As unfortunate as it may be, I need to control my fingers as they type these blog posts nowadays. I find myself in certain, how do I say, abnormal situations, bordering on the ridiculous, but for my own sake, I cannot disclose certain features about my life. In this world there are indeed eyes and ears everywhere. That being said, I would like to take a moment to comment upon the working culture here in South Korea, as always, from my own personal experience.

I used to be an English teacher somewhere in Gyeonggi-do, and let me be frank; it was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. I am not too proud to admit that from time to time, I used to cry myself to sleep at night way back when. I realized certain things about human nature during that time, and let me tell you, it can be pretty primitive at times. The hagwon I worked for was very typical in its design: the boss cared more about money than education, and the well-being of the kids and the employees was always second best. This lady would commit sins and utilize her social standing and religious zeal to conceal and justify the abuse. I would often see her take advantage of the staff and then retreat to her little den of an office and pray.

I will be honest, teaching was not for me, and I was incapable of controlling the young ones. They saw me coming a mile off and ripped me to shreds in the classroom for good measure. I worked tirelessly at home and found myself preparing for the next day until the early hours of every morning. Nothing I tried was successful, and I came to a startling conclusion: I was just not the type of person that could stand up in front of the class, play the fool, sing, dance and engage the babies. I was out of my comfort zone and sinking day by day. On the other hand, I worked like a Trojan horse to prove myself as competent and to give the students the best part of my personality day in and day out. I could just about tolerate the nature of the position, but what I could not accept was the behaviour of the boss and my co-workers. Let me start with the latter –

I was the only foreigner at the school, and the Korean teachers seemed to resent my presence at times. They, for the most part, harboured predetermined opinions about native ESL teachers and considered me as inferior, in both credibility and approach. I was probably earning more than they were, and because they were vastly more experienced than I was, it created a strong distance between us in the office. I understood their gripe, but I did not make the rules, I did not design this topsy-turvy educational system.

The boss enrolled her son at the school and he was the ring leader of the mayhem. He was a little demon and he came to the realization that he could utilize his privileged status to destroy any lesson plan I may have put together. I could not reprimand him because of who he was, and I could not report his actions because the response was always the same: it is my fault as the teacher for the problems in my classroom. These were petty, but one day things took a turn for the terrible.

One of my colleagues was a Korean woman; she was fairly young, dedicated to her job and about to go on maternity leave. On her last day of work the boss called her into the office and fired her, without as much as a penny in severance pay. This was nightmarish and stressful for a pregnant woman to deal with, and I always wondered as to how, as a woman and a mother, the boss could be so cruel. She said that my colleague had not performed well enough, but the reality was rather different: the school was facing financial difficulties and this was the end-result. I wrote a letter stating that if the boss did not reinstate her, or at least pay some compensation, I would not work anymore. I knew that the school could not even open without me, because the parents would not even consider sending their kids to a school without a native speaker. My colleague convinced me otherwise and I felt utterly dismayed by the whole sordid state of affairs. The thing was, even though I was the only native teacher at the time, I was nonetheless 100% expendable.

Eventually the money stopped coming in and enough was enough. I have never taught English since that day and to be truthful, I do not intend to ever again. That is not to say that I do not genuinely value education in all of its forms.

I think I have said enough on this matter and it was great to get it off my chest. The point is, in Korea and everywhere around the world, finding the ideal job is one of the most important journeys an individual will ever embark on. For me, even if I have money flowing out of my pockets, if I am fundamentally unhappy at work, I will never have the capacity to enjoy it.

This is part one of my working exploits in Korea and I will go into a little bit more depth in my second post.