Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kertong]

Hey everyone! I've been lurking a while, finally decided to register and post!

I have a burning question that I had a hard time finding info on, so I was hoping you guys with actual experience could help me out a little.

Well, first, a little background. I was born in Seoul, Korea, and attended 1 year of school there, but came over here to the US in 1986. I was 6 years old then.

Since them (I am now 24), I've lived the american life. I drive a musclecar, I listen to rock and what not, eat pizza, etc, etc. My parents are still "Korean" in the sense of culture, however - so I've retained "some" of my Korean. I can understand a pretty good amount of conversational korean, but my spoken korean is very broken and limited. And let's not even get to the formal/business korean!

I just graduated from U.C. Berkeley, and I've had a pretty decent part-time/full-time career in unix systems administration. However, the tech market sucks. I hate being a cubemonkey from 9-5 every day. Teaching has always appealed to me.

I want to go to Korea to teach english, I can't deny that. But I have some concerns. I believe my strengths are a good prestigious university education (koreans love "yoo schee buh-koo-rhee" for some reason). I speak fluent native english, and to top it off, I have some background in Korean. But I do know that Koreans take things at face value, and being caucausian is a big plus for teaching english - so I don't know if my Koreanesque exterior will cost me points.

anyway. sorry for being long winded, but basically, my question comes down to how korean-americans will be treated in Korea, teaching or not.

I know that Koreans can be very nationalistic and prideful, and I have a feeling some may even accuse me of being an "americanized sellout" who threw his roots away.

On top of that, if I'm teaching in Korea, what will they expect of me? I am american on the inside, korean on the outside - will this make my life more difficult?

My head is teeming with questions now, but I'll leave it at that for now. I'd sure like to get some firsthand experiences and stories - all the articles I've seen on the net are written by white people, so I'm sure their experiences differ vastly from what a korean-american would experience.

Anyway, if you read all that, I thank you for your time. Sorry for being so lengthy, but I am very very excited about the prospect of Korea, and want to get as much information as possible.

Thanks all, I look forward to participating and becoming a member - and maybe even meeting some of you crazies in Korea. I know I'll miss speaking english with english-speakers over there.

[cheem]

kertong,

I was in a similar boat just over a year ago. I, too, am a Korean (North) American with a background in IT. For what it's worth, the year I spent in Korea was the best time of my life. I'm back in Canada now, but I'm in preparations to transplant my career back to the "motherland".

If cashflow isn't an issue, I'd say go for it. Even if it is, you can't put a price on the experience you'll have there. Stop worrying about what Koreans think of us; it's a non-issue. Well, perhaps not completely a non-issue. You'll have a harder time finding a teaching position at a hagwon, if that's what you're into. However, I think the difficulty is a bit overblown on this forum. I got offers for university positions and plenty of private lessons without even asking for them. I also know there are hagwons out there that hire Korean-Americans exclusively.

You'll also find that Koreans have higher expectation of us than say non-gyopo foreigners. Koreans have a problem making the distinction between nationality and race, so you'll probably get the, "but you're Korean!" a few times. You're whitey friend will get showered with praise if they manage to say "thank you" in Korean, while you'll get strange looks if you mispronouce one syllable in an elaborate phrase.

That's about as bad as it gets. Fortunately, there are a lot more good things about being a gyopo in Korea. We don't get stared at, but we're still a novelty. Korean men will be clamouring to pay for your drinks. Korean women will be queuing up to get into your pants. This last point can't be over-stated; Korean women love foreign men, and as gyopos we have access to a significant demographic of Korean women that have hangups about dating outside their race.

I sensed, however, that this kind of attention has bred a certain amount arrogance in some gyopos that I met. My best advice to you should you go would be to praise the things you like about Korea loudly, keep your criticisms about Korea to yourself, avoid making comparisons between Korea and the States, always attempt to pay for everything, and play up the part of the foreign gentleman. Also, look into getting an F4 visa.

Btw, assuming you have a comp sci degree, I might have some work for you in Korea if you're interested.

[kertong]

cheem, thank you for that very informative post! I had al ot of uncertainties, but your post makes me realize that hey - being a gyopo is definitely a double edged sword. I'm glad to hear from someone who was in a similar boat/situation as me - sometimes it is hard to relate to the white ESL teachers since, knowing Koreans, they treat them very differently.

Hmm, I don't have a degree in computer science, per say, but it is an "Information Technologies" degree. I am pretty adept at php/mysql/perl programming (check out my personal website at www.kertong.com, its all done in php).

But moreso than php, my skills lie in linux/unix administration. I've worked as a systems administrator setting up rack servers, patching, securing, what not.

So.. if you have work in Korea that needs some sort of skill like that, and doesn't mind that I have an IT/IS degree rather than a CS degree.. I would definitely be interested. I would love a hag-won job as well, I love teaching and educating people.

I'm glad you had a wonderful experience in Korea - I'm sure I'll have the same. I've only spent my first 5-6 years in Korea, and I have nothing but fond memories of the locale and culture.

Thanks again for the informative response

[gochubandit]

yo dude, we're on the same bee en ghee. i'm having the hardest time finding a place to take me cuz i'm a gyopo with informal teaching experience. if u hear of anything or any1 who likes non korean speaking gyopos, let me know. hehe... berkeley huh? i'm a davis grad myself. which apparently is in the sh*tpile for korean educ expectations.

[milesmik]

Kertog,

I am in a very similar situation. But recently I discovered something that has me worried and I wanted to ask you or any other gyopo one question.

I was born in the states(therefore I am an American citizen) but I just found out that my grandparents registered my Korean name in our family registry back when I was born. Apparently this makes me a Korean citizen as well. The problem with this is that I am eligible to be drafted into the Korean military by virtue of my newfound Korean citizenship. Also, I also found that 18 is the cut-off age for renouncing one's Korean citizenship. (for some reason, you can't renounce the citizenship after this age). I,having no idea that I actually had dual citizenship, did not renounce my Korean citizenship.

Having been born in Korea, I want to ask you if you are aware of this or if you/somehow got this situation settled. If so, how did you go about doing this? Any reponse from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[cheem]

kertong,

To be sure it's a double-edged sword, but like I said, it's 10% bad and 90% good. For me, my time in Korea erased all of the "identity problems" that I had growing up; the type of problems most non-gyopos here would scoff at. As sappy as it sounds, I've learned to love the circumstances that I've been raised and wouldn't change a thing.

When (and where) will you be Korea? I'll be in Seoul in a few months. I'll take you to one of those joints where we can talk "shop" while the waiters drag hot girls to our table.

[kertong]

cheem,

it seems that you and I have a lot in common! One of the big reasons for me to go back to Korea was due to a lot of identity-related questions and curiosities I had. I've grown up in Korea until I was 6, and when I came to the US, I fought to assimilate and blend in to the culture while trying my best to understand my Korean parent's cultures and customs. I often find myself wondering how different I would be if I had never come to the US. But you're right - I also love the circumstances I grew up in - I have a great university education, perfect english, american culture as well as korean roots.. broad view and worldly, i like to think.

I won't be in Korea until maybe May/June. I would definitely love to meet up with you and talk, though. The place I'd be is in a new city, Il-sam (i think that's what it was called).

Oh, and milesmik - thanks for bringing that up. I was able to defer my military service when I was 18, for college. But when I was 23, I got my citizenship here. I wasn't aware of the dual citizenship status, I'll definitely loko into that. Thanks for the heads up!

[Harin]

[little mixed girl]

your site is down, original poster.
i know korean-americans that do privates...just cuz they can...buncha....<_<O

have fun looking.
some teacher i had at yonsei did a thing called KABE (i think that's korean/american bilingual education) i dunno if it's like an official school or anything.

ucla...the uc system falls before umich~~

[kertong]

[little mixed girl]

oh i see it...
nice pics, definately cali style. and one voice is nice~

if u have relatives in korea, get them to hook u up.
i met some guy at my university & he said his friend own's a hagwon, my friend's dad is a public school teacher.
i'm sure u could find ppl like that and get them to hook u up.
or...work at mcdonalds in itaewon...

[kertong]

[dnamkung]

I am a korean american too. i just wanted to mention that. But I have lived in Canada for the past 15 years. I like Canada.

[jurassic5]

there are some hagwons that hire gyopos and there are some that don't. it just takes a bit in trying to find the ones that do. Pagoda is one hagwon chain that i know is gyopo friendly along with CDI.

[dogbert]