Boy oh boy! Korean CULTure seems to harbor a very deep seeded tendency towards needless control - both in terms of control of the self, and especially the constant attempt to strictly control others.
Or maybe I've just been "unlucky" or have been running into all "the wrong people" over the past five years that I've been here. I hear excuses like that a lot. But, sorry.... Nah! Sorry, but I wasn't born yesterday. I know unhealthy societal tendencies when I see 'em. And here, I SEE 'EM. A lot. The tendency in South Korea is to try to control absolutely everything everyone says, does or even thinks.
So most folks in this overextended society learn at a very early age to watch everyone around them, looking for any signs of weakness. And ANY perceived misstep is then used as ammunition for social blackmail. Blackmail and brinkmanship; it seems to be all that many people over here know.
NAH! All of the above ONLY happens in North Korea. NOT!
Either way, think twice before you accept and/or seek a teaching position in South Korea. There are plenty of horror stories about teaching here that have found their way onto the Internet already. So I really shouldn't have to belabor the subject. My highly educated guess is that only a tiny fraction of that overwhelming number of horror stories has as yet even been published on the World Wide Web. For various reasons, of course. I mean, who wants to advertise the fact that, despite their best intentions before entering the country, they ended up getting caught up in somebody else's quite pervasive societal dysfunctions?
So if you have had a bad experience in South Korea, with an overbearing, needlessly controlling employer, co-worker or otherwise, by all means, feel free to share.
One thing though: If you should get the urge to write in and brag about how you spent one, two or even more years in Korea, and it was all so splendid and idyllic, and you're sorry about how this or that person had a bad experience, but you yourself had a sunny, happy time in the land of bogus "morning calm," because you're perfect and... everybody else isn't...? Uh... don't bother.
I've had some good experiences here in South Korea too, but sadly, the reverse is often much, much more common. And that's the truth.
Or maybe I've just been "unlucky" or have been running into all "the wrong people" over the past five years that I've been here. I hear excuses like that a lot. But, sorry.... Nah! Sorry, but I wasn't born yesterday. I know unhealthy societal tendencies when I see 'em. And here, I SEE 'EM. A lot. The tendency in South Korea is to try to control absolutely everything everyone says, does or even thinks.
So most folks in this overextended society learn at a very early age to watch everyone around them, looking for any signs of weakness. And ANY perceived misstep is then used as ammunition for social blackmail. Blackmail and brinkmanship; it seems to be all that many people over here know.
NAH! All of the above ONLY happens in North Korea. NOT!
Either way, think twice before you accept and/or seek a teaching position in South Korea. There are plenty of horror stories about teaching here that have found their way onto the Internet already. So I really shouldn't have to belabor the subject. My highly educated guess is that only a tiny fraction of that overwhelming number of horror stories has as yet even been published on the World Wide Web. For various reasons, of course. I mean, who wants to advertise the fact that, despite their best intentions before entering the country, they ended up getting caught up in somebody else's quite pervasive societal dysfunctions?
So if you have had a bad experience in South Korea, with an overbearing, needlessly controlling employer, co-worker or otherwise, by all means, feel free to share.
One thing though: If you should get the urge to write in and brag about how you spent one, two or even more years in Korea, and it was all so splendid and idyllic, and you're sorry about how this or that person had a bad experience, but you yourself had a sunny, happy time in the land of bogus "morning calm," because you're perfect and... everybody else isn't...? Uh... don't bother.
I've had some good experiences here in South Korea too, but sadly, the reverse is often much, much more common. And that's the truth.
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