It is good to get a little advance knowledge of the new job, especially when it's in a different country
I'm still in Vancouver, but at least now I'm prepared.
Most people starting a new job go in cold, with little in the way of advice or advance knowledge of their new job. I've got the advantage of not only having a little bit of time to get ready for my new posting in Korea, but also knowing the last person to hold the job.
So when my friend Kathryn met up with me this week in Vancouver, I was able to gain a unique perspective on what awaits me in Seoul, at my new job at the Incheon International Airport.
Kathryn spent the last year working at the airport as the English editor, fixing up signs, press releases and anything else that communicated to travelers in the English language. But while she made other people's voyages run more smoothly, she ran into a few snags of her own.
Not that any of the snags were of her making, or indeed anyone's fault.
It's just that when you go from one country and culture to another, you're bound to run into differences.
For one, she relayed how people don't often follow traffic rules in Korea. Unlike Canada, where despite our complaints that 'City X' drivers are worse than 'City Y' drivers, we all stay fairly calm on the road. Not so in Korea. Cross the street on a walk signal without checking both ways, and you're taking your life in your hands. Drivers simply aren't very careful when it comes to pedestrian safety. And that's just the four-wheeled vehicles. Motorcycle drivers apparently make time by jumping onto the sidewalk.
But Kathryn also said the inevitable culture shock from moving to another country, which has felled many an English teacher, won't be anywhere near as bad for me. She said working at the airport is very similar to being in a North American city with a large Asian population. I've lived in Vancouver, and most of my friends are Asian, so I think I'll probably be able to handle this part of the move.
But one of the biggest problems is avoiding those that don't handle the move as well. Itaewon is the foreigner district in Seoul, located right next to the United States Armed Forces base. Though Kathryn said many of the older American officers are very decent and intelligent fellows, a lot of young soldiers away from home for the first time spend much of their off time in Itaewon drinking, fighting, and then drinking some more. So if I know what's good for me, I'll keep my supposed anti-American tendencies to myself when around these fine gentlemen.
But you don't move to another country to experience the predictable.
You go to see a new place, get used to a different culture, and hopefully learn something. So I'm pretty determined to go to Korea with an open mind, but also with an eye to keeping myself out of trouble. But in order to understand something new, you've got to be willing to get into a little trouble once in a while.
