Korean Job Discussion Forums

[drumpounder]

I teach freshmen and seniors in a Technical High School. There are 5 other english teachers at other schools nearby. It seems every time we go anywhere the conversation always centers on teaching, students griping and moaning, or amusing anecdotes about teaching and/or students. Or of course fellow Korean teachers or bosses.

I have thus declared my apartment a "Korea Free Zone". Everyone is welcome. There is only one rule. No talking about anything having to do with work or Korea in general. Everything else is fair game.

I spend enough time in school. I don't want to talk about it on my free time.

How do you all feel about this?

[Ya-ta Boy]

A: Hey, I once spent a year living as an ex-pat English teacher in South Korea.

B: Shut up. I don't want to hear about it.

A: But this is an experience all of us shared.

B: I said shut up about that. It's much more interesting to hear about the kegger after the hockey game in high school. Once I got soooo drunk...

[pegpig]

You're living/working in Korea and you don't want to talk about Korea or your students? That seems kinda hard to do. I always found it interesting to swap stories on the kids or what's happening in Korea. You are after all living there. Where are you now? Where am I?

<checks to see that he's still on Dave's ESL>

[krats1976]

This reminds me of when I was driving tour buses in Alaska. We had a no-shop-talk rule then. We figured that we spent 60-80 hours a week working & didn't feel the need to bring it home.

I'm all for limiting shop-talk at home. It usually just turns into gossip, which I can't stand. Banning all discussion about Korea seems a bit extreme, though.

[mishlert]

[crazylemongirl]

wanna stop talking about work then stop hanging around with teachers. Problem solved.

[drumpounder]

Please note it's only my sanctum sanctorum that shop talk is banned. Perhaps I wasn't clear. You can feel free to talk about a cool movie you saw in Daegu, or a great band etc. Just no school / student / co-teacher stories.

In previous incarnations I have rarely hung out with co-workers because they talk about work. That is difficult here. I don't quite live in a city. In fact I live on the outskirts of a very small town which is on the outskirts of a small town. There has to be more to life than what you do to earn your bread. Let's talk about that. I'm assuming we are all intelligent and multi faceted.

[SPINOZA]

I know exactly where you're coming from, OP, but sometimes it's fun to talk about school, whether it be drunkenly ripping into a co-teacher, talking about a cool game you invented or cool student stories. It's a fun job, sometimes feels like a complete joke of a job, and inevitably I have things to say about it and so do my friends who have similar (or the same) jobs. I know loads of people who work for the same organization as me and it's good to have a natter about crap, get stuff off your chest, or perhaps even pay someone a compliment. All well and good.

But, as usual, it's the bores who ruin it for everyone. It's the people who have huge discussions about the whole education system in Korea - as though their insignificant, whiney opinion counts for anything! - that are the problem. Blimey, those folks are boring! It's not all or nothing for me here.

[drumpounder]

[Qinella]

I've hung out with various teachers in Korea, and almost never does the topic of work come up. I think it would be a little painful, too. That's what Dave's is for! Come bitsch about your boss or students here, and then talk about ways to convince girls to let you xyz when you're with your friends.

[billybrobby]

there are, i think, some things going on in korea besides your work.

[pocketfluff]

[drumpounder]

[holeinthesky]

When I first arrived in Korea I lived in a little wee place called Changwon (anyone there?) I used to love going to the foreigners bar called IP but the novelty wore off after a few weeks when I realised most teachers would sit at the bar and complain about their contracts, their boss, the students, how much they hate Korea.....bla bla bla. Same old expression: if you're hating it that much, leave.

I craved real conversation. Philosophy, art, fishing, anything not related to the boring side of teaching in Korea!!

But then again, I do love hearing funny stories and anecdotes about culture shock/embarrassing situations/language misunderstandings etc. Those little moments that keep you going here, that make it all worth while.

I think it depends on the person doing the talking......an interesting person with a good story telling technique can make cross stitch sound exhilarating!

[drumpounder]