2. Forward

There are two majority thoughts here in Korea in regards to the foreigners that work here. One is that we are foreigners on western contracts and we should be accommodated for because we are guests. The other group believes we are in Korea and therefore we should adapt to their culture even if it renders our contracts semi-void. I think which group you fall into, depends on how you are treated here. Overall, I believe in fairness – if they give us a contract both parties should fulfill the sides of the contract or else it creates distrust and a perceived injustice. Perceived injustice is commonly felt by foreigners teaching in Korea, and there isn’t any easy way of lodging a complaint. The major part of how you are treated is largely from your co-teachers. Most people work in smaller schools and have one Korean co-teacher, but there are many that have more than one. This can work against you either way, especially since you could be going against a human wall of resistance. If you lodge a complaint, it gets lost in the human wall of antipathy, the wall that doesn’t want anyone else to know. If the truth ever did get out, and someone actually cared about the inefficiency, Korean co-teachers might actually have to make an effort to help you… They’d rather that didn’t happen.

The big problem with the contract is that many terms of our jobs are undefined. How we are to be treated is undefined. It is a contract of purposeful ambiguity. There are certain things that should be required like being notified of the schedule changes as soon as possible. I find that the students are informed of the schedule changes more often than I. Any news related to the school can be found out only by actively investigating, since very little information will be voluntarily given to you. In their words, we’re supposed to ask them about any changes that may happen, given these changes could occur anytime, we are A: Supposed to ask them 3 times a day, or B: Read their minds and ask accordingly.

In many ways we aren’t treated like a part of the school, we are more of an afterthought. Also, we aren’t respected; we are treated like we are the second-hand citizens doing their dirty work for them. Everything here is need-to-know and in their eyes we don’t need-to-know until last minute.