Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mithridates]

That post about the commercial reminded me of something. Those guys/girls you'll see on EBS from time to time on the various English Cafe shows they have...sometimes they have to sing songs and other times pretend that they're having a lot of fun when you just know they aren't, but OTOH it's not selling out either because we've all done worse inside our own hagwons for less money. Japan's pretty much the same and I remember a hot summer day a few years ago where one 3-year old girl who couldn't speak Japanese much less English went off to the bathroom and came back with her pants soaked and I thought then that I'd much rather be cavorting around on tv like a fool than being a glorified babysitter...
So the question then is: what do you think of those people on tv and would you be one if you had the chance?
And then another question that just came to mind: were you offered a job to be the one foreign face in a Korean boy/girl band, would you do it? It's possibly humiliating but the salary is high and most of the people in the country will consider you to be a musician.

[Cthulhu]

If Hollywood stars prostitute their images in Japan because 99.9% of the West will never see it why shouldn't I do the same? Hell, yeah! Either it can be a funny memory or else no one will ever know about it! Either way the cash would linger on...

[mithridates]

All right, but do you think you could really do it? Imagine this: as a singer in this band they require you to dye your hair bright blond, spike it, and wear early 90s-style baggy pants, and then you have to dance along with the others and every once in a while make your way to the mike and sing in a sincere voice "With tha love ahm bringin you baby..." or other such nonsense...I think honestly it might be too humiliating for me, though I've never been presented with an offer of cash like the ones they get so I couldn't really say.

[Cthulhu]

It's not in what you do (within reason of course) it all depends on how much you get for doing it...for the right amount of cash? Hell yeah, I'll pretend to be Mr. Vanilla "H.O.T." Ice

[mithridates]

Hm...we might as well just be pm'img each other for the amount of discussion we're getting here.
I'll just assume then that everybody else here would also do it if the price were right.

[Bulsajo]

Pass me the Sexy-Mild shampoo, will you?

[Cthulhu]

[Mankind]

Well I'm giving it a whirl in a couple days. I'll see what it's like. My work is straight to video (i feel so Roddy Piper). As far as I know, i don't have to act too stupid, but we'll see.
They do pay me, from the time I show up till the time I walk out the door and go home. Free lunch too (better not be cup ramen). They say it takes 8-10 hours of time. One day around 400,000 looks good, but I have to see how much of my 'seoul' I have to sell. They do it 3 times or so a month. I just hope I can get lots of reading done. They say I only 'work' about 3 hours of that time. Will let you know.

HAND

[chomsky]

sorry guys, these shows aren't camp, they're just inane. i was offered a lot of $ to do this in seoul - turned it down with no hesitation and no regrets whatsoever. they couldn't pay me enough to act like a total moron on tv. this is the impression that koreans will often form of foreigners...gawd help us all - cringe.

[mithridates]

What exactly were they asking you to do? I'm curious. I know what you mean though about forming impressions. I myself don't think I would do it because I don't like using English in Korea outside of work and were I to become famous through a show like that there would likely be no end to the pestering I'd receive on the street.

[weatherman]

To stay is to sell out. I have sold out.