Seoul, Korea - April 28, 2003
Well, here is my job situation. I signed a contract to teach English on the Internet through a major Korean corporation. Its using webcams and audio equipment along with a series of English books we use online. Class times are one-on-one generally being 20-minutes in length, and occassionally 10-minutes. The beauty of this type of teaching are there are constant breaks, and while its possible you could have nearly all back-to-back classes, its not generally the case. The minimum break time is 5 minutes between classes, but occassionaly its more like 10-15 minutes, to possible much longer because sometimes there are cancellations or audio problems. Teaching hours to be available online are 5 1/2 hours, but actual teaching time is more like 3-4 hours because of all the breaks between classes, cancellations, and whatever else might come up. Also, since all of our lesson books online, we can easily navigate between pages and they can see our cursor to see what we are pointing at, and make a conversation or study in that regard. There is also the ability to pull up a drawing page or a chat window to make the lesson more effective as well. All in all, it is probably one of the easiest jobs I've had in quite some time, and definetely the easiest job I've ever had in Korea.
In addition to the job, I get my own studio apartment. They've equipped me with a bed, a tv, an air-conditioner, a dresser and desk, pots and pans, blankets and pillows, and whatever else. In fact, its almost a perfect situation because I find the job easy and the studio quite comfortable in every respect. Directly across from my home is one of the larger parks in Seoul. So I can walk around in that area anytime during the day as well. There are exercise equipment, and foot massage path (you take off your shoes and walk along a path of carefully planted rocks and other objects that are suppose to be good for your feet). There is actually quite alot in the park that I've yet to explore. One last part of this, my workplace and my house is probably roughly five minutes away. So I will probably never have any problem with being late or any other problems. All in all, its a pretty good situation to be in right now.
Everything else in Korea is doing quite well. I've been able to see alot of old friends as well as meet new ones. Some places I use to know have changed a little bit. Shinchon where I use to live has changed. There are more shops and different kinds of things. One Internet cafe I use to go to sometimes is now completely automated where there isn't any attendent. You just put your money into a machine and the computer you choose is now yours. Cutting out the middle man. There are quite a few other things as well, just new shops and new places, and lots of little changes.
One of the biggest things I've noticed in South Korea, is the rampant anti-americanism. Its not anything to be aware of on a personal level, but its more just a general feeling all of the time. For example, during a recent lesson I asked my students regarding 8 countries which was their favorite to least favorite. Generally, the USA is the least popular. There really isn't much I can do about it, but thats just the way it is. Also, most people assume I am pro-war and pro-Bush, when in fact, I have challenged and questioned this recent policy quite a bit. Most people on the Korean Peninsula have a very large fear that North Korea is next on the list, and that USA is somehow more the enemy and more to be feared than North Korea in some twisted kind of way. Personally, it just seems like some kind of strong anti-american propoganda, but what can you say to it if someone is so convinced that their ally is the enemy, and their enemy is only an enemy because their ally is up to something or another or something.
As far as North Korea is concerned, its hard to know what the solution is, but one thing that seems painly obvious to me, is that if you are the leader of a country, you probably won't want to give it all up to become a taxi driver in another country - specifically I'm referring to the possibility that North Korea would just suddenly change and suddenly become South Korea. Most South Koreans seem convinced that North Korea will do this for some reason. Actually, this last weekend, I brought my two East German friends to a party of a guy who is also from Germany. I was asking them about reunification and the possibility of North Korea doing this. They explained that the situation in Germany was significantly different as it was begun from within. The people of East Germany already knew everything that was going on in West Germany, and groups and groups of people continuously gathered every week until the numbers were so large, and the opposition against being separate countries was to great to ignore anymore. At this time there was also several changes in the government before they decided ultimately it was in their own best interest to just reunite with the West again. However, this doesn't seem to be the case by any means with North Korea. In fact, one of the German guys at the party explained that Pyongyang is very well protected so that the people from outside the main city cannot enter in. They are more or less starving in the fields and such and have no voice whatsoever. The city of Pyongyang is more controlled and kept significantly more presentable than everything outside the main city. Anyhow, its all quite interesting.
One other thing to mention, does everyone know that the animation for the Simpsons is done in South Korea? Well, it actually is. The host of the party works as a cartoonist on another american cartoon show, and so while some of the people were English Teachers there, there were also a small number of animators at the party. One of which was a guy who has been working for the animation department for the Simpsons for the last 10 years. Quite interesting stuff. I didn't ask him too much about it though.
Next: Seoul, Korea:
May 5, 203
You can email me at:
Wintermoon2@yahoo.com