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It’s the small things

Just today I had a revelation when ordering coffee and a scone a local coffee shop (Caribou Coffee). For those of you who know me, you’ll probably say that’s where all of my revelations come from because I spend all of my time in coffee shops.  That’s true.  What’s more true is that I even use coffee shops and the language used in them as my favorite examples in my methods classes.

I like to talk about the importance of scripts.  These are common patterns of interactions embedded in specific contexts. The coffee shop is one of my favorites. The understanding of scripts helps people with limited L2 language skills to cope and communicate in L2 contexts.  Ordering at a coffee shop is relatively standard across shops and countries (thanks to Starbucks), particularly across Starbucks shops.  Even if I understand little Korean, I can still order at Starbucks in Korea.  The more differences between scripts, the greater the likelihood of confusion and breakdowns in communication (not to mention failure to accomplish your task).

At a coffee shop today (granted it wasn’t Starbucks), I came to the realization that my time away from the US makes me a less reliable guide to operating in this culture.  It was a small thing, but similar differences can reduce teachers’ effectiveness the longer they are abroad.  Now, we can have discussions of whether one needs up to date knowledge of one of the target language cultures to this degree, but I do think it is another hole in the cult of the native speaker.

By now, you may be asking what brought on this realization.  As I say in the title, it’s the small things.  Coffee shops here (at least the big ones) don’t really do mugs.  They might have them, but the default is a to go cup.  Even the ones that they had at this Caribou Coffee were only for smalls.  So, while they did say, “for here or to go,” staying true to the script, my response didn’t determine which type of cup I received.  Secondly, I got a scone.  The same thing I get when I go to Starbucks in Korea just about every time.  There, scones are served with jelly and butter.  When I asked for that here, I was met with a confused look and an employee digging through the refrig to see if they had either of those (they didn’t).

What does all of this mean?  First, it means that while I am in Korean, things change in the US.  Yes, I know, really deep, Dan.  However, these change without my notice and leave me less prepared to operate in my native culture.  That is a strange feeling.  Second, it means that my expectations of my native culture are influenced by businesses (and thus culture) that I associate with the US, but in reality operate outside of US cultural expectations.  This is a subconscious expectation on my part, but one that is very real. In this way, I develop Korean expectations for US language and culture that color my interactions with those people, businesses, and contexts in my native land.

I don’t have anywhere else to go with this. It was just something of my lived experience that I wanted to get out there.

The job shunners – Timely article talking about graduate job-seekers

[Viewpoint] The job shunners

Part-time workers now number more than 6 million. And yet, small companies have trouble filling their permanent job openings.

Nov 14,2011

Decent-paying jobs are hard to come by. Few expect them to fall from the sky anymore. We can no longer afford to value our worth in jobs. Mature people know how tough life can be and are able to be practical. But people in their 20s and 30s are not ready to compromise for any job. They don’t want to work in minor, satellite operations of large companies.

But physically able and intelligent, capable youths who choose to be idle over having constructive jobs are a burden to society and the nation. They are frittering away their youth. They argue they have nowhere else to go.

They protest that they can’t settle for any job with their hard-earned college degrees. But who said a college degree ensures a job? If they cannot get into their first choice, they must settle for less.

Academic inflation and the hiring culture of our society are the reason many shun mid and small-sized enterprises. Advanced societies like the United States recruit employees based on career experience and references. Experience is usually the top factor in recruitment. Our society hires people through competitive recruitment practices.

via koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com

I find this an interesting article, not because I agree with all of it, but I agree with some of it. The author here is obviously telling young people to settle. This part I don’t believe in. I don’t think that settling is the right thing to do. However, I do think that getting one feet wet in the workplace is a good idea. For this, you might have to settle temporarily.

The author does point out in the same article the most salient reason for this issue. Job hopping is not really the norm in Korea and even when one does get hired based on their experience elsewhere, they might not be welcomed into the workplace. Companies tend to do mass, competitive hiring that results in cohorts of new hires each year. If you don’t come in this way, you are unlikely to get in at all.

With this in mind, can you blame young graduates for wanting to wait a while to build their resumes in the hopes of getting one of these coveted jobs rather than lower-paying, lower-prestige jobs? I certainly can’t blame them.

With that said, I eagerly await the time when experience-based hiring is more of the norm here in my adopted country.

In South Korea, an Effort to Defend Unwed Mothers – NYTimes.com

Group Resists Korean Stigma for Unwed Mothers

Jean Chung for the International Herald Tribune

Mok Kyong-wha, with her son, said that she broke up with her boyfriend while she was pregnant and refused when he asked her to have an abortion.

via nytimes.com

This is one of those issues that is so deep, culturally, it’s unlikely that it will change significantly in the near future. The education system will change before this does.

It’s easy to blame the families, but to do so ignores the social realities in which they operate. As she says in the end, she found her father weeping in the bathroom reading one of her letters. It is not easy for the families, either.

It’s a sad reality that the government can address in many ways. One of the most important is to support these women with child care and anti-discrimination laws with teeth. Another way, is a public service campaign. It’s amazing how effective these are in Korea.

South Korea Brings in Foreign Professors by the Thousands­—at a Cost

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via chronicle.com

This is a good, surface-level look at the issue. I like that it’s not just foreign professor’s whining about Korean academia. I too often hear these complaints. Not that there aren’t things to complain about, but it’s often overdone.

Many of these faculty have come to Korea because employment terms are better than what they can get in their home countries. As they say in the article, pay here is comparable to that in the States for starting professors and for established, tenured professors, it might even be better in some majors.

Many faculty, particularly in the field of English Education and related areas, don’t even have doctorates, which means that they likely wouldn’t be able to find any full-time work at universities in the States. With this in mind, a contract, or even tenure-track positions in Korea are quite tempting.

That being said, Korean universities have a lot of work to do to make their international faculty feel more welcome and part of the university community. At the minimum, there should be a dedicated “foreigner wrangler”. Someone to help translate, linguistically and culturally, is essential not only to acclimate a foreign professor to his/her surroundings, but to simply make them a better, more productive faculty member.

I’m a firm believer that Korean language classes should be mandatory for foreign faculty. This should be part of their contract and can be (though not necessarily so) provided by the university. Putting faculty together in these classes is a great way to build a sense of community and to build support networks that might not otherwise grow.

Lastly, I have to state that foreign faculty are beneficial to Korean universities and vice-versa. One of the commenters on the article provides a great justification of the friction experienced by faculty and Korean hosts. The process of globalization is a process of friction between different expectations, habits, and beliefs. This friction slowly wears away at the differences, resulting in the acceptance of some differences and the rejection of others. It is this process that is taking place at most Korean universities now and will continue for the foreseeable future.

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