I'm a Malaysian who grew up in the Philippines. I'm more Filipino than Malaysian, thanks to the fact that I've spent more than three-fourths of my life there, since my dad's a Filipino-Chinese. This mixed heritage is something I'm very proud of, and I hate it whenever anyone tried to take it away from me.
So you can't imagine how happy I was when a company in Beijing (EasyEnglish, thank you Mr. Wilson) selected me to join their pool of teachers in 2008. They knew about my background and that I wasn't a native English speaker, and yet still they gave me a chance. They never reminded me of how big a risk they were taking by accepting me, and they never attempted even once to pound into my head how my lineage had a big negative effect on the students' families. All they did, really, was help me improve. I'm still very grateful for that to this day.
I just recently got married, and am now working in Korea. The strange thing is that here in Korea, compared to the Chinese the people here aren't as open-minded. It seems that you have to be either an American or a Canadian to be considered a "real English teacher" (Korean-Americans are sometimes categorized under "Americans"). That's what my company has been telling me for at least two-three days a week: how my lineage is compromising their company, how big a risk accepting me was and how important every little thing I do is. In other words, how unworthy I am of my current teaching position, and yet they accepted me because they felt like giving me a chance.
I feel like quitting. I really do. It's not only not motivating, but the payment that I was told about in the beginning doesn't match the payment that they gave me at the end of the month. No wonder they kept on telling me and my husband that since I'm not really a "native speaker," therefore my salary was lowered to...well, much lower than it was originally.
If there's one thing I've learned, it's that teaching here in Korea is a bit more stressful than teaching in China. In China, people are aware that there are actually people other than Americans and Canadians who can speak AND teach English. Here, on the other hand, it's either you're an American or you're a Canadian. If you're a Korean-American/Canadian, then sure, why not. But if you're anything other than the above-mentioned, then don't expect a red carpet when you get to work.
