Don't Work in Korea But Live In Korea

For a decade I lived in the Korean economy as an English Teacher, U.S. Army Reservist, business owner etc. However last year I made the switch to being a U.S. Contractor working/living at Camp Humphreys. During my 16 months as a Contractor here I've met a lot of guys who are just totally unhappy here. Some comments I often hear are:

"Man in Afghanistan I was making a $130Gs."
"Man the gyms aren't open 24 hours on base, like they are in Afghanistan."
"I hate this place!"

Now beside the long hours we work, and sometimes difficult conditions, probably the biggest reason I see guys are unhappy here is because they look at Korea as a place to work and not as a place to live.

If you look at Korea as just another place to work then yes you might hate it here. In Afghanistan/Iraq/other crappy place in the world, the money is more, the gyms are 24 hours, and the chow is free. However, you're also in a volatile Third World country, that doesn't exactly offer much in the way of sights, sounds and freedoms, although it's not boring for sure.

On the other hand if you look at Korea, or any similar country place for that matter, as a place to go meet new people, learn a new culture, find new opportunities, etc. then you can learn to love or at least tolerate it here.

It's true that the money is less here, you actually have to pay for your own food, and the local economy is expensive. But on the bright side you also have the freedom to travel to other nearby countries on the cheap, there is a lot to see here, interesting people to meet, and to be honest the women are pretty nice too.