[KS] For your consideration

[J.Scott Burgeson]

--- Steven Capener <sotaebu at yahoo.com> wrote:
Approximately coinciding with the 2002 World
> Cup hosted in Korea and subsequent lager scale
> gatherings/demonstrations, I have seen a resurgence
> in a crude nationalism 


Although I do not dispute the fluctuating existence of
crude nationalism in Korea (often tied to accelerated
globalization and the Internet), I would caution
against such a neat narrative and chronology linking
the 2002 World Cup solely to a rise in Korean
nationalism. I published a book in Korean in late May
2002 that was a bestseller here throughout the summer
of that year. The subject was foreigners in Korea and
I was told by both my publisher and the many media
outlets who interviewed me at the time that the book's
success was partly due to an increased interest in
foreigners because of the World Cup. So this is one
small example of the World Cup succeeding in promoting
globalization in Korea, as well as sparking local
nationalism. Obviously there is a dialectical
relationship between the two phenomena, no?
   Regarding the subject of ESL teachers in Korea, I
have found ample opportunities over the years to have
a voice in the local media (I'm currently an ESL
instructor at Hongik University). Expat (male) ESL
teachers in Korea DO have a rather dodgy rep at the
moment, but this is because most of them can't be
bothered to represent themselves in the local media,
mainly due to indifference rather than language
barriers (translation help is always available). If
expat ESL teachers here do not have a voice, and
consequently suffer from a poor image here, it's
largely their own fault. It's sort of like an
immigrant Chinese dishwasher in New York who is too
busy working to give a voice to himself through
artistic works or whatnot, so obviously he'll be
misunderstood by locals until he does so. Expat ESL
teachers here need to step outside of their little
bubble and interact more with the Korean community,
and until they do so they have nothing to complain
about if they happen to have a poor image here. In
this particular case I DO blame the so-called
"victim."
   --Scott Bug 


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