Meet my good friend, Evan Bleker

Hey everyone!

I know it's been a long time since I made a post on my blog.  Since last we met, I have moved back to America from South Korea, went on a short vacation in London, drove to California with my dad, and moved in with my sister (Dad flew back to Chicago).

These days I'm trying to get started as a freelance copywriter, and I'm learning as I'm going. 

Readjusting back to life in America isn't a bowl of cherries, but it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be.  People around here in Cali are actually quite friendly and open-minded, and greatly appreciate borrowing your ear to hear them speak. 

Although, I do miss my dear friends back in Korea, and Evan is one of them.  Evan is a first-rate man living in Korea who dabbles in photography, and is also a writer, like me.  Today, on my blog, he will be a guest writer, and will share with you the top ten reasons why you should move to Korea.  So take it away, Evan!

Thank you very much, Brandon!  J

With the last recession fading away in the rear-view mirror things seem to be returning to a state of quasi-normalcy in the West. Unemployment rates are inching downwards and home prices are increasing. People are returning to work and Western nations are beginning to look ahead to new challenges.

But while key metrics seem to point to a much improved situation, not all is sunshine and lollipops. Official stats – even if they’re not deliberately doctored by the state – have a nasty tendency to ignore soft facts, those inconvenient little quality of life truths that often matter a lot more than economic trends.

When I returned to the West in 2010, what I saw was tragic: middle aged men working in 7-11s, the cost of basic necessities –milk, bread, beer – eating through more of a typical pay check, and people desperately clinging on to the part time jobs they’ve struggled to find. More than that, though, life in my sleepy little city of Vancouver seemed to have been stuck in perpetual boredom. The same old sights and the same old restaurants as always, the same friends doing the same things... it all made it pretty clear that I would have to leave again sooner or later.

A lot of people are happy with their life in the West, working their stable job and living their routine life. There’s nothing wrong with that. If you’re like me, though, you want something a little bit more; and if you’re like millions of others who have barely survived the financial meltdown that little bit more seems oh-so elusive. If you’re sick of the treatment your new Dominos Pizza manager is giving you, it may be time for you to think outside the box…

Let’s get this underway. What follows are the top ten reasons you should move to Korea.

10. Finding a job is as easy as making a phone call.

Koreans are crazy for English, so crazy in fact that they’ll hire pretty much anyone that has a degree. Do you have a pulse? Is your body warm? Good enough! That’s pretty much all there are for job standards, which is obviously a way better situation than you’re facing back home. The best part is that you don’t even have to search for jobs, they have people over here that do that for you. Just upload your resume and a headshot then let the recruiters find you a position. Sit back in a café, can their emails, and accept or reject positions all day long.

9. Become a celebrity without the need for talent.

Korea is a country made for Koreans by Koreans. In their recent history, aside from foreign soldiers, there really haven’t been many foreigners in their country. In fact, even today the expat community is thin at best. What that means is that around half of the population has never talked to a non-Korean, so whenever they see one, they’re insanely interested in you. Every so often some brave Korean builds up the courage to ask you who you are, and why you came to Korea. At school, kids swarm you, hugging you, and peek through windows to see what you’re doing. I’ve never had so many kids so amazed by me eating an apple before.

8. You get paid an average Western wage for doing far less work than you would imagine.

Teaching English in Korea is great. If you get on at a decent school, which is definitely doable, you have the chance to earn what you would have back home while enjoying a month of holiday, school holidays, days where your classes are cancelled for no real reason, and about 18 hours a week of free time. That’s right, free time that you can spend progressing through Farmville or looking up ways to get out of paying your debts without declaring bankruptcy.

 7. The oldest building in your city is only 150 years old.

150 years old? …please. Asia has some of the oldest known civilizations in the world. Korean historical sites go back hundreds and hundreds of years. One of my favourites is Hwaesong Fortress  (http://evanbleker.com/must-see-suwon-hwaseong-fortress/) a mighty fortress built in anticipation of moving the capital of Korea from Seoul to Suwon in the 1700s. You can climb the stone steps up the mountain to overlook a city of over a million people – try doing that in your hometown.

 

6. It’s the 8^th straight year that you’ve watched the civil war re-enactment.

…and the re-enactors are getting a little old, a little tired. Nobody can really remember how the battle actually ended, so every year the battle takes a bit of a twist as the two sides jockey for position. Sometimes someone sprains an ankle.

Korea, on the other hand, has technically been at war for over 50 years! Not that there’s been much fighting during that time, but the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is one of the most heavily fortified boarders in the world. You can even take a trip up to the DMZ with the American army and watch the soldiers do their thing. Stand at one of the many lookouts and you might even see Kim Jong Un dancing to Gangnam style.

5. It costs you $500 to fly from Milwaukie to Cleveland. 

South Korea is a tiny peninsula buffered by some of the largest countries in the world: China, Japan, Russia, they’re all within a few hours flight from Seoul. In the time it takes you to fly from one boring side of America or Canada to the next, you could have dropped down into any number of exotic countries. I’ve taken a few short trips to China, and have even motorcycled around the Philippines for two weeks. What did you do during your last vacation?

Not only do you get to travel to these incredible countries quickly and easily, but you can also do it for cheap. Airfare from one part of East Asia to another is very inexpensive, and you don’t lay down much more cash when you hit the ground, either. Everything is just very cheap which ensures that you’re fat salary goes even further than you would have imagined.

4. You haven’t thrown mud since you were 6 years because you’re afraid of getting grounded.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with spending time in Korea – I recommend it. Along with all the historic sites, Korea has a vibrant party scene – one of the best in Asia. There are festivals year-round, including the Boryeong mud festival, where foreigners of all stripes get together to splash around in filthy water and throw mud at photographers. There are week-long rock ‘n roll festivals, along with amazing fire and lightshows if you want something more subdued.

The nightlife here is fantastic. South Korea has one of the best club scenes in the world, and the bars are pretty fantastic, too.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a Tuesday, or Christmas… if you want to go out to dance then Seoul has what you’re looking for. Don’t worry about drinking and driving, either – cabs are insanely inexpensive and Seoul has one of the best subway systems of any country I have ever visited.  

3. You enjoy sexy women dancing on stage to catchy music with lyrics you don’t understand.

Gangnam Style (http://evanbleker.com/gangnam-style-goes-viral-mocks-korea-sparks-deadly-gang-violence/) may have gone global, but there are a lot of other great beats that Western audiences always seem to miss-out on. Not only are these beats catchy, though, they also have sexy Korean women dancing seductively for the camera, as if some female army drill went horribly horribly… right.

Last Month Gangnam Style’s Psy put on a free concert in the middle of Seoul that was attended by over 80,000 people, and other female bands have done the same thing. Bottom line is that if you want to see sexy Korean women skimpily dressed and seductively dancing in unison to catchy tunes you have to come to Korea.   

2. You can’t eat enough bacon.

“But, what about the strange food? I haven’t heard of anything Korean.”

Korea is a carnivore’s paradise. As you might expect, they eat their share of sushi, but Korean food really comes into its own when it comes to BBQ. I’m not talking about your regular North American or Australian style BBQ, I’m talking about Korean BBQ. (http://evanbleker.com/korean-food-the-top-10-dishes-you-should-try-while-living-in-seoul-korea/)Take thick slices of pork, slap them over a flame grill then serve it alongside spicy pepper sauce called gochujang, and a specially crafted salt & pepper combo, and you’ll understand just how good life can be.

Sure, beef is a little expensive here, but when Koreans do beef they do beef right. Think Korean BBQ, but a bit better. If you’re not up for beef or pork, you can always visit Aladdin’s Lamb, which serves the best Korean BBQ in Seoul. 

1. Your girlfriend or boyfriend has put on a few (hundred) extra pounds.

Let’s face facts here. You and your partner are likely from the West, and you know what that means: guts. Americans have a reputation for being overly... jolly… while Canadians, Australians, and UKers are not far behind. With so much roundness throughout the West, it’s easy to forget just what sexy means.

Enter the Korean woman. Propped up on heels, clothes put together like a Gucci store mannequin, fit with long flowing hair, perfect olive skin, a smile that shines like the early morning sun… What’s not to like about Korean women? If you’re looking for a little more substance, they often have fantastic personalities as well, and know enough English to have a deep meaningful relationship… with you.

 

If you’re a woman, Korean guys can be just as sexy (or so I’ve heard). Forget the lazy, jogging suit wearing, channel flipping guys you’re used to. Korean guys are also supposed to have some great –hairless- bodies, and use those bodies to take a dominant, highly masculine, role in your relationship.

Well, that’s it from me. If you’re sick of life in the West, or you’re just reaching for that little more, you’d be well served buying a plane ticket to South Korea. If you’re on the fence, on the other hand, check back in at ExpatEvan.com (http://evanbleker.com/) for more on life in Korea.

The 2012 Yeosu Expo

I had never been to a world's fair before, and when I found out that it was going to be held right here in Korea, I seized the opportunity, hit the trail, and off I went.  It was a pretty nifty adventure, but I must admit, I expected more from it. 

I had booked my motel and train ticket a month in advance, and even then, they were hard to come by.  Train tickets and hotel accommodations were going like Eminem concert tickets.  Still, I managed to get myself a seat on a train, and a room with a view. 

I cut out of school a little early on Friday, and jetted down to Yongsan where my cross-country train awaited.  From Friday till Monday morning, I was going to live it up in the town of Yeosu where the expo is. 

If you wanted to save cash, you could get an unreserved seat, and just buy a ticket to ride the train.  But the problem is that these seats are first come, first serve, and if there are no seats available, you have to stand in the aisle or sit on the floor.  I wasn't too thrilled with the idea standing for five hours, so I made sure I got a reserved seat both ways.

The dining car of a Korean train is pretty cool.  They got plenty of snacks, drinks, and box lunches filled with rice, kimchi, and kimbap.  The neat thing about the dining car is that it has two computers for Internet use, two arcade games (Tekken 5 and a shoot 'em up game), a massaging chair with it's own compartment, and even a karaoke machine (thankfully, also with its own compartment).  Lots of people with unreserved tickets sat down on the floor there.  I dropped by to play the shoot 'em up game.

Sometimes when people with reserved tickets get up to use the bathroom or go to the dining car, someone with an unreserved ticket will sit in that person's chair, and then give it back when they return.  I admit, when I saw this, I felt a little upset, but when the 50-or-so-year-old woman occupying my seat saw me coming back, she immediately gave my seat back.  In fact, I asked her to help me confirm my motel accommodations over the phone, because the proprietor didn't speak much English, and in thanks, I let her take my seat for 15 minutes.   

Speaking of the motel, getting there wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.  The Yeosu Expo's website recommended the El Dorado Motel, among many others.

The view from my motel room.

If North Korea took over South Korea, they'd never find this place.

So I figured that any accommodation the website suggested would be close to the expo, right?  Wrong.  I got into a taxi and told the driver to take me to the El Dorado Motel.  As expected he didn't know where that was, so I called the motel, gave my cell phone to the driver, and let them figure out where to go.  Well...  The driver wanted 90,000 won (about $90) up front.  So I'm thinking, uh oh...  I called up the proprietor again, and asked him for help.  He talked to the driver and got the price down to 80,000.  When I asked how long the ride would take, the proprietor said that it would only take 30 minutes.  

It actually took an hour and a half.

During the car ride, we passed by the first town I lived in, Gwangyang.  We even passed by the bridge to Jecheol island where my old apartment was.  It felt surreal being back there.  An hour and a half later, we made it to the motel.  Needless to say, I was so mad I was turning green!

I walked into the motel and I was ready to explode.  But there was someone there I wasn't expecting, the proprietor's 12-year-old daughter who just happens to speak English very well.

I've been known to have a temper, but sometimes, when I'm really angry, the innocence of a child helps keep it in check.  Because of her presence, I was able to stay calm.  Like I said before, her father didn't speak much English, so this sweet 12-year-old girl checked me into the motel at 11:30 at night.  She used the card reader and everything. The room cost 50,000 won a night, but it was a very nice room, spotless, and perfectly clean.

After that was done, I had to devise a new plan.  I asked the girl to talk to her father and see if he could find me a new hotel closer to the expo.  For the night, I would have to stay there, and the following morning, I would have to find a bus or something cheaper than a cab.  

Then I remembered seeing a harbor as we drove to the motel.  I asked the girl if there was a ferry boat that went to the expo. She asked her dad, and sure enough there was!  And it only cost 20,000 won round trip (about $20)!  The harbor was only a 2-minute drive from the motel, and the proprietor offered to drive me there in the morning and pick me up in the evening. 

So I formulated a plan.  Stay at the Motel El Dorado for two nights, then move to a different motel in Yeosu on Sunday evening (both, her father, and myself looked for another motel, and that was the best I could do).  Saturday, I would take the ferry boat to and from the expo.  Sunday I would take the ferry boat to the expo, but then take a cab to my new motel that evening.  This time, thankfully, the plan went off without a hitch.  And at 8:30, the man and his daughter drove me to the harbor.  So of course for all her help, I vowed to buy a gift for the little girl; nothing fancy, but something nice. 

This is the ferry boat that took me from the motel to

the expo.  It was pretty neat with three decks, a snack

bar, even a dance floor, and saxophone musician to do

karaoke with!

This is the Theme Pavilion.  It's basically one big

environmental commercial.

The blue mass represents the ocean, the red mass represents

the coast, and the green mass represents the environment.

As for the 2012 Yeosu Expo itself, it was interesting, but I expected more from it.  The theme of the expo was the ocean, the coast, and humanity's relationship to both. It looked really cool.  It looked really flashy.    As you walk around, you could see solar panels feeding energy to each of the buildings.  I suspect that the power supply for the entire complex was completely green.  Basically, imagine what would happen if a museum and an amusement park got together and had a baby.  Take a look at this.  This is the Expo Digital Gallery.

But if you wanted to see a piece of working future tech that will be prevalent in the next few years, you're mostly out of luck.  And I couldn't find a single scientist around or anyone who is an authority on the environment, global warming, pollution, or advanced technology.  The best I could find was an Ecology undergrad from the Singapore pavilion.

Aside from the style over substance thing, there were a few problems.  For one, I got my tickets to the expo online.  But when I arrived at the port gate, they told me that because I was coming on two "peak days" I would have to pay 20,000 won extra; even though the tickets were already bought and paid for.  I could feel The Hulk bubbling underneath again. 

There were many pavilions showcasing elaborate messages to save the environment from pollution.  For example, The Japan pavilion showcased a very interesting multi-media story about last year's tsunami and the following destruction.  The Singapore pavilion was neat because it had some hands-on exhibits such as garbage art, and you could ride a stationary bike and take a virtual tour through the streets of Singapore.  I also saw the Qatar pavilion, which really wasn't anything special.  The highlight of that was a man doing traditional arts and crafts.  I also checked out the Oman pavilion with its sub-par 4-D ride/show, and I'm also sorry to say that the Israeli pavilion wasn't very interesting either.

Marvel at the quality of superior Omani computer graphics.

The thing was, there were eight specialty pavilions.  These were the main events.  The problem?  You had to make reservations to go to these places.  And I sure didn't see anything mentioning reservations for these places on the website. 

My only option was to try and reserve spots at these specialty areas on the day I got there, which was pretty difficult because they were mostly filled up.  Thankfully, a very kind gentleman who worked there, named Alex, helped me out.  He got me a few reservations at a few pavilions; the Theme building, the Aquarium, the Robot pavilion, and the Marine City and Civilization building.  The international spots, like Singapore and Japan, did not require you to make reservations in advance.

Like I said before, the theme building is just one big commercial.  Check out this picture.

A nifty little production with an animatronic manitee, a

child actor, and a virtual ocean on a screen.

I had high hopes for the Marine City and Civilization building.  I wanted to see a life-size replica of an underwater city, or some piece of working technology.  But what you see here is pretty much all there is.

The submarine home of the future (a miniature). 

The floating city of the future! 

A lifesize replica of a boat that sunk beneath the waves over a thousand years ago.

We could have been buds.

The Aquarium was the most popular spot at the expo.  They really tried hard to make this place spectacular, and I wish I could say I was impressed, but I've seen better.  There were some neat exhibits, but like I said, I've seen better; particularly at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, but that's a really tough act to follow.  The Aquarium was also one of the few places where you could enjoy American food, but that dried up faster than Furbies on Christmas Eve.

Then came the Robot pavilion, and finally, I saw what I wanted to see.  Ever since I was a kid, ever since I saw the film, "Short Circuit" with Steve Gutenberg, I was fascinated by robots.  And this place was chock full of futuristic robo goodness.  Finally, I found a place that had something real to show.

First off, when you walk in the main entrance, you see a stationary human-like female android greet you (in Korean, of course) and give some background information about robots (at least I imagine that's what "she" said).  After that, we were given a very short dancing white robot presentation.  I think it was tethered to the ground, but the little guy had some moves.


After that, we were treated to a Q&A with a robot.  This machine was equipped with an artificial intelligence, and took questions from the crowd.  I wondered if it spoke English, so I asked, and the announcer told me, yes.  So I asked it, "how do you walk?"  And in reply, the robot swung it's arms up and down.  Everyone, myself included, laughed at that.  Then it spoke English and said that it keeps its balance through an IMO program; whatever that means. 

My new friend

And then we saw some more small robots dancing in a group, which waspretty cool, and then came my favorite part of the whole expo!  It was...

That's right, sports fans!  Two teams of infant-size robots competed to the bitter end on a miniature soccer field.  It was the pink team against the black team, and the black team won.  I could feel the tension, the anticipation, and the strategy as these mechanical warriors ruthlessly dueled to get the little orange ball into the goal.  The announcer cried out in excitement, and the crowd cheered in happiness!  I wish you could see it.  That's why I recorded the game on my camera.  Check it out!

All in all, the expo was one big adventure.  I know it doesn't seem like much, but I'd do it all again if I had the chance.  I was happy to take the initiative and take a vacation into the unkown and report back to all of you.  I hope you enjoyed looking at this, and if I remember anything significant, I'll add a few more things.  Questions from everyone are welcome!  :)


“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”
-St. Augustine

The "Lowly Follower"

Hey all, it's been a long while since I've written on my blog, and I've been sitting on this idea for a while, and I decided to stop being lazy and just do it.


This bit is about followers and leaders.


I looked up both words in the dictionary, and here is what it said.  A follower is

a person who follows another in regard to his or her ideas or belief; a disciple or adherent.  A leader is a guiding or directing head, as of an army, movement, or political group.

I haven't lived in America for eight years, but these days, it seems to me that everyone must be a leader, and being a follower is the absolute worst thing you could be.  The messages I get from various media are that if you're a follower, then you have no direction in life, you're weak willed, and easily manipulated.  Obviously, my impression is pretty far from the definition I looked up.  But if my impressions of being a leader or follower in America happen to be true to most Americans, then I think this is wrong.  I think followers can be just as strong willed and in control of their direction in life as anyone else.


Here's an example.  Let's imagine a world-respected dating coach named John Smith.  People all over the world know who he is, they listen to his advice, and he's been on TV.  Let's say, one day, John gets a bump on the head, goes crazy, and changes his whole program.  Before, he said It's all about having a strong identity, Listening to other people, and standing up for what you want.  Now he says you need to be filthy rich; fly first class all the time; look like that really handsome guy from, I am Number Four; and walk around in a yellow plaid sport coat with pink bunny slippers.


If that happened, I can pretty much guarantee that nobody would want to listen to what John Smith has to say anymore.


Leaders and followers have a symbiotic relationship.  Followers can always choose someone else to lead them.


I think a lot of leaders in America, and I could be wrong, think that being in charge means you get "barking rights."  They can yell at their lowly underlings, and whatever they say, goes.  But here's something to think about.  I'll tell you something I learned from a friend of mine, named Matthew.


Human civilization descends from a tribal society; villages of no more than a hundred people or so.  The head of the village is the chief.  Now the chief isn't just the guy who has good plans, he's also a popular fellow.  And if he went around making people feel like shit, one day he's not going to wake up becasue someone will have dropped a big rock on his head, and no man, however powerful he may be, can defend himself while he is sleeping.


Think about that next time you find yourself in charge.

Investigations

In my first post, I mentioned that I will write about dating and relationships.  It's high time I made good on that statement, so here goes.

For the past two years I have been doing a lot of work on myself.  I have been studying self improvement, female psychology, how emotions work, and male/female relationships.  It wasn't easy, I'm still working on it, but it's been well worth it.

This post is about my investigations into a small part of what Korean women value.

A friend of mine told me that value is different from place to place, country to country.  In South Korea, women value family, among other things, and not in the sense of, "I love my mom and dad."  They value family status; who your parents are and what they do.  It may not be the most important thing, but it seems to come first. 

I decided to find out for myself if this was true or not.

I talked to ten different women in random locations such as coffee shops, book stores, the street, etc., and I gave them a scenario.

The scenario was:

"Imagine you have a choice between two men, both of them are doctors.  One is a pediatrician, and the other is a brain surgeon.  They make close to the same salary; they have a house in Seoul.  Both of them are financially secure, and will likely never have money problems. 

"But herein lies the rub.

"The pediatrician has no family.  He never knew who is parents were because he grew up in an orphanage.  He's got wonderful friends, but no aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents.  Growing up like this in South Korea is EXTREMELY difficult even more so than in America.  But through great perseverance, struggle through adversity, and a lucky break here and there, our hero graduated from med school with honors, and is a highly competent pediatrician.

"The brain surgeon comes from a big influential family.  His father is a retired politician, his mother is a nurse, and his brother is a top-level executive at Hyundai Motor Company.  He had to work hard in school too.  It was no cake walk.  Like the pediatrician, he graduated with honors and is a highly competent brain surgeon.  But he didn't have quite as many tribulations as his fellow doctor.''

So then I asked the women, "Which would you prefer?"

Eight out of the ten women I asked prefer the brain surgeon, but some gave different reasons why.

Most of the women said that they preferred the brain surgeon because if life ever gets tough for him, he can rely on his influential family to help him out.  And that's where the real value would come from.  If he ever lost his job, his family could probably help him a great deal with their influence in finding a new one. 

Another woman gave a different reason for choosing the brain surgeon over the orphan pediatrician.  She said that the brain surgeon might have a better understanding of love, affection and connecting with people.  He might not be as hard as the other man because he grew up knowing what it means to love and care for others.  The other man might have learned to harden his heart at an early age, and might not be as caring and warm as the brain surgeon with an influential family.

Kind of ironic considering that the orphan is a pediatrician.

Now what about the women who chose the orphan over the man with a big family?

One woman said that she chose the orphan because she wouldn't have any in-laws to deal with.  Indeed when men and women all over tie the knot, they then have responsibilities to two families.  Sometimes those responsibilities are not pleasant.  And if your in-laws are god-awful, well...  That's just a shit sandwich you gotta take a bite out of.  With an orphan, you still only have to take care of just one family; your own.

The other woman who chose the pediatrician simply said that it's all about which man's personality she likes more.  Who his family is takes a back seat.

Speaking of personality, in this hypothetical game, ALL of them asked about what they are like as people.  Are they nice men?  How do they treat others?  Are they assholes?  etc.

This tells me that family status is not the most important thing, but it does seem to come first.  But if you have a strong identity, create your own reality, and know how to talk to women, you can still have success in dating here in Korea even if your mom is a cleaning lady and your dad is a garbage man.

 

The Eikaiwa Mafia

Eikaiwa is Japanese for English conversation school.  Eikaiwa covers public school (kindergarten, elementary, junior high, high school), and also private institutions.

I lived and worked in Japan for five years teaching English as a second language, and worked for three companies.  My first year, I worked for an English conversation company called Nova, which is now out of business and its president is currently serving a 2-year jail sentence for embezzlement.  Nova wasn't like a public school with desks, a black board and a principal.  Nova is a lot more small-scale where students, young and old, come to an office and practice English in cubicles in groups of 1-4 people with a teacher.


After I was done with that, I worked in public schools as an ALT, which stands for Assistant Language Teacher.  My second year I worked for RCS Corporation and then my third through fifth year, I worked for JALSS.  And things went downhill from there.

Here's how the ALT system works.The teachers usually don't work directly for the schools.  They work for a middle man (companies such as Interac, TRILLS, Heart Corporation, RCS Corporation, and JALSS).

Officially, the job description is “team teaching,” but in reality, the job can go from the foreign teacher doing absolutely everything, to the foreign teacher being a human tape recorder.   The latter means that all that the teacher does is read from a textbook and the students repeat after him or her and nothing more; easy money, but boring as hell.
Now let’s go back to the structure of how the overall system works.  There are three entities here: the school, the middle man, and the teacher.


The middle man farms out numerous teachers to various school boards, but teachers still have to interview with the school boards.  The school gives all the teachers’ salary to the middle man.  The middle man takes their cut and gives the rest to the teacher.


If the teacher ever has a problem (language barrier, finding an apartment, advice, trouble at school, etc.) they call the middle man, and the middle man will help.  In theory, the school gives 300,000 yen a month to the middle man (about U.S. $3,000); middle man takes their 50,000 yen cut (about U.S. $500) and gives the rest to the teacher.  In theory....

And now for more reality:

Towards the end of my stay, the middle men became more and more corrupt.  Frequently, these companies will make promises they have NO intention of keeping.  For example, they'll write into a contract that travel costs will be paid for, and then never pay them.  They promise large contract completion bonuses, dangle them in front of the teacher like a carrot, and then take them away; making up excuses such as: the teacher was late, the school complained, or the teacher took too many sick days.  All of them complete and total fabrications! In fact, sick days were written in the contracts, but pay would be deducted anyway for taking a sick day!

At the last company I worked for, JALSS, they started becoming averse to doing their jobs. Many times, whenever I would call my company and ask for help, they'd hardly ever pick up the phone.  Or when they did, their reply was always, "It's not my job."

But it gets even better!  The companies would start to demand more money from the schools and give less to the teachers.  JALSS created a brilliantly nefarious scheme to short-change their teaching personnel.

JALSS, headed by the villainous Muhammed Ali Mustaffa, a.k.a. "Max Ali", came up with a new salary plan.  The plan was to pay the teacher a salary based on 22 working days a month and no payment for August (when school is not in session).  The teacher will only be paid when they are literally at the school.  This means that if there are less than 22 working days, perhaps due to national holidays, the teacher will not be paid for that day, and their salaries will be deducted.  Only one time during the school year was there ever a month with 22 working days.  As a final insult, JALSS, my last employer, stiffed me out of my last paycheck, but according to the Japanese Foreign Worker’s Caucus, this is a common practice.

Now, many of these Eikaiwas are run by non-Japanese.  My former boss at JALSS was Egyptian-American, and my boss at RCS was Japanese American.  The thing is the Japanese public schools, the Labor Standards Office, and the government turn a blind eye to their illegal practices, knowing full well how corrupt and devious they are!

So friends, like I said before.  Japan is a wonderful place to visit!  I highly recommend taking a vacation there!  It would be a wonderful adventure!

Living and working there…not so much.  If you want to make a difference in education, Japan ain’t no place for no hero.  So says the song.

Japan...The Not So Good Stuff

Arguably, Japan is one of the most corrupt First World governments in the modern world.  Let me tell you a little story about a merry little scandal.  This one's a doosey.

In September of 2007, Japan got itself a new Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda. The previous one, Shinzo Abe, had resigned after serving for only one year.  Usual length of term for Prime Minister is four years, just like America.

Abe resigned mostly due to falling approval ratings which were below 30% for several months. But arguably, the biggest problem were the guys running the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The beginning of the end was when Shinzo Abe's Agricultural Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka, committed suicide due to questions about various scandalous practices.  Prior to his death, he faced formal inquiries over high utility expenses in a rent-free office - he had claimed more than 28 million yen ($236,600).  These monies included political donations, and excessive utility expenses (about $42,000) even though Matsuoka had a small office.  He said it was due to the purchase of purified water, because people rarely drink tap water, he said.

On May 28, 2007, hours before facing questioning in the Diet (parliament), he committed suicide by hanging in his Tokyo apartment and died at Keio University hospital in Tokyo.  Matsuoka's vice minister said that Matsuoka had used the money on geisha, Japanese press reported, but he retracted his comments the next day, saying it was only a joke (yeah right).

But the next guy, Norihiko Akagi, was just as scummy.  Not even two months after being inaugurated, Akagi found himself indicted in a political funding scandal not entirely different from the one his predecessor, had been embroiled in.   He was alleged to have registered multi-million yen expenditures on an office which did not exist!  Was this guy a politician or a mobster!?  Akagi was asked to make receipts official, (whatever that means) but refused.  On July 17, he appeared at a press conference with two adhesive bandages on his face, puzzling reporters but still refusing to make receipts official.  I saw it.  It looked like he went to fight club, but forgot to fight.  He didn't actually fight anyone, nor did he get hurt, he just put them on and nobody knows why.  Very strange.

Akagi resigned as Minister on August 1st after the upper house elections (which are like American Congressional elections).  Minister of the Environment, Masatoshi Wakabayashi, became temporary Minister of Agriculture until they were able to find a replacement.

Think it was over?  No no no... So Abe wanted to reshuffle his cabinet after the Upper House elections, and the next gangste- I mean politician- he chose was Takehiko Endo.  If you would have bet he was dirty, you would have won that bet.  Seven days after Endo took up the the position of Agriculture Minister, he resigned due to yet another scandal that was uncovered.  Details were unavailable.

So now the new guy for Agriculture Minister was Masatoshi Wakabayashi; the temp who took over after Akagi.   He was clean...until 2010.

In March 2010, Wakabayashi resigned from the Diet after being accused of pressing the voting button for fellow lawmaker Mikio Aoki, whose Diet seat was next to him.  Aoki was absent from a house plenary vote that day. 

So let's recap. We got three stooges: Matsuoka, Akagi, and Endo.

1. Matsuoka commits suicide to escape questions of corruption, and is replaced by Akagi.

2. Akagi takes over as Ag. Minister, but resigns due to corruption and is replaced by Endo.

3. Endo takes over as Ag. Minister, but resigns due to corruption and is replaced by Wakabayashi; the temp who took over between Akagi and Endo.

Boy, the Abe Gang had quite a few colorful characters, huh?  So after all this crap, and for approval ratings below 30% for several months, "Honest Abe" resigned after exactly one year as Japan's prime minister.  Abe said his unpopularity was hindering the passage of an anti-terrorism law, involving among other things, Japan's continued military presence in Afghanistan. Party officials also said the Prime Minister was suffering from poor health. On September 26, Abe officially ended his term as Yasuo Fukuda became the 91st (!) Prime Minister of Japan. The office of Prime Minister has existed since 1885, and in its current form since 1947 (America has had 44 since 1789).
 

At least he had the good sense to take a hint and know when to leave when he knew he was doing a bad job .

You might be thinking, but Brandon, that's just the government.  That doesn't mean everything is corrupt.  Stay tuned for the next post, friends.

Little Red Wolf

This post is about a new up and coming author known as Paul Schumacher.  On October 22nd, his new book, Little Red Wolf, will be out in stores and is destined to be number one on the New York Times best seller list.

 

The story is a masterfully interwoven amalgamation of several different folk tales such as Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Rapunzel. 

 

As Paul puts it, “Little Red Wolf is a fairy tale reimagining in which many of the female characters of these tales are empowered with modern ideals.  Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf team up with Goldilocks, to rescue Rapunzel from her tower.  Along the way they meet Prince Charming and find out he is sort of a useless jerk... but he IS royalty.”

 

When I get this book, what I really want to see is how Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf join forces.  I find it very interesting in fiction whenever opposing characters band together for a common goal; however we see it more and more these days.  Will Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf become friends afterward?  Now that would be amazing!  Maybe all the characters will share an epic adventure and through these extreme circumstances, they forge a bond of trust and camaraderie!  I’m already excited, and I can’t wait to read it!  I just hope I can get it in Korea, and if not, there’s always online ordering.

 

But more than an amazing writer, Paul is also a childhood friend of mine.

 

We met many years ago in group therapy.  I was 10 years old, and he was 11.  We both grew up in middle class families, in different schools, in middle class America.  We didn’t have abusive parents, problems with gangs, or violence.  But still, we had it rough. 

In schools all over the world, there are predators, and there is prey.  We were the prey.  I was targeted by bullies due to being overweight (that’s as good a reason as any) and Paul?  Well, I never understood why they targeted him, exactly.  It almost seemed like they just picked his name out of a hat.  But bullies never need a good reason to pick on people, just a desire to abuse power.

 

I remember he told me about a group of bullies he knew back in high school.  One day, Paul was sitting at a table having lunch with about eight of his friends when three stooges dropped by and declared they wanted to kick his ass.  Not one second later, all eight of his friends stood up, and glared angrily at the three.  Every one of them was prepared to form an impenetrable wall between those goons and Paul.  He felt like he wanted to give those guys a big hug.

 

When he told me that story, I wished to God I was right there with him.  Those three punks would have had to go through me first, and I wouldn’t have hesitated to fight them tooth and nail.

 

We were good friends for about five years, and then we just kind of drifted apart.  It happens.  And then one day, about 12 years later, I was sitting in my apartment on a November afternoon in Japan thinking about my old friend and what had become of him.  And so, I decided I wanted a conversation. 

 

I didn’t have his email; I didn’t know about facebook at the time, so I didn’t think to look for him there, and I didn’t even know where he lived anymore.  All I had to go on was his old phone number which I had memorized when I was a kid.  It was possible that his parents had moved away or changed their phone number, but I had nothing to lose so I gave it a try. 

 

As luck would have it, not only was it the right phone number, but he was actually there when I called!  We talked, and I had learned that he served in the army for several years, and was even stationed in Korea for two years.  For as long as I live, I’ll always be happy that I picked up the phone and called him out of the blue.  I was amazed to learn what he had done with his life.

 

And now he’s on the verge of becoming a bestselling novelist!  It makes me think about those three stooges he faced down back in high school.  Massive success is the best revenge!

 

I’d like to end this post with a great quote from the man himself:

 

“I want people to think about their dreams before they leap head first after them. Our dreams are important, but we have been deluded to think they are right in front of us for the taking. Our dreams require hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and a little luck to achieve, but with good friends and good networking skills, we can achieve them.”