Foreigner Abroad In Korea, The Good and Bad part 1

Living overseas can sometimes feel like paradise and yet other times feel like hell. There are many variables that cause people to have both good and bad experiences living in another country. Having been raised in Ontario Canada, I decided to teach abroad for a year after finishing university. Fast forward 6 years and I am still loving the experience living abroad.

That's not to say that there haven't been difficult and trying times. Language, culture, food, working conditions, social norms, and many other things can cause problems that only occur while living in a foreign country.

So to mark my 6 years of living and teaching in South Korea, I've written a blog post about both the good and bad that I have experienced thus far. This post will only include the good. Stay tuned in the following days for the bad. click the follow button so you don't miss out

@jasonshick

The Good

The Geography
South Korea is a small, densely packed country, but they have managed to make the most of their limited space. I can stand on my roof top and see mountains looking in one direction and a beautiful beach looking in the other direction.

Mountains in the backyard

Cheap Transportation
Taxis are reasonably priced, the meter doesn't go up every 5 seconds like back home and the cabs are nice comfortable cars. The subway is cheap and cleanly and runs on a tight schedule. The buses are another great alternative and you can get anywhere you want to go using the bus system. However traffic congestion can definitely slow you down. For longer journeys there are several train options, the slow train, the medium paced train and the fast train. you can get from one end of the country to the other in less than 4 hours using the fast train which travels around 300km/h.

Safety and Security
South Korea is definitely the safest country I have ever been in (I've been to roughly 20 countries). Despite what the media will have you believe about the omnipresent notion of North Korea launching nuclear missiles, The Korean people are generally very respectful of others property. There are always exceptions to the rules, but in general I don't worry about my livelihood and the threat of danger.

I have never felt scared walking alone at night

The Convenience of EVERYTHING
Because South Korea is a densely packed country, they build up instead of out. It is common for most buildings to have stores and restaurants on the first several floors and then apartments higher up. To give a quick example of the convenience in Korea... my apartment has a convenience store on the first floor, there is a bus stop in front of my apartment, the subway is a 2 minute walk, there is a grocery store across the street, there are 2 movie theaters within a 5 minute walk, there are 3 Starbucks within a 10 minute walk and there is a department store for all your shopping needs within a 5 minute walk. Convenience overload.

The beach is only a 10 minute walk from my house

Cost of Living
Now depending on who you are and where you're originally from, this can be a debatable topic, but in genereal the cost of living is lower than back home (Canada). My rent is under $500 per month in a major city, I can live for roughly $1000 a month, this includes entertainment and not living too frivolously. On top of that, Korea is not a tipping culture and tax is included in your price, so when having a meal or drinks on the town, it's not gonna break the bank like it would in the West.

There are many other notables that I could include here, but I've already rambled on too much. If you have anything to add please leave a comment or find me in the chat feature. I am just starting out here on steemit and looking to netwrok with like minded people.

@jasonshick