Korean Job Discussion Forums

[travelingfool]

I went to Korea with an open mind and a desire to actually teach and help people learn English. Money was not really a factor because I made more back home. I am middle aged by the way and not a fresh college grad. Money was a factor insofar as I could still move forward financially in regards to retirement and such unlike other countries where I would have had to dip into my own resources to stay afloat. I also picked Korea because the infrastructure and health care are fairly advanced (good health care is important for an old fart like me).

My illusions of teaching and helping people were totally shattered by about day three. I rarely drink, and never had any desire to date Korean women. I tried to study the culture before arriving and always took great pains to ensure that my manners and appearance were impeccable. Despite all of the pushing, line cutting, and general rudeness, I always yielded to others because after all it was not my country and I wanted to make a good impression.

I made the mistake of taking a job sight unseen from overseas only to arrive to find things quite different than they were presented to me previously. I wouldn't go so far as saying I got hoodwinked. However, I feel that there was some degree of misrepresentation to get me over there. I tried to make the best of the situation and things went along fine until a rather difficult issue reared it's ugly head. Concerning this issue, I tried to reach an amicable solution with the management to no avail. In any business relationship, or any relationship in general, there has to be some willingness to compromise. The Korean management obviously did not feel the same way. There were completely unreasonable and treated me as if I were nothing but a foreign monkey. It was if they were looking at me but refusing to believe I had anything worthwhile to say and only heard what they wanted to hear and disregarded the rest. After several months of this I finally had enough and pulled what everyone here calls a midnight run. Actually, it was more like an afternoon stroll and cab ride to the airport. There was nothing clandestine about it. I wish I would have seen the Korean management so I could have waved goodbye. I didn't give any notice because I felt the management had more than ample time to work with me to resolve this issue and I am pretty convinced they would have shafted me anyways. I have heard some people say on here how irresponsible it is to leave without giving notice. Well, I agree with that. However, given the tenuous situations foreign teachers are in by basically being owned by their employers, I think it can be justified.

I still can't get my head around the country that is Korea. On about my second or third day there I saw a guy beating the crap out of his wife or girlfriend. He was pulling her hair, punching her in the face, and kicking her while about 15 other Koreans were just sitting there watching and making sounds like Beavis and Butthead. I can't count the number of businessmen I saw passed out in the early morning hours, still in their suits from the previous day, and surrounded by large piles of vomit. One of my adult students used to brag about how dog soup made him virile and that how much better that meat tastes when they torture the dogs first. According to him, they were just "dump dogs" anyways. Another student bragged about his trysts with his yoga instructor yet he was married with children.

I never had anything happen to me personally in regards to outright racism. I got plenty of dirty looks and one guy who looked as though he wanted to fight but I kept walking. However, the impression that I got was that we as foreigners are pretty much reviled there. I am not saying every Korean feels that way, because I met a few who were very cool. Perhaps when the US gets a new president along with Korea's new president things will improve, who knows. What baffles me is how Koreans go and set up little enclaves in countries all over the world but yet how they treat foreigners like crap in their holy homeland. They want to be able to move to foreign countries but god forbid should any dirty foreigner step foot in their sacred homeland.

What sucked about my teaching situation is that I had some students who I genuinely liked and would have bent over backwards to help, but couldn't due to the constraints of my employment situation. The English industry in Korea has been completely bastardized. If there is to be any purveyance of English language skills, the greedy school owners want their cut. Where I lived, English corners were non existent, I think mainly because they would constitute a visa violation and would subject a person to deportation, even though they are conducted for free. That is sad because English corners are a great way for people to get to know each other and one another's cultures. They are quite ubiquitous in China by the way. It seems as though the Korean collective frowns upon such interaction with dirty, corrupt outsiders.

Another baffling thing about Korea was some of the other foreign teachers. I would pass some of them on the street and once they spotted me would immediately turn their head and deliberately avoid making eye contact. Sometimes I would be waiting to cross a street and there would be another FT waiting as well. My greetings were usually followed by silence or an undecipherable grunt. I can understand not wanting to be bothered, but shouldn't a teacher be more outgoing and congenial than that? In the classroom, do they suddenly turn in to a dynamic, energetic, and engaging personality? I got the impression that most if not all teachers were there only for the money. Also, it seemed to me that many of them didn't see teaching as a career but rather a way to pay off debts then move on to something else. Therein lies a huge problem as well.

If you are reading this and thinking about going to Korea, here is some advice. First, if you are serious about teaching and want to make a career out of it, forget it and go somewhere else. Second, if you do decide to go there, be sure to take Korean language lessons first. Third, if you are fat, lose weight. Make sure your skin is pretty thick. Have plenty of money and an escape plan. If possible, fly to Korea as a tourist to interview and check out jobs in person. It may cost you a few bucks, but you will be much better off in the long run and less likely to resort to a potentially very expensive abrupt departure.

It is my opinion that Korea is an ugly and negative place and is not worth it. It's interesting because some of my colleagues in the states who had done business in Korea asked why I decided to go there and what was I thinking.

I will bring this novel to a close and anticipate a flurry of acerbic responses from the veterans on this board. This is only my opinion so take it with a large pillar of salt. I am sure there are plenty of foreigners in Korea who are having a wonderful experience. My experience, whether it be due to my own personal shortcomings or genuine bad luck, was not so positive. One has to ask themselves why there is such a huge amount of listings in the Korean employment section on this and other websites.

[samd]

Boooooooooooring

[plus99]

^ whatever dude


this is an articulate post with a lot of good points. the guy obviously came here with good intentions and the people he met were obviously so mentally isolated that they couldn't make the relationship a productive one. another anecdotal example that should help keep reasonable people from feeling like they're going crazy when they get here.

[CentralCali]

What the heck does the beating have to do with your boss? And did you bother to call the police? If not, you're just as bad as the people who were watching. And, yes, I have gone to the Korean police when I saw someone beating the crud out of somebody (it was just a couple of blocks away from the station). The reaction from the desk officer at the station was to immediately send two officers to the scene.

Your comment about your treatment being related to the US president is just asinine.

I read through your entire posting and you didn't mention a thing about what the boss did that peeved you so much to pull a runner. What was the problem? Or do you just like to be cryptic?

Here's some advice for you for the next time you decide to go to another country to live:

• Not all foreigners in that country are from your country.
  
• Not all foreigners in that country have the same type of job you do.
  
• Not everyone wants to be chatted up by a total stranger on the street, even if said stranger is from their country.
  
• What you think is going on inside another person's head is not necessarily what's actually going on.
  
• Drop your own prejudices first before you try to miraculously read the minds of others.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

First, without you specifying what it was that employer did it's impossible for me to feel any pity. Secondly, why do you expect other foreigners to greet you on the street? Third, who cares if your student eats dog? Do you eat pork? A pig is as intelligent as a dog.

At any rate, Korea's not for everyone. Better luck finding a country that suites your sentivities.

[Mr. Pink]

I want to respond to the notion of saying hello to another foreigner simply because they are a foreigner:

If I am anywhere outside where there are tons of people, I will not say hello or anything to anyone. Just the way it goes.

If I am in a place where there aren't a lot of people, such as around my house or any other such "local" neighbourhood and I see another foreigner I'll say hello or at least "hey", as it is more personal and I figure we have something in common being in a non-mainsteam area of the city.

I always hated the notion though that we are in some sort of brotherhood. We aren't.

I guess I follow the same rules in my home country:

I speak to my neighbours, but not to strangers that I meet out and about.


Sorry you didn't like Korea, but did you really come here with an open mind and thick skin?

Also, I found it funny you comment on domestic violence, but not things like pollution and traffic congestion.

[indytrucks]

OP,

Too bad your experience was crap. Better luck elsewhere. Lack of providing any details about your working situation makes it difficult to have any sympathy. You didn't like it here and left. Yippedeedo. You could have saved yourself a lot of typing.

That's it.

[goo_stewart]

I too find it a strange notion that I am 'expected' to say hello to a person just because we are both white! What's that all about?

The notion that because we are ex-pats isn't enough for me to befriend every whitey that passes! I wouldn't say hello to everyone who passes me at home so why should I here?

Having said that, if someone does politely greet me then I will respond, Korean/whitey are all treated with the same politeness. I just don't like saying hello to just anyone on the street who I don't know.

[pkang0202]

You should get laid.

[Cognorati]

Thank you for your original post.

If one has traveled a great deal, one realizes that Korea just isn't a very good or beautiful place to be.

It's interesting that those that have done business here asked you what you were thinking: when I was coming over, everyone who had had military experience or done business here had told me that it would not be a good experience.

I was surprised by that, considering that I've been to nearly every inhabited continent (including the so-called "third world") and I've never ever heard universally negative appraisals of one country; I've known people who've returned from the war ravaged Iraq, and who've found positive things to say, particularly about the people -- Korea is the polar opposite. I decided to chalk it up to racism or ignorance and come to Korea anyway, which was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made.

Your appraisal are generally true, particularly about management, contract loopholes and workplace exploitation, racism, and the expatriate community here.

[mrsquirrel]

And you were only here for three days.

[xingyiman]

To the OP. Korea is a terrible choice for anyone "looking to make a difference". It's also a bad place for teachers who really want to teach.
It's a good place to make lots of money in a short period of time that would likely be impossible in places like America and Canada due to the taxes and costs of living.
Have you considered the Peace Corps?

[justin moffatt]

You are fortunate to have the luxury of getting out relatively unscathed (minus some negative perceptions). Some are not so lucky . . .

[anyway]

Thanks for the OP. It's only too funny that many of the responses are defensive in nature. People recognizing themselves and wishing they weren't as characterized.

I would only ask the OP if s/he was working in Seoul. One of the densest, most expensive, and probably least livable capitol cities in the world. A huge mosh pit. A blister on a blister. Much of his account can be comprehended if one recognizes the environment in which it took place.

I totally second the final analysis although I might disagree with some of the means. If I had it to do again, I would definitely steer well clear of Korea. And I consider myself a professional educator (master's and 10 years experience). It is an interesting country - at arm's length, but in my experience (30+ countries), the negative vibe is palpable and unique - not a good combination for many people.

The question is - how many people come and don't finish their contract? I would love to see the stats. I would say upwards of 15-20%...

[esetters21]

I couldn't read the entire OP post, because it was too damn long and I lost interest. Here you go though: