aloha from Seoul,Korea

[Tiger Beer]

I'm a mainlander who lived in MI, MN, OR, NY and CA.. but off and on since 1996 been teaching in Seoul, Korea.

I have a filipina fiance (who has US citizenship and lives in the US) and I'm living/working/teaching English in Seoul Korea. She'll be living with me here soon in Seoul.

Anyhow, thats my introduction.. hope to be chatting on this board more often. I've been to Oahu twice now.. and with all the other life experiences and everything else.. Oahu seem ideal! (except for the cost of housing/renting - but we can't have it all)!

Anyhow, whenever I'm finished teaching here in Seoul.. our next destination for living/working will be Honolulu!! I am sure of that!

[Miulang]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

Welcome to HT. So, have you built up a tolerance for the "real" kim chee yet? I'm a spice wuss but I heard that some of that stuff is so powerful that it takes paint off the walls. My Korean food experience thus far has only extended to bulgogi, kalbi, mandoo and bibimbap.

A hui hou,
Miulang

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

Howzit TB. Welcome to HawaiiThreads!

[1stwahine]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

Aloha and welcome to hawaiithreads.com! See you on the boards!

Auntie Lynn

[Tiger Beer]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

Welcome to HT. So, have you built up a tolerance for the "real" kim chee yet? I'm a spice wuss but I heard that some of that stuff is so powerful that it takes paint off the walls. My Korean food experience thus far has only extended to bulgogi, kalbi, mandoo and bibimbap.

A hui hou,
Miulang

speaking of galbi.. i heard that galbi (soemtimes referred to as korean bbq on the mainland) was big on the islands? is that true?

i looked briefly on my last visit.. and didn't see it everywhere.. but did find it in one restaurant for $10 a portion.. great compared to $25 a portion on the mainland (in korea, its around $6 to $9 a portion). So Honolulu its really reasonable!

(for others reading Korean BBQ is when they cook the meat in the middle of your table with the fire. Mmm.. love it. Then place the cooked portion of meat in a lettuce leaf and insert some sauce, rice, etc.) Delicious! I couldn't live without it!

[shaveice]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

just curious, are you thinking of esl work in hawaii? if you have a master's degree in esl, you could shoot for a position at the community colleges or u.h. schools, though the pay is small and they try to keep your hours under 20 to keep from paying you any benefits; and security from one semester to the next isn't usually there...

[DaLink]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

Aloha Tiger! This thread makes me hungry. One of the best places to eat korean food on the island is Waikele BBQ. MMMMM so ONO!

[Tiger Beer]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

just curious, are you thinking of esl work in hawaii? if you have a master's degree in esl, you could shoot for a position at the community colleges or u.h. schools, though the pay is small and they try to keep your hours under 20 to keep from paying you any benefits; and security from one semester to the next isn't usually there...

Yeah, I thought it would be something like that - although I haven't really looked into it.

I'd prefer just a straight 40-hour workweek job.. was thinking of going to the local temp agencies to see what they might offer. Its would be a start. Then go from there.

[shaveice]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

yup, sounds reasonable. please note that i wasn't trying to discourage you, just wanted to let you know what it's like. there's always the exception to the rule.

good luck!

[Tiger Beer]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

Thanks.

Nah, no discouragement there. I already had a general idea what ESL work would entail there. I've gone back and forth a few times between Korea and the U.S., and seems consistent with elsewhere on the mainland.

Usually I end up doing temp work until something stable comes from it. So more or less the same plan with Honolulu (whenever post-Korea comes around the corner).

[EastCoastTropics]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

E komo mai to HawaiiThreads.com!!

[ahola]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

I'm a mainlander who lived in MI, MN, OR, NY and CA.. but off and on since 1996 been teaching in Seoul, Korea.

I have a filipina fiance (who has US citizenship and lives in the US) and I'm living/working/teaching English in Seoul Korea. She'll be living with me here soon in Seoul.

Anyhow, thats my introduction.. hope to be chatting on this board more often. I've been to Oahu twice now.. and with all the other life experiences and everything else.. Oahu seem ideal! (except for the cost of housing/renting - but we can't have it all)!

Anyhow, whenever I'm finished teaching here in Seoul.. our next destination for living/working will be Honolulu!! I am sure of that!

I spent my high school sophomore year at the Seoul Foreign School in Yunhi-Dong right behind Yonsei University.Is the school still there?I loved my year of non-stop partying there and back in the late 70s everything was so cheap and the dollar went a really long way.We lived in the UN Village and I and my friends would go all over Itaewon and Myungdong.I know it is now as modern and expensive as Tokyo,etc.,but plan to visit there soon and eat all the yakee mondoo and kalbi and kimchee chige.Anongikeseu and comsomnida!

[Tiger Beer]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

I spent my high school sophomore year at the Seoul Foreign School in Yunhi-Dong right behind Yonsei University.Is the school still there?I loved my year of non-stop partying there and back in the late 70s everything was so cheap and the dollar went a really long way.We lived in the UN Village and I and my friends would go all over Itaewon and Myungdong.I know it is now as modern and expensive as Tokyo,etc.,but plan to visit there soon and eat all the yakee mondoo and kalbi and kimchee chige.Anongikeseu and comsomnida!

You are still okay with prices. Nowhere near the prices of Japan yet! I've been over to Japan five times now.. and blown away with the prices in comparison to South Korea.

That being said.. the cost isn't dirt cheap anymore from those I've met who had lived in Korea even 15-20 years ago, let alone the late 1970s.

One thing that is probably still the same.. its still a non-stop party place for Koreans and foreigners alike. There is no 'closing time'.. so its quite easy to actually drink 24 hours if someone is prone to that. (When I was first here in 1996, the bars closed at midnight - but thats been lifted maybe 7-8 years ago).

How was it back then when you were here?

[ahola]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

You are still okay with prices. Nowhere near the prices of Japan yet! I've been over to Japan five times now.. and blown away with the prices in comparison to South Korea.

That being said.. the cost isn't dirt cheap anymore from those I've met who had lived in Korea even 15-20 years ago, let alone the late 1970s.

One thing that is probably still the same.. its still a non-stop party place for Koreans and foreigners alike. There is no 'closing time'.. so its quite easy to actually drink 24 hours if someone is prone to that. (When I was first here in 1996, the bars closed at midnight - but thats been lifted maybe 7-8 years ago).

How was it back then when you were here?

It was very strict back then for Koreans with Park Chung Hee and the North Korean threat.There was a midnight curfew and the city was blacked out.There was a lot of paranoia as they found all these spy tunnels under the DMZ and that was also the time when University students starting having big protests against the government and they were very rough ones.All Korean men had to serve in the military and have short hair and I had some Asian-American friends pulled into alleys by cops because they had long hair and when the cops found out they were Americans they apologized profusely and let them go.If they had been Korean citizens it would have been haircut time.Back then being Americans and even being young teenagers we had a lot of freedom and leeway there.Cigarettes and beer were like a dime and "happy smoke" was about a dollar an ounce.We all had motorcycles and no licenses and rode to the mountains and beaches and partied non-stop.I know it has changed a lot and can't wait to see it again after all these years.

[Tiger Beer]

Re: aloha from Seoul,Korea

Aloha once again!

I disappeared from these threads for about 3-4 months.. 2-3 of those months I was down in the Philippines with my sweet Filipina girlfriend.. hehe

Back online.. and back in Seoul once again.

However.. I'm planning to be in Honolulu this Summer for anywhere from 6-12 weeks.. can't wait.

(Basically I teach at a university in Seoul with paid vacations.. while its not a lot of money.. its enough I might be able to escape by in expensive Honolulu for the summer - as long as I look for some temp work at the temp agencies as well!).. which I'm more than willing to do!