Korean Job Discussion Forums

[VFRinterceptor]

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/11/27/200911270007.asp

A voice of the masses.

[Mithrae]

That Berguson guy could do us all a favour my improving his appearance. Every picture I see of him fits the stereotype of Westerners that Koreans love to propagate. He looks like a bum. Not saying he is. He's obviously smart enough to write a book in Korean, but could he not invest some of his book profits in a shirt and tie?

[VanIslander]

[PatrickGHBusan]

Van while you have a valid point there....the flip side is that image matters when trying to sell the voice of the masses that wish to be respected in a conservative culture...just saying.

[VanIslander]

[Mithrae]

Is dressing like a homeless person is the 'alternative sub-culture' that he wishes to gain acceptance for? Not exactly a worthy cause. Or at least not the priority for the vast majority of ESL teachers that he wishes to represent. If by 'alternative sub-cultures' one means embracing plurality, he's got my vote. But the vast majority of Westerners in Korea are English teachers, not hippies.

Not saying his book isn't worth reading. It might actually be very interesting. I'm just not surprised that he hasn't been invited back to any more interviews. The book is written in Korean. His obvious target is Koreans. Would putting on a clean shirt for a photo be such an unconscienable compromise?

[VanIslander]

[jon_blaze]

Actually some good can come from it. Dress codes are a necessary evil, we have them for business and social purposes. It sends a statement of who you are. His current image does help push the idea that Koreans do have in their head. And that first impression does have a lasting mark on what people think, especially in a country that is as closed-minded as Korea.

[calicoe]

I love the term he coined: "gendered multiculturalism."

[lookingforworkinasia]

^^Word. That was sharp. I wish this book was available in English, as it sounds like a good read.

[The Gipkik]

Egads! what a bunch of intellectual philistines.
I've got an utterly original and shocking idea. Get ready: Ignore the messenger and read the message. If you're trying to apologize for Korea's conservative and intellectually vacuous majority, you're doing a really, really good job. The book climbed as high as number 7. It's considered a best seller in Korea. Clearly there are plenty of intelligent Koreans that managed to rise above Burgeson's fashion sense.

Now, having his picture figure so prominently might not be doing him a favor with certain superficial and fatuous internet readers, but it's the kind of book that will invariably have a trickle down effect.

It's one thing to live in Korea, but let's not accept wholesale everything about this culture.

[Old Gil]

I mean because somebody is bohemian, does that make them a pedo or sexual offender? I mean maybe it just means that he's not cut out to work at a corporation, which would include about 99% of the world outside of Korea. That power suit power lunch coke and strippers happy hour D-bagginess culture is pretty much the exception in the world, not the rule. You'll find it in NY and Chicago and other major financial centers around the world, but it's pretty localized.

Too bad that Korea, for all intents and purposes, is Seoul.

[Arthur Dent]

Read that article this morning. I think he chose that picture on purpose. We aren't the audience.

[shaggy]

�His first argument suggests that many Korean men are threatened by Western men. "Many seem to have a complex about it. There is 'Misuda,' the TV talk show featuring non-Korean women, but no equivalent program with expat men. Obviously, cute young foreign women aren't so threatening to the status quo." Burgeson notes that a "Misuda" panelist also recently released a book in Korean, and although it has sold far fewer copies than "More Rude Korean Studies," the country's biggest newspapers tripped over themselves to get an interview with her.�

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/11/27/200911270007.asp

�Gendered Multiculturalism� has a dark side.

I wonder if Burgeson wrote about the many thousands of Filipina and Eastern European sex workers (willing and unwilling) that are brought here in droves to service American soldiers and Korean men alike.
What about the hardships female expats who married Korean men go through? I heard one story about a Vietnamese woman whose Korean husband passed away. The in-laws couldn�t wait to kick her out of the apartment she shared with her deceased husband and take over his bank account.

Or the fact that will never discuss the many times female expats have been the target for rape and violence from Korean men on that fluff show Misuda.

I am not trying to demonize Korean men. I have met many great men here, who are excellent husbands and fathers. But just because there is one little cutesy show on TV with some foreign chicks doesn�t mean that female expats are getting a better deal than male expats-

[Henri]