Korean Job Discussion Forums

[beebee23]

Hello Everyone,

I guess I would be called a Gyopo/Kyopo, a korean foreigner. I want to work and live in either Seoul or Pusan next year around the summer time.

I know that some schools in the bigger cities will discriminate based on how you look because of parents, but I have a simple question I need answered from the KYOPO's (korean foreigner working in Seoul or Pusan) on this board.

If I apply to a hagwon, should I act completely American, don't bow, don't speak a lick of Korean, and finally, absolve all traditional and customary forms like bowing in order to be taken seriously as an English teacher? Basically, act myself, yet still be respectful in the American way. Should I wear a suit or my best western get-up (lol)? I tend to also speak slow in English to Koreans whose English is a second or other language, but should I avoid this and speak rapidly?

What about a public school in the big cities?

(Out of fairness, my rural school staff of Koreans are very nice, easy to get along with, and have never given me the slightest bit of attitude for being a Gyopo. Don't know what to expect in Seoul or Pusan though.) Koreans tend to be nicer the more rural you go.


THANKS EVERYONE!!

[Smee]

I've seen somewhere printed that people appreciate it more if you're sincerely poite in your own (cultural) way than if you bumble through another culture.

From my experience---and you probably notice this at your current job---Koreans appreciate whatever effort you can make to meet them halfway culturally. Speaking a little Korean at work, liking the food, knowing how to greet people, knowing how to keep your mouth shut, etc.

That said, it's obviously different for a gyopo. I'm not a gyopo but I've worked with several. My Korean coworkers didn't understand the concept of a Korean-looking person who can't speak Korean perfectly and who didn't act Korean. It just didn't compute. While the gyopos at my hagwon weren't doing anything out of the ordinary, they'd get criticized for things like talking (in English) too loudly, for laughing out loud, for wearing typical Western clothes, for not speaking fluent Korean, etc. Especially Korean-American women were given a hard time for not acting more Korean (i.e., for not being pushovers.)

I'd be interested to hear what advice gyopos have to give.

I'd be wary of advising you to "act American." Don't play dumb or play culturally ignorant. Hopefully you can find a school that knows how to deal with gyopos.