The Recruiter

A few weeks ago I met up with Kim Su Yeon, who recruited me to Changwon.  She had been so helpful on the phone finding information and answering questions and communicating at crazy hours.  She even met me upon my arrival at the airport and got me on a taxi to my destination.  I knew I owed her a major thanks, plus I wanted to chat with her about her job and my experience so far.

I almost wished I had put a voice recorder on the table.  It would have seemed strange that afternoon in the Thai restaurant, but she offered so much insight on interesting things.  One of those things was the state of academies.  Korea’s economy is in a bad way right now, causing parents to withhold luxuries like letting little Tae Min attend English school.  As enrollment drops, many academies close, leaving teachers, Korean and foreign alike, out in the cold.  The Korean teachers are left scouring for employment in the poor economy and foreigners search for something that will keep them inside of the country.  Because of all this, there’s value in being at a giant academy like mine, which is actually hiring more teachers at the moment.

Su Yeon told me about her history.  Left home to attend college in Australia, where she learned English.  She was something of a pioneer back then as a Korean woman Down Under.  She wasn’t the only foreigner in Auckland (wait, isn’t that in New Zealand??) but, as the only Korean, her English learning was accelerated.  Su Yeon emphasized that this stuff occurred “a long time ago” and I razzed her about Korean women always intimating that they are older than they look…without actually revealing the number.  She didn’t tell me her age, but she did say that Scarface was her favorite movie as a kid (and still is today!!).  I laughed, saying it was funny for this seeming-delicate, ultra-polite Korean lady to idolize the same film glorified by American thug culture.  She believed that it was because it was so shocking at the time that it just stayed with her as something totally cool.  She had also seen Heat and got really excited telling me about good Korean movies.