I hate it so much here that I’m staying: Expats in Korea
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008Expatriate bloggers in Korea.
No, I’m not talking about people who were once proud defenders of their country but have since disregarded their loyalty (ex-patriots) nor am I talking about former professional athletes for a certain Eastern division NFL team (ex-Pats). No, I’m talking about people who are currently living in a foreign country while still holding allegiance and identity to their home country (expats).
There’s a large foreign population in Korea. There are approximately one million foreigners living in Korea (an estimated 2% of the total population). Most English speaking foreigners work as English teachers at various levels and positions in and around the Korean education system. Some love it, some don’t. See below.
Not all foreigners are English teachers, however. In fact, most are migrant workers filling positions that no one wants and getting paid dangerously low wages. In terms of percentages, an estimated 44% of all foreigners residing in Korea are Chinese. Americans trail behind at 12%, but of course, that’s not counting other English-speaking countries. Still, I wonder how many Chinese-language blogs are out there about Korea? In any case, for only being less than three twentieths of the foreign population, we sure do like to blog a lot, don’t we?
UPDATE: Here are some recent (Oct) numbers of E-2 visa holders - courtesy of the Marmot’s Hole:
15,238 Americans
10,111 Canadians
3,021 Britons
1,412 South Africans
1,162 New Zealanders
1,158 Australians
1,051 Chinese
978 Japanese
626 Irish
56 French
Yet many of the English language blogs written primarily by English teachers are so negative that it almost paints a dangerously inaccurate picture of the country. Korea can be like a Cohen brothers movie: not everything is what it seems - there is a lot under the surface for those who are so inclined to notice. Come on, you didn’t really think The Big Lebowski was all about that rug, did you? You know, the one that really tied the room together?
It’s a hot topic for sure (life in Korea - not the rug). There’s plenty to say on the subject, but a lot of it is coming from people who are either not happy or who are grossly misinterpreting things. But let me backtrack a little.
I’m an outsider for sure. I presently don’t live in Korea so I don’t know first-hand the daily life. Bringing up the fact that I’ve visited the country twice doesn’t give me a grain of salt’s bit of creditability, so it’s not appropriate for me to criticize those who actually do live the life. Perhaps if I move there one day I’ll have some street cred but for the time being, I’m green.
But let’s be fair on the subject - there are plenty of good, hard-working foreigners who absolutely love their life in Korea. However, many of these silent majority don’t blog and thus we have no online proof of their happiness. Maybe no news is good news?
However, I will say that there are reoccurring subjects frequently covered by less-than-happy bloggers. They include, but certainly aren’t limited to:
- Sexism
- Staring
- Social inequality
- Incompetency
- Shady bosses
- Excessive corporal punishment
This just a slice of the spoiled pie that so many foreigners seem to be eating from. Yet, they keep coming back for seconds. If things are so bad, why do foreigners stay in Korea? Are things that bad in their home country?
In a way, yes. Korea has a low cost of living when compared to the States. The common job (English teacher) requires less formal education than in the States and pays just as well, comparatively. It’s seriously not that bad of a gig all things considered. Well, other than being completely removed from your friends, family, and life as you have come to realize it. Yeah, not bad at all.
But in another way, sometimes it’s just a difference of culture. I’m not saying one is better than the other but it is fair to point out that swimming in the ocean doesn’t make you a fish. Just because an expat observes something over an over does not make that person well-versed in that culture. This criticism works both ways. I’ve read viewpoints on American life that, in my opinion, are so far off from what is authentic that it almost is laughable, if not offensive. Of course, such criticism usually has a root cause or event that sparked such an emotion (baggage anyone?).
But still, sometimes the people who move to other counties aren’t exactly a proper representation of their home country. Again, this goes both ways: not all Korean people own their business and are great at math and not all Americans drink too much and are young, white men. In fact, I would go as far to say that some American expats were misfits in their own country to start with. Yet, some are just the adventurous type that’s what lead them to Korea. Some are just trying to hack away at their student debt. Some are in the midst of a career change. Some are looking to find themselves. Some are motivated by other reasons to relocate such as religious convictions, discovering their own culture and ethnic background, and/or because of their spouse’s work.
Either way - if you live in Korea and you are not Korean - you are not alone. Take comfort knowing that there’s countless of online resources for you. Some big names:
- Korea Beat (Korean news articles translated into English)
- The Marmot’s Hole (10+ year veteran’s delightfully entertaining views on Korean pop culture, responses to breaking news, and otherwise tabloid-related topics)
- The Hub of Sparkle (a growing meta-blog about all things Korean with several big-name contributors)
- Bomb English (one of several online projects run by blogging veteran Michael Hurt)
- The Midnight Runner (nicely produced podcast dealing with popular social issues, headline news, and life in Korea)
- Galbijim (general interest hub specializing in the 대구 area - forum, wiki, and blog all rolled into one)
- Korea for Expats (for the young at heart but done with the bar scene - informative and helpful FAQ section)
- Dave’s ESL Cafe: Korean Job Forums (Humongous online forum. warning: be on troll alert)
Don’t let the big dogs get you bogged down. There are plenty of other fun-to-read blogs on just about any subject you can think of:
- Naked in the Sauna aka the Sauna Mommas (female expat blogging community)
- Stuff Korean Moms Like (a Korean-American’s ongoing list of hilarious Korean mom quirks)
- POPSeoul! (celebrity gossip blog)
- Hanfever (Korean drama production, rumor blog)
- RateMyHagwon (aimed to provide hagwon blacklists, whitelists, and prospective teacher tips learned the hard way)
- The Korean Blog List (a 500+ collection of personal blogs regarding Korea)
With all these resources (and countless others) it’s beginning to look like we need something to organize all this internet goodness. Enter: the RSS feed reader. If you are still living in web 1.0 and haven’t discovered the beauty that is RSS, you are up a creek. Get on board already. I love my RSS feeder. Feedreader has replaced sliced bread for me.
The funny thing about expat bloggers is that they are connected to people that have never met them. Their experiences are sometimes vicariously felt through simple words on a screen. I won’t lie - I actively follow a few. I’ve read about them moving jobs, changing apartments, trying new foods, going on vacation, etc. I know that I’m not alone. I mean, some are considered to be rockstars in their own right in terms of creditability, reader base, and name recognition. But when it’s all said and done, these are normal people ranting and raving about their daily life. Take it for what it is. Some good people blog and some don’t. Some jerkoholics blog and some don’t.
What I feel bad is when I read about people who are blatantly rude or disrespectful to others - be it Korean or otherwise. It makes me cringe and forces me to seriously consider tattooing “외국인이어서 죄송합니다” on my forehead.
Now I’m not much of a poet but I prepared a little poem for such an occasion. Sorry it doesn’t rhyme. This one is dedicated to the law-abiding expats in Korea.
You are not all scumbags. You are not all drug dealers. You are not all unsafe to be left alone with small children. You are not all carrying forged diplomas. You are not all alcoholics. You are not all breaking every ethical code imaginable. You are not all bad. But some of you are and it makes me sad. So stop it already would you? Stop giving the mass media something to write about. I’m tired of getting the evil eye.
Thoughts?
Posted by Matthew in How Koreans Do It |
December 9th, 2008 at 6:02 am
Most of the English speaking population in Korea (from my experiences) seem to be there to pay off debt and “travel” at the same time–the job is completly secondary. Korea has it’s fair share of breaucratic problems, but all in all, it’s just a different country: different rules, people, culture, procedures, perspectives, etc. Many Americans/Canadians hold high expectations and expect the same treatment (if not better) than their home country. Sometimes everyone just has to take a problem and laugh at it!
Bad experience or good experience: it is still an experience–one that is now a part of you and will come to influence every decision you make in some way.
Roboseyo (you posted his picture) runs a blog that seems to reflect a good life in Korea. The underlying problem lies with the fact that English speakers go to Korea to make money (most of them)–not for the experience of a second culture. They usually blog to vent; nobody else to talk to usually…
가엾다.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:29 am
I love the title of this week’s blog entry, Matthew. It’s something I’ve wondered about during my flirtations among the expat bar scene in Korea. I’ve had not-so-great days during my time in Korea, but I still cringed whenever some expat started shouting about “those Koreans” at the top of their lungs in some bar– especially when I’ve heard that the ranter has been living in Korea for a few years. I’ve been so tempted to yell “If you hate it so much, just leave already so the rest of us can have some fun!” Sheesh.
I don’t often visit Dave’s ESL Cafe, but I found myself noodling about there recently, as I was doing some research about job hunting in Korea. I’ve already lived and worked in Korea for one year, but I figure it couldn’t hurt to hear some opinions from people who have been through various different situations.
There is a lot of negative energy going on in those forums– enough to make a first-time foreign-teacher-in-Korea applicant dazzled by promises from a recruiter (good or bad) run for the hills. Of course, it’s good to go into any situation knowing about “worst-case scenarios” and what one may go up against, but… it can be excessive.
I suppose just another example that those who are happy with their situations just don’t post ranting blogs– or on ESL teacher boards– as much as their (relatively) happy counterparts.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Well said gentlemen!
December 9th, 2008 at 9:58 am
감사하구요 That last sentence should read “I suppose just another example that those who are (relatively) happy with their situations just don’t post ranting blogs- or on ESL teacher boards- as much as their unhappy counterparts.”
December 9th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Whoa! Seeing myself while scrolling through my RSS updates made me do a double-take. (No worries, though) Thanks for the link.
Have you looked at my “Why do Expats Complain So Much?” series? It discusses exactly the kinds of things you’re mentioning here — which have, believe me, weighed on the minds of just about every person who reads the English expat K-blogs.
http://roboseyo.blogspot.com/2008/07/why-do-expats-hate-korea-complain-so.html
Anyway, as I said there, bloggers generally end up with the audience they deserve, and expats usually end up with the friends they deserve, given the attitude and energy they have towards Korea. And yeah, people are more likely to sit down and type when they’re mad, than when they’re happy. I think it’s a feature of human nature that content people are usually quieter.
Anyway, interesting read; thanks, and keep on plugging: I like what I’ve seen of your blog so far.
btw Chris1: thanks!
December 9th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Roboseyo,
You are a great writer and have an excellent sense of humor. Your blog is an entertaining read and your optimism about everything plays in really well. I’ve actually cited your expat article in some research I was doing a while ago–good stuff!
December 9th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Woah! Roboseyo thanks for stopping by!
I did check out your article back in July. I especially liked the approach and sheer depth of that particular entry. Anyone looking for more on the subject should be directed to your blog. I’ve enjoyed your writings for quite some time and thought I’d share with everyone the photo that has me laughing out loud on a weekly basis. I freakin love that photo.
December 9th, 2008 at 11:49 am
aw gee, thanks guys. really.
I’m always happy to see bloggers with a positive mindframe pop up: I have about a jillion blogs on my RSS feeds, keeping tabs on what’s new. In my experience, I’d say that the majority are just observational, but because several of the big blogs are kinda negative, most of the best-known posts ON numerous blogs that feature all across the positivity spectrum are of the negative-rant persuasion (because a good rant is fun to read, and more memorable than a bunch of vacation photos), and especially, because of the comment boards on several of the most popular blogs, things come across more negatively than they really are.
I don’t mind criticism, but I prefer it to be either really intelligent, or really funny.
Also, glad you like the photo: I only got my hands on it by sheer luck, as it was taken by a coworker and I had to steal it off my work’s preschool photo album page in order to stow it away for myself. It’s one of my favorites, too.
December 9th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Thanks for the links to Roboseyo’s blog. I enjoyed reading his and “The Korean”’s responses to this hot topic. I plan to go back and read more…
I find it ironic that many people write that studying Korean will improve one’s understanding of the issues, yet now I will spend more time reading this stuff in lieu of actually studying Korean. ~sigh
December 9th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
It goes hand in hand, man.
December 9th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Well spoken! Thanks for the link love!
December 9th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
hey, thx for thoughtful notes. it was impressive indeed!
Last Saturday, I went on some blind group date, meeting
bunch of people, well.. online stuff turns out as offline meeting
anyways, there were like 10 foreign teachers from Canada,
US and 2 Korean females (me and my friend)
we were attending Rubber Seoul event held in 4 respective hongdae
clubs (it was a 60th annversary World’s AIDS Day)..
anyways, some have started to hold beer at their hands..
and drink without realizing their actions would bring negative
images of foriegners, majority unprovely qualified ELS teachers..
we hopped on the bus, but 1 guy bought a 1.5liter of
beer in a plastic bottle and was drinking on the street and a bus. It was gross….
I indeed, with no hesitation,asked him if it was allowed in HIS very country.
he was kinda mumbling for awhile and lost in words, but what came out
from his mouth was ‘of course not’… yeSSSSSSss!!!
OF COURSE, you are NOT allowed to hold the beer bottles and
drink them produly on the street in Seoul.
What you have in mind is so vaguely seen so it probably was shown
in the public that way. I didn’t say that out loud. but it’s for me,
a disrepectful manner of him being a VERY wanted teacher in Seoul
just because he holds a Univ grad certificate and suits the vacant
English teaching position.
He could be the one who blames alot about having been stared at
on the streets… but come on, some does not even notice what they
do outspokenly in Korea to gain such popularity.
Be respectful in wherever you are belong to for now..
The more you complian the worse your hatreds will be.
I will keep my eyes on foreign teachers living in Korea,…
yeah. I am responsive but rather realistic.
December 10th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Nice story, hope you don’t mind me plugging my feed reader. It’s easier to use and prettier than the one from feedreader.com, it’s available at www.realsimplenewsreader.com
It has hundreds of built-in feeds and a feed locator tool, so you’ll never need to search for feed again.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Actually, Cuddly Bird, your comments go almost to the heart of what so bothers some expats - both in the bad behavior of the expat but also in your reaction.
Certainly, impolite, drunken ramblers are unwelcome nuisances whatever the country. If somebody is publicly behaving badly, then that’s bad. But the sin is not *worse* for being committed by a foreigner. More obvious, yes, but not any worse than a band of arguing, carousing Korean businessmen. We should be as critical and observant of our own reactions as we are to others.
December 10th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
The issue of complaining expats is pretty tired, and charges of negativity don’t really warrant much comment anymore. Some people go out of their way to be negative, it’s true, while others go out of their way to be positive. Some focus all their energy to complaining about every facet of Korean life, while others choose to present a “balanced” picture by only talking about the positives. But life here and anywhere is full of ups and downs, and to focus on one extreme or the other is misleading. What is telling, though, is when so many of the big-time bloggers and commentors have the same take on contemporary issues.
And yeah, Cuddly bird, that’s the kind of attitude that puts us in the mood to complain.
December 11th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Jennifer: well said. Drunken rudeness is not the exclusive province of any demographic, and any time I feel the need to judge a large group by the behavior of a few members of that group, I am revealing more about my OWN character than anything about the character of people belonging to that group.
Brian: you’re right. Frankly, I’m happy to retire the topic as well, and start harping on something else. At this point, I think a blogger who’s really earnestly looking into the topic will find their way to what’s already been written about it, and bloggers who haven’t taken the time to poke around before they start writing about it, are likely either introducing the topic to their relatives back home or other such unfamiliar-with-the-Korea-blogs readers, or just ranting anyway.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
I have visited Dave’s Cafe to read all those complaints about Korean or Korea.
It was typical and natural for any human being could say, I thought.
Even as a pure(?) Korean myself, I would have complained about the same thing if I were in their shoes; I under-stood.
Life anywhere is not perfect or free of discomforts.
Even the life after death may not be so peaceful if life baggage is carried over to other side, complaining forever.
If things can be changed by complaining, without being offensive, it is good to complain.
If no change is possible, it can only come back to hurt the complainer.
In that case, it does no good except making mouth bad, if not the heart the source of life.
What I learned from there, however, is that even though there are so much bad or unpleasant things going on in life, here or there, there are always someone who try to see the good side of the life to encourage self first and others to go on living, fending off those bad aspects of life, letting not to get deep down to own born being rotted by them and refusing to add unnecessary choice burdens on the already burdensome life mule humping over many huddles of life journey.
What good is it to overload the fragile heart with bitter burdensome complaints, which has been labored ever since the birth of life, 24/7, without taking time off from pumping the life blood over the hundreds of miles of blood line?
If life is choice, why should we choose something bad for our precious heart?
On a second thought, we human being love to choose the bad, thinking it is good, unless we really have the perfect life standard and scale to judge right and act right.
However, even the Mr./Ms right can be wrong due to the subjective and relative nature dominating over the screening of the inputs, thinking process, and outputs.
Once “I” is placed on the right side, ‘you’ on the left can only be wrong, helplessly.
To be my standard or your standard, this seems to be the question, when it comes to any dispute between the two parties.
Or maybe understanding is it? the basic human nature?
December 18th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Matthew,
I agree with you that there is a lot of negativity on expat blogs about Korea, but you cannot take the writings of certain expat blogs as a representative picture of the entire Expat community in Korea. To do so is select from a very unrepresentative sample. A lot of people begin writing blogs in the first place to get things off their chests, and in a foreign country where there are much fewer people to talk to about things, it is one way of doing this.
Still though I find it laughable that you say these foreigners writing about bad things that happen are eating from a ’spoiled pie’. Sexism, Social inequality and the often employed deceptive practices by employers may not be nice, happy things to read about but they are a representation of reality as it exists. I agree that there is a point when it becomes moaning and groaning but to say people shouldn’t write about these things is akin to censorship!
I have friends who enjoy lots about living in Korea and other aspects of Korean culture, but know women who been propositioned for sex because Korean men assumed they were Russian prostitutes, a friend who was not allowed to leave his 학원 even though he contracted Pneumonia and had been advised by a doctor to go home, and it is quite clear to me that foreigner residents are not granted a level of privilege that they can enjoy in countries like the UK and the USA (you only have to see the visa guidelines to see this).
Should people not write about very real issues that affect their lives as a result of living in Korea? While it may not be a great advert for Korea as a tourist destination, and may not sit well with those who are fond of Korea for other reasons, it is greatly oversimplifying the situation to just look at these blogs and say they are negative and therefore bad.
I agree that there is a lack of clarity in many people’s writing who complain, and yes there are undoubtedly people who moan so much but don’t leave because they have an easy situation compared to what they have at home. I think the biggest problem is that out of the many that do have bad things to write about, few lack the clarity of thought and writing skill to express their ideas in a convincing way. To read one man that does however, I highly recommend you check out Michael Hurt’s blog here:
http://metropolitician.blogs.com/scribblings_of_the_metrop/
Roboseyo’s blog is excellent too for a balanced outlook on things, but he too writes about the very themes you appear to despise - only he does so with wit and balance.
I’m also afraid this post and the poem you included only goes to further the stereotyping of foreigners as bad. Are you aware for example of how much the Korean media (not published in English conveniently) blows up what are really very few and isolated incidents of foreigners doing bad deeds? For example, I have not read of any hard evidence in a news story of a foreign teacher abusing their students, yet due to one incident of a teacher would was arrested in Thailand on paedophilia charges (despite no evidence he had committed the crimes in Korea), who had worked in Korea, all foreigners were tarred with the same brush as becoming suspect to that crime. What followed was a media circus of negative stereotyping of foreigners and new visa regulations with unnecessary steps that made foreigners lives unnecessarily difficult. You can read these articles on Korea beat.com.
Bottom line: Expat blogs - not a good advert for Korea but a good way for Expats to communicate their concers and get things off their chests.
December 24th, 2008 at 1:39 am
The problem I see with many foreigners being negative about Korea is that they don’t know anything about Asia in general; culture, history, etc. They tend to focus on the negative points you mentioned, when they would be better off saying hey this is a different cultural background with thousands of years history, of course they don’t do things like the West. Head over to say China (where I live at the moment) and all of those negative points are much more apparent than in Korea, social inequality, sexism, corruption, etc.
It always seems funny when some Korea bloggers write in amazement about how hard kids have to work in school or lack of holidays for workers as though it is unique to Korea.