The Republicans Foul Up My Plans

When I was nearing the end of my six-month contract at the hakwon in Incheon, they let me know that they wanted me to renew.  Although I enjoyed the work, the split schedule was affecting my health.  I’d lost weight because I could never find time to eat lunch, and by the time I got off work at 9 pm, it was too late to eat a full meal.  Also, the teacher apartments had two or three bedrooms, which meant that you’d be expected to share with at least one roommate.  After my experience with mentally unstable Negative Nancy, the passive aggressive food hoarder, binge eater, hater of any woman perceived as attractive, super-religious, but thoroughly un-Christlike, marriage obsessed slob, I was going to ensure that my next job gave me my own apartment.  Ixnay on roommates.

I returned to the U.S. thinking I would get another job easily and be back in Korea in no time.  It took much longer than expected because I ran into ageism and racism.  Many recruiters (and some schools) prefer recent university graduates, I’d graduated in the 90s.  They also prefer white applicants, I’m brown.  All job applications must be accompanied by a passport sized color photograph. Every once in a while you’ll see advertisements for English teachers that specify, “white applicants only.”  They’re that bold.  In fact, one recruiter straight up told me that he didn’t hire teachers born before a certain year (I missed it by two).  Even EPIK* turned me down!  I was flabbergasted because I had a stellar resume with lots of real teaching experience and a coveted CELTA* certificate.  But Korea is an appearance-obsessed society, so most employers would rather overlook someone highly qualified and hire an unskilled person who fits their standard of beauty.   

Finally, I got a job offer to start in September in Jeollanamdo, but by then my FBI background check was older than six months and I had to get a new one.  As luck would have it, that was in the middle of the 2013 U.S. federal government shutdown led by the majority republican house of representatives (backed by the tea party), which meant that a process that had previously taken four weeks, ended up taking nine.  They couldn’t hold my job while I waited for my delayed document, so the offer was withdrawn.  It took almost three more months to get another job offer.   

The conservatives did their damnest to obstruct anything that President Obama tried to accomplish.  Racism on the highest level of government trickled down to affect me. 

*English Program in Korea, a government program that places English teachers in public schools 

*Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults, a teacher training qualification for teaching ESL and EFL 

2013