Korea Calls - but I'm in the shower

The first call came from Korea.. a job teaching conversational english to Christian Women in a tourism program at Kyungin Women's College. I turned it down, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost was that when I called my friend OX (the excellent Korean) he immediately launched into a list of reasons I should finish my MA, bring enrollment success to Swamp Valley College, and wait for a better offer from Korea.

This is, of course, the Korean way of saying "I know something about this job and I'm not going to share it with you, but for God's freaking sake DO NOT take the job!" Later, when I put the thumbscrews on, he told me that the guy helping me get the job would also be working there and I would be quite obligated to him in that institutional situation. This does not sound like much to Western ears, but in Korea it means the world.

Anyway, staying here will allow me to get the victory I need at work to have a good chance at marketing employment when I return to the states. I can also pile up my full 240 hours of vacation (paid out at separation) and finish my MA without hassle. Still, it was hard to give up the opportunity to trade grades for sex with Catholic girls. ;-)

I checked the advertisement out and it is classically Korean. If you look a the screenshot below, the advertisement for the English Instructor is in that orangey pop-up window. It is 100% in Korean, meaning very difficult for most English speakers to read -- something like completely impossible. This, of course, means that no English speaker who doesn't

a) Know Korean fluently or,
b) is recommended by a Korean

will possibly even hear of the job. Very Korean, that. It ensures that job applicants will come with a social context already in place and that, although they might not be the most qualified applicants, they will "fit" into the Korean context.



you've gotta love that approach!