Welcome to Expacked (Issue #100)
Welcome to the final issue of Expacked. When we first started talking about making a newsletter for native English teachers in Korea, we never dreamt that it would make it anywhere near 100 issues. Its been a great journey and I hope everyone has enjoyed reading Expacked over the years.
I have really loved my time teaching in Korea and would recommend this experience to anyone. This has been some of the best years of my life and I thank Korea for giving me so much.
For those still in Korea, my biggest advice is to make the most of every opportunity. Be the best teacher you can be, make as many friends as possible and explore Korea and the rest of Asia! There is an old saying made famous by Monty Python that everyone should remember, especially during the hard times you’ll find in Korea, “Always look on the bright side of life”.
Here are the teaching related stories this week:
- The new E-2 visa regulations will be put in place – with exceptions
- Clip shows students harassing teacher
- Korean New Year’s Festivals
- Seoul’s school meal ad causes stir
- Private high school scheme flounders without students
- High school to open for children from immigrant families
- Chaos in the classroom
- Do you really want to teach English in Korea? (Part I: Q & A)
- Free meals for six territories’ schools
- Korea to foster 20 world-class colleges
- This week’s joke: Do you have what it takes to be an Educational Consultant?
Feel free to comment on any of these stories and continue to share Expacked with your friends. Enjoy the read and, of course, have a good laugh at this week’s jokes.
Thanks for supporting Expacked and goodbye for the last time,
Cheers,
Ken
The new E-2 visa regulations will be put in place – with exceptions 
It seems the new E-2 visa regulations are to be put in place, but there is an exception being made for those renewing contracts. Ben Wagner used the e-People site to write an e-petition to the government asking them for clarification on the new regulations, and sent me the response.
The site can be used to ask questions of or make proposals to government agencies (Anti English Spectrum has used it on many occasions), and offers instructions in English on how to file a petition.
Below is the question and response:
Click Here for the Full Story (Source: Gusts of Popular Feeling)
Clip shows students harassing teacher
A video clip of middle school students verbally harassing a female teacher in a classroom is causing an uproar, which some Internet users claim is the result of the abolition of teachers’ authority following the banning of corporal punishment at school.
The footage shows both female and male students asking the teacher a series of sexually-harassing questions, despite repeated calls for restraint by the teacher.
Click Here for the Full Story (Source: The Korea Times)
Korean New Year’s Festivals
Celebrate the New Year Korean fashion by staying up all night (or getting up in the wee hours) to see the last sunset of 2010 and the first sunrise of 2011. No matter where you live in Korea, there’s bound to be a festival close to you. 
So unless you’re set on a night out with friends or a jaunt down to Bosingak in Seoul to hear the bell tolled, read on!
NOTE: A number of festivals have been canceled this winter because of a recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. We’ve indicated the festivals that won’t be taking place by crossing out the names so you won’t end up on a deserted beach because you didn’t get the memo!
Click Here for the Full Story (Source: 10 Magazine)
Seoul’s school meal ad causes stir 
A newspaper ad sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to proclaim its opposition to free school meals is causing a fresh round of heated disputes.
The debate centers on the suitability of the ad in a situation where the city government and city council are colliding over the issue, as well as concerns about the human rights of the ad model, a boy who appears naked.
Click Here for the Full Story (Source: The Korea Times)
Private high school scheme flounders without students
The government’s autonomous private high-school program is sailing into troubled waters, with one such school, Yongmun High School in Seoul, begging the government to allow it to revert to being a normal school. The government said no yesterday.
The 64-year-old Yongmun High School became an autonomous school this year, which allows it to jack up tuition, choose any student it wants to enroll regardless of their scores on standardized tests, and draw up its own curriculum. But applicants for the 2011 freshman class only filled 34.7 percent of the 455 seats available.
Click Here for the Full Story (Source: Korea JoongAng Daily)
High school to open for children from immigrant families
The education authorities will open the nation’s first public high school for children from underprivileged immigrant families in Seoul in March, 2012. Officials from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Tuesday it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the city’s educational office for the establishment of the school. Students will be admitted for free.
The project was initially proposed by the Presidential Committee on Social Cohesion, which reviews policies for marriage immigrants and their families.
Click Here for the Full Story (Source: The Korea Times)
Chaos in the classroom
Bad behavior in our nation’s classrooms has gotten way out of hand. Teachers are being beaten up by students and even sexually harassed. Last week at a high school in Suwon, a freshman hit a female teacher in the chin and kicked her thigh in response to the instructor’s attempt to discipline the student.
Earlier this month, a fifth-grader at an elementary school in Seongnam pulled the hair of a female teacher trying to stop a fight. A teenager at a middle school even choked a female teacher and spit on her face for getting upset at his tardiness.
Click Here for the Full Story (Source: Korea JoongAng Daily)
Do you really want to teach English in Korea? (Part I: Q & A)
Well deciding to teach English abroad can feel like ordering a mail order bride. You’ve got a description and a list of hopeful expectations; yet you can’t see what you’ve got until the day arrives. How will you know what you asked for will be what you wanted? Honestly, sometimes even when you’ve crossed over to seeing your prize, things can still seem a bit veiled; but at least you’ve tackled the biggest hurdle… making it happen!
Recently friends and readers have asked me about my experiences in the ESL classroom and how they can teach English abroad too. I’ve decided to make it a three part series. This is general Q&A I’ve gotten.
How did I find this gig?
Click Here for the Full Story (Source: GRRRL Traveller)
Free meals for six territories’ schools
Five provinces and one metropolitan city will start offering free lunches in elementary schools starting spring semester next year, going against the objections of the central government, which says free lunches should be limited to students from poorer families.
The JoongAng Ilbo recently surveyed 16 provincial-level governments about their policies on free school lunches and found that six of them – Gyeonggi, South Chungcheong, North Chungcheong, North Jeolla, Jeju and Gwangju Metropolitan City – allocated budgets for free school lunches to elementary school students next year.
Click Here for the Full Story (Source: Korea JoongAng Daily)
Korea to foster 20 world-class colleges
The government announced Friday an ambitious plan to nurture 20 vocational colleges into world-class schools and help at least three universities join the ranks of the global top 30.
In a report to President Lee Myung-bak on its policy plans for next year, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said it will expand policy benefits and allow greater autonomy for colleges to bolster their international competitiveness.
“We will launch a new program to choose the top 20 vocational colleges and nurture them into world-class colleges,” Education Minister Lee Ju-ho told reporters after the briefing session at Cheong Wa Dae.
Click Here for the Full Story (Source: The Korea Times)
This week’s joke: Do you have what it takes to be an Educational Consultant?
b
The following short quiz consists of 4 questions and tells whether you are qualified to be an educational consultant
Scroll down for each answer.
1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?
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Correct Answer:
Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and close the door. This question tests whether you
tend to do simple things in an overly complicated way.
2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?
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Correct Answer:
Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door. This tests your
ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.
3.The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?
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Correct Answer: The Elephant. The Elephant is in the refrigerator. This question tests your memory. OK,even if you did not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more chance to show your abilities.
4.There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. There is no boat or bridge, nor are there any big rocks to step on. How do you get across the river?
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Correct Answer: You swim across. All the Crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting. This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.
According to Andersen Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the educational consultants they tested got all questions wrong. But many preschoolers got several correct answers. Andersen Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that most educational consultants have the brains of four-year-olds.
What Next? GOODBYE!
Thank you to all those readers who supported Expacked over the last couple of years. Its been a joy to write for you and I trust that this newsletter has helped you in some way at you have taught English in Korea.
Signing off for the 100th, and last, time.
Cheers and goodbye,
Ken
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