Thursday, April 28, 2011

ATEK 4: Power to the Members

Update: ATEK's President is Resigning.
UPDATE II: ATEK's Official Statement Regarding Conflict of Interest Explanation of Disciplinary Procedures History of Removal of officers and members


Don't like something ATEK did recently? Think ATEK needs to improve something? Have some ideas about how to improve the organization?

Ultimately, ATEK answers to its general members, not to anybody else (as noisy as they may be). Every ATEK communication should include that fact, until the people who don't listen stop screeching that ATEK is claiming to represent them.  ATEK is a communication network of (number of associate members), and represents (number of general members) English teachers in Korea.

If you're not a general member, ATEK doesn't represent you.  It also doesn't answer to you, no matter how important you think you are, or how smart you are, or how loud you are.

If you ARE a general member, here's how to get involved, because if ATEK's general members get involved, and start exerting their will, that's a powerful thing... and if ATEK's general members can't be bothered, then maybe it is time for the organization to disband, and for its officers to find other venues to contribute to Korean society and the English teacher community.  They're out there.

Fact: ATEK's bylaws, as they are written now, say that a General Member petition must be heard by the National Council, if only 2% of ATEK's general members submit it.  If 4% are on board, you can demand a national vote/referendum.  Given ATEK's current number of General Members, that's about six people, so if you're a general member, you DO have the power. Tons of it.

Here's the section of ATEK's bylaws (their constitution) that gives you the power:

ARTICLE 14 Part 6
6 General Members may by way of submitting a petition to the National Council call for a referendum or general vote. Petitions must comply with the following requirements:
(a) The petition must be supported by a minimum of 4% of the total of all General Members of the Association.
(b) The petition must be an electronic petition in the form of an email.
(c) The email must contain the names and email addresses of the petitioning General Members.
(d)The email must be sent by a General Member to the National Membership Officer. The name and email details of the petitioning General Members must match the details on the National Membership list held by the National Membership Officer.
In article 7 of the bylaws, only 2% of ATEK's general members (about 3 people) need to submit the petition, for it to be required to go to the floor of the national council, at their next meeting, and voted on by them.

The general members hold the power in ATEK, and you need to know that.  And you need to use it.



Heres' how:

1. Get together a few ATEK members who want to shake some things up.
2. Go to the website (atek.or.kr)
3. Find the sidebar that says "GM Resources" - ATEK's new Webmaster has been moving things around (looks great so far), so it might move to the left or right side, etc..
4. Find the button that says "NC Petition Form" click it.
5. Follow the instructions.  Write out your petition. Be clear and specific.  If you want multiple things to happen, maybe even submit multiple submissions.
6. Upload it, as per the directions.  If you have trouble uploading it, email it to president@atek.or.kr, media@atek.or.kr webmaster@atek.or.kr members@atek.or.kr and ethics@atek.or.kr ... that should make sure it reaches the eyeballs that need to see it. If I missed anyone important, sorry.

And if you want to get something going, send me an e-mail (roboseyo, gmail) or contact me on facebook, and I'll put you in touch with others who are interested in moving and shaking as well.

Demand new membership bylaws, or meeting minutes to be posted on the website, or for the membership list to have personal information about teachers removed, or for bureaucracy to be streamlined, or for the NGO goal to be put off until the organization's figured out how to function smoothly. Call for ATEK's Ombudsperson to conduct an investigation into the things reported by 3WM if you're not satisfied with the investigation Tom Rainey-Smith did.  Demand that one be released to the public, or at least to General Members. Demand that the former officers involved in saying mean things about the organization be banned from membership for life. Or that they be made into the new ethics committee. Or anything else I recommended in my last post. Whatever.

Go for it! You have the power! You really, really do.



Comments will be open on this post, to have a discussion about what you'd like to see from an organization purporting to represent English teachers.  I'd like the comments here to be a place where people can discuss that.... so please place your comments allocating blame for the meltdown, and making, or challenging allegations, elsewhere.  He-said, she-said is playing out in other places so it's kind of unnecessary to re-state it all here.

If you wish to direct my readers to those discussions, you may put links in the comments to my site: I won't delete any links (once I find them: sometimes blogger's spam filter blocks things).

And don't worry: I'll read your comment: I keep tabs on those places, too.  You can even go on there and call me a poopypants for deleting your comments, or suppressing that kind of discussion at my site.

In other "good for English teachers" news, some of the people who've been waiting for ATEK to pull its act together, got tired of waiting, and are expanding the services that can be found on the AFEK website. There is now an open discussion forum there, in which anybody can participate.  If the forum there turns out to be anywhere near as useful as the F-visa only discussion forums on that site, it'll be an awesome resource once it's up and running.  http://www.afek.info/

Comments open. Moderation on. Please observe the terms of engagement.

That Roboseyo Sure Is A Poopypants.

If you're a fan of 3 Wise Monkeys, and don't like that I criticized them,


or if you think it's lame that I closed comments until I'd finished saying what I had to say,

you are invited to comment here, and call me a poopypants, and tell other commenters how right they are about my poopypantsiness, so that the other comment thread remains devoted to discussing what the way forward is for ATEK, if there is one.

It's not often I write a whole post just for one person.  You know who you are. You're welcome.
[Update: that might have been the most passive aggressive sentence I've ever written.  I apologize.  You know who you are.]

Here. I'll start things off:

SOCKOSEYO I:

That Roboseyo sure is a poopypants.  And passive-aggressive to boot!  It must be because he's dishonest, ego-mad, and a jerk, and a bully, and a coward, those last two somehow simultaneously, and not because he's annoyed and fucking exhausted at having to revisit an ugly mess on which he already wasted spent three months of his free time.  Freedom of speech or something!

SOCKOSEYO II: You sure are right, Sockoseyo 1!  Allow me to cast more aspersions on his character!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

ATEK 3: Why Bother, and What's the Way Forward for ATEK? Is there One?

So Why Bother with ATEK? Why doesn't ATEK just pack it in?

Let's not lose sight of these facts:

1. ATEK is a good idea.  It's a good idea for English teachers to have an organization that can, hopefully, provide a legitimate voice for them.  A good idea badly executed?  Perhaps.  A good idea executed as well as its officers could manage, given their experiences, skill-sets, and personalities?  Maybe.  A bad organization that deserves to be executed?  Not unless there's another representative organization doing a better job of giving English teachers a voice.

If that other organization comes along, and does a better job... well, awesome, and ATEK's officers should quit and move there, and hand over access to the ATEK facebook groups and such.  On the other hand... ATEK already has a massive communication network, and it would be stupid if the organization disbanded and that went fallow.

2. Any new volunteer organization that tries to develop a democratic process for representing English teachers, will have to go through its own growing pains, and will end up subject to similar criticisms, and going through similar personality issues, and pitfalls.  That ATEK has survived this long speaks well of it, and every time it goes through another rough patch, it comes out a better-built, more useful organization.  The problem? Every time ATEK goes through a rough patch, the other thing that happens is more of the long-term people who should be driving an organization like this and providing it with stability, continuity, and support, instead decide they've heard enough and get out their ten foot poles.

Any organization that doesn't try to have a democratic process for selecting its leaders, and some kind of procedure, wouldn't be able to claim to be representative. Any that does is going to end up with personality conflicts and people jockeying for influence in the organization.  Catch-22. And when somebody catches the short end of a power-struggle... hell hath no fury, you know.

3. ATEK has been having a constant discussion, at all kinds of levels, about what an English teacher organization should, can, and needs to do, and how the best way is to go about that.  They haven't arrived at a final answer and smoothed out every wrinkle (probably never will), yet, but every miss is closer to the mark than the miss before it.

4. There are still English teachers who need help with stuff, because shit still happens.

5. The Anti-English Spectrum remains intact, and active.

6. At its best, ATEK's communication network can be a really effective way to help English teachers pool and spread information.

7. ATEK is by NO means the only organization to have embarrassing public fallouts.  I've spoken with people who play/played parts in a number of other volunteer or expat organizations who have found their organizations similarly paralyzed by "titanic battles of ego" to borrow my own phrase.

8. The great idea of ATEK is that when somebody knows a lot about Korea, or teaching, or getting help in specific situations, they can (through passing their knowledge to other officers, developing resources and training materials and documents), ensure that their knowledge, experience, and contacts remain in Korea, even after they leave. The idea of keeping people's knowledge and experience in the country, perpetuating the learning (rather than reinventing the wheel time and time again) is a good one, and it's why I believe an organization like ATEK needs to exist.  If ATEK is/becomes an organization that facilitates people pooling, improving, and perpetuating their knowledge and experience of Korea, then the English teaching community is richer for it.

Is ATEK doing that?  Discuss amongst yourselves.  We've read lots of words already about how the organization has been getting in its own way at times.

Some of this stuff refers to things said on other forums or in communications with ATEK officers, some of these ideas are borrowed from other commenters in other discussions.

Rob's Prescription for ATEK to get back to being a relevant/effective organization.  Take it or leave it.

Shiva the destroyer (source): destroys, to make room for creation.
So... let's get destroying.

Some of this come from inside information, and some of it's based on comments I've read in other places.  I apologize to anyone whom I accidentally quote without attribution. Tomorrow's post will have comments open, and you're invited to take credit for as many of these as you like.  Meanwhile, I don't think any of the inside information is too scandalous, or contrary to the goals of ATEK.

Apologies for repeats:

1. Shakeup.  Again.

The remaining characters who were key players in the meltdown from last autumn need to vacate decision-making/influential positions in the organization.  Most of them already have.  For the most part, I like and respect my former colleagues as people, but pragmatically, as long as the events of last October can be thrown in the face of any of the people involved in ATEK's efforts and plans, not many people are going to take the organization seriously, at least in any endeavor where that person's role comes into play. Hopefully they'll be given enough time to find their replacements, and hopefully their replacements will be given the benefit of the doubt.

And who's going to run for president now, when the job description reads like this: "Wanted: punching bag.  Requirements: rhino-thick skin; ability to motivate people, make idealists compromise, and sniff out ulterior motives in the space of a five minute phone call.  Compensation: The people you help the most will send you an email "thanks" on their way to the airport with their severance bonus in hand.  That's it, but your name may be google-bombed if certain online personalities, or certain officers decide you do too much, or too little, of something.  They won't tell you what until you've already done it, though.  Tenure: one year, renewable."

Who's going to answer that bell?  Given the amount of punishment ATEK's president needs to be ready to take on the chin, I'd be surprised if any sensible person would go for it.  That leaves people who are in it for some other motivation... and that introduces a whole other set of problems.

And that's how it comes to be that... to riff on a line from The Dark Knight
this is not batman. this is spider-man. don't be stupid.

ATEK is the organization English teachers deserve, but not the one they need.

What else?


2. Streamline.

There are too many PMAs and too many officer roles. Combine some PMAs so that there aren't so many one-officer PMAs. Rearrange the officer role descriptions to allow more flexibility and play.  ATEK is operating on too wide a bandwidth to effectively accomplish EVERYTHING it sets out to do.  It's time to simplify its goals, and set targets according to what it can do, instead of what it wants to do, and take some of those goals, and either outsource them to other organizations, or put them aside until the organization's big enough to achieve them.  (for example, the conference)


3. Make it easier for people to become, and stay members: require less personal information for membership.  Maybe require it for an officer position, or at least some of them, because we need to know who's occupying these positions, but make it easier to become a member.

If people want to contribute to ATEK, rules shouldn't stop them. Too many people have had more to offer, and been turned away or forced-resigned, because of clumsy rules.

Ways to do this:

  • more effective use of committees (one doesn't need to be a full member to be part of a committee)
  • a third type of membership where people can contribute without NEEDING to be English teachers. ATEK has developed disclosure protocols, in order to sniff out conflicts of interest where they exist. I'm OK with people working certain jobs being ineligible for certain officer roles - for example, a recruiter should never have access to any of ATEK's membership lists - but if a recruiter wants to design and organize professional development materials, why shouldn't s/he?
  • relaxed membership policies
  • Membership, at the very least, should expire when their officer role does.  The lost opportunities coming out of forced resignations mentioned in 3WM part 2 are one of the worst things ATEK did to itself.

4. This one might be hard to swallow for some people: Back away from the NGO goal for now and focus on utility

Take an organization people don't understand, and don't totally trust, which hasn't provided many tangible benefits for the people it's trying to reach, and hasn't done a great job of communicating what it has, is, and will do, and make it an NGO, and you have an NGO which people don't understand, and don't totally trust, which hasn't provided many tangible benefits for the people it's trying to reach, and hasn't done a great job of communicating what it has, is, and will do.  Becoming an NGO won't magically make ATEK a useful organization and automatically overhaul its reputation, any more than joining a religion automatically means I can stop taking my antidepressants and seeing my counsellor.

But if ATEK, after retooling, proves itself an effective tool for helping people to maximize their wish to help English teachers, then it'll be even more useful as an NGO.

ATEK's best moves lately have been things like opening the blood-type registry and compiling a list of mental health services in Korea, and getting Hankyoreh to publish a retraction for an article about English teachers breaking contract.  Nobody was talking shit about ATEK when it did those things, because they were tangible.  Why not focus on those kinds of goals for a while, until the organization's name is tied to efforts like that, instead of saddled to a reputation for having a big, ugly, public scandal every 8 months?

These next three might be repeating.  Sorry.

5. Get better at forming and maintaining contacts with outside bodies and people -- DON'T reinvent the wheel.  Instead, coordinating the efforts of stuff that's already out there is more effective.  As an example: why bother creating an events forum on ATEK's website, when people check for events at 10 Magazine?

If someone's helping English teachers already, or enabling English teachers to contribute to their communities, do they need to be recruited as an ATEK officer, before ATEK can form a connection with them, and help them spread the word about whatever they're doing?

Why not let them stay where they are, and use ATEK's communication network give them a bigger stage to keep doing what they're already doing anyway?  Or give them access to parts of ATEK's communication network, and then let them go to keep at what they were up to anyway? As one example: why not have a quick tutorial on the ATEK site on joining forums for other pages, posting event notices on other sites, etc., which anybody can access, instead of forcing it to go through an officer (when one is filling the position), and requiring officers to go through an approval procedure before communications can go out?  Then, ATEK's network is helping to connect people with the community that's already out there instead of duplicating work and/or bogging it down with procedure.

6. Be facilitators

One of the biggest ways ATEK was getting in its own way was all the different ways people were being told not to do things, and given constraints on their actions.  For ATEK to become an organization where people want to contribute, it needs to earn a reputation for helping people do what they're already doing faster, or more easily, or to a larger audience.  Then, people will be flocking to the organization, instead of dithering about joining, or quitting out of frustration.

7. Kill the stuff that isn't working, or that's duplicating what others are doing.

The forums? Aren't working. Kill them. It's a good idea to have some discussion forums which are more positive and productive than... that discussion forum, but Hi Expat and Waygook.org and AFEK have open discussion forums now, and people who are already putting time and work into developing, moderating, and improving them. Why not use ATEK officer time and talent in other areas, and send ATEK members to those places, with ready-made communities, instead of trying to become the all-hub-of-everything, all at once?  KOTESOL has conferences that are quite well-attended and successful.  They have experience and know-how. Why not support them instead of putting together ATEK's own?

The Employment and Legal Issues role? Isn't working: there hasn't been a labor officer in months. Kill it. ATEK.or.kr/legal has a list of legal services expats can call. Add to that a flow chart of "have you tried...X, X, or X?" and maybe some downloadable examples of letters that have been written to employers for certain situations, and a checklist of pertinent cultural points to remember for conflict resolution in Korean workplaces.  Then, when somebody comes along with talents to improve the system, let them.  Until then, promising labor help that can't be given is leading to disappointment.

How many of the things ATEK promises to do, has it been unable to do, because it's understaffed? How many of those vacant officer roles could be replaced with links to other places where people are already doing those things?

8. Focus on the local

Busan and Gyeonggi PMAs are doing quite well.  This would be a good time for ATEK's leadership to work on finding ways to facilitate and empower the local organizations to develop themselves.  Maybe Busan and Gyeonggi can make it their goals to work on building PMAs adjacent to theirs, and let it go from there.

9. Stop claiming to represent...

Add the line "ATEK represents X general members" to all promotional materials press releases and info kits.  One of the most common gripes from the screeching complainers is "You don't represent me, and I never asked you to."  So keep hammering home the point that ATEK only represents its general members.  Yeah, I know the screechers don't listen... but that's their problem.  ATEK's job is to make sure it's because they weren't listening, not because ATEK was talking too big.

10. Close that chapter for good

The first edition of the English Teacher's Guide To Korea (Sparkling) was recently removed from the website.  The organization name and the logo need to change too, to erase the legacy of that one former communications officer who pissed off a lot of people who should have been ATEK's allies from the start, and whose name comes up every time somebody who doesn't like ATEK needs to throw something in ATEK's face.  The name ATEK's been bogged down with too much crap as well, at this point.  I was the PR guy for half a year and even I tense up when I hear or read "ATEK."

11. Expectation management - let's be reasonable here.

ATEK should be talking, and setting goals, according to the number of active general members and/or officers it has, not according to the number of associate members it has, or the number of contacts in its mailing list.

12. Get all private information about members off the ATEK website, so that it's easier to give people moderator or administrator access, without people worrying about them getting access to information they shouldn't have.

13. Transparency and news:

ATEK should be making its successes known.  English teacher avoided getting ripped off because an officer brainstormed some coping strategies?  Take out personal info and put that up on ATEK's twitter account, or in a little window on the front of the webpage.  English teacher decides not to do a midnight run?  Put that up on twitter, or the webpage.  English teacher found a much-needed counseling service? Remove the slightest hint of personal information, and let the world know on twitter.  That stuff happens.  People get helped.  Let people know about the little victories as well as the big ones.  Get pictures from all the volunteer events happening down in Busan, or in Gyeonggi (another of ATEK's most active PMAs), and let's see them on the website!

ATEK's organizational bodies/decision making bodies should have regularly scheduled meetings, and those meeting minutes should be available at least to general members, and maybe also to associate members. A version of them should be available for the general public.

14. A rhetoric tip:

It's a fallacy, or at least a false dichotomy, to assert that those who don't join ATEK aren't helping English teachers, as if ATEK is the only way to contribute to the expat community. So let's never again hear anything along the lines of "at least ATEK is helping people.  What have YOU done?"  I think "If you know how to do it better, please join and show us" is fair game, but speaking as if ATEK is the only legitimate outlet for supporting the English teaching community sounds smug.  It's off-putting.

If people who like to help English teachers, and do it a lot, are not finding ATEK a good venue to do what they do, then ATEK needs to look at why.



After part 4 tomorrow, when comments come open, you're invited to add your input to the comments.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

ATEK 2: My farewell letter to ATEK Officers

Dear ATEK Officers,

While I have had a great time working with ATEK, it is time to inform you that I am now resigning from my role as ATEK’s National External Communications Officer. It has been an exciting but challenging experience, and I have learned a lot. I believe that another officer will be able to do a better job of promoting ATEK to the media than I have been, and I believe ATEK will benefit from new blood. Where I have failed, or proven inadequate to the job, I apologize. Where I have done well, I thank you for your support in giving me the opportunity to do so.

I will remain a supporter of ATEK, even after I am no longer an officer.

Before I go, I would like to say a few words about what ATEK is, and what it can become, and ask you all to consider this as you promote and recruit for ATEK, and plan events.

One:
While I believe that ATEK will grow stronger as more teachers volunteer and contribute, I ask you to consider that there are some people, in some positions, who will better serve English teachers from outside the organization. A journalist who supports ATEK will do a better job of helping ATEK as a friendly press connection than by becoming an officer, at which time, for the sake of journalistic objectivity, he/she would not ethically be able to write about ATEK.

This becomes especially true in two cases: (1) where there is money to be made (for example, if I am the publisher of a book about teaching) and (2) where ATEK’s goals and purposes could impede me from acting freely because, as an officer, my actions would reflect on the organization at large (for example, a human rights lawyer: where their work might help English teachers, a too-close affiliation with ATEK could lead to the appearance that ATEK plans to engage in human-rights agitation). There are organizations and groups that are developing services for English teachers and, while ATEK would benefit from having members of some of them, there are others that work best as allies or friends of ATEK. ATEK must be judicious in choosing when, and how, to form relationships and affiliations, in order to guard the organization’s image, both now and for the future. It is important to support ATEK’s President and Ethics Committee as they help make decisions about forming such relationships.

Two:
As a writer, writing guides often urge me to consider my audience. As members of an organization that can do a lot of good for English teachers, I ask all of you to consider the different audiences that are watching and passing judgment on ATEK. In particular: many of ATEK’s officers are foreign English teachers; however, foreign English teachers are not the only ones watching ATEK, and initiatives that read well among English teachers don’t always play well to other audiences.

Consider this:
Developing labor services looks great to foreign English teachers and having a record of helping English teachers, Korean and foreign, get fair treatment will look very good on ATEK’s record.

However, if the perception develops that this is the only thing ATEK does, this will damage ATEK’s ability to perform other goals that will, in the long run, serve English teachers. If labor is ATEK’s main strength, and the area where ATEK expends most of its energy, the hagwon owners’ association, and anybody else who employs English teachers, will look on ATEK as an enemy. This will ultimately hurt English teachers, as the ideal outcome for English teachers and, for English education in Korea, is for ATEK to have strong ties with such an association in order to work together and develop concrete steps for improving the resources and training available to English teachers, steps which can be developed by the talent contained in ATEK, and then implemented by the administrators and decision-makers who have final say.

This is why professional development initiatives MUST play a larger role in ATEK’s future. This is why community contribution: volunteering, social events, clothing drives, and other philanthropic efforts MUST NOT be scoffed at. ATEK is not only concerned with teachers getting their severance pay, as dishonest treatment from employers is only symptomatic of the bigger problem that foreign English teachers are being used as scapegoats for the problems in Korea’s English education system. In order to deal with the larger problem of scapegoating, building goodwill with community action is of VITAL importance to ATEK’s long-term goals.

Foreign English teachers are not the only group with whom ATEK must build credibility. Parents’ groups, school boards, school administrators, and others concerned with Education in Korea must also see something in ATEK that they consider positive, and the perception that ATEK is a pseudo-union will not be the thing that wins their hearts and minds. For these audiences, ATEK must project the image that we are reliable, that we are professional, that we are actively and concretely helping teachers improve as teachers, that we are actively and concretely helping teachers contribute to our communities, and that we are actively and concretely helping teachers transition more smoothly into life in Korea and work in Korean schools.

Our audiences are as follows, and we ignore any of these audiences, as an organization, at our peril.

Education administrators in the Korean government school owners and administrators in all kinds of English programs and departments short-term foreign English teachers long-term expat English teachers (including those with F-visas) Korean national English teachers, parents of children in school, adult English students, other NGOs and NPOs dealing with education issues, other NGOs and NPOs dealing with expat and migrant worker issues, the Korean media (English language and especially Korean language), and – through them – the Korean public in general.

Some of these groups might be impressed by short-term actions; for most of them, establishing credibility and building good-will will be a long-term project.

Three:
While this is a common issue in volunteer organizations, many of us know that a lot of stress and turmoil has come through ATEK lately. This came from numerous sources, but ultimately, it boils down to this simple issue: ego. A few very smart and capable people decided that their opinion, and their vision for ATEK, was better than that of others, and a few other very smart and capable people insisted likewise.

I’d like to remind all the officers in ATEK that none of us owns ATEK. ATEK does not belong to any of us, nor to any one body of the association. ATEK is an idea bigger than one or another of our conceptions of it, and the only way ATEK will grow to be as big and as exciting an organization as it CAN be is if people acknowledge and respect other points of view, other opinions, and look for ways to collaborate and compromise, rather than seeking ways for their view or vision to win primacy over others.

Those who have been with ATEK a long time must be mindful that, as more talent joins the organization, their level of sway over the organization will decrease, and THIS IS A GOOD THING, because it indicates that ATEK’s resources are expanding. Those who are new in the organization should be mindful that the ATEK has been around for a while. It is built the way it was built for a very good reason, and they should seek the insights and counsel of those who have been involved for longer.

Everyone should remember that, in everything they do, they are not just acting now but also creating an organization they will pass on to others when their time in Korea or time with ATEK expires. And, when there is a difference of opinion, the need to listen and respect others’ views is more important and serves the organization better in the long run than the need to say one’s piece.

Four:
One of the most practically useful things ATEK did in its opening months was to publish the English Teachers’ Guide to Korea.
Some officers are working on developing the second edition, the online edition of this guide. This is a practical, hands-on, lasting contribution ATEK can make for the English teaching community in Korea, and the scope of information an online guide can provide is inexhaustible, if we find and coordinate the people to help with this. This is also a project where many people outside ATEK, but sympathetic to ATEK’s goals, would be happy to help out. I strongly urge every officer in ATEK to consider how they can help with this project, and to do so.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please support the President, and the officers around you, as we try to build a better organization. Please support the next National External Communications Officer, and please continue working to support and improve life for English teachers in Korea.

Your (former) National External Communications Officer, Rob Ouwehand

Monday, April 25, 2011

ATEK 1

Been lots of talk about ATEK lately.

You can hear Greg Dolezal talk about it on the Seoul Podcast.

I'm going to write about this one time. (in a few parts, though)

First: Ground rules.

I won't be making any comment on specific personalities. Comments about specific personalities on my blog will be deleted.  If you wish to participate in character assassination of either side, here's your link.  Comments will be closed on this post: only the fourth of my four will have commenting. Keep it in one place. It's tiring moderating comment discussions, and ATEK has already gotten as many fifteen hour weeks of unpaid effort and time as I'm willing to offer up for now. And I've got midterms.

I have lots of thoughts about some of the specific people... but they'll stay between me, myself, and maybe people I know who have zero chance of publishing communications between me and them on the internet.

Because if I let a little out, I have to let it all out... and nobody really needs to know which former or current ATEK officer hates puppies, which one can't hold his/her soju, which one eats babies, which one has a habit of "adjusting" in public, which one once accidentally killed a tranny in a Cambodian bar fight and which can quote season and episode for the entire run of Dr. Who, and will punch you if you think "Firefly" sucked.

I made all those up.

But here are the points I'd like to make:


1. If 3WM's traffic works like my blog does, a controversy, and a lively comment discussion means lots of hits.  

A whole year ago, 3WM stumbled onto the fact that picking on well-meaning people DOES stir up lots of comments.  If their site is anything like mine, a good lively comment discussion is also a web traffic bonanza.

Screenshot taken last week.

Screenshot taken last week


Let's also note this: (from their right-hand sidebar)
Had to be said.
[Update: after a polite email from one of the Three Wise Monkeys, it's only fair to inform my readers that the advertisements on the side of the 3WM page are unpaid, and the site is, for now, non-profit.  So add that to whatever you've already put in your pipe, and smoke it, too.]

So... 3WM is doing well on this. Do they give a damn about the plight of English teachers? Who knows? The series didn't offer a single productive suggestion except "disband" (which is destructive, not productive)... but they got the eyeballs. So congratufuckinglations.

Equivocation:
Also to be noted: 3WM isn't just the editor or the three main writers. In the comments after posts, you'll notice that the 3WM community is pretty tight, too: they seem to look out for each other and back each other up. Good for them... when they're not bullying people like Chris Backe, with even site admin joining the mean-spirited pile-up. Etcetera.

And some of the articles on there have been very interesting and well-written, and some have been done by writers whom I respect a lot. That's not to say I have any respect at all for the way THIS story was investigated or presented... but if The Korea Times gets Michael Breen AND Kang Shin-Who, I can be impressed by some of the writers at 3WM while this article and the apparent intentions behind it can still make me want to punch through a wall.

Next thing:


2. Critical thinking 101: Don't trust a one-sided story

When a narrative makes one side sound completely virtuous, and as if s/he and s/he alone was the one wronged, and the other side is always and invariably the one in the wrong, either through ineptitude or malice... 

That's not a narrative you should trust, folks.

Are ATEK's leaders, and the organization in general, all the bad things presented in the 3WM article?  Is the former Seoul Chair the well-meaning hero (presumably on a white horse, and maybe even with a crown of thorns,) out to save all English teachers, only to be foiled by the cackling ATEK executive wearing black hats and rubbing their hands together?

No.

Are ATEK's leaders totally guiltless little hippies, who were on their way to a utopian English education atmosphere, only to have their kumbaya-singing circle spoiled by a big bully who joined the organization in order to launch a pipe-bomb into it, and may or may not have been wearing a mecha suit?

No.

3WM will tell you that the stories they gathered corroborated... but folks, if you go down to rural Georgia, find a house with a confederate flag in the second story window, and ask the six good ol' boys sitting on the porch to tell you the story of the US civil war, you'll get a story that corroborates... corroboration doesn't always mean a lot.  Even my research design class highlights the fact a high rate of non-respondents undermines reliability.

Ask six Koreans about colonial Japan. Then ask six Japanese about it.  Bet the Koreans' stories corroborate, and so do the Japanese's.  But I also bet their stories are so different you'd barely know they were talking about the same region, and the same time period.

The truth is somewhere between the narratives you've been presented in the 3WM article, and the view you get from commenters like Oh Really in the 3WM piece, or the view you get from Greg in the Seoul Podcast, or whatever ATEK's official statement will be, when it comes out.  I have my own ideas about how blame should be divvied up... most people involved acted not in malice so much as over-certainty of their own perspective, or simply on bad advice, and some of them are bad listeners, or bad communicators, and some of them lost perspective, and a few people simply had lapses in judgement or vigilance at crucial points... but I'm keeping the specifics to myself, because finger-pointing and he-said she-said distracts from the thing that's actually important: What's good for English teachers in Korea?

So go back to the other narratives, and decide for yourselves where the truth lies.  Be suspicious of anyone whose story is too well-told or juicy, because good storytelling requires a massaging of facts, and don't forget these events happened, mostly, last October and November, meaning there's been a good five months for people's memories to color what actually happened.  Having witnessed the whole thing myself, and been party to even more of the e-mails than our dear former Seoul officer, here's what you're getting from me:


3. A titanic battle of egos it was.

But for a titanic battle of egos to occur, requires titanic egos on both sides.  Both sides, folks, despite what 3WM would have you believe.

There were people on all sides (not just two people, not just two sides) who refused to budge, who were bullying, who were disrespectful, who were rude or petty, who dismissed and scorned the other side, who sulked, who stomped their feet, and who did things that seemed to demonstrate that to them, being right had become more important than helping ATEK help English teachers. Everybody looked bad at some point or another, from where I stood, myself included. And anybody who looks back, and finds a way to hold themselves blameless, is missing something.  Any narrator who makes themselves sound blameless, is being dishonest with their audience, and themselves. 

It was a perfect storm of incompatible personalities, communication styles, and visions of what ATEK could/should do/be. It was ugly, and I hated being witness to it. I'd meant to take my last months with ATEK and use them to get the second edition of the English Teacher's Guide to Korea on its feet.  Instead, I spent them writing e-mails, talking various people off various ledges, sorting through bullshit and ego and accusations and threats and distortions and personal issues made into ATEK issues.  The Teacher's Guide project remains in limbo, and I'm fucking choked.  

At EVERYBODY involved.  I want my fucking three months back.

That said, there were a lot of smart (not always mature, and not always polite, but very smart) people trying to come up with the fairest way they could, for dealing with a situation the organization hadn't encountered before, trying to implement it at the same time as developing it.  And dealing with it this time it was ugly. Really ugly, but the things the organization has learned from this, mean that next time, similar issues will be dealt with much more quickly and efficiently.

4. The full dish on the former Seoul Chair. 

Nah. You're not getting anything from me. I'm not a muckraker.

I have, before, during, and since the ATEK blowup, recommended the services of that firm to English teachers. Because I'm on the side of English teachers, and that's a service for English teachers. And that's all you're getting from me.

5. Change of Focus:
Here's what has been forgotten in this mess:

Anti-English Spectrum is still out there, organized, and active.  Anti-English Spectrum members continue putting bugs in the ears of Korean policy makers, and going through foreign English teachers' trash, and "following" them. And English teachers (and various non-English teacher expats) continue cannibalizing their own, rather than mounting/supporting/contributing to an organized response to it.  

(yeah, go ahead and tell me ATEK has gotten in its own way in letting people help mount/support/contribute to that response.  I know. I'll cover that in a future post)

And that's a fucking shame, because that's the bigger picture here.

Look for a few more posts on this, and then I'm done with this topic until ATEK, or another organization, is showing results worth reporting.  The first time I threw down on ATEK's behalf, I ended up looking stupid, and moderating the discussions about ATEK back in 2009 at Roboseyo and the Hub Of Sparkle (did you forget about that, 3WM, the part where I gave ATEK's critics an equal voice in discussions even then, or did it just not fit your narrative, so you ignored it?) was so time-consuming and stressful it very nearly cost me the most important friendship of my adult life.  I still volunteered as communications officer, because I think ATEK is a good idea, and no other organization was trying to do what ATEK wanted to do.

And now I'm tired of the histrionics, frankly, and I'm tired of having my good intentions thrown in my face by a muckraker pretending to be a journalist who never even approached me for a fucking comment.  I'm not an English teacher anymore, I gave it the best shot I was able, given the circumstances, because I believe in the idea that English teachers should be empowered to help themselves, and ATEK, supposedly, and painstakingly, is moving towards that.  But if this is the atmosphere that's going to perpetuate itself, if the axe-grinders, naysayers and dart-throwers carry the discourse, and the ones who want a more rational and mature way of dealing with issues stay silent, and people who have the knowledge and qualifications and energy to help English teachers get intimidated or bullied away from an organization that can (ideally) give them an opportunity to do so... then maybe English teachers in Korea deserve to drown in their own piss and vinegar. Fuck it. 

Posts to come:

1. The farewell letter I wrote when I left office as communications officer. 
2. My personal set of prescriptions for what I think ATEK needs to do next, to rebuild its reputation, and moreover its usefulness.
3. How ATEK's members, whom ATEK's leadership ultimately answers to, can take control of the organization that purports to represent them.

The final post in my ATEK series will be open for comments. Until then, go talk about ATEK on another discussion board where somebody else can moderate the fireworks.  

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Somebody must be studying for midterms...

'cause he keeps posting random weird stuff on his blog.



Seriously, though, it's intellectually dishonest of many Korean scholars reinterpret their colonial history through the false binaries of (Japanese) exploitation/ (Korean attempts at) development, Japan/Korea, Imperialist repression/Nationalist modernization.  The hegemonic strategies Japan deployed were not monolithic, but nuanced, changing over time, and a complex mix of different cultural forces, interactions, and negotiations, while Korean responses to colonization were likewise.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

For everyone who's EVER played Tetris...


Even better: somebody actually made the game.

(if the game doesn't embed properly in your browser, click on "somebody" to play.)

I should be studying for midterms.


(update: let's not forget the counterpoint, also an XKCD comic: Tetris Hell)

Also playable. http://www.geekosystem.com/xkcd-tetris-hell-game/

Monday, April 18, 2011

Question of the Day: Chicken Pot Pie in Seoul?

Hello, dear readers.

The question of the day, from my fearless, small-faced friend Cynthia, is this:

Where the hell does one find a really tasty chicken pot pie in Seoul?

(image source)


I had a nice meat pie at Tartine in Itaewon, and an OK one at that Aussie bar up the hill between Itaewon and Noksapyeon.  Any other suggestions?

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Do you get used to Korea?

1. Yup. I know there's been a lot of talk about ATEK lately. I'll address it as soon as I'm able.

2.
http://imnopicasso.blogspot.com/2011/04/questions-are-you-getting-used-to-korea.html so I'm No Picasso wrote an interesting post about living in Korea, and all the things that start off mind-blowingly new aren't new after a while, and there comes a point where one has to just hit the "Zen" button when they get bumped on the subway, or get complimented on their chopstick use again or asked if they can eat spicy food again, because if they can't do that (at least most of the time - everybody has "bad Korea days" which are really just bad days with different ingredients than bad days back home), they're probably not going to make it.

The money shot, to me, is this:
...The S.O. knows all about my blogs.... He constantly bemoans the fact that I am too used to Korea, and that he can't explain anything, or guide me in anything, or show me anything new. Which isn't true at all. ...it confuses him that I'm still keeping the blog -- he says, "What else is there for you to write about? Haven't you written everything in nearly three years? What could you possibly still have to say about Korea?"
There's something I like to call "second year syndrome" which is the fallacy (common among certain groups of people) that once one's been here for a year or two, one is ready to hold forth as an expert on all aspects of Korea, the assumption, for example, that three years of blogging about Korea would be enough to explore every topic, or that a series of short declarative statements (here's a good sampling) would be all one needed to successfully navigate all of Korean culture and life, and I'd like to at least introduce that phrase today.  I'll talk about it more later...

But for now, I'd like to stand with INP and say that Korea, as a country, a culture, a people, and a history, is inexhaustible.  I've met people who, by the way they speak about Korea, have hedged their views of Korea in with so many shorthand conclusions about the country, the culture, and the people, that they've closed themselves off from finding anything interesting, fascinating, or new about the country, and I've even met Koreans who sell their own culture short, settling on the image of their country they learned in ethics class, and the places they like to visit, and the shows they watch on TV, and have their own set of shorthand conclusions about what the country, and the people are, such that they don't explore anymore.

And that's too bad, is all.

Anyway, I've been reading a lot (grad school, you know), and studying the language a lot (still slow going, that), and trying to find new ways to be re-amazed by Korea.

I'll keep you updated.

One place to start: http://koreanfilm.org/topten2000s.html KoreanFilm.Org.  Not all of them are, but Korean cinema has some pretty awesome films in its history.

I'm watching The Housemaid (the 1960 version) right now.  AWESOME movie... but the "Very Special Episode" ending was something else.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Between: The story of an Korean adoptee, opens April 8

Amy Mihyang from the Seoul Players, is staging a one-woman show about...

from the press release:
Combining adapted work by Asian and adoptee writers and Amy Mihyang's original writing, "between" encapsulates her experiences as a Korean American woman, a New Yorker, and most of all, a transracial adoptee. Bringing the audience with her on the plane en route from NYC to Korea, the author contrasts her journey with the echoes of other adoptees and those touched by the act of adoption. Mihyang makes us ask ourselves, “Do we need to know where we came from in order to know where we're going?”
The Press Release is here :

It's at "after mainstage" in Itaewon, and it runs from April 8-17.

Tickets are 15000 and funds raised go to KUMFA - Korean Unwed Mothers and Families Association, another issue I care a lot about.

There is a map to the venue included in the press photos, here.

Friday, April 01, 2011

Speaking of great singers... RIP Meat Loaf 1947-2011

RIP Meat Loaf: "I Would Do Anything For Love" was my favorite song like, in the world, ever, for a good year of my life.  I had the whole, 12 minute version memorized back in the day.



Never forget you, Meat.

And Paradise by the Dashboard Light ain't so bad, either.

(Great website for keeping up on who's dead, and who's not: http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.nsf/pages-nf/main)

And yeah. this IS an april fools hoax. Meat Loaf is still alive and rocking.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I Am A Singer 나는 가수다... A Ghastly Spectacle, or Survival in a Cutthroat Industry?

So with the success of "Superstar K" (which I wrote about) and the ridiculous glut of Kpop bands that, as their numbers (and surgeries) increase, are becoming more and more indistinguishable (if you can explain to me how Sistar is different from Dal Shabet, such that you couldn't switch out their music, costumes, and choreography, and have pretty much the same product, I'll be impressed.  Name for me all the members of Sistar, Dal Shabet, AND Rainbow, without searching, and you win a waffle iron). A few are popular enough that I can recognize them one from another, and a few have made some pretty good songs (and especially videos), and even carved out something of a personality...

But while these starlets are dominating the airwaves with dances and images that more mature and adult-oriented singers couldn't compete with if they wanted to...


You've got to wonder... what happened to the singers and vocalists who actually sing their songs, who made a living on having great voices rather than yummy bitty bits and chocolate sixpacks.

And sadly, I have your answer:
"I am a singer" or "나는 가수다"
is a program on MBC which takes some of the most successful singers of the 1990s and early 2000s, and puts them up against each other in an audience voting, elimination-style revolving door showcase, where the singer with the fewest votes each episode is eliminated from the roster of (seven?) singers, and some other former luminary replaces them in the next episode.

I have really mixed feelings about this one, folks.

On the one hand... it's nice to see their faces and hear their voices on TV again, throwbacks to a time when singers in Korea could generally carry a tune, and some even wrote their own music.  Wifeoseyo remembers them well, and it's a small nostalgia kick to see them on TV...

but when these people, who have paid their dues and then some, are in some trashy fan-voting spectacle, just to compete for ratings...

it comes across as tawdry to me.  And when a controversy springs up about not voting off the oldest (and male) singer, after what Wifeoseyo reported was a half-hearted performance... I wonder if the controversy was engineered to kick up ratings and help these artists cover their tabs or something.  And I don't like having to have cynical thoughts like that when some of these singers are onstage.

So I don't begrudge them the paycheck, but I guess it just saddens me that these people, who should be enjoying some kind of living legend status, who should be doing duets with younger artists at music award shows, are instead doing the Korean equivalent of "Dancing With The Stars."

Lee Sora (whom I first heard about from The Korean), contributing. (the AAK link)  I can't imagine what's going through these singers' heads, but I sure wish there were something better for them than this, at the ends of their long careers.

So... some good voices and stuff.  Enjoy it.  If you can.


[Update]
For the record...
Wifeoseyo disagrees with me that this show is trotting Korea's dignified old legends out for display.  She says, first of all, that the show treats its singers with respect, and secondly, that the singers themselves have shown a great deal of pride in their craft, and lived up to their status, while sometimes expanding their range.  She said the singers are approaching the show as if it's their duty to reintroduce real songcraft in a landscape of manufactured plastic bands with interchangeable members, dances, and so-so singing talents overshadowed by sexydance.

(And The Korean is right in the comments: there's pretty much no chance many of Korea's living legends would put themselves through this elimination challenge: I doubt we'll be seeing demigods 이문세 [song by him, another - MAN he's good - and true proof he's a legend: a cover by Big Bang] or 신중현, who had a tribute guitar made for him by Fender [song by him] or 조용필 [song] on the show.)

Wifeoseyo also said Kim Geon Mo's performance on the latest show was really impressive, that he was nervous (for the first time in a long time I'm sure) after all the controversy about him being on the show, and you can see his hand fidgeting on the microphone: out of character for him, who's usually a very confident singer.

(more on Kim Geon Mo leaving the show from the K-gossip blogs)

Wifeoseyo also says his hand was shaking during this performance... out of character for him.
He certainly sings the lights out, though.  Attaboy, Kim Gun Mo.

Friday, March 25, 2011

One more thing before the weekend...

I have another magic pair I want to see in a movie together:

I want to see William Shatner and David Hasselhoff in a movie together.

Can you imagine this guy


and this guy


in a movie together?

They'd shatter the unintentional comedy scale.


And now, here's another one.

I want to see Stephen Segal and Kristen Stewart in a movie together, because...



A Really Annoying Kind of Awesome

I'm sitting in the lounge of my grad school, trying to finish this week's readings before the weekend, and there are two people speaking in Korean behind me, and my ears keep perking up because of the stuff they're saying in their conversation.

Now be it understood that one thing I've historically loved about living in Korea, is being able to sit in a coffee shop where, because everybody around me's speaking a language I can't follow, it's easy to totally tune out the voices around me.  The conversation around me is like ocean sounds: it's noise, meaningless, and it creates a backdrop where I can usually be pretty productive.

But today, I'm catching enough of the conversation, and understanding enough of the words, that I can't tune it out.

And that's awesome news in terms of my efforts to learn Korean...

but in terms of trying to get that damn reading done, it sucks butt.

But mostly, it's awesome.

Back to my reading now, and have a good weekend, readers.

Here's a song to make you happy:

Big Dipper, by Built to Spill

Old-timey Expats Old-timey complaining

In the midst of copious amounts of reading, I haven't updated the blog in about a week...

so to begin, I'd like to draw your attention to Matt from Popular Gusts, who, during his research, has discovered a fantastic dialogue that appeared in letters to the editor of The Korea Times, way back in 1975, which looks like an iteration of the discussion I had here on Roboseyo, of "Why do Expats Complain So Much" -- my most popular post, and one that still ranks in the top twenty most visited posts each month.  (Whatever that's worth: that and 2200 won will get you a crappy coffee at the chain coffeeshop nearest my Cultural History class.)

To save the time of reading the full, long-winded blogger version, I recommend checking out the economy with which Matt's four letters to the editor cover the topic.

(footnote: it's been great reading up on the topics in my class readings: I'm finding a lot of the ideas about cultural development and identity issues similar to what I've discussed, in my own fragmented diffuse way, on the blog.  And that and 900 won will buy you a tiny can of mountain dew.)

Update:
More Matt has posted more old letters to the editor, regarding the back-and-forth on the topic of expats criticizing Korea.  All the classic positions have been voiced at this point.  Very interesting to me.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Comfort Women with Words of Encouragement for Japan; Rob with words of encouragement about Korea

Soundtrack: Bobby Kim.
Wifeoseyo LOVES Bobby Kim, and once took me to a concert of his.  I actually like him quite a bit too... this is one of the songs on his latest; not my favorite, but I couldn't find that one on youtube.



Well, others have discussed the idiots claiming Japan deserved this disaster. To sum up... natural disasters aren't personal, and it might happen in your home state next month, and that's enough about that.  By the way: http://godhatesjapan.com/ don't judge the URL till you click on it.

However, here's something really cool that I wanted to share: Wifeoseyo first mentioned it - a news story that brought tears to her eyes.

Many of my readers already know who the "Comfort women" are -- during the colonial period, and through World War II, young Korean women (and women from other Asian nations) were brought along with Japanese armies, to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers.  It is alleged that some, maybe all, of them, were kidnapped from their homes.  They were called "comfort women" - which is the gentlest way you can say "sex slave."  More at Wikipedia.  (Warning: don't take the Wikipedia as gospel truth: Wikipedia has become a battleground for competing national narratives in Asian historical controversies... but it should give you the broad strokes well enough.)

The days, a few of Korea's former sex-slaves are still alive, some of them living in a group home in Hyehwa.  Many lived tough lives, as their history as sex slaves left a mark on them that made it hard for their families, or society at large, to accept them, and what had happened to them.

Every Wednesday, these women stage a small demonstration in downtown Seoul, demanding Japan's leaders apologize, take full responsibility for the things done to them when they were young, and pay reparations to them -- a kind of blood money for the shitty lives some of them have lived.

The Comfort Women were out again on Wednesday... but instead of spouting some ass-hattery about Japan deserving what it got, (The head pastor of Yeouido Full Gospel Church, one of the largest Protestant churches the world, made an ass of himself that way), they came out strong in sympathy and support of the innocent people afflicted in this disaster.

This lady's holding a sign that says "Koreans in Japan, and Japanese citizens: All of you be strong!" (image from here)


If anyone had the right to talk shit about Japan, it was these women -- not the nationalist demagogues who like playing historical guilt cards to gain political points -- but rather than come out in bitterness at the things done to them, these women had grace and class.


Talking about Japan, here in Korea, can be tricky, and I'll share two reasons why today:

1. Even as Koreans love Japanese comic books and cartoons and cute toys, there are a few historical grievances, which translate into modern-day controversies and problems involving a few territories and history textbooks.  These topics can be really emotional - I even once wrote a blog post (way back when nobody read me) titled, "Do not talk about Dokdo"

Many of us expats have stories about a student, or a friend, taking a few minutes to tell us how much all Koreans hate all Japanese... and sometimes something really sad pops up, like these "hate Japan" pictures that were drawn by elementary school kids, and posted in a Korean subway station, during a wave of particularly strong Anti-Japanese sentiment... I also once had a student write "When I grow up, I want to be a general like Lee Sunshin and kill Japanese like him."  Editorials like this cast Korea in an ugly, vengeful, ungracious light.

And it can be hard to have an honest discussion about these topics, when there are so many emotions on a hair-trigger.  I've had conversations before where midway in, I figured out that the person I was talking with didn't really want to hear my opinions.  He wanted to hear his opinions about Japan (which were disappointingly, stereotypically negative) coming out of a foreigner's mouth. I don't see the point in getting involved in conversations where my actual thoughts aren't welcome, and the purpose for starting into the topic is not communication but validation.

2. The other reason it's hard to talk about Japan (as an expat, with other expats) is the echo chamber effect.

Lately, I've been looking at a lot of the memes that have been circulating in the K-blogosphere for a while... (most of which were thoughtfully collected by Kushibo here -- in a post that made an impression on me when it was satirized at Dokdo Is Ours)...

and at DIO, the phrase "echo chamber" comes up -- see, I've been noticing lately that a lot of K-blogs go over similar territory.  Nothing wrong with that, especially as many of them are documenting similar experiences (what percentage of the Korea Blog List do you think is comprised of blogs about the first two years of teaching English in Korea? At least a quarter.  Maybe more than half).  Nothing wrong with that at all... but anybody who doesn't think it gets a little self-referential from time to time is fooling themselves, especially when these bloggers start addressing each other, or an expat audience, rather than their folks back home.

And when people are gathering their information from other blogs, and when those blogs are getting their information from older sources, and especially when commenters come in and bring out the same set talking points whenever a particular topic comes up... impressions and ideas tend to crystallize... and as you and I both know, comment boards aren't conducive to nuance.

Mix in a little confirmation bias...

And you get some crystallized stereotypes and ideas about Korea and Koreans that either aren't accurate, or that used to be accurate, but are no longer... or that might still be partly true, but to a much lesser degree, or true of a much smaller proportion of Koreans, than they used to be.

A perfect example of this is the stereotype of the Dokdo finger-chopper -- that happened ONE time, but how often does the finger-chopper, or bee man, or the pheasant chuckers (all of which date back to 2005), come up, when Dokdo is on the blogs?  Pretty much every time, right? What happened outside the Japanese embassy, regarding Dokdo, last month, or the month before? Finger chopping makes a great story, but it doesn't reflect on the current state of a country that changes as quickly as Korea does, to dredge up something that happened in 2005.

All that to say sometimes the echo chamber needs to revisit some of these tropes, and update them, and some people commenting within the echo chamber, when their own information sources are mostly hearsay, and they don't have the language chops to get across the barrier themselves... they'd do well to qualify a bit.

I haven't heard somebody actually try to tell me there are no gays in Korea since 2004.  Why are people still bringing that up?  And there are lots of Koreans who can think creatively, too.

And another big one?  In my own experience, attitudes toward Japan over the last few years have become a lot more thoughtful, balanced, rational, and positive.  I don't doubt public opinion surveys would bear that out.  Koreans still think Dokdo's an important issue, but there's less "let's cut off the heads of pigeons" and more "let's be strategic about this," and I've heard less open, unqualified hostility toward Japan lately than I used to.  Hopefully this means fewer people are teaching their children to hate Japan, too.

And now, Koreans have come out overwhelmingly on the generous, gracious, sympathetic, and supportive side in this earthquake tragedy, and I'm happy, thrilled to see that. (how about this article, and this one, and this one.  Yep. Korea's treating Japan as a friend, folks.)

I'm just one dude, but this gives me hope.  This post is just one snapshot... but it's a heartening one, so put that in your pipe and smoke it, and if you're one of the ones making blanket statements about all Koreans hating Japan... maybe revisit that. Sure, there are some Koreans whose minds remain closed, and always will.  The same can be said of expats.

Prayers for Japan, and everyone connected to those struggling with this unimaginable tragedy.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

Some of you might be curious or concerned what's going on after the huge earthquake in Japan.

If you're worried about someone, Google People Finder Japan is helping people track down the missing ones they love: if you're worried about someone, you can post a note, and people who have been disconnected from the people they love can leave a note there saying they're OK.

Here in Korea, we're OK.  Japan's mainland blocked us from the tsunami, and even if it didn't, Seoul, where I live, is far, far from the east coast, where such a tsunami would hit.

BBC's coverage has been awesome so far.  Go here for to the second updates on the feed, and video as they have it.

You can also follow http://twitter.com/BBCBreaking, BBC's breaking news twitter feed.

This website includes updates, along with info about shelters.

And if you live in Japan, don't forget to leave a note on your Facebook wall, and send a note to the people closest to you, so that they know you're OK.

This is the video clip that blew my mind: look how fast the water sweeps across the farmland.

And in about an hour, the tsunami reaches Hawaii.

Prayers, if you pray, are in order.  And hope that Hawaii's building codes and engineering hold up as admirably as Japan's have.


When I went to the Maldives with Wifeoseyo for our honeymoon, our tourguide in Male (the capital of the maldives), told us that a handful of islands vanished completely because of the 2007 tsunami in the Indian Ocean.  I hope the folks in the South Pacific and Hawaii are OK.

North Korean Kids Playing Instruments

I'm not sure the exact purpose for making and circulating these kinds of videos... but they're quite something to see.

Facebook pal David put this up on his page...


which reminded me of these videos of North Korean kids kicking ass on other instruments.

This kid's a Xylophone prodigy... look at her go...


And this one's of two kids rocking their drumsets... I love the little girl's posture.


This one never went viral like the xylophone playing girl and the drumming kids, but it's impressive as well.


Take THAT, Sungha Jung!

Make of it what you will.
http://www.youtube.com/user/rodrigorojo1#p/u there are more videos like this at Rodrigorojo1's youtube account... but be careful, lest you be North Korean Propagandized.  The channel's mostly clips from North Korea's TV station.

by the way...
When North Korea showed video of the four defectors' families, probably in an attempt to blackmail the four people who blew into South Korean waters in a boat, and decided not to return to North Korea... (ABC news link) (which seriously does suck, because North Korea has been known to punish treason to the third generation - that is, if I spray-paint "Kim Jong-il licks donkey balls" on a wall, me, my family, my parents, and my kids will go to a death "reeducation" camp.

Did anybody else think of this:

Friday, March 04, 2011

redesigning

please be patient as I redesign my blog.

ATEK Officer No Longer

Well, readers, it's time to let everybody know.

Since about May last year, I was a ATEK's National Communications Officer, but I'm no longer an ATEK officer.

You see, this December, I was accepted into a local Graduate School of International Studies, so I'll be a full-time student instead, doing Korean Cultural Studies. The way the rules work now, no longer being an English Teacher disqualifies me from being an ATEK officer as well. I'll continue to be an associate member (anyone can be an associate member), and I'll continue to support ATEK however I can, but I've made way for a lady from Busan named Rachel, who will be taking over as ATEK's press liaison, and the like. Rachel's an excellent lady, and you can reach her at media@atek.or.kr

I'll write some of my personal opinions about what ATEK needs heading into the future in another post, soon, lest this one reach TL/DNR territory.  However, and I don't think I can state this strongly enough...

I remain convinced that ATEK is the group with the best chance of effecting real change, and a real improvement in the lives of English teachers in Korea, and there are just tons of opportunities for you to get involved in ATEK if you're an English teacher:

1. there are sixteen regional areas in ATEK (PMAs) - this means that you can focus on local issues, and local activities. That's really cool.
2. there are twenty different types of officer positions in ATEK, which means that there's an officer position that fits your area of interest, knowledge, and expertise.
3. there are ATEK positions that run the gamut from "as needed" to "I'm really getting into it," as time commitments go.
4. Some of these officer positions are very much still being developed, which means you get a blank slate in some ways, to adapt the role to suit your interests, and the needs of your local organization.

What does ATEK need right now? All across the regional organizations...

1. Volunteer and Social Officers
What is it... Volunteer officers find, and spread the word about opportunities for English teachers to give back to their communities. There are organizations all around Korea that would love some English teachers to donate some time, and you can help connect teachers who want to help, with organizations who'd love to have their help.

Social officers plan events where English teachers can meet and network with other English teachers. Clubs, special interest groups, and the like: sometimes this position includes event planning, and other times, it just means letting ATEK members know about events that are already being planned by others.

What's so great about... These positions help push against the stereotype that English teachers are morally unqualified, or that they don't care about Korea, Koreans, or Korean culture, or that they don't do anything but drink on the weekend.

Volunteer and Social officers are super-important to ATEK, because the best kind of recruiting happens at these events, both for members, and for potential officers to fill out other positions in the local organizations. Do you want to know why Busan PMA is flourishing? Because they plan events, and attract good people to ATEK through these events.

Time commitment: self-determined.
A good officer is... social, good at meeting people and organizing events, a team player, flexible, organized, either good at taking care of details, or delegating them, and hopefully fun.

2. Ethics Officers
What is it: Ethics is a separate part of ATEK: Ethics operates as the conscience of the organization. An Ethics officer's job is to understand the organization, and the principles it's founded on, well, and to help other officers understand the organization through that lens.

The ethics committee may sometimes need to investigate cases of behavior that is of questionable ethics, or to make recommendations for how to carry out a task in the way that is most ethical, and most harmonious with ATEK's bylaws (the organization's constitution).

What's so great about... ethics is the conscience of the association, and a well-functioning ethics committee is absolutely vital to helping ATEK build its credibility and moral authority as a trustworthy organization helping English teachers.

Time commitment: as needed. High during times of crisis, low when everything's running smoothly.
A good officer is: principled and aware of the effects events and actions have on the image of the organization, and the integrity of the organization. A good ethics officer has often studied law, philosophy, or ethics in school, and will need to become familiar with ATEK's bylaws, in order to test ideas and issues, and plan the course of action that is most harmonious with ATEK's bylaws.

3. Membership Officer
What is it: A membership officer takes care of the membership list for ATEK: because they are dealing with people's private information, membership officers must be responsible to handle this sensitive information in ethical ways. Membership officers also help oversee ATEK's elections (until the elections committee is fully functioning) by making sure that those who are voting have proper registration and legitimate voting privileges within the organization. Because they are the only ones with access to members' information, membership officers are also responsible for e-mailing communications to members, and communicating with members.

What's so great about... maintaining accurate membership records and keeping the organization well organized will help ATEK with its NGO application. Accurate and up-to-date records represents the legitimacy and professionalism of the organization.

Time commitment: if the organization is growing, membership officers are busy making sure everyone is properly registered.  Frankly, it can be quite a time commitment, especially during training and learning the ropes, and during periods of growth.

A good officer is: detail-oriented. Good at handling information databases (spreadsheets etc.) Computer-literate and well-organized. Sensitive to ethical concerns about private information. This is a great job for someone who wants to quietly play a vital supporting role, but does not want to be highly public and visible in their role.  Uses a PC (because the membership database spreadsheets run on PC programs for now.)

4. Communications Officer
What is it: Communications is the PR arm of ATEK.  Not only does the communications committee write press releases and keep in touch with the media and ATEK members, the communications committee also helps work on improving content on ATEK's website, and developing a new edition of the English Teacher's Guide to Korea.  Important updates and information packages for English teachers and other education-interested people is all in the Communication Committee's sphere of influence.

What's so great about... you can help get the word out about ATEK.  ATEK has an important message, and a lot to offer English teachers, but teachers don't join if they don't hear about it.  In the course of representing ATEK, you get your name out to newspaper and magazine editors and other media professionals.

Time commitment: medium to substantial, depending on how much time you put into ongoing projects: there are a ton of ongoing projects, so if you have the time, the communications team will have something for you to do.

A good officer is: media and computer literate (both new and old media are good) maybe with training in writing or journalism.  Creative, articulate in writing and well spoken.  Sensitive to public perception issues for ATEK.  Good at compiling information (for the guidebook), and good at expressing the goals and concerns of ATEK's members.

5. PMA Chair
What is it: A PMA stands for "Provincial or Metropolitan Association" - these are ATEK's local chapters.  A PMA chair is like the moderator of a discussion: the PMA chair's job is to understand ATEK's national goals and aims, and to help the PMA's local officers to develop a local identity for ATEK, that works in their own community, while being in harmony with the national association.  PMA chairs recruit officers, and motivate them perform their role the best they can; they represent their PMA's concerns and local issues in the National Council.  It's like ATEK's version of a middle manager, helping the relationship between the local and the national association to be functional and productive.

What's so great about... it can be a flexible position, because of the different ways different officers need support and encouragement, and the different officers a PMA might have, or lack.  While a PMA chair can help delegate and coordinate tasks, so that those vacant officer roles aren't missed, a chair can also devote a lot of energy to recruiting people for those vacant officer positions.

Time commitment: can be high in an active PMA... but seeing an active PMA is really satisfying.


A good officer is... a great team-player, good at working with people and coordinating and motivating people.  Adaptable, willing to flex their vision to fit with the goals of the organization at large, and the interests and talents of the other PMA officers.  A good networker and communicator, able to see the big picture, and a good judge of talent, to identify potential recruits for other local officer positions.

6. Webmaster
What is it: The national webmaster is in charge of ATEK's website and runs the technical side; other members of the webmaster committee answer to the national webmaster, and the webmaster collaborates with the communications committee to help the website best convey the information the communications committee needs to share with the public.  Most of ATEK's officer materials are also digital (training manuals etc.); the webmaster (unless I am mistaken) also makes sure that these digital information resources are operating the way they should: accessible to those who need it, and secure from those who don't need it.

What's so great about... ATEK's website is often the group's first point of contact with press, educators, and English teachers.  Making the website run more smoothly and look nicer, making the information there more accessible, and keeping the back end clean, while helping less computer-literate officers learn how to use the forums and website effectively, is an important part of presenting ATEK to the public.

Time commitment: as with Communications, the tasks here are ongoing, so whatever time you're willing to give, ATEK would be happy to have.  Could be high, if you have a lot of ideas and energy.


A good officer is... highly computer literate, knows about website design.  Familiar with joomla, the program that powers the website.  A creative team player who can help generate ideas on how to best communicate with the public, through ATEK's website.

7. Employment "Labor" Issues Officer
What is it One of the most important roles in ATEK.  The employment issues officer is not a lawyer, but has been trained in educating people about their workplace rights according to Korean law.  This is the officer who helps people understand their contract, understand when their boss is doing something illegal, and develop a strategy to ensure fair treatment under Korean law.  This person is not a lawyer, a representative, or a legal counsel, but this person knows a thing or two about problem solving, including when to call a legal counsel.

What's so great about... you get to help people.  Literally every week, somebody comes to ATEK with an issue about unpaid wages, or severance, or other work and contract issues.  The Employment Issues Officer hears these people out, and helps them deal with their frustrating situation.

Time commitment: high.  Do it because you really love to help people.  It's rewarding as anything, but the training, and dealing with teachers' issues, is a time commitment.

A good officer is... possibly trained in, or knowledgeable about law.  A problem solver who is task-oriented, and loves helping people, and dealing with people.  A good listener and communicator, who has a knack for getting to the heart of a problem.  Organized and good at following through.

These are not the only areas where ATEK is looking for officers, but it's a pretty good start.  This list skews to the practical: there area also officer positions that focus on cultural understanding issues, human rights issues, other emergency needs, as well as professional development.  You can go to ATEK.or.kr/officers to learn more.