Korean Job Discussion Forums

[earthquakez]

To cluelessinkorea - I understand what you're saying but don't let the embittered vets like the Thiessen creature get under your skin. I don't for once believe he is steelrails. Steelrails has a younger, more reasonable vibe about what he/she writes.

Could be the SuperNET character who has started posting here. But if they are Thiessen I say that's their problem because this man has more issues than many of the NETS he slags off under the guise of having some kind of reasonable discussion.

I think it's clear to rational people not seeking to blame others for the Korean system's limited thinking that unlike the visas available to those who teach in Japan, the restrictive nature of the one year visas of E-2ers leads to all sorts of problems. It proclaims by its limited nature that we are all to be shunted out of Korea in theory as soon as we complete a year or two of English teaching.

Its limited nature invites the inexperienced as do many Korean employers who openly want inexperience because they are too fe-cking mean to pay properly. It says loud and clear that we are not really teachers no matter how many NETS are proving this wrong in real life.

It says we are only temporary - and when you do that then don't be surprised that the foreign workers take you at your word. And I find it rather a joke that in Korea native English teachers have these limited term jobs that don't pay that much for the hours expected and the nonsense expected in a lot of them yet Koreans are increasingly behaving as if they are giving foreigners decent pay, a real career path, and some remarkable job situation that necessitates foreigners behaving as if they are in a permanent job and not one that is insecure from year to year.

So for Koreans and foreigners to sound off like the Thiessen character does simply reflects their inability to think about the issues. I've encountered a few of those types of foreigners in Japan but they have little credibility and sound foolish when somebody like Debbido (David Aldwinckle - a naturalised Japanese citizen who was formerly an American citizen) takes them to task.

The Korean visa restrictions also ensure that people like Debbido who has been invited to speak at UN functions and has a diary chocoblock with contacts anybody would envy can't play the same role in Korea. He has been an effective advocate for foreigners for years - all foreigners including migrant workers from 3rd World countries. Debbido was involved in these issues long before marrying a Japanese. You can't do that on an E-2 visa in Korea but you can on the Specialist in Humanities visa which usually gives blocks of 3 years and flexibility in employment.

I think Thiessen really gives himself away when he slags off teachers for wanting to take vacations outside Korea. OOh, he doesn't leave Korea except for visa runs? That's his choice.

I've worked in Japan and Taiwan as well as Korea and despite the fact I've mostly enjoyed my jobs, Korean employers have not acquired the reputation of being difficult for nothing. The fact that foreigners' embassies have chosen to warn their citizens about working in Korea because of exploitative practises seen as normal in Korea by those who run English teaching hagwons (and can be found in the public school system too) says it all.

I think it's the experience of many of us that taking a vacation outside Korea helps us come back fresher and better positioned to take on our teaching roles again. Thiessen is probably married to a Korean and like some of those foreigners is completely oblivious to how lonely and isolating Korea can be especially for younger teachers on their first job or job outside their home country. Teachers who live outside a real city will find life fairly limiting in some key aspects.

I had only two vacations outside Japan in my prolonged period of time there because I didn't feel the need to get out and take a break from it. I didn't feel a real need for vacations outside Taiwan, either.

My working environments were calmer, my home environment was quieter and calmer, my jobs paid better and they were more demanding in terms of real teaching skills and less demanding than my Korean jobs in terms of having tension at work caused by unnecessary matters. I take vacations outside Korea when I can and I will continue to do so. It's nobody's business except my employer's.

[clueless in Korea]

@ earthquakez ~ well said! I shouldn't let people like that get under my skin. It's hard though, sometimes.

superNET ~ gee, I wonder who you are? Not obvious or anything. You sound very familiar, like a broken record.

[atwood]

[Junior]

[northway]

[Some of the Mothers Said]

He's written the same stuff before. http://therealsouthkorea.wordpress.com/2008/01/21/some-foreigners-bash-korea-unjustly-unfairly/
Hay Dave, I've been here longer than you, got a little K family and all. Why do you bother picking on a minority? Did someone do something to you back when, or do you just like to be published in the local rag. Yeah...I've met guys like you before.
No-one likes a whiny foreigner, especially someone who whines about whiners. Take a chill pill and enjoy life.

[maximmm]

[murmanjake]

a lot of drivel in the comments section there, but that flare-up with DR. Dave was pretty good

Why do you think he refused to shake the guy's hand?

And not eating Korean food? Plagiarism?

Notice how he didn't refute any specific assertions. Just that a bunch of the stuff was lies...

Wonder if superNET will come to the defense here as well...

[Steelrails]

[Troglodyte]

[superNET]

[superNET]

[some waygug-in]

You're sounding a lot like Kim Jong Il.


So why then are Korean universities, schools and hagwons hiring so many Westerners?

Obviously they must all see something you don't.

[superNET]