8760 hours pt ii

A Challege

Before arriving in Korea I figured the strongest part of my resume was my travel experience. I was eager to promote to any school that ‘culture shock’ was not going to be a problem for me, and I can proudly say that up to this point, I was right. The thing is that I spend most of my time in an English bubble. On the average day I perhaps spend 30 minutes in situations where I have to deal with Koreans. The rest of my time I spend around fellow weiguks, and students with whom I chastise for uttering even the slightest Korean.

I’m a part of a large school; where there has been a revolving door of 14 other foreign teachers, equal that in bilingual Korean teachers, and a handful of support staff. English is a very large part of my day. I’ve heard stories of weiguks being the only teacher in a school, with very few others around capable of speaking English. I feel that they are truly tested by the rigors of culture shock. I’m pretty fortunate, but because of my bubble I occasionally feel like an outcast on the fringe of Korean society. I can get by with the little Korean I know, but I mostly rely on Corwin, who is a linguist master.

Although my large school seems to allow me to escape the grasp of culture shock, it created a challenge. I work, play, and live with a small group of people. Office politics can always be a tricky thing to navigate, especially when it plays out in your living room/bedroom/bathroom/kitchen (they are all the same room in my house).

This environment brings about a place where my coworkers are relied upon heavily as friends. In theory and reality the two don’t typically mesh well. Most articles written about the topic suggest distancing the two because it’s better to have separate work and social lives. Although, at every job there are always exceptions to the rule (I currently hang out with some exceptional people). The problem a lot of the time is a lack of common interests.

Believe it or not, most teachers here have little in common. True, we are all English teachers, and presumably we like to travel. Yet travel has such a broad definition, and we all have different circumstances that landed us as English teachers. I’m a business student seeking asylum from the economic crisis while testing the teaching waters. There are others in my workplace looking for a year off after graduating college, some looking to save money, a couple real teachers, and a few like me seeking asylum from unemployment. With varying majors and reasons, finding friends instead of acquaintances can be difficult.

Gossip, however is universal, and is an easy way to create bonds in large groups. (personally I prefer to create bonds through combined trust) Within the small English bubble that I live, work, eat and sleep in, gossip can be a destructive force. Some personalities in the bubble thrive on the phrases ‘did you hear what so and so did” and walk with the swagger, 'I know something you don't'.

This isn't a phenomenon brought out because of Korea, it exits everywhere. I've just found that my English bubble brings about an inability to escape it. To be honest, I would prefer to have a lot more culture shock and a little less banter.

I prepared my resume, and came to Korea expecting culture shock to be my largest challenge. I find it extremely interesting that that has not been the case, and I've instead had to deal with gossip. I have learned this though: travel skills are non transferable, they don't really apply to teenage drama.

8760 hours pt. i

I walked into the lobby of a motel confused; I thought I was supposed to be taken to the apartment I would call home for the next year. Instead, I was in the lobby being greeted by my then to be, and now current, employer. She wasn’t alone; there were also two girls from Canada whose experience in Korea started only a few hours before mine. That night we were all smiles after a pitcher of beer, and a bottle of soju.

I never really got to know the two girls I met in the lobby that night. One of them would be fired from my school a week later in a now semi infamous potato chip heist. She would later find another job, but left that contract before Christmas. The other girl fell victim to a freak accident and broke her leg as she was celebrating her birthday. The slip also exposed the business side of Korean Hogwans, as she was viewed expendable and shown the door.

It was a sad ending to what started as a great beginning in Korea for those two. Yet I remain, and on the anniversary of my arrival I realize how much I’ve learned in 12 months. In memoriam I’m going to write a three post series as I prepare for my second 8760 hours (one year).

a correction

my grandparents were given an up to date printed copy of all the blog entries for Christmas (thanks Dad!). That led me to re-read some of my posts, and realize how my perception of this country has shifted. I called them the other day and my grandfather said to me “Sean, any Koreans reading those (blogs) might be unhappy that you imply they are all drunks”. Well, I’d like to change that.

My original posts  all seemed to originate from the same place, and rice beer is a helluva drug. I originally treated Korea as an extension of college, and thought the country was simply a giant party. I wrote about drunken Koreans and plastered weiguks, unaware and naïve to my surroundings. I had true friends openly tell me that three sober days in sixty means you have a problem. I shrugged them off and replied ‘Korea is all about drinking’. My rebuttal was easy because I only surrounded myself with people who drank; bearing witness to an alternative wasn’t clearly visible through the bottom of a shot glass.

I’m not saying that I regret that period of time; I had some great fun (I was smiling in the pictures I don’t fully remember). I was also fortunate to meet some amazing people, some stuck around and others I’ve unfortunately lost contact with. During that time I crafted a somewhat inaccurate view of Seoul to those who read my blog.

I wrote about consistently seeing drunken Koreans, and that was easy because I’m in Korea, much like you see Russians in Russia, and Canadians in Canada. You are also likely to be around drunken people if you are in fact drunk yourself. While Korea does have extremely lax drinking laws, you can purchase and consume alcohol anywhere at any time. I think a problem is encountered when you abuse that privilege. Just because you can drink on the subway doesn’t mean you always should, and for months I did.

While I wasn't completely inaccurate in some prior entries, it isn’t unusual to see stumbling Koreans on the sidewalk at any time of day. What I neglected to mention is that they were often engulfed and ignored by surefooted Koreans busy with their lives. Every culture is likely to have drinkers, and with Seoul having one of the largest and densest populations on the planet, coupled with a superb public transit system, they are going to be more visible here.

I mentioned previously in this post about being naïve to my surroundings, in the first six months I was. Reputation in Korea is very important, and weiguks have an awful one. I’m sure if there was data reporting the amount of alcohol abuse in Korea (on a per capita basis), weiguks could easily outnumber any ethnicity in the country. That is our famous reputation, as drunks, and I perpetuated that for most of my beginning months in the country. Most foreign teachers are in their twenties and the prime demographic to alcohol producers around the world.

It was a lot easier to see that Seoul was a vibrant city when I wasn’t wandering dark lit streets. This city is brilliant, and there are far more activities than power drinking. I don’t want to be taken wrong here though! I’m not denouncing drinking, or those who drink, as I’ve actively searched out micro brews in Seoul (a post co-written with Corwin is in the works). I just wanted to set a record straight that I spent months wrongfully reporting. I am a part of a demographic in Korea that abuses alcohol more often than Koreans.