Society & Politics

Why Living in South Korea Often Times Sucks (Journal Entry)

Why Living in South Korea Often Times Sucks (Journal Entry)

So, today I just got some really bad news. Like, less than an hour ago. Writing helps me cope with things, so I won't cry like a little bitch. I kinda feel like it... A job I was guaranteed to get, that was supposed to change my life for the slightly-better, I didn't get. I was 99% assured to get it, but then they checked my current job reference. And instead of talking to the person who the employer was supposed to be talking to, this motherfucker sends it up the chain, to the lazy ass manager, who is the main reason I'm leaving this job, as is. I don't know what kind of shit she said about me, but I went from "99% chance of getting hired" on Saturday to "Sorry, but we're not going to be working together" today, on Tuesday. And I'm sure this cunt had something to do with it. There's nothing else out there. That job was the one chance; the last shot. And while news like this isn't new to me; I am just SO fucking sick of it. I'm so sick of how unfair and shitty life can be.

I mean, I can get into how South Korea openly discriminates. I've said it a bunch of times; I don't care about race or ethnicity. It's stupid. But apparently, everyone else does. And South Korea actually IS a racist-as-fuck country, for the most part. Most of Asia is. It's obviously "not all." Probably not even "most." Just the people in power. And I'm not a Progressive or say that lightly. I despise the idea of "playing the race card" and it makes my skin crawl. But this is the legitimate truth. While SJW's whine and bitch about imaginary bullshit and microaggressions in the West, among the most tolerant and accepting people on Earth (that aren't woke), South Korea openly discriminates, often very bluntly as well. If you're not white, you're not even considered "Western" for the most part. They think you're Cambodian or Brazilian or some shit. They actually treat non-Korean Asians the worst. They also tend to not want men as teachers either, because they assume there must be a 50% chance of a male teacher being a fucking pedophile (as if women can't be).

I'm not here to bitch about that, though. Just the fact that I have LITERALLY been job hunting for nearly three months now and have gotten jack-shit for it. I have a fucking Masters in English and two years of teaching experience here, but will literally be passed up for a 22 year old blonde-haired, slim white girl with no teaching experience, who just got a degree in Gender Studies, merely because she "looks American" and is female. It's such horseshit. I can understand being less likely to be hired, but to be rejected over someone with no experience, no credentials, and not even a good attitude, merely due to how they look, is such crap. I can handle "harder," but not "damn near impossible." Not getting a decent job in Seoul means I can't get my own place there.

This shit is the norm, here.
This shit is the norm, here.
Getting rejected for 6 out of 8 positions in a row (and later, the other two).
Getting rejected for 6 out of 8 positions in a row (and later, the other two).

I've been trying to get a home in a certain part of Seoul. As a foreigner, our homes and visas are tied to our jobs. You CAN get your own place, but South Korea's housing system is so fucking stupid. You basically have to put down a security deposit on average of $10,000. After that, you get the honor to pay rent somewhere for the rest of your life. You can also just pay rent in one-lump sum for a year or two. So it's like the Western system of renting an apartment, but having to pay like, a year's worth for the security deposit, instead of three months worth. Either way, you basically can't own your own home in South Korea, like you can in the West, and to even come close to having some breathing room for a few months, you have to have a lot of money saved up. $10,000 is usually on the low end. $5,000 will get you a crap-sack place with poor heating and ventilation.

But regardless, I've been trying to get my own semi-permanent place in Seoul and not have to rely on the garbage housing the company or academy gives us; which is usually just the "bare minimum" to count as housing, and something like 18 square meters, or what would be known in the US as an efficiency studio that doesn't even have a shower or studio (no-showers are actually common in Korea; instead they have this shitty hose hooked up to the sink and that shitty showerhead counts as your "shower," as opposed to a normal shower booth or bathtub shower like EVERY place in North America has). if I had my own place, and not "provided housing," I could choose a place with a real shower (often, in "officetels," which are often 30 square meters and the closest things to North American apartments you can get) and finally feel like I live here, and aren't just slumming it in a motel every 6 to 9 months at a time.

In short, I can't get a decent job because South Korea openly fucking discriminates against non-whites and males. I can't get my own place without a decent job in the district where I want to live. And this leads to my main gripe, without my own place that isn't a shoebox, I can't make new friends!

This part alone pisses me off because it's once again, based on bullshit outside of my control. I ideally would've liked to have a girlfriend and possibly even a wife before I gave up the idea of marriage. But me being a short-shit little fucking manlet, and ugly, and small-dicked, and with a medical illness (Hypothyroidism), has shut the window on that permanently. Though that's not an accurate way to put it; the window was never open to begin with. Sure, I've had ex girlfriends in the past. But only two of them didn't end up using and hurting me. So 2 out of 9 weren't complete turds who tried to use me and be my sugar baby before finding out I didn't have any money to give them and wasn't a good "rebound" guy.

Regardless, I won't talk about literally being undateable to most women out there. I accept that. I just want legitimate friends. Male or female. Another issue with Korea is, most of them are ONLY going to be in the Seoul area. South Korea only has about 51 million people in it. 14 million of them, or basically one-third of the entire country, lives in the greater Seoul area; the city itself and all its suburbs, collectively known as the Gyeonggi area. And when it comes to the 3 million foreigners living in South Korea, 97% of them live in the Gyeonggi "Seoul & suburbs" area. In short, if you're not living in Seoul or within an hour's trip of it, you aren't meeting any foreigners, let alone any American, Canadian, British, or Australian foreigners. I already talked about how Koreans (at least, the rich and powerful ones) generally don't like non-whites; what do you think the chances are they'll date or befriend one?

Either way, you need your own place to have friends here as a foreigner. Furthermore, it needs to not be a shoebox, which is the real issue. And this is especially the case if you work a schedule different to theirs. This is especially true if you want to make English-speaking Korean friends, because many of them live with their moms and dads, and Korean homes are really tiny; so you'll be the ones inviting them over; not you going to their place.

So my only shot of having friends or any kind of social circle lies in being in Seoul. And having arrived here in my first year and lived in the middle of nowhere, Daejeon (basically the Cleveland of Korea and just as bad), I don't want to go back to living in nowhere, even if there's a smaller chance of the outer Seoul area (ironically) being less discriminatory when it comes to job hires.

So, I can't get my own place because the academies are racist and sexist in their hiring, in a legitimate, non-SJW sense, and I can't make friends without my own place to hang out with on the weekend. All because I'm not a perky white female. It's times like this that make me question if I should even stay in this country. It's really not all that great. But then I look at America right now and the shitshow of the Biden administration. I can't go back to THAT, nor would I want to. I escaped the US for a reason.

So I don't know what I'm going to do. I was 99% about to enter the golden circle and get a job in Daechi, a great downtown part of Seoul. But then these fucking cocksucker backstabbers fucked me over with the references check. Now, I might not even get to stay near Seoul in order to avoid being homeless here (once again). America is a shitshow right now, but I'm not liking South Korea too much either. I'd even say don't come here if you're not a female. It's not worth it for the way they shit on men in the education industry, especially non-white men. But maybe your experience might be different. I dunno. I just had to get this off my chest.

Why Living in South Korea Often Times Sucks (Journal Entry)
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