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On November 27 2011 13:31 Empyrean wrote:
I'd really recommend not paying the minimum required amount on your loans. Anything you can scrounge up should go towards them.
Unless you never want to go back to the U.S. again. In that case just fuck your loans.
But seriously, student loan debt isn't even forgiven upon death. What's with that :/
I was positive you can default out of that.
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16935 Posts
Student loans are some of the hardest debts to err, get rid of without paying. The easiest way is for someone to be forgiven on student loans by doing something like join the Peace Corps and commit to the full two years. I don't think you can simply default on them or you'll be hounded by agents forever.
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The private loans are impossible to get rid of. Even if you file bankruptcy, they won't go away. It's pretty absurd.
Federal loans, on the other hand, get forgiven eventually. I think it's after 10 or 15 years the remainder is waived or something... I'd have to ask my mom to be certain. Anyway federal loans are only about 15% of my debt so it's not that much, but it's still something.
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NeverGG
United Kingdom5399 Posts
(I'm currently an English teacher here in S.Korea.) Just to back up what others have said - make sure you've really researched your school beforehand. I made the mistake of not doing my homework for my first position and regretted it. You can really luck out (like I have with my current job.) but you have to do as much checking as you can (getting the phone numbers/emails of current teachers etc.)
As for getting your GF an illegal job - I'm not touching that with a barge pole. You're asking for trouble - plus she'll have to leave every 3 months (or less/slightly more depending upon the official limits for her country) on a tourist visa. With all the new checks (it's gotten way stricter even in the 5 years I've been here) immigration could potentially get suspicious if she keeps coming back and forth without an E2 or F-series visa. If she stays without any visa at all and you get found out then usually the punishment is a large fine (1 million won is the figure most people who've spoken about this on Dave's etc mention.) and deportation.
Also, even if you go for a housing stipend most employers don't look kindly on having extra people living with you full time. Some even actively forbid it unless you're married and they're also on a legal visa/are a Korean who doesn't need to worry about visa concerns etc. It depends upon the school, but I've seen lots of stories online about employers flipping their shit when they discover things like this.
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On November 27 2011 15:49 Meta wrote:
The private loans are impossible to get rid of. Even if you file bankruptcy, they won't go away. It's pretty absurd.
Federal loans, on the other hand, get forgiven eventually. I think it's after 10 or 15 years the remainder is waived or something... I'd have to ask my mom to be certain. Anyway federal loans are only about 15% of my debt so it's not that much, but it's still something.
Even private loans can be rid of, just need to prove that you've tried. It's not easy but if your life is really fucked they won't have a choice.
About working illegally - you are obviously taking a risk there, but I wouldn't dismiss it right away. If you only doing a year or two then who cares? Worst case scenario they will kick you out of the country, I'm not sure how they can make you pay the fine.
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gl Meta! Pretty scary you had such a difficult time finding a job though... Scares me a bit seeing as I'll be graduating with a bachelors in ME in a year and a half.
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On November 27 2011 16:22 NeverGG wrote:
(I'm currently an English teacher here in S.Korea.) Just to back up what others have said - make sure you've really researched your school beforehand. I made the mistake of not doing my homework for my first position and regretted it. You can really luck out (like I have with my current job.) but you have to do as much checking as you can (getting the phone numbers/emails of current teachers etc.)
As for getting your GF an illegal job - I'm not touching that with a barge pole. You're asking for trouble - plus she'll have to leave every 3 months (or less/slightly more depending upon the official limits for her country) on a tourist visa. With all the new checks (it's gotten way stricter even in the 5 years I've been here) immigration could potentially get suspicious if she keeps coming back and forth without an E2 or F-series visa. If she stays without any visa at all and you get found out then usually the punishment is a large fine (1 million won is the figure most people who've spoken about this on Dave's etc mention.) and deportation.
Also, even if you go for a housing stipend most employers don't look kindly on having extra people living with you full time. Some even actively forbid it unless you're married and they're also on a legal visa/are a Korean who doesn't need to worry about visa concerns etc. It depends upon the school, but I've seen lots of stories online about employers flipping their shit when they discover things like this.
Thanks for the information. I think I could work something out, considering my girlfriend and I have been living together for three years and plan on getting married eventually, to enter a type of common-law agreement in order to smooth things over with the Korean government and my future employer.
In my state, common-law marriage requirements are rather lenient, basically as long as we live together and "hold ourselves out as husband and wife" we qualify.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage_in_the_United_States#Colorado
Hopefully that will help, perhaps she can even apply for an F-1 visa under those conditions!
I have a friend over there who's living with her Canadian boyfriend full time, and they have to leave to renew his visa every few months. As far as I know they have yet to run into any problems.
Anyway I doubt she'll actually be doing any work in public, per se, however I have a few backup plans right now to make money and avoid deportation so that we can feed both of ourselves.
On November 27 2011 16:56 Jonoman92 wrote:
gl Meta! Pretty scary you had such a difficult time finding a job though... Scares me a bit seeing as I'll be graduating with a bachelors in ME in a year and a half.
My advice is try to get into a company on the ground floor this summer. The summer after my junior year I spent taking 1 class and playing the sc2 beta instead of looking for internships. Hopefully the economy will pick back up in the next 18 months though and there will be more opportunities then. I'm sort of banking on it myself 
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
On November 27 2011 13:50 Meta wrote:Show nested quote +On November 27 2011 13:31 Empyrean wrote:
I'd really recommend not paying the minimum required amount on your loans. Anything you can scrounge up should go towards them.
Unless you never want to go back to the U.S. again. In that case just fuck your loans.
But seriously, student loan debt isn't even forgiven upon death. What's with that :/ Yeah, that was my plan. Hopefully I can sink about $1000 a month into them over there with the low cost of living, which is way more than I'd be able to sink into them with an hourly job I'd get out here. Bailing on my loans by never coming back and changing my name has crossed my mind more than once, but it would fuck my mom over who co-signed them  And Haji, I've actually thought about CS. I took some CS classes during my undergrad and enjoyed them well enough, if the money's really there I'll give it some serious thought. Either CS or electrical, both are pretty awesome fields for up-and-coming businesses, as far as I can tell. As far as korean lessons, I've just been memorizing hangul consonants and vowels, and basic phrases like "Do you speak english?" and "Thank you". Plenty of resources on google, but when I'm out there I'll probably invest in lessons with my GF.
Dont do hardware, seriously.
Please please please do CS if you enjoy it.
If you need figures I can give them to you, but I don't even think it's necessary. Every company here is looking for software developers.
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I've heard Incheon is a very nice area. Lots of good things about it. Haven't heard much if anything about Gwangjin. You should definitely look into housing prices and the neighborhoods before accepting anything. Good luck.
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EPT
