The Korean Won

The problem with working in a foreign country without paying off all your debts in your native country is that you become subject to the whims of the exchange rate. Right now I am getting slammed.

My boss recently told me that when the US gets a cold, Korea gets pneumonia. With the American economy in such big trouble (and right now I'm just relying on episodes of the Daily Show posted online to get my news), Korea is in a crisis. The won is practically worthless. The government has been trying to force it to stabilize lately, but it hasn't worked very well. They froze the rate at 1000 won to the dollar last month for a couple days, but of course that couldn't last long. Someone told me tonight that they're going to start "injecting" money into the economy as a result of the bailout bill not being passed in the US. Here's a quote from Korea.net:

"If necessary, the government will inject foreign exchange liquidity into the spot exchange market. We'll prevent the won from further plummeting despite a short supply of dollars," said Minister of Strategy and Finance Kang Man-soo on Sept. 30.

When I got here, the exchange rate was around 1000 won to the dollar. Yesterday, the won broke 1200 won per dollar. This means I lose around $300 a month in transferring money to my American bank account, compared to what I was getting at first. I'm really hoping this injection thing, or SOMEthing works out long term. My advice to anyone thinking of coming over here who hasn't signed a contract yet: wait until this money thing gets resolved. Who needs this kind of stress added to the stress of being away from home?