Taekwondo and Tekkeon on Go Warrior

Once upon a time I was into Taekwondo. i had a lot of fun doing it as well. Every night, after work, during my first year in Korea, I'd cross the street to my local dojang and train. I trained under Master Lee Bong-jae at Yonsei Taekwondo in Ilsan, Korea. He is an awesome guy and I certainly got a lot more out of my "Korean Experience" by studying under him.

Here are is an interesting show I came across about Taekwondo. it's from a Discovery Travel and Adventure Channel show called "Go Warrior." The host travels around the world to look at various matrial arts.

Go Warrior, Taekwondo/Tekkeon Part 1


Go Warrior, Taekwondo/Tekkeon Part 2


Go Warrior, Taekwondo/Tekkeon Part 3

Bump of Chicken and other tunes

Ok...WTF??? I realize that in the wonderful worlds of Konglish and Japlish there are horrible acts commited to the English language on a daily basis, BUT....this one is especially Special. I actually came across a poster for this j-rock band last year and thought it was a joke. TOO much even for the Japlish wy of thinking to pull off...BUT...tonight as I cruised around the video site, DailyMotion for the first time I realized...it wasn't a cruel Japlish joke....it was cruel Japlish reality.

Bump of Chicken
Bump of Chicken

What more can I say????? Bump of Chicken....they are a real band...I shit you not!

BUMP OF CHICKEN karuma
Uploaded by RUNRUN777

Crazy stuff....the worst thing is....I actually kinda find them a catchy band!! Not bad pop-rock music....


Ok...in order to redeem myself...

This is a video by Youjeen. She is the singer from my FAVORITE Korean band...Cherry Filter. She does some solo work in Japan (singing in Japanese)...here's a Japanese tune of hers..."Daydreamin." I think Youjeen totally rocks!

Bitchin about foreigners and other hobbies...

More news on the environmental disaster the people of Korea are fighting...



Hagwons, Regional Colleges Pissed at New E-2 Regulations
Marmot's Hole....

The Maeil Sinmun reports that schools — particularly regional colleges — and private academies are up in arms about the Ministry of Justice’s new visa requirements for foreigners looking to teach English in Korea.

More specifically, they say the new regulations — including the requirement to submit a criminal background check, which would require the nationals of nations not party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (read: Canadians) to return to their homeland once a year — are turning potential teachers off to Korea and making it difficult for schools to fill their staff requirements.

Moreover, the measures are driving up salaries for foreign teachers and finding fees to recruiting agencies.

Schools acknowledge the need to filter foreign teachers looking to come to Korea, but claim the new regulations — which treat all foreign teachers like criminals (their words, not mine) — are insufficient and will bring only ill side-effects.

The Ministry of Justice, however, is having none of it. The ministry said (or the Maeil Sinmun said it said) public insecurity about foreign language education has skyrocketed due to recent problems, including foreign teachers’ fake degrees, pot smoking and news that a serial child molester had taught in Korea. Accordingly, its new regulations would go into effect from Dec 15. A ministry official noted that nationals of Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents member nations could get their criminal records in Korea, and that it was studying measures so that instructors with experience teaching in Korea would not have to go through unnecessary measures.




I thought this was a very well written and insightful article in the Korea Times. it's all about the time-honored hobby of many Koreans...especially Korean English Teachers "Slaggin Foreign English Teachers"! I used to get so pissed off when I was teacher at Pagoda and some students would slag me or at least bitch about "other" foreign English teachers. Looks as if things still haven't changed.

Korean English Teachers must truely be pleased with the new visa regulations that are about to be enacted.

About Foreign Teachers
By Brian Deutsch

In response to Kang Eun-hee's article ``Korean English Teachers" published in The Korea Times on Nov. 23, I should say first that she introduces a few important concepts.

However, I feel that her argument has several troubling weaknesses, and the real story is not the cultural gaps between native speakers of English and Korean students, but rather between foreign teachers and their Korean counterparts.

Ms. Kang brings up, for example, the issue of money, and hints that native speakers are paid 45 million won per annum. I am not sure where she got this figure, but I do know that Koreans do tend to exaggerate our income, and that her number is roughly twice what a rookie public school teacher can expect to make.

Even if we do include the housing offered in so many contracts, the calculations still work out to much more than a veteran public school teacher can expect to earn.

Moreover, foreign teachers aren't privy to the same holiday and performance bonuses, and under-the-table cash advances, that frequently pad the purses of Korean teachers, so an objective comparison is difficult.

She also relates a story of an embarrassed student during a Halloween lesson. Many foreign teachers, myself included, know the pain of trying to urge a student to participate only to later find out that he or she has a learning disability.

I will suggest, however, that the cultural gap between foreign teachers and their students is perhaps not so different than the generation gap between Korean teachers and theirs.

I will also suggest that the authority given to Korean teachers (but withheld from foreigners) often instills fear and prompts far more tears than a Halloween lesson ever can.

You won't read many stories about foreigners attacking students with swords, as happened recently in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, nor will you see native speakers slapping, punching, or head-butting their students in the hallways, things I witness between Korean teachers and their students on a regular basis.

Ms. Kang suggests that one cause for the cultural disconnect is that foreign teachers are burdened with a large number of students whom they see infrequently. In my case I have nearly 50 different classes and 1,600 students, whom I see once or twice a month.

Compare that to the tri-weekly meetings between Korean English teachers and their students, and it's easy to see why native speakers are perhaps not as effective as intended. Moreover, when we consider that foreign teachers are, contractually, assistant teachers and are often used as such, the amount of meaningful interaction is even less.

It's also very important to remember that there is no curriculum in place for foreign teachers in public middle and high schools, and little thought is given to how we run our bi-monthly classes.

Our co-teachers are frequently absent from the classroom, are rarely involved in lesson planning, and often say nothing more than ``do whatever you want.''

Were teachers, administrators, and government officials really worried about results or money, they would spend more of both in designing an effective way to integrate foreigners into the classroom.

As it stands now, the foreigner's classroom is a novelty, a gimmick, for as Ms. Kang says, students have had so little time to talk to foreigners.

Finally, Ms. Kang echoes a complaint used far too much, that foreign teachers are a transient population and thus not an effective long-term solution.

Let's please not forget the obstacles in place that prevent long-term employment and which push more and more foreigners out the door. There are ceilings on our salaries and meager financial and professional incentive for post-graduate degrees.

There is no curriculum in the schools and no viable long-term plan for native speakers. And, most recent and most troubling, there is legislation in place that not only increases paperwork and makes it more difficult to work in Korea, but which, quite frankly, insults the foreign community by implicitly degrading us and explicitly calling us unqualified, drug-using pedophiles who are a nuisance to Korean society, as per a recent immigration press release.

It's unwise and unhealthy to always point the finger at the foreign population, especially with such an unintentionally humorous e-mail address.

Foreign teachers were imported, after all, to rectify the glaring deficiencies of Korean English teachers, and even after a decade of exposure, there is much work to be done. For all Ms. Kang's talk about culture, there is a startling dearth of knowledge about the culture of the countries from whence these foreign teachers come.

And, there is a disappointing inability for many Korean English teachers to effectively do their jobs. Considering that Korean teachers lead the majority of English classes in public and private schools, given Korea's low standardized test scores and the general lack of English competence, mightn't we also question the effectiveness of using so many domestic teachers?

There are a bevy of solutions to the problems highlighted both here and in Ms. Kang's piece. I wonder, though, if anyone cares. More conversations on English education take place in this paper than in the schools between colleagues, where they belong.

And lately I have the impression that Korean officials are actually trying to repel all its teachers, and when I read pieces like Ms. Kang's or Mr. Jason Lim's, I wonder if anybody really wants to teach or learn English at all.

Brian Deutsch is an English teacher in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province. He can be reached at deutsch.brian@gmail.com. See origninal...

Interesting...
S.Korea is China's Least Favorite Neighbor

Chinese people like South Korea the least of all of their neighbors, according to the results of a survey released Monday. It is unusual for South Korea to rank ahead of Japan as China's most unpopular neighbor.More...


NGO Seeks to Drive Out Illegal Aliens
civic organization plans to launch a campaign to expel illegal aliens next week.

The Movement of Extradition of Illegal Workers will hold a protest in front of the Immigration Office in Mok-dong, Seoul Dec. 18. At the event, members will urge the government to introduce tighter measures on illegal migrant workers in Korea, estimated at around 220,000. They will call for a more drastic plan ― such as collecting fingerprints of foreigners entering Korea, which was widely considered, but criticized in other countries.

They have already set out plans for the post-rally, too ― written complaints to media outlets on those who turn a blind eye to workers remaining in the country on tourist visas, and visits to headquarters of human rights civic groups for foreigners.

``We are not against all foreigners in the country. We are just against those who come here illegally and take away our chance to work and make a living,'' a member of the group said.

Many of the members do admit that most of the jobs these workers are taking are not attractive to them. ``But we are asking for those people to respect our law,'' he said.

Many people display hatred toward illegal immigrants complaining about crimes some of them commit or the economic loss they cause to society by not paying taxes. Some of these people form online communities and hold campaigns and offline meetings, blaming them for causing high unemployment and the economic slowdown.

Another online community is seeking the expulsion of illegal English instructors who come with tourists' visa and work at ``hagwons (private educational institutions).'' If some of these offenders are reported to have committed sexual assaults or involved in drug trafficking, the movement will make a blacklist and report it to the media and the government.

However, the organizations are being observed with grave concern. Some say these ideas can easily be viewed as racist. ``Many people think they are disadvantaged by these illegal visitors. Their requests may look like actions to do away with illegalities, but deep down in their hearts, there is hatred toward foreigners in general,'' Woo Sam-yeol, head of the Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea, said.

``When experiencing difficulties in getting jobs, youngsters tend to blame it on foreigners,'' Prof. Yoon In-jin of Korea University told the Munhwa Ilbo newspaper.

``We are not saying their undocumented sojourn in Korea is recommendable or good. But what we are saying is that they too have rights to live like any other human, without being neglected or hated in this country,'' said a staff member at the migrant worker's rights committee.

Meanwhile, Park Jae-wan of the Ministry of Justice Immigration Office said, ``The government has already applied strict rules to illegal workers. Those charged with illegal or undocumented work activity are expelled from the country or sentenced to up to three years in prison.''
Korea Times

Apparently so many Koreans hate foreign English teachers because they were hoping to get jobs as English Teachers?? Doubt it. Same thing seems to happen in every country. Those who can't take responsibility for their own shortcomings need scapegoats. For others, I think English teacher bashing is simply a hobby; like running, collecting baseball cards and drinking soju in the park.

Arms Dealer Becomes English Teacher?

I came across this post tonight on the Marmot's Hole. I don't think this one can be topped....or can it? Damn crazy stuff...I had to laugh!

The Arms Dealer Who Became an English Teacher in Korea
Albert Hakim was the banker involved in the Iran-Contra affair. Unlike most of the participants, he was found guilty (plea-bargained to a lesser offense) and fined. He soon disappeared from the public’s view and it was only after his death was it discovered that he was here in Korea operating and teaching at an English Hakwon.

You can read the rest of the article here



Ever had to deal with stupid questions while living in Korea? I'm sure the answer is "YES YES YES"!!!!! Here's an interesting article I saw about those very dumb questions all english teachers must face on a daily basis in Korea.

What Are Appropriate Questions?
By Clara Kim

Since coming to South Korea in August of 2005 to work as an English teacher through the English Program in Korea (EPIK) in North Jeolla Province, I often had to deal with the following questions from teachers and students: Can you eat spicy food? Can you speak Korean? Have you tried this food and that food and so on.
Such endless and redundant questions have made me think how unknowledgeable people are about Korean-Americans, overseas Koreans (gyopo) and the Korean diaspora as a whole and how much of a long way we have to go to bridge this gap of understanding.
Read the rest of the article...


On the more bizarre side of things...
Knife-wielding man storms school over loud bell

KOBE -- A knife-wielding man who stormed into a Kobe public high school and demanded to meet the principal so he could complain about a loud school bell has been arrested, police said.

Junzo Fukuzaki, 44, unemployed of Hyogo-ku, Kobe, was arrested for breaking the Firearms and Swords Control Law.

Fukuzaki admits to the allegations.

"The school bell was noisy," he told the police.

Police said the knife-wielding Fukuzaki burst into a staffroom at the Hyogo Prefectural Kobe Technical High School and demanded to see the principal on Monday afternoon. Male teachers overpowered and disarmed Fukuzaki, keeping him under their control until police officers arrived on the scene and arrested him.

Nobody was injured in the incident.
Original story here...

New Visa Rules for Teachers in Korea

it's a good thing that the korean gov't is finally becoming more stringent with the background of its' ESL teachers, but I guarentee these new laws will cause huge headaches in the ESL industry. I forsee a huge teacher shortage comin up in the Land called Honguk!

New visa rules may force some to return home

English teachers to be required to furnish their criminal record
(Joongang Daily) December 03, 2007

Spurred by the arrest on child molestation charges of a Canadian who taught here, the Justice Ministry has announced that starting in less than two weeks foreigners who teach English will be required to provide their criminal record and undergo a medical checkup to renew or receive a visa.

In many cases, the new requirements will force English teachers to return to their home country to get the criminal record check. Many embassies here have already announced they cannot or will not conduct such a service.

In addition, even if the applicant submits a criminal record, it may not be accurate.
In the United States, for example, criminal records are compiled and maintained on the local, state and federal levels. Therefore, a person could commit a crime in one area, then move to another area. The criminal record check from the second area would not reveal the crime in the first area.

The changes have frustrated English teachers, who point out that only a few of them have committed crimes. Some have suggested the new rules could lead to a shortfall in the number of teachers here.

“I don’t have any problem with the changed regulations, if the ministry arranges the procedures with the embassies here so that we could follow the regulations more timely and efficiently,” said Frances Lucas Murray, an English teacher from Australia. “Otherwise, there could be a shortage of foreign language teachers.”

In addition, people who are found to have committed a felony, have drugs in their system, a dangerous infectious disease, such as HIV, or a drug or alcohol addiction will have their visa canceled, the Justice Ministry said in a release.

To clear up some of the confusion about the new regulations, which will take effect Dec. 15, the Justice Ministry and language schools in Seoul plan to hold a meeting tomorrow to discuss the changes in detail.

The Justice Ministry announced the rules in October, not long after the arrest of an alleged pedophile, Christopher Paul Neil, who taught English in Korea for a total of about four years, as well as in other countries. Neil is not charged with committing any crimes in Korea.

The new rules here will also require new applicants for an English teaching visa, called an E-2 visa, to undergo an interview at the Korean consulate closest to the town in which they live, the Justice Ministry announced.

English teachers are required to leave the country for their annual visa renewal. According to a press release the ministry issued on Friday, people who hold an E-2 visa will still be able to apply for the renewal at Korean consulates in a nearby third country, such as Japan or China.

Kim Soo-nam, deputy director at the Justice Ministry’s Korean Immigration Service, said the ministry would accept a criminal history report issued by foreign embassies here for the applicant.

However, Kim added that so far, none of the embassies here have agreed to provide the service.

“The U.S. Embassy said it will not provide the service, as has the Canadian Embassy,” Kim said.

Indeed, the U.S. Embassy confirmed in a recent newsletter to its citizens that “the U.S. Embassy cannot provide a background check or fingerprinting service, and we cannot verify the authenticity of background checks or diplomas.”

Kim said a criminal record check could be obtained from a local police department in the United States. How-ever, such a list would only contain crimes on the local level that were committed in that area.

Any federal or state crimes, along with crimes committed outside of that area, would not show up on such a record check.

“The principle is that the applicant should go back to his or her country and get a report from the police there,” Kim said.

Angela Trott, consul at the British Embassy in Seoul, also said at Friday’s Seoul Town Meeting: “We have been receiving questions from people who plan to come to Korea. They are concerned and confused about the new visa regulations. But we have not been briefed by the Justice Ministry.”

Frances Lucas Murray, the English teacher from Australia, said he is going home on vacation in January and plans to get the criminal background check while he’s there. His E-2 visa with the Chungcheongnamdo Seocheon Office of Education expires in March of next year.

According to the new rules, however, any teacher hired by the Education Ministry who is already employed can skip the criminal record check, according to the release. That would apply to Murray, which is something he said he didn’t know. He said it could take him up to six weeks to get the record.

At least one foreign language school said it welcomes the new rules, as they may help improve the reputation of English teachers, which gets hurt based on just a handful of highly publicized incidents.

“We welcome the changed regulations,” said Yoon Ji-young, head of the instructor support team at Pagoda Academy Inc., a private language school in Seoul. “But we are still unsure about some of the procedures involved in conforming to the regulations.”

Teachers have complained about the additional expense of traveling home to get the police check, when in the past a short trip to Japan or Hong Kong was enough for a visa renewal.

In Canada, a person can get fingerprinted here and then send them back to get their criminal record, according to the Web site of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

“Although it will take several more weeks to hire teachers under the changed regulations, I think the new regulations will help screen out unqualified teachers,” Yoon said.

With regard to the medical check, an applicant will be required to submit a self-completed form indicating his or her medical history.

Once arriving here, according to the release, the applicants need to go through a mandatory health check, including blood and drug tests, at a clinic or hospital designated by each school or education office.

Original story here...