Teaching Kimchi

Once you’ve spotted a great job anywhere online and figured out how much moolah to ask for, you need to get your foot in the door. In most cases, your foot is your resume, and every person you’ve ever met with a job has sincere, if contradictory, advice on making yours shinier than all the others. We’ve picked out five bits of advice that actually help you plan, write, and present your resume, rather than rely on oldie-but-goody generic advice. Follow along and dig up that dusty old Word file to see what you can do to make yourself more appealing the next time you’re stopping at the post office on lunch break.

You can read the rest of the article here: http://lifehacker.com/5042344/rebuild-your-resume-with-five-simple-fixes

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I’ve worked at Foreign Language High Schools, Private Tutoring, and Academies (Cram schools, Hakwons). Here are a couple of lessons I’ve learned, so you don’t have to make the same mistakes.

1. Be strict with Korean Students – This means allow them give you respect as a “teacher.” I liked students calling me Paul instead of Mr. Kang, because I was only a couple of years older then them, but they don’t take you as serious if you become too much of their “friend.”
2. Don’t become “friends” with your students – Korea is not ready for a “western” mindset in education. Again the lack of respect and violating the code of teacher/student will only cause you problems. I’m into computer gaming, so occassionally I would try to motivate my students by going with them to the local PC bang. They stopped doing homework…
3. Have real punishment and accountability – If you say something, you better follow through with what you said or they will keep on pushing the line. Some recommended punishments are calling their parents or … humiliating them in front of the class, in a gentle and respectful way to get them motivated.
4. Make a strong/strict first impression - First impressions are important all over the world- especially to Koreans and the Korean students. If you command their respect at the beginning and keep it up, they will listen to directions.
5. Korean students lack motivation - Foriegn Language High School students are supposed to be the top of their class, however, some still lack motivation. I’ve used a hybrid approach to carrot-dangling and punishment. This seems to work well. However, I personally think intrinsic motivation is best, but I still haven’t figured out how to teach that yet.
6. Qualify your students – don’t let any Joe Kim enter your class. If you have the power to do so. If you have a bunch of trouble makers in class… well that “yeast” will work its way throughout the rest of the class. I like to give insanely hard SAT tests to not only destroy their arrogance, but to humbly help them know they don’t know anything yet.

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Star Craft anyone? A PC Bang is an internet café that a lot of Korean students use today.  You’ll find them all over Seoul and all of Korea for that matter. If you ever see the letters “P” and “C” you can bet your Kimchi that its a PC Bang. You can go there to access the internet and play computer games.

Be careful with your sensitive information like credit card and banking information. You can’t trust all PC Bangs to have high quality security.

One more thing to note is that a lot of them have tons of smoking area. If you’re a smoker you’ll feel right at home. However, for those of us who dislike the smell newer PC Bangs have non-smoking sections. Although, sometimes you can still smell smoke on your clothes when you leave.

Where: Essentially everywhere in Korea

How Much: Most of the time 1,000 won, however there are new “luxury” PC Bangs that cost more.

Photo: http://flickr.com/photos/gwire/

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Public Service Announcement for US Citizens living in Korea from the US Embassy:

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul is transmitting the following information through the Embassy’s warden system as a public service to all U.S. citizens in the Republic of Korea.  Please disseminate this message to U.S. citizens in your organizations or to other Americans you know.

The U.S. Embassy urges American citizens throughout the Republic of Korea to exercise caution during demonstrations and vigils protesting the resumption of American beef imports and the policies of the Korean Government.  The protests, which began eight weeks ago, have become more violent in recent days.  Korean authorities stated on June 29 that they would crack down further on violent protesters.  They have begun using water cannon and fire extinguishers to stop the advance of demonstrators and have stated that they reserve the right to use tear gas.

Up to this point the demonstrations have not been overtly anti-American in nature, but American citizens are nevertheless strongly urged to avoid the areas of the protests and to exercise extreme caution if within the vicinity of demonstrators.  The center of protests in Seoul has thus far been Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall, with demonstrators frequently attempting to move north along Sejongno toward the Blue House, the Presidential residence.

American citizens should stay current with media coverage of local events and be aware of their surroundings at all times.  The U.S. Embassy in Seoul will continue to keep the American citizen community informed of any changes in the overall security situation via this email system and the Embassy websites at http://seoul.usembassy.gov and www.asktheconsul.org.

The Embassy encourages all U.S. citizens to register their presence in Korea with the American Citizens Services office at the U.S. Embassy or via the Internet at http://travel.state.gov/travel/abroad_registration.html or http://www.asktheconsul.org/.

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If you did not receive this message directly via the U.S. Embassy’s warden email system, we encourage you, as an American living or traveling in South Korea, to register with the Embassy through the State Department’s travel registration website, http://travelregistration.state.gov.

Americans without internet access may register in person at the Embassy.  Registration is a voluntary way of telling us that you, as an American citizen, are in Korea, whether for a long-term stay or for a short visit.  In the event of an emergency, we use registration information to communicate with you.  This could include a family emergency in which relatives in the United States request that the Embassy contact you.  Registration also automatically signs you up to receive our emailed monthly newsletter and periodic warden messages about safety, security, and other topics, such as voting.

If you choose not to register, you may still subscribe to our email warden message system simply by providing your email address on the Embassy’s website at www.asktheconsul.org.

For the latest security information worldwide, Americans should regularly monitor the State Department’s website at travel.state.gov where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, and Travel Alerts can be found.  Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the Unites States, or, for callers from outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.  These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

Embassy Seoul Contact Information:

American Citizen Services
U.S. Embassy Seoul
32, Sejongno, Jongno-gu
Seoul 110-710, Korea

Tel: 02-397-4114 (operator available 24 hours a day)
Fax: 02-397-4101
DSN: 721-4114
Website:  http://www.asktheconsul.org/
Email: seoul_ACS@state.gov

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What is the cell phone coverage in Korea?

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