I hang out a quite a bit with American expats like myself, almost all of whom are teaching English.
Once a long time ago, someone asked why people never call Western expatriates immigrants. And while that was a deeply thought-provoking question, there are indeed profound differences. Subjective differences that lie in intention rather than circumstance. (Or maybe not, since class is so central.) I still wondered if I knew what they were.
My first weekend, I met a few college grads the night after they had a training exam for their positions. The ones who failed would go home. And while most passed, the ones who went home would return to their parents' homes and places that don't hire anyone anywhere, not even the fast food chains. Some people come here to Seoul because of this. Because they can save and go back and maybe pay rent for a year while looking for jobs.
My second weekend, I met a man who would leave following week. I asked him what he'd do back in the States. He shrugged his big tattooed shoulders. "Seoul is great," he said. And I wondered in what way, since earlier in that day he was talking shit about the guy with the grin on his face charging 2500 for bottled water. Why if so much distrust?
That day, I met a man who came to visit his former colleague, who is now teaching adults. They used to work at a company that gives financial advice lectures to retired folks around the country. "There were months at a time when she would not have any gigs. For her, it was like being paid to sit around, but that's not her. She had to do something." Enough said.
And when the sun went down, I went to Hongdae, near Honggik University. I remember it like it was the LES, but on crack. A lot of college students starting their year. But also a lot of foreign faces. A lot of plastered faces. Some European accents. A lot of twenty-something white folks in their going out clothes and heels.
In the cab home that night, I talked to another recent grad who used to study philosophy. She said that there were only two things she really wanted to do after college - community/labor organizing or teaching kindergarten. Her current job is far from those things. "I had to really reconcile that before coming here. What I was adding to." She works for a publicly traded corporation that charges middle class families exorbitant amounts to learn English afterschool.
But ultimately, there is money here. I'll talk about that soon, since I seem to be in the middle of much of it...
