I got a job at KFC last week. Until then, I was on the verge of jumping into any job that I could get(that is, except for prostitution.). After giving out more than 40 copies of my CV and getting only two interviews, it felt like being in heaven to have a job, though it was in a fast food restaurant.
Back in my home country, I would never have considered applying for a job at a fast food restaurant. Not that it’s not in my league…hell, no. OK, I admit it. It really was not in my league. Even in my most desperate moment (which means mildly troublesome), there was no way that anyone could make me take such a job. Considering all the hard work, their wage is so modest that it is almost humiliating. In fact, every sane person has wider(hence better) selection on the matter of choosing a job. In other places such as pubs, diners, or any small shops, though there is no great difference in wages, they don’t have to labour like a horse. It is mostly high school students who work in fast food restaurants, having no better choices.
Before coming to Ireland, tutoring used to be my major source of income. Teaching English (only for exams) in Korea is fatal to your mental health; when you know that you are teaching them just for their score’s sake. You know they are not going to be able to speak English. It’s all about choosing the right A, B, C or D answer on tests. That is what you are struggling to death with to get into children’s small heads. I hated my job with passion naturally. Still, there was haughty sense of dignity in being a teacher. (oh, and definitely better wages than Mc or KFC.) I took a certain amount of respect for granted. After all, I belonged to the “educated” class back then. (though it is true that few people are not in this social class)
Here in Ireland, mopping the greasy floor of KFC, I get paid a princely sum which is far more than I had got for tutoring. Co-workers are nice and friendly. I would not say it’s stress-free, but it requires less attention and responsibility. Now that I have a secure grip on a part time job which I was desperately looking for, surely I must be very happy?
To be honest at the risk of being seen as an ungrateful, greedy creature, I’m not. I mean, I’m relieved and happy of course, but after the sheer joy was gone I began to see what had changed; the social class in which I now belong is a humbler one. Whatever education I have received in Korea(a.k.a. English) is hardly noticeable here. The reality that had never come to my mind before, when I dreamed of living abroad, manifested itself. While I secretly imagined having a brilliant career in New York, spending most evenings surrounded by people from all over the world, now I know counting coins behind a till, day and night, is a more likely scenario.
Believe it or not, I find it quite funny that one can be in such a totally different class when they are exactly the same as before- with the same amount of knowledge, not more or less. I had thought the biggest change that I would encounter in Ireland would be getting through without Starbucks. However, here I am, a former English teacher reborn as a foreign labourer.
*
블로그에 올릴게 하도 없어서 간간이 쓰고 있는 영어 에세이라도 올릴까 싶은 마음에 카테고리 신설
답글은 굳이 영어로 달지않으셔도 됩니다;
Back in my home country, I would never have considered applying for a job at a fast food restaurant. Not that it’s not in my league…hell, no. OK, I admit it. It really was not in my league. Even in my most desperate moment (which means mildly troublesome), there was no way that anyone could make me take such a job. Considering all the hard work, their wage is so modest that it is almost humiliating. In fact, every sane person has wider(hence better) selection on the matter of choosing a job. In other places such as pubs, diners, or any small shops, though there is no great difference in wages, they don’t have to labour like a horse. It is mostly high school students who work in fast food restaurants, having no better choices.
Before coming to Ireland, tutoring used to be my major source of income. Teaching English (only for exams) in Korea is fatal to your mental health; when you know that you are teaching them just for their score’s sake. You know they are not going to be able to speak English. It’s all about choosing the right A, B, C or D answer on tests. That is what you are struggling to death with to get into children’s small heads. I hated my job with passion naturally. Still, there was haughty sense of dignity in being a teacher. (oh, and definitely better wages than Mc or KFC.) I took a certain amount of respect for granted. After all, I belonged to the “educated” class back then. (though it is true that few people are not in this social class)
Here in Ireland, mopping the greasy floor of KFC, I get paid a princely sum which is far more than I had got for tutoring. Co-workers are nice and friendly. I would not say it’s stress-free, but it requires less attention and responsibility. Now that I have a secure grip on a part time job which I was desperately looking for, surely I must be very happy?
To be honest at the risk of being seen as an ungrateful, greedy creature, I’m not. I mean, I’m relieved and happy of course, but after the sheer joy was gone I began to see what had changed; the social class in which I now belong is a humbler one. Whatever education I have received in Korea(a.k.a. English) is hardly noticeable here. The reality that had never come to my mind before, when I dreamed of living abroad, manifested itself. While I secretly imagined having a brilliant career in New York, spending most evenings surrounded by people from all over the world, now I know counting coins behind a till, day and night, is a more likely scenario.
Believe it or not, I find it quite funny that one can be in such a totally different class when they are exactly the same as before- with the same amount of knowledge, not more or less. I had thought the biggest change that I would encounter in Ireland would be getting through without Starbucks. However, here I am, a former English teacher reborn as a foreign labourer.
*
블로그에 올릴게 하도 없어서 간간이 쓰고 있는 영어 에세이라도 올릴까 싶은 마음에 카테고리 신설
답글은 굳이 영어로 달지않으셔도 됩니다;
journal*
2009/05/03 07:34, mari.
