What Kind of Person Thinks About This S***?

I came to my gestational ideas out of an engagement with Marxism which began in my undergraduate days.  I found many aspects of Marxism quite compelling, others lacking.  I began thinking about alternate approaches that could either replace or be combined with Marxism to compensate for its deficiencies, including Critical Theory, poststructuralism, and analytic thought of various kinds.


It was to learn about these sorts of ideas that I committed to a graduate program in philosophy in the Fall of 2008.  Unfortunately, I found the small taste I got of these alternative approaches not entirely satisfying.  Even more unfortunately, partly because of the stress of a collapsing relationship, I became extremely nervous and overly defensive of Marxism.


Being excessively argumentative in my first semester of graduate school did not endear me to certain faculty members, who not-so-politely suggested I explore other career paths. (I am, as a matter of fact, contemplating Law, Journalism, and civil service, among other things.)  I still want to finish the degree, in part because I feel it will help open doors in these other fields, in part because I simply want it.  For all the hardships I experienced in grad school, I'm still interested in ideas.  Silly me.


It wasn't all hardship, I suppose.  I toned it down a bit my second semester, and developed a new interest in some old ideas.  I took a class on Aristotle, and loved it so much I made the classics professor my advisor. Aristotelian realism, I now believe, is a perfect complement and corrective to Marxist materialism.


I took the next year off, decided to return to Korea.  I had taught English there in 2005, and decided it might be nice to see some old friends again.  Unfortunately, I found the country as corrupt, conservative, and chauvinistic as I had left it.  No, not fair.  There had actually been a significant amount of progress in some ways, more development, slightly softening attitudes on women and gays and foreigners.


Unfortunately, the English academy (hagwon) system is still a frightful mess, only in the earliest stages of being cleaned up.  Basically, these McSchools charge wayyyy too much money to parents frightened for their children's future in a society competitive enough to rival the ecosystem of the Amazon basin for Darwinian savagery.  They skimp on essential costs, use substandard texts and supplies, overwork students, rearrange classes every time a parent or adult student complains, and oh yes, horribly mistreat their workers (Korean and foreign both).  In general, the academies are the worst possible way to do education.


Koreans know this.  They've actually known it for a while, but a newly developed country with a democracy less than 20 years old, locked in a perpetual state of war with its collectivist northern alter-ego, and bitch-slapped by the most recent economic crisis just as it was finally recovering from the one in 1998 can only do so much. 


Long story short, I got monumentally screwed over -- again.  Fool me twice, shame on me, I suppose.  I figured, this time around, I know the ins and outs.  I'll work for a reputable company, YBM, and teach grown-ups.  Sounded good on paper, but YBM, while not especially corrupt, by Korean standards, proved to be extremely disorganized and poorly managed, at least by typical American standards.


After three months of doing my best to follow my boss' instructions, I got tired of getting blamed for managerial snafus, as well as of consistently negative feedback from students that often went suspiciously unsubstantiated.  For instance, I requested several times to see student evaluations.  Even if they had been in Korean, I could easily have had a friend translate them.  The evaluations were never produced.  My manager refused to provide any details, and actually identified as a source of criticism a class that I hadn't even taught! 


I believe that my articles for the Korea Times, mentioned in my first post (http://smugpansy-cynicscorner.blogspot.com/2010/04/smug-pansy.html), may have played a role in souring my relationship with my employer, but I can't be sure.  Me and my big, fat, um, word processor? 


I tried to move on to another job, but Immigration (which is as full of racist a******* in Korea as it is in America) put the kibosh on it.  So I returned to America, penniless.  A warning for anyone thinking about teaching English abroad. 


Again, I suppose it wasn't all hardship.  I got to see some old friends and make some new ones.  Koreans, even middle-class Koreans, are used to a somewhat greater level of hardship than are Americans.  My friend kadual (handle, not real name, of course), for example, ended up homeless and sleeping on the street for a while when he toured Australia.  Didn't even complain about it, said the weather was nice.  Yeesh.


So, now I am thinking about completing my degree, applying for jobs, and of course, blogging.  I'd say the 21st century's off to a roaring start.