...And Annyeong Seoul...Again
...Well, the streets of Gangnam welcomed me back almost exactly the same way as I left it almost three years ago. The familiar convenience stores, Karaoke parlors, little restaurants, and of course, that gigantic COEX Mall across the street...the energetic, vibrant feel of the town is on full display for my first weekend in Korea since 2008. A few more happy businessmen having afternoon beers in a few more Western-style bars, a few more stylish cute girls walking through a few more luxury shops, and a few more sales ladies peddling to a few more happy customers...beneath the physical sameness was a country gradually moving forward...
To be honest, the fact that I am walking down the streets of Seoul still has not really settled in my mind just yet. Having been told by a straight-faced, no-mercy immigration official that my work visa to Japan was officially cancelled and my Alien Registration Card (外国人登録書) need to be confiscated on the spot, I was still reeling from the sense of sudden detachment from Japan when I walked out the door at Gimpo Airport to breath in Seoul at night.
It was weird. From the lady at the money exchange to the taxi driver who duly ripped me off on a 40-minute ride to Gangnam, many Koreans I met in the past 15 hours mistook for Japanese (if they do not mistake me for a Korean, that is), quite ironic considering just a few hours ago, I threw away my visa to work in Japan to pledge temporary professional allegiance to this particular country. Yet, at the same time, everything just felt so same, the taxi ride made me feel as if I am back in Shanghai, or Beijing, or Tokyo, for that matter. Not a bit of "Korean-ness."
Well, that is if you overlook the human aspect of the country. There was no shortage of "Korean-ness" here. For one thing, the rapid talking made me feel like I took a year of introductory Korean as a senior at Yale for nothing. Interestingly, people refused to speak any differently even after they figured out that I am not comprehending what they are saying. "I will just do what I think is fit" is the usual reaction, bypassing any need for communication, whether it be linguistic or simply hand signals...
As I met up with my boss from three years ago, sharing such little tidbit observations of Korean society cannot be avoided. He tells me of increased anxiety and insecurity of the Korean people since my last visit. Threats from the North continue to strain the psyche of the common people beneath their joyful materialistic ways, and the amount of attention devoted to political and economic happenings from around the world is at a different level from what I am used to seeing in Japan.
And the English teaching business, for better or worse, is in the midst of all that. With more and more parents willing to shell out enormous amounts of cash to get their kids abroad, the entire industry is seeing a bonanza. Yet, with other industries taking hits from financial crisis plus Quake-related downturn in Japan, investors are diverting more and more of the resources to the still lucrative English teaching sector. The result: heavy competition with little profits and increasingly picky customers.
What is more, with major American domestic chains like Kaplan and Princeton Review devoting more resources to design curriculum for the "Asian needs," institutes here in Korea that survive off the big summer inflows of high school students are increasingly seeing their customers moving or staying the States during the summer. Thousands of new institutes pop up and thousands die every summer, while everyone struggles to come up with new marketing strategies to attract a shrinking pool of interested students still remaining in Korea.
And there is even more. Compared to three years ago, work visas for English teachers have tightened so much as to push up the labor fees for hiring anyone qualified enough. No longer allowed are college students on summer vacations as college diploma is now needed for a visa. No longer possible are many foreign students who study in the US as English teaching visas are now only provided for 6 English-speaking countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa). With a limited pool of college graduates willing to show up for a three-month stint in a foreign country, wages are soring and squeezing the institutes even more.
...well, here it is. My summer in Korea officially begins with some worries but still full of expectations. It is as I have said to so many people so many times before, it is always better to regret after trying and failing than regret for not trying at all. While my second summer in Korea will be defined much more by the need to save for grad school than "new experiences" as it was in 2008, the country will surely still bring me plenty of surprises and plenty to write about. I certainly look forward to that.
To be honest, the fact that I am walking down the streets of Seoul still has not really settled in my mind just yet. Having been told by a straight-faced, no-mercy immigration official that my work visa to Japan was officially cancelled and my Alien Registration Card (外国人登録書) need to be confiscated on the spot, I was still reeling from the sense of sudden detachment from Japan when I walked out the door at Gimpo Airport to breath in Seoul at night.
It was weird. From the lady at the money exchange to the taxi driver who duly ripped me off on a 40-minute ride to Gangnam, many Koreans I met in the past 15 hours mistook for Japanese (if they do not mistake me for a Korean, that is), quite ironic considering just a few hours ago, I threw away my visa to work in Japan to pledge temporary professional allegiance to this particular country. Yet, at the same time, everything just felt so same, the taxi ride made me feel as if I am back in Shanghai, or Beijing, or Tokyo, for that matter. Not a bit of "Korean-ness."
Well, that is if you overlook the human aspect of the country. There was no shortage of "Korean-ness" here. For one thing, the rapid talking made me feel like I took a year of introductory Korean as a senior at Yale for nothing. Interestingly, people refused to speak any differently even after they figured out that I am not comprehending what they are saying. "I will just do what I think is fit" is the usual reaction, bypassing any need for communication, whether it be linguistic or simply hand signals...
As I met up with my boss from three years ago, sharing such little tidbit observations of Korean society cannot be avoided. He tells me of increased anxiety and insecurity of the Korean people since my last visit. Threats from the North continue to strain the psyche of the common people beneath their joyful materialistic ways, and the amount of attention devoted to political and economic happenings from around the world is at a different level from what I am used to seeing in Japan.
And the English teaching business, for better or worse, is in the midst of all that. With more and more parents willing to shell out enormous amounts of cash to get their kids abroad, the entire industry is seeing a bonanza. Yet, with other industries taking hits from financial crisis plus Quake-related downturn in Japan, investors are diverting more and more of the resources to the still lucrative English teaching sector. The result: heavy competition with little profits and increasingly picky customers.
What is more, with major American domestic chains like Kaplan and Princeton Review devoting more resources to design curriculum for the "Asian needs," institutes here in Korea that survive off the big summer inflows of high school students are increasingly seeing their customers moving or staying the States during the summer. Thousands of new institutes pop up and thousands die every summer, while everyone struggles to come up with new marketing strategies to attract a shrinking pool of interested students still remaining in Korea.
And there is even more. Compared to three years ago, work visas for English teachers have tightened so much as to push up the labor fees for hiring anyone qualified enough. No longer allowed are college students on summer vacations as college diploma is now needed for a visa. No longer possible are many foreign students who study in the US as English teaching visas are now only provided for 6 English-speaking countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa). With a limited pool of college graduates willing to show up for a three-month stint in a foreign country, wages are soring and squeezing the institutes even more.
...well, here it is. My summer in Korea officially begins with some worries but still full of expectations. It is as I have said to so many people so many times before, it is always better to regret after trying and failing than regret for not trying at all. While my second summer in Korea will be defined much more by the need to save for grad school than "new experiences" as it was in 2008, the country will surely still bring me plenty of surprises and plenty to write about. I certainly look forward to that.
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