Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lastat06513]

They say all this BS on TV and the net which gives people scivies and to be honest, we will never be able to do anything....

Why?

We don't have one voice.
We can't get everyone together and try to tell these *beep* that what they're doing is libelous and is going to hurt their country as much as hurt us.
Why is it that the other foreign workers in Korea can get the government to at least negotiate with them to help make their conditions alittle bit bearable. Because they can get together and talk about ways to solve the problems being caused by their Korean employer.

I just read about the Thai Labor Minister coming to talk to some Thai migrant workers because their conditions are not good.
How were they able to pull that off? They worked together.

The problem is we are too fractitous, some want to stay only for a year while others want to make long-term plans to stay in Korea. Some are so high-n-mighty because of their positions that they look down on those with lesser jobs. Many teachers only hang out with people from their own country, or town or state/ province or just want to stay at home and they can give a rats arze about what is happening in the whole community.

Sometimes, we must work together to make our situation better instead of pursuing individual ideals all the time, 24/7. Sometimes we must care about what we do in public so that we don't hurt the next person coming.

Why do I say that?

I have found that alot of people who have taught in Korea (myself included) have intentions on coming back to Korea in the near or far future. But those intentions can be jeopardized by the actions of those who just don't care about themselves or other people.

I know I always speak about Koreans being accountable for the crap they do, but in return we must also be accountable too.

The key word is teamwork and collective thought. We are people from all levels of society and with alot of educational backgrounds from the tourist with only a high school diploma to university professors with PhDs and International School teachers with stateside or provincial acceditation.

If we work together, we can bring this sludge-fest against us to an end.

Let's try

I dare you.....

[seoulsucker]

I agree 100%, but there doesn't seem to be one issue/goal that we can all unite behind.

My girlfriend of 1.5 years is a policy director in the National Assembly, and she recently asked me about working conditions in the ESL industry and how they could be improved.

The only universal answer I could come up with is the visa/contract binding issue that exists here, and not in Japan and other big ESL Asian countries.

Is that something that you all would get behind?

What sort of major changes would that bring about and how would it serve to improve the long-term health of the ESL industry in Korea? I have an inside track here that could be put to good use, but the OP is right. We'd have to get together and get our ducks in a row before anything could be attempted.

[canuckistan]

One problem is the high rate of turnover-- many teachers don't stay in Korea for very long.
Of a 100 teachers, how many quit, run off, get fired, or have their school go bankrupt within the first year? How many actually finish their contract, let alone stay another year or longer?

Any united front would have to come from those who are sticking around longer than the average.

[StAxX SOuL]

I hope you're not seriously comparing our positions with those of the Thai migrant workers you mentioned towards the start of your post...

[eamo]

I agree.

But after two previous 'documentaries' demonizing foreign teachers I still have no problem getting all the work I can handle. My adult students have never heard much about foreign teachers here. The kindergarten program in my hagwon has no problem finding Korean parents who will put their 5 year-old in the hands of foreign males all day, everyday.

What I'm saying is that the two previous hatchet jobs on foreign teachers didn't seem to impact much on the Korean conciousness. I don't see why this new one would.

But, of course, I'm totally opposed to TV companies slandering me and my co-workers for sensationalist and cheap TV.

[seoulsucker]

[lastat06513]

Yes, I am comparing us to the Thais and the Philippinos, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Nigerians, Mongolians, Kazakhs, Russians and Pakistanis.

Because they have something we don't....unity.


They have such a close-knit community that they can easily get together and network with each other and their repsective governments to ask the Korean government for change.

How can they come here and work so hard, have so little yet have so much bargaining power over their work conditions and life here?

While we as teachers, drink all the time and such and yet we complain when things go awry without working together to find a solution to the problem.

But what alot of you are saying, short-term stays and other things, these issues affect the other communities also, yet the ones that want to make a difference do get together and get in contact with the other communities to try to find a universal solution.

Out of all the people working and living in Korea, I have found the English-speaking community to be the most distant and the most disconnected out pf them.

So for those of you who say that it doesn't affect me or it has something to do with the other guy, not me. Why wait until IT DOES happen to you? Why wait until something that affects you so much, that you can do nothing about it?

It all starts with one person or one group....

[gang ah jee]

[lastat06513]

[gang ah jee]

[seoulsucker]

The SE Asians come here for opportunity that they would never have in their homelands. It's easy to see how they can unite so easily.

The majority of us, however, come here for more of a cultural experience than a financial one. Sure, we're saving a few bucks, but how many of us are feeding our families back home with the money we make here? How many of us lived in complete poverty before we moved here?

None of us came here to overcome true economic/social adversity, which I believe is what binds those migrant communities more than ours.

We're spoiled.

[lastat06513]

gang ah jee- Only if you call "Ddong-chip" a military tactic

Seoulsucker- I agree with your last statement and unbelievably, thats where we fail. We might come here for the cultural experience. But there are long-tymers who should get together to make a difference.

You know, sometimes posting messages on this board is like talking to people in a pub; They might understand and agree while they are there and while they are under the influance. But once the buzz goes away the next day, they forget about the whole conversation....

[vox]

I can support a civil protest or an appeal to the respective ambassadors about the visa issue.

WHAT ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARIES? Can we all unite on our opinion of them and the damage they cause to those of us who live here and what we should do about them?

I've lived around and ignored stupid people all of my life but I do not want to be constantly compared to a god-damned GI and his juicy bar girl misfit wife. I just don't. And I don't want to be shut out of job opp.s because of that comparison.

[StAxX SOuL]

[Yu_Bum_suk]