th, 2009 at 6:24 pm

   It might be interesting to do a podcast more about living outside of Seoul. I have to disagree a little about what you all were saying about living outside of it, though, chiefly about learning Korean. It’s true that I use Korean 100% of the time in Suncheon/Jeonnam/Gwangju, but my possibilities for improvement are limited. Quality Korean classes are hard to come by, whereas in Seoul I could more easily find a number of Korean classes to fit into a work schedule.

   I know it might be a little shocking to come to a city like Gwangju—still big compared to where I’m from—but, really, most of Korea looks the same. Get dropped off in any city block in the country, with few exceptions, and it’ll look like 90% of other city blocks in the country.

   Stafford is a little off on the rural allowances, too. When I taught in Gangjin county—at three schools, including one with 49 students—I didn’t get any rural bonuses. Those are reserved for four counties in Jeollanam-do. I did get transportation expenses, but that added up to 80,000 won. Restaurants are generally cheaper, but if you want to spend money, you can.

3. Joseph Steinberg Says:
   October 8th, 2009 at 9:22 am

   I’m proud to be your FB page fan! I’m also probably the only listener who wants SeoulPodcast to run for three hours just to have some intelligible conversation to enjoy during my long bus rides. I’d also volunteer to pickup the slack, but my slow connection and faulty equipment would reduce the technical quality of the show to a version of Atari.

   But, please do check out the Apollo Project at bloggingheads.tv. It could really help the podcast.

   On a substantive note, youth unemployment, due to the lack of small and medium enterprises, the male surplus in the population, and the USFK factor I think accounts for most of the resentment South Korean men feel. Not to mention, most people blame the US for this “recession” – even though South Korean sovereign wealth funds continue to do their share to aggravate this mess. I think this is what Robert Koehler calls “nationalism” – as if it were a fact of life. I think expats and immigrants are easy targets for people who have legit grievances, but for whom even drunken conversation with friends and family is not enough. I hear enough complaints, just not the ones that include me as the culprit. I’m glad I’m not South Korean.

4. Denise Says:
   October 13th, 2009 at 1:26 pm

   I think this is the episode where you mentioned a site that has Koreanized folk stories for adult classes (I listened to a few in a row, so I might be wrong). I can’t seem to find it in the show notes, what’s the website?

5. Good Jen Says:
   November 2nd, 2009 at 11:54 am

   Denise, sorry, we haven’t posted a new episode in a while, so I haven’t looked over here. Is this the site you are talking about?
   http://www.tbsenglish.com/prglist_aod.asp?prgcode=1301

   If not, I’ll try to find what it was.

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