Korean Job Discussion Forums

[atwood]

[atwood]

Julius, great list. I wish I was as optimistic as you that things are changing and that those obnoxious teenagers weren't going to turn into those adjossis you've been bashing.

As for your issues with the U.S., though, I think you're off base. It's the U.S. military protecting South Korea and U.S. government officials regularly visiting SK and American companies investing in SK, etc. (Tesco has to hide behind Samsung.) So it's only natural they're interested in speaking like Americans, aye?

[fermentation]

[Scorpion]

I guess a few people here haven't seen the ROKetship cartoons. Some are better than others, but they're worth a glance. He touches on a few issues that annoy and/or baffle us.

http://roketship.com/

[atwood]

[motiontodismiss]

[Steelrails]

[John Junior]

-Ajumas standing in the middle of the road with their cell phones appearing dazed and confused while interfering with traffic first thing in the morning
-I have to watch my back all the time and be on the defensive
-Ajumas and their duck beak sun visors
-Specially designed foreigner hair dressing aprons with a window on the groin area so the Korean females can view our groin areas (just in case)
-Korean female co-workers and the neurotic tension they express due to barrel tension (google barrel tension) Australian slang.
-The way we foreign teachers are segregated in to a Korean male dominated office with no females to balance out the gender inequity
-The prevalency of hiking gear worn by ajumas and ajossis. Where are the mountains?
-The fact if I act like a Korean when I push, shove or make a verbal demand before a Korean I am abused by some social retard because I can not speak Korean, WTF?
-that I have to prey every evening I will maintain a sense of equanimity under all circumstances and chant a mantra in my head all will be well and good when it never will be. As a consequence I have a dream of sixties song that alludes to taking illicit psychotropic drugs
-the way Korean co-teachers sabotage your good vibe classes and lessons
-the sacrifice us Westerners have made to come to Korea to educate the heathens in a language they detest while experiencing continual negativity from child to senior in professional or non-professional environments

[slothrop]

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[Smithington]

Things I cannot get used to in the classroom / school.

1. having to tell students ten times to do anything
2. having students constantly talking over me
3. students putting their heads down to sleep on the desk
4. students constantly getting out of their chairs
5. students saying 'no' when I tell them to do something
6. students leaving the classroom without permission
7. useless co-teachers who make no effort to support you or interpret
8. the utter silence and order established when the co-teacher utters one word (so why do I get no response after telling them to do / stop doing something for fifteen minutes; why does the *beep* co-teacher wait fifteen minutes to come to your assistance?)
9. co-teachers who can't speak English
10. co-teachers who freely bad-mouth you to your co-workers (but if you bad-mouth them to co-workers they go and get the principle's ear, make up vengeful lies about you, and basically do everything to make your life miserable)
11. clown principles (who can't speak a word of English) come into the classroom while you are writing on the board, erase your "r" and replace it with that stupid "v" looking thing that they think is an "r". Does the fool think I don't know how to write the letters of the alphabet and that I need his help to write them correctly. Arrogant, stupid ajoshie behavior. (I just looked at him in disbelief then thanked him profusely for his contribution to his students' education.
12. the fact that your co-teacher protests if you try to review the material from the previous semester or year (to make sure they've retained it). "No, no. They have already done that and been tested." (Christ, no wonder they never learn English properly. It's all about passing a test then forgetting it. And how dare you insult the grade 4 students by reviewing material from the grade 3 book?)
13. Booking your vacation a month in advance, and two days before your departure they want you to change the dates. (Yeah sure, I'll get right on that. I'll just cancel my flight, the hotel, my whole friggin schedule because of your incompetence. Let me get right back to you on that.)
14. students who demand your attention then and now even though it's obvious that you are presently helping another student
15. students thrusting their completed paper down on top of the paper you're presently marking / looking at
16. having things snatched from my hands
17. students bowing to the Korean teacher in the hallway then completely ignoring you even when you greet them
18 getting dong-chimed (hey you little *beep*, why don't you go and dong-chim Mr. Kim over there? Oh, you would never think of doing that?)

Sigh, I despair for my students (whom I otherwise adore). It's not so much their fault though, as it is their parents', teachers' and cultures' fault. Never the less. The things we complain about now aren't going to change anytime soon. The next generation won't fall very far from the tree.

[John Junior]

[transmogrifier]

[John Junior]

[Smithington]

19. Students messing with my personal things. If I leave my glasses, cell phone, coffee, etc. on the desk and step out for a moment they're inevitavly tampered with.
20. Students messing with the computer even after you've told them not to touch it.
21. Students taking photos (even videos) of you without your permission
22. Students changing how you've got things set in the classroom without asking your permission (turning on the air conditioner, turning off the fan, opening windows, etc.)
23. The phone ringing repeatedly while you're teaching and the co-teacher engaging in loud conversations while you're trying to teach.
24. The fact that I knock before entering another teacher's classroom, but the courtesy is never returned.

Last year I had to judge an English speach contest at a local public school. One of the speech topics was "Koreans are the manners people." My jaw almost hit the floor. How can they be so oblivious to their cultural short-comings? Frog in a well I guess.

[Savant]