Korean Job Discussion Forums

[some waygug-in]

http://www.timesnow.tv/Spl-An-Indian-who-fought-racism-alone/videoshow/4330709.cms

Interesting.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Steelrails]

Wasn't Ben Wagner involved with ATEK?

If you are going to send that report you might want to send a condensed version. I see the average editor taking one look at that, reading it for about 30 seconds, scrolling to see how long it is and then ditching it for some story about Rihanna.

By the way I'm sure the many African-Americans back home in the States will be real keen on the 'horror' stories about being constantly depicted as a criminal via the media. Join the line behind Arab-Americans, Palestinians in Israel, Muslims in Europe, Mexicans in the border states, People with long hair, people with tattoos, people with shaved heads, people who wear baggy clothes, people who wear black, and teenagers who walk into mini-marts.

Yes, its wrong and unfair, but at some point you have to say, welcome to real life. The terms of this job- drug tests, AIDS tests were made known before you signed. The slightest bit of research would have told you that Korean teachers in Korea are exempt from some of these things. If you had a problem with that you could have stayed at home and continued working at your place of employment there.

To say nothing about the countless teachers who work here and enjoy their jobs and don't feel like they are viewed as criminals. I'm glad that you feel

Every nation views immigrants as potential criminals, that's why we have baggage checks and your name gets scanned through databases when you enter another country.

Don't worry, I've prepared a cover letter we can all send to the editors of our local newspaper.

"Dear Mr. Editor, as an English Teacher in Korea I am writing to inform you of the oppressive racism that exists in this country for non-Koreans working as English Teachers. I'm sure you already now about it, this is after all, the biggest story out there, well at least to all of the people I talk to. Here is my tragedy- As per the terms of this contract, I was tested for HIV and Drugs, at which point I was provided with a furnished apartment and a salary of 2.0 million won/month. Did you know that the Korean teachers are not required to take this test, nor are they provided with furnished apartments? This is so racist! Against foreigners, that is. In fact there is this fringe hate-group out there called the Anti-English Spectrum (This is the one part that might catch their eye- be sure to include some swastika-esque logo and a burning American flag pic) that believes that foreigners should be kicked out. They are so influential that Pro-American President Lee Myung-Bak won the most recent Presidential Election here. Me and my fellow teachers are constantly portrayed as potential pedophiles, totally unlike teachers in America! I would greatly appreciate it if you would postpone putting that article on Record High Unemployment & Foreclosures, Darfur, and that article where Obama calls for funding to provide free AIDS tests in Africa, and that story about the local factory closing on the front page and instead focus on a real tragedy- My AIDS test! Sincerely, Mr. Employed Teacher"

[TheUrbanMyth]

Well it's been nine days now.

So OP, have the embassies called you back and expressed their outrage?

What about the T. Star...when can we expect a raging editorial denouncing Korea and Koreans?

[themagicbean]

Vandom met with (or was at least scheduled to meet with) the mayor of Irvine, CA (a Korean-American) to discuss NHN (Irvine-based host parent of Naver, which hosts AES) and the hosting of AES. So don't give up. Exposing and changing these attiitudes (or at least dealing away with the fake stats and discriminatory laws) takes time and the willingness to ignore the nay-sayers.

PM me if you wanna help and want more connections trying to fix this stuff.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Steelrails]

[themagicbean]

Free speech is always an issue and I am proud to be from a place where the Nazis and the Klan and even the Republicans can march down the street, though I may not agree with them. (Republicans: Joke! Please don't take it as a flame.)

But AES publishes out-and-out faked statistics and then uses their "clout" as publisher of the lies to use the lies as leverage for overtly discriminatory laws. That's too much. Admittedly, the Korean government should be smarter and not fall for such crap, but until it is / doesn't I'm happy to pursue other angles.

[DosEquisXX]

I am way overpaid based solely on my language and nationality.

I don't care what Koreans think of me beyond that.

[davesucksnfl]

I have read these forums for a while, but only joined a couple of days ago.

My thoughts:

- urban myth is nothing more than a korean apologist. He will defend anything and everything, regardless of it's nature if he/she perceives it to be at all critical of Korea.

- why anyone is attacking the OP is beyond me. He is fighting to bring awareness to a real problem in Korea. Could the OP be fighting to raise awareness of other 'more important' things. Certainly. But he/she has chosen this one. The aim is to IMPROVE things. The aim is to stop racism. The only comment that should be posted here is "I hope you do stop the racism."

- why anyone is making fun of the OP is also troubling. If you think the methods he/she is using are faulty, why not constructively point out how they might be improved? Why not offer suggestions?

- I've only just arrived, but I already see why so many complain about the people on this board.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[CentralCali]

[UrbanStyle]

[quote="rollo"]The Koreans gave you job because of the color of your skin. They house you and the job you do is very simple. You re paid well for the responsibilities you have. Please point out the descrimination. Maybe you should go home , mount a campaign to enlighten the poor heathens to their faults. In fact if you stay you are a racist because you are being supported by a racist system. Just another white person whose job it is to civilize the poor brown masses. Take up the burden[/quote]

actually people of african, hispanic and asian decent teach english in korea as well. dont forget all the money those teachers make for greedy/sneaky korean business men rollo

[Mithrae]

Let's keep up the pressure here. There was a (admittedly extremely poorly written) story on the anti-English Spectrum in the National Post, and the Vancouver Sun is picking it up too. It's getting noticed. Kudos to those of you who took the time to send out a copy of that report to your hometown newspapers. Papers are always looking for new stories. Now, if we can only get a writer to cover the story competently.

A poster on this site is having an interview on CBC radio later this week on this very topic. Hopefully he can get our concerns out there. If newspaper people are listening to him, perhaps they'll pick up the story and give it justice.

If you haven't sent out a copy of that report (with a background letter) please take the time to do it this week.

Regards,
Mithra

[xingyiman]