ghost_tree has posted a really good entry regarding teaching in Korea and how foreigners are viewed as teachers. This is more or less a unfocused response to the issues he's brought up.

Koreans are the most xenophobic people ever. I'm not sure whether it's excessive pride for one's nation [don't get me started on the absolutey ridiculousness of nationalism] or what, but it sickens me sometimes.

I remember during the World Cup in Korea during the Summer of 2002 when my friend almost got into a fight with this inebriated Korean guy when the guy was openly rooting for US to lose against Germany (which they ultimately did). There are strong anti-US sentiments throughout the masses [my ideology has been remarkably shifted as of late - I used to be a really big proponent of any type of "government for the masses," but I'm really beginning to understand the dangers of large groups - they are more easily deceived and can be led to do greater damage than if each individual was asked to act on his own accord!] which really flared up during the World Cup. In any case, Koreans have the strongest sense of national pride that I've yet to see ... even in Americans. Hell, I'm a proud American and I'll show my red, white, and blue pride ... but the fanatical level the Koreans take it to is simply astounding.

Unlike the fiercely individualistic Americans, Koreans are geared more towards the group mentality [this has a lot to do with the influence of Confucius within Korean culture]. There was an article that I read a long time ago that talked about the popularity of a particular Korean game (Lineage, I believe) that would never fly in the US. Why not?

Lineage was built around team play where each team has a distinct hierarchy of command. Unlike CS and Halo, each player was *not* equal in power. The reasoning went that Koreans, who are much more willing to accept a lower social ranking for the sake of the group, could bear to have players who would happily be the "grunts" in each battle. According to this logic, many players in American could never accept the role of grunts to the level that the koreans did, so the game would never be popular in the states.

Deferring to the group also rears its ugly head in the Korean economy. The creation of the chaebols (which are huge companies that pretty run Korea's economy) was not simply the result of horrible economic policies. Koreans, when they're not dreaming of getting their kids into Seoul University, also dream of getting a "secure" job at one of the large chaebols. Entrepeneurs do not exist at the level that exists in America.

Now, my parents have become Americanized over the years (thank goodness), but I remember a long time ago when they would watch Korean news tapes [we would rent them from the local Korean grocery store]. The Korean news media is a joke (it's all propaganda from the government); they would supplement a lot of normal news with sensationalist reports [a lot like America!]. And like many Americans, many Korean adults would get caught up with whatever the news show decided to talk about. My parents used to abide by these shows with a fanaticism that astounded me... they took whatever was said as fact.

I remember one particular news story that was talking about what parents are to do when their kids run away and return home - the news show suggested parents beat their kids severely so they "learn their lesson."

In any case, I suppose it's only been a matter of time before things reached a boiling point in Korea with all these foreign teachers.

The hakwon [private schools] lobby in Korea is incredibly powerful. I don't think Westerners can fully grasp the ubiquitousness of these private schools which offer private tutoring on any subject at all. With an obsession with education and a xenophobia ... it's only really a matter of time before Koreans start questioning whether these foreign teachers are "really worth it" (which they are!)

I never wrote my summary conclusion from my teaching experiences when I got back, but there are simply many, many flaws in the hakwon system which astounded me.

ghost_tree (dude, should I just call you 'Reyes' or what? I feel so informal using your username) mentions how many teachers are simply hired because they are white. This is absolutely true - I remember when my hakwon wonjangneem [the owner] was trying to hire a new teacher. I was asked to assist in sifting through an online site with all these different Westerners looking for jobs.

What really amazed me was the low level of qualification a lot of these people had. I'm not sure what it was, but on more than one occasion I saw wrong grammar and poorly written descriptions and just a level of idiocy in some of the postings that made me feel very smart [a rare occurence, I assure you]. But these people were getting HIRED!

This is the main problem. There is such a high demand for teachers that the only way that these schools can seem like 'high quality' is to bring in these Westerners who are underqualified, oftentimes shooting over the more qualified Korean-Americans.

The second problem is what I call the "assholes are loud" problem. You never notice the unproblematic people because ... well you're not supposed to notice them. People only notice the bad apples - even worse, the stickiness of any memory increases when an asshole is involved. (like my story which is still vivid in my mind)

Honestly I'm not sure why Koreans are such assholes when it comes to foreigners. You get one bad apple and suddenly the whole group is bad. It's simply ridiculous. Americans have many flaws, but on the whole, I find that Americans are a lot more open-minded regarding races than a lot of other nations. [Europeans are *not* that open-minded towards other races - Germans in particular are friggin' racists]

Man, this post was going to be longer. But I suddenly got really lazy. I think I'm going to go get some breakfast from McDonald's instead.