Hey, who is that handsome guy? Oh hey, that's me! Fancy that. I thought I'd try out the photo upload feature of my blog. That's the self-portrait I took for the academy in Pusan, South Korea, who hired me. From what I gather from friends who have lived in South Korea, Koreans put a lot of emphasis on outward appearence. So one of the deciding factors of whether or not I got the job was if I was reasonably easy on the eyes. As a photojournalist in Southern Mississippi, the dress code never got more severe than a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt. So I dug a collared shirt out of my closet, set up my camera and "guerilla" light kit, and hung a blue bedsheet on the wall with push-pins. With the camera on self-timer, I made five frames, and this was the last one. I guess the Koreans thought my appearence satisfactory. They hired me two days later.
5 comments:
Proving, once and for all, that Koreans really don't know anything.
Hi I stumbled upon your blog because I am going to be interviewing for ESS. I have done a contract in Korea before, I'm trying to go back for my 2nd and final year :), I'm sure you can understand why its the final. I just wanted to know if ESS was pretty standard or if its really one to be avoided. If you could get back to me quickly, I would be really grateful. I hope things are working out for you and your business. If you could just comment back, I'm not really sure how to best get in touch with you. I don't normally message people randomly online. Thanks a bunch!
ESS was very good about paying me on time as agreed in my contract. They never tried to cheat me. Also, they went the extra mile to teach me about the Korean culture. Mr. Kim took all the teachers on a bus tour once and introduced us to places in Korea one wouldn't normally visit. He also treated the teachers to meals on holidays and was very respectful in general. This all said, I have a good friend who stayed on in Korea after I left and has worked in a variety of other schools. I keep up with him and have discovered that ESS was not competitive with other schools. At ESS we lived in a sub-standard apartment with a roommate and our classes were between 8-20 kids. My friend now works for a school that gives him his own personal apartment and his classes are a consistent 2-5 kids. Much better deal, in my opinion. Make sure you shop around before settling on ESS, but if you chose ESS, be confidant that Mr. Kim is a man of integrity. -Notes
Thank you so much for your help and insight about the school and the promptness of your reply. You were really helpful in your response.
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