Orientation, It Was Better Than I Expected

Man these orientations are always amazing, and this one didn't disappoint.

It started with a woman who runs KOTESOL is Daegu. She was giving a speech on ESL instruction that was, in reality, a sales pitch for her husband's books. While she actually had some great ideas the simple fact is that 99% of us would be unable to implement them solely because we work at private companies with set curricula. Also, well lets be honest, 90% of people in that room were not actually certified EFL teachers. Korea shops bargain basement for its instructors and while there are many that are actually quite good, many would not have the skills to do what she is suggesting or even the interest in doing so. Well meaning but not useful.

Then we had a western guy talking to us about Korean etiquette. His sole qualification seemed to be that he had lived here for twelve years. His presentation, entitled "Life in the Gu" was a fantastic start (Gu means administrative district, and while a few newcomers like to call Daegu 'the Gu' they quickly figure out how dumb it sounds to call their home 'the municipality'). Twelve years, I can learn nothing from him. He started by telling us about the research he had to do to find non-drinking activities in Daegu (I know what he does every weekend). He scrolled through such great organizations as the Daegu sports clubs, theater troupe and language exchange groups in about a minute (there were more but he scrolled through too quickly to read them). He then presented a video, clearly made as a comedy by some local expats on Daegu's foreign friendly bars (which is a misnomer as every bar is friendly to non-GI's, they are just not western style). I felt bad for people featured in that video as I am sure they would never have agreed to do it if they knew they would wind up there. Plus we all look like drunk idiots to the Koreans in attendance. Twelve years he has been here. Then I get to hear about how important it is to make inroads in the foreigner community. Go out with them lots. Introverts, explorers and people who want down time need not live here. So at this point I know that there are lots of bars to drink in and something else and it is all white people. Great. Then comes Korean interaction. First, don't show up to work drunk. I have never done that, nor would most people. If they do they should be fired immediately. Though he assured us all that he wasn't being patronizing, so that was nice. Second, his buddy had two Koreans lie and say he beat them up in a bar so he paid a bunch of money to them and had legal problems, be careful of those Koreans or you'll end up like his buddy. Third, learn Korean. He reads and speaks hangeul well (hangeul being the Korean alphabet, he speaks alphabet well. I'd say it was an honest slip of the tongue that I have made as well except he said it three times and never corrected himself).
The end.
What I took away from this was:
-drink lots, but only with westerners.
-In fact, make sure you go out every night you can with foreigners.
-Koreans are scary.
-Learn to speak the Korean alphabet.
-sober up enough for work.
-There are other things to do but you'll be too hungover to do them.

Well if I took his advice I wouldn't have my current and wonderful girlfriend, friends such as Kwangho and his family, other Korean or any non-western friends in general. I would also be unable to do an MA or Moonkkang stories and editing cause I'd be hungover all the time. Plus all the great food, exploring etc. that his game plan would make impossible. These include most of my fondest memories in Korea.

To be fair, people who know him said they were surprised, that he is actually a very nice guy and that speech didn't reflect him at all. I am sure that is true, and in another context he may very well be a decent guy. In fact I bet it is hard to do that and he tried to make something that a new person may find useful. The problem is that it was just such bad advice.



Anyway after those wonderful speeches I left and had a great afternoon downtown with Eddie, Jarrod and Hayley. We had sushi and coffee and hung out until we had to go to work. Jarrod is working with us this week so we all jumped in a cab. Actually that afternoon made the whole seminar worthwhile I guess, though I could have used the time far more productively or just spent it all downtown eating and drinking coffee.

Anyway, I just laugh and put the whole orientation experience under that file of absurd stories that can only happen if you live abroad. Twenty-four hours later and I am joking with Mike about it. Life in the Gu I guess.