ASEAN in Galilee Street

Volunteerism is the epitome of unselfishness. We gave our time that we could never get back to these kids in Galilee Church. The day was April 21, 2007 when I and my friends participated in a volunteer work in a foreign country. The feeling was awesome.
Digression: And the last line welcomes the philosophical argument that volunteerism and self-sacrifice are essentially acts of selfishness. Whoever agrees shall be silenced with brutal philosophical castigation. We taught them English through picture stories, visual poems, songs, rhymes, dances, and theatrical gestures.


Most of these kids are children of single-parent families and seeing the smiles on these innocent faces were truly priceless.

Is there a Bane to being Brown?

To me, teaching English has never been an option as one of my career paths. But the winds of change has carried me to that direction. I now set my eyes on becoming an English teacher to Korea. I search the web for job opportunities as my resume would allow me to competitively apply for a teaching post. Or so I thought...


"Native English speakers ONLY!", "No experience necessary.", "...finished two- or three-year course."

These are ubiquitous requirements in recruitment websites. It struck me as silly to construe skin color and linguistic ability to positively covariate with each other. I always thought that "what is accent if the brain is not present?". Teaching the language, after all, is more than the rules of grammar, idioms, and accent. It is imparting the necessary skills to understand humanity, to further educate oneself, and to empower others.

It has been obvious that in Korea, competence and skill are overshadowed by skin color. I am brown, yes. But that doesn't mean that I can't be on equal footing with 'white' teachers a.k.a. backpackers who are the only ones eligible to apply for an E2 visa. There is a glaring racism in this issuance policy, which was said shall be scrapped at the end of the year. I hope it would be the case. It's high time that Korea opens its education market to Asian English teachers not only because of economy, but also because of quality.

Koreans have been trying to learn English for decades, but still they are finding the language difficult to grasp. There should be some structural problems that make effective learning elusive. It could be that 영어 학원(language academy/institute) are hiring ineffective teachers as reflected by their list of "qualifications": No experience needed, O.K. if not boarded, white. Great. Those are really material.
NOT!

I'm bitter but not because I'm brown. I'm bitter because the country I consider my second home does something that is discriminatory (refer to WTO MFN agreement), illogical, and unabashedly racial.

I hope the wind of change blows again...but not towards me...but towards education policy makers in Korea.

My Name is Rain

This month is clear month for me. Alam ko, corny. Clear as in clearance moments not Bi's (비) clear shampoo. hehehe. Pano ba naman, I've just accomplished my graduation clearance form last week, then eto na naman, I'm clearing out from the company where I teach English. This week's Friday magaalsabalutan na ko. haha. Yan, clearance ulit, exit interview, job hunting. This time, I want to build my career in Asian Development Bank, or in any international organization.

To me, there's no such thing as resignation. I don't resign to my fate. There's no last day for me. Everyday is a new day.

Bye, my dear Korean students. 안녕히 계세요. 열심히! ^^;