Here is part 3 of the series "Where should I teach? China, Korea, Taiwan, or Japan?" In this series I talk about some of the differences between the four places. In this video in particular I talk about which one I think is the most hip and why. I also talk about the international music scene in these places. Like which places will get the best traveling shows and which places are more welcoming of international bands, groups and DJ's.
Of course in each country you will be exposed to the national pop music and if you like that then great. But if you like to see shows like live DJ's and bands some places are better than others.
Here is a transcription of the video:
Where should you teach? Yeah location... I made another video about location and how to choose the right location. I recommend that. That's more about the rural vs. the urban. It can really make a difference. If you want comforts and stuff then you really want to be in a big city.
I think as far as hipness goes, Japan is the hippest place. What I noticed is that the general culture and people dress similar in Taiwan, Korea and China. Many people wear clothes that you would buy in K-Mart or something like that. Really general generic clothes. Japan is the hippest place. You see more individualism there. There is still a collective mindset in Japan as there is in all of Asia (eastern) - it's less individual. But in Japan you will see more styles of fashion. People wearing different styles... Like you will see... Maybe it's more westernized, but they still have their own original stuff too.
You got all that stuff like Cosplay and stuff they invented. But you will see punk rockers or Elvis impersonators, like in Tokyo. All of these dudes with slicked back hair, black leather jackets, long sideburns. You'll see that in Japan. But you are not going to see that in China, Korea or Taiwan.
Maybe dabbles of it here and there, but generally people dress the same especially in Korea. When I first went to Japan I was like wow, there's more variety here. In Korea everyone generally dresses the same. It's very pop focused and there are a lot of famous pop stars in Korea. People just emulate them. I guess that happens in other countries too. But people dress more similar whereas in Japan there is more diversity. People dressing in different ways... That's more interesting for me for sure.
As far as music goes... If you like music... Korea, I put it on the bottom. It depends on the city you live in, but as far as hearing international acts - big bands that travel and do tours. I think Korea is the worst. I lived in Busan for less than three years and in Changwon... In Korea for a total of three and a half years. I can't remember any famous act coming through. Taiwan was pretty good. When I was in Shanghai I saw some famous DJ's.
If you like Hip Hop then Japan is the best. Japan seemed to preserve some part of Hip Hop - what I love about Hip Hop. Japan seemed to preserve that also like Europe did. There's a lot of record shops - like vinyl records. In Korea there's virtually none. If they do have them they are just selling them for the old timers who collect vinyl. But Japan is hip.
As far as Hip Hop goes it's pretty hip. If you want to see live music, it's good. Taiwan is pretty good too. The Beastie Boys were there. I saw DJ Premier. I knew DJ Q-bert came through. A lot of big names will go to Taipei and even to some of the smaller cities like Taichung and a few even came to Tainan. In Shanghai I saw DJ Shortkut and Pete Rock. If you are not in a big city in China I would suspect it's not very good for live music. But if you are in Beijing or Shanghai I think it would be pretty good. So for music, hipness and style Japan is the best.
Where should I teach English: China, Korea, Japan or Taiwan? Watch the rest of the series.