pages tagged expatspwhittonhttps://spwhitton.name//tag/expat/spwhittonikiwiki2015-11-18T17:09:12ZAsian and Western expats comparedhttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/asiansanswesternexpats/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2014-07-13T12:00:00Z
<p><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/DepthHub/comments/2a6qi4/ukoreathrwaway27_explains_why_koreans_and_white/">/u/koreathrwaway27 explains why Koreans and White expats don’t always
mingle in Korea |
reddit</a></p>
<p>Interesting stuff in this this thread and the linked one.</p>
<blockquote><p>So when a new expat or immigrant arrives in a foreign country, his or
her first assumption is to “judge” that culture, and set themselves
apart from it. Food, even though it is common there, is “weird” and
suspicious. Never mind that millions of people like it! If it tastes
weird to me, it’s weird, period. This attitude extends to everything
else. Expats and immigrants might try local things, but most likely
they will do it as an experiment, a foray into a foreign culture.</p>
<p>Why? Because they have two choices: either they embrace the new
culture and go through something like a second “adolescence” where
they’ll be outside their comfort zone all the time… Or they retreat
within their own culture and look at the host culture as something of
an aberration, to be enjoyed in small doses, but nowhere near as good
as their own.</p></blockquote>
<p>It is of course vital not to fall into moral relativism.</p>
Korean foreign English teachers memehttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/waygookinmeme/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2014-01-31T08:44:00Z
<p><a href="http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3t5py2">Korean foreign English teachers
meme</a></p>
The Arrival Storehttps://spwhitton.name//blog/entry/thearrivalstore/2015-11-18T17:09:12Z2013-06-13T23:20:00Z
<p>I was linked to <a href="http://www.thearrivalstore.com/">The Arrival Store</a>
today, a site which will ship you loads of western-style stuff on
arrival in Korea (probably to teach English, as I will be doing). Though
there is the usual butter, cheese etc. which are hard/impossible to get
over there, there is also a list of “must haves” which, apparently,
expats often really really want on arriving. The items on this list are
things like bedding, mattress-pads, large bath towels, a water purifier,
a cleaning kit. They also do smartphones, to try and ensure one’s
Internet access is sorted out before getting the landline connected.</p>
<p>Getting hold of a water purifier probably makes environmental sense
since you can’t drink the tap water in most areas of Korea (not sure
about my area; should find out!), and hardcore cleaning supplies are
something you’re probably going to need thanks to inconsiderate former
teachers who don’t have many obligations regarding the place they leave
you. However, I think that the purifier could wait, and hardcore
cleaning supplies could be packed or you could note down the Korean
words for standard stuff and go get it. You’re going to have to go
shopping soon after arrival whatever. For bedding I was thinking of
taking a sleeping bag, which would be useful for travelling anyway. If
things are so totally terrible, there’s always a 찜질방.</p>
<p>It’d only be worth getting the cleaning stuff, then, if you were
ordering loads of other stuff from this company. And it seems to me that
to do so would to be defeat the whole purpose of trying to integrate
(somewhat) into a completely different culture. Sure Korean mattresses
are harder. Sure the bedding looks quite different. But unless you have
some medical reason why you’ll be made miserable by this (almost
certainly not true for the average person going to Korea to teach), I’m
sure that everyone will get used to it if they give it a chance.
Personally, I think Asian bedding is really cool in how much more
compact it is.</p>
<p>Regarding mobiles—live disconnected for a bit while you figure things
out. Always good to take an opportunity to do that.</p>