I've got some new insight this week into far some Koreans are willing to go so that they, or their kids, can learn English.
I was talking to my co-teacher Kim Ok-jin, and she brought up the topic of her husband for the first time. I've heard about her parents, her friends, her coworkers- no one else. As it turns out, her husband lives 6 hours away and works as a university professor, and she has 2 sons! (Apparently she has no desire to live with her husband anyway, and has actually tried to divorce him numerous times. oh dear.) As for her sons- here's how our conversation went...
A: So do your sons live with your husband?
K: No, they live in America.
A: Oh, are they going to university there?
K: No, they're 13 and 15 years old. They live with my husband's sister and her husband in New York.
A: Oh wow, that's a good opportunity. Are they doing some kind of exchange? How long will they be there?
K: Until they finish school or university.
A: Goodness, that's a long time! How long have they been there already?
K: 5 years.
A: (SERIOUSLY!?!?) oh wow.
Can you imagine birthing children and raising them to the ages of 8 and 11, and sending them to another country to live with family just so they can learn English?!??! I realize there's a lot of pressure on many people to learn the language, and it's true it opens up a world of opportunity... but surely that is not the only option. Kim Ok Jin speaks excellent English, and her husband studied in the US for 4 years- he teaches English literature for goodness sakes. I would think they could teach their sons great English just speaking it at home. Ah, I don't get it. She didn't seem very happy to be talking about her sons though, so I dropped the topic. Sheesh- and I thought the idea of boarding schools was bad!
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- Amanda y Brian
- Bienvenidos travel fans! Welcome to our blog, your way to stay up to date with the shinanigans we're getting up to here in South America! We'll do our best to get online and share the ins and outs of the (mis)adventures we get up to, from the top to the bottom of this glorious continent.
3 comments:
Have you heard about "wild goose fathers"?
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/02/117_40060.html
http://thegrandnarrative.wordpress.com/2008/11/29/koreas-lonely-geese-families-more-of-them-than-you-may-think/
http://thegrandnarrative.wordpress.com/2008/07/04/sex-weekend-couples-and-lonely-geese-fathers-culture-or-economics/
I find I have little stomach for people like that.
You see it here as well but it is not usually for English but for either appearances or being at the "best school possible". There are private boarding schools everywhere - some think the kids go for the better education that the huge amounts of money can buy - but for many it is possibly so they can continue to work at their careers without the inconvenience of children under foot.(Perhaps they were brought up this way as well?) There is something to be said for not being able to afford private (remote) schools. In China they are streamed from pre-kindergarden on.
Thanks for the great links Brian- I have heard of 'wild goose fathers' although I didn't know the term for them ;)
My friend back in Canada teaches esl to quite a few Korean teens living in Ontario, and has shared some similar stories of moms and their children living in Ontario while dad stays back home in Korea.
I just can't get my head around it...
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