Jackie Bolen - How to Thrive in South Korea: 97 Tips from Expats

How to Thrive in South Korea:

97 Tips from Expats

Jackie Bolen

(with advice from 28 expats in Korea)

Author of: The Wealthy English Teacher, How to Get a University Job in South Korea and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities

From: ESL Speaking

Copyright@ 2015 by Jackie Bolen

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher/author at the address below.

Jackie Bolen: jb.business.online@gmail.com

An Introduction to How to Thrive in South Korea

T his book is an idea that has been forming in the corners of my mind for years and something that I wish I'd had when I first moved to Korea. I've lived in my adopted home for a decade and during that time, I've met an astounding number of foreigners who were thriving here while I've also met plenty of them who clearly were only surviving, and just barely in some cases. There are even people who've been here a long time still in survival mode, living in tiny apartments, bouncing around from sub-par job to sub-par job and doing nothing to plan for their futures. Conversely, I've met people who, even though they had only been living in Korea for a few months had clearly adapted and were making positive, healthy and sustainable lives for themselves.

This book is a collection of tips from long-term expats who are far beyond surviving and are thriving in Korea. I know most of them personally through work, KOTESOL or other networking opportunities while a few of them I've never met in person but we ran across each other in the blog, podcast or websites of the Korean Internet community. They have a lot of wisdom to share with people who are thinking about coming to Korea, have recently just arrived or perhaps even been around for years but want to pick up a few new tips for making their lives better.

I hope you find this book very useful to help you get beyond only surviving South Koreamy goal is that it will be an extremely practical resource that you'll keep going back to for some more inspiration. Make this place your home and thrive. Investing time, money and energy into doing this is something that you'll never regret.

About the Author: Jackie Bolen

I 've been living in Korea for the past 10 years and have loved most of my time here. Of course I've had bad days, weeks or even months (mostly involving a terrible hagwon experience that I'd rather forget) but for the most part, Korea is an excellent place to live as an expat if you're able to adapt. This process of adaptation involves figuring out how to make things go smoothly at work, learning how to get along with Koreans, avoiding certain traps that some foreigners fall into, truly making Korea your home, getting out and exploring, and finally making a plan for the futureeither in Korea or not.

I'm originally from Canada and came to Korea after college for a bit of adventure and a chance to travel while paying off my students loans. Little did I know that it would become my real life and not just a stop along the way but I have no regrets about the way things have turned out. I've been able to work my way up in the job world from a terrible hagwon to a good one, to a decent university job in the countryside, and finally to a great job in Busan.

As far as living in Korea goes, I spend a lot of time cruising around the country on road trips with friends, hanging out in my apartment overlooking the Nakdong River, and going stand-up paddleboarding, biking or hiking whenever I get the chance. During vacations times, I've had some unforgettable adventures around the world that never would have been possible if I had stayed in Canada after university. All that to sayalmost anything is possible in Korea and your life can be whatever you want it to be.

If you like this book, please leave a review wherever you bought it and don't forget to check out my other books at the same time:

The Wealthy English Teacher is a book in which you can learn all about finances for English teachers.

If you are interested in getting the most awesome job in South Korea which is working at a universityplease check out How to Get a University Job in South Korea.

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How to Thrive: Work

L ike anywhere, a good job can go a long way towards ensuring that you have a happy life in South Korea. Conversely, a terrible job will be hard to overcome and you will likely feel pretty miserable in the rest of your life away from work as well. Before you even come to Korea, you need to make sure that the job you take is a decent one and then once you start working, you'll want to make sure things go smoothly. Here are some tips to help make your work lifeand by extension, the rest of your lifeas awesome as it can be.