This is the End, Beautiful Friend
Posted by Andrew | Filed under Living in Korea
And now, the end is near, and as I face the final lesson . . .
Here I am on a Friday morning, with a mere two weeks to go before I have to get out of this apartment and stay somewhere temporarily before being taken to Seoul for a few days for "orientation", something which was sadly lacking when I first arrived here. I had a full ten minutes of "training" in my first day at Sodab-dong Jung-Chul, and that was a nonsense because I already understood Win98SE better than the existing staff . . . how times change.
You might ask why it is that after over five years of working for the same employer, I should suddenly decide to up sticks and shift to another (currently unknown) location. There are many reasons, but the crux is this: lack of organisation and communication. There is no game plan in the hagwon environment – bosses are mainly (and quite nakedly) concerned with backsides on seats and the stated aim of the institution – to help students acquire better language skills – comes a poor second to making money. A good business has a good business plan, a plan which is shared with everyone who works for the place so that they all know what they have to do and when to do it; but in the East Asian work environment (and here I'm not just talking about The Way Things Are in Korea – remember that I've been to "other places"), people are expected to "just know" about things in an even worse way than in similar places back in Blighty. But then . . . one subject upon which many people here (including many Koreans themselves) are agreed is that poor foreign language skills among hagwon owners is a prime cause of screw-ups and disagreement. The foreign workers don't know one hundred per cent. what the Boss wants because he simply cannot communicate his ideas to them, so the business as a whole can never be one hundred per cent. efficient.
In this particular case, there is one overarching factor which sticks out like a sticky-outy thing that Really Sticks Out: over the years, the quality of teaching materials declines. One bizarre observation recently was that the most effective book for practicing grammar was one of the Grammar Spectrum books from England, largely I suspect because it is so simple and straightforward, and in fact can lead to more productive discussions about grammar – at least as far as the kids are concerned. Glossy and complicated materials lead immediately to confusion.
The hagwon chain is in fact in the process of rolling out its "new generation" of textbooks, and I must be honest with you. They suck. Big time. It really is difficult for me to see how they should be used properly. There are two levels in use right now and each ends with something about classical music, something which the kids find incredibly tedious; Level 2 Book 6 has nothing in it but composers and music. The kids just sit there all lesson, yawning. They also now experience a higher level of complexity which they seem unable to cope with, so they lose interest rapidly and start chatting among themselves, much to the detriment of the whole environment. Affective filter too high, attention span too low. Results: crap!
So we could say that they keyword here is "disillusionment": hagwons could be both more effective and more efficient, but the weaknesses of the business as a whole reflect the weaknesses of the kingpin, who is really only interested in profit. Right now, my own "kingpin" finds himself in an awkward situation, as many of his staff have changed in a short period of time and the remaining longest-serving member – Oneself – is departing at the worst time of year (for him), just prior to the beginning of the new academic year.
The final twist is that the situation has forced him to consider something he probably has never done before. Yesterday I met my replacement. Female. Filipina!!! He has reversed his previous position of not accepting applications from (a) females and (b) conspicuously non-"Western-looking" individuals. I had asked him several times during previous recruitment cycles whether he would accept applications from women, and he actually said: "No. Women are trouble in Changwon!"
Similarly with anyone who was not strictly "Caucasian" in appearance; the objection being that neither the kids nor (especially) the parents would tolerate it. Prospective applicants for jobs in Korea, remember this.
So what would make him consider such a radical departure from his "normal" recruitment principles? Well, this Filipina is married to a Korean and therefore will be entitled to a K2 or even a K4 visa, so he has no added costs in getting (a) air tickets or (b) visa applications. Similarly, she already has somewhere to live, so he saves a packet on key money and procurement of apartments. Financially it's a smart move, but the business may suffer because the foreigners tend to be well-liked by many of the kids and even some of the parents – irrespective of complexion, let's say. Getting a new foreigner in here costs any business an arm and a leg, as mentioned in previous blogs here, so from a business standpoint at least, he is doing the right thing.
In the end, the difficulty and irritation of being forced to work in an awkward situation with awkward people has forced me out, and it looks very much like the Education Ministry here is welcoming me with open arms (not to mention a better salary and working conditions, plus a PENSION, something I will have to discuss in somewhat greater detail at a later time). I feel personally that I am being pushed out sideways like a piece of extruded plastic. And I've had enough.
The sad part is that I can no longer stomach the place. Too much has changed too rapidly, and it's lonely being the oldest of the foreigners; each day now I am counting down the days to departure. But that leads us to a completely new point for discussion: why jobs don't seem to last as long these days as they used to.
But that's a discussion for another time . . .
A. ^_^
