V.Jodi
In South Australia I was born
To me heave away, haul away
In South Australia round Cape Horn
Chorus
We're bound for South Australia
Haul away you rolling kings
To me heave away, haul away
Haul away, you'll hear me sing
We're bound for South Australia
The three rowdy young white men sing loudly and entertain those waiting in line at an airline check-in counter in the Incheon Airport. She laughs as she watches passing by in search of the escalator leading to the arrivals area on the lower floor. On the escalator, she pulls out the cardboard sign from her oversized handbag that hangs from her elbow.
The attractive Korean woman in the black mini-skirt and peacock blue high heels with the sleek brown-tinted hair, broad powdered cheekbones, and ornamented earlobes and fingers watches the passengers spilling out into the arrivals area. She checks the arrivals screen and looks for a flight number to make certain that the flight has already arrived as scheduled. She picks her way through the people and baggage toward the customs exit door.
She holds up her sign and soon discerns a foreigner that matches the picture on the employment file. She lifts an arm to wave should the foreigner turn her head in her direction. But the 35-year-old American woman with loose streaked hair wearing jeans and a fleece hoodie is intent upon navigating the luggage cart and preventing her luggage from tumbling.
Finally the woman stops and looks around. “Just call me Jodi,” says the Korean woman stepping toward her, “Are you Samantha?”
The American nods dubiously, looking at Jodi up and down. “You with ‘English Haven’?” she asks.
“Yes, that’s right. I help the foreign employees but I’m a teacher there too. I’ll be working with you. Come, let’s go to the parking lot. Can I help you with that?”
“No, I can manage. Where are we going?”
“Oh, I’ll take you directly to your place. You must be tired. Tomorrow morning, you can go to the academy. You’ll get two half-days of training before they give you a full schedule. The teacher you’re replacing has not yet left.”
Jodi leads Samantha to the gleaming white utility vehicle in the outdoor lot. Together, they swing the two large suitcases into the rear compartment. Samantha takes a place in the front passenger seat after stowing her tote-bag on the rear seat.
“Is it far? I am exhausted. It was twelve hours from Denver to Tokyo. Then there was all that waiting—three hours before the departure from Denver and there was a 30-minute delay, then the five-hour stopover at Narita Airport.”
“Did you sleep on the plane?”
“No, I can’t sleep on planes. Anyway, we left at eight in the morning. So it’s like about four or five in the morning by Denver, mountain time.”
“Have you been to Asia before?”
“Just once. I went on a holiday to Shanghai and Beijing five years ago. It was different—too crowded and noisy but exciting. I like Chinese food.”
“Have you ever had Korean food?”
“No, never. But I suppose it’s like Chinese food, right?”
“Well, we eat some Chinese and Japanese food, but Korean food is different. Do you like spicy food?”
“I eat mexi-cal and Indian food all the time. It’s spicy. I like that food. I’m not hungry now, though. They gave us a lot of food on the planes.”
“Good.”
“Are you my supervisor or something? I mean, why did you pick me up if you aren’t?”
“I was just another teacher but they kept singling me out to communicate to the foreign staff for them. People in the company administration don’t speak English. Most of the other teachers don’t speak English very well.” Jodi lets go a short dry laugh.
“But they’re English teachers. You mean I won’t be able to talk to the English teachers?”
“Many of the Korean teachers just teach grammar and vocabulary or reading and they don’t speak well or don’t have much confidence speaking. Anyway, passing on messages or explaining complex things to the foreigners is too challenging for them. Don’t worry, there will be a couple of other native English speakers around. In fact, a few other foreign employees of English Haven live in the same building. They can help show you around too. I’ll introduce you to them tomorrow.”
Samantha is too tired to think much about this situation and see the red flags. She is driven to a medium sized apartment building of about 12 stories. Trash is strewn around the outside of the entrance and there is a foul odor from the sewer. Assisted by Jodi, they remove the luggage from the van that has been parked haphazardly to the side of the narrow dirty street. Samantha just sees streaks of gaudy colours and hears a lot of traffic and raucous voices.
Inside the building, it is quiet enough. Though it lacks security guards and a concierge, it is mostly clean. It is perhaps about 12 years old and there are restaurants, stores and a billiard hall on the bottom two floors. Smelling the garbage and restaurant food, Samantha hopes that she will not find insects in her apartment.
Her apartment is one room with a bathroom and big storage cupboard. There is a cooking counter with cupboards facing the bed that is tucked into a corner. Fortunately, the room has been well finished and thoroughly cleaned and there is a big window and an air conditioner.
“Jeez. I’ll have to buy some stuff soon. Will the company pay for some household things?”
“I think so, to get you started anyway. I’ll ask and get back to you. Come, let’s go back outside because I want to show you where you can get food around here.”
They do a quick tour of the neighbourhood. It is all a blur to Samantha at this point. There are some cheap small bibimbap, kimbap and soup or hotpot restaurants, in addition to a Japanese rice roll and a rice porridge place. There is also a bakery, a convenience store and a small “mart” or grocer. As expected, there are at least two mobile phone stores in a two-block radius. Samantha dully realizes that it will be a bit difficult to get service and buy the things that she prefers.
“Go back and rest. We’ll bring a blanket and a few dishes to you later in two or three hours. I’m not sure who’ll do that. Is that okay?”
“That’s okay. Thanks. Yes, I need to rest.”
“Do you need a towel?”
“Towel? Oh, no. I have a couple with me.”
“Do you think you can manage to get some food from the food mart or the soup restaurant over there? Oh—you have money, don’t you?”
Yes, I have some Korean money. 1,000 is close to a dollar, I think, right? Yeah, I’ll find something. But really, I think I’m too sleep-deprived to bother eating today.”
“Here’s your key. Remember the apartment number? It’s 506. 506.”
“506. Got it.”
Jodi rushes off in the white van while Samantha returns to her new place and digs out a few articles necessary for washing herself and changing outfits. She soon drifts off to sleep, oblivious to the terribly noisy traffic from the highway outside her window.
Two months later, Samantha is still asking for the reimbursement of household items she bought in order to set up her tiny household. True, someone has lent her a quilt, kettle, set of mugs and rice cooker. Still, she has bought a desk and chair, some crockery and cutlery, cushions, and more.
Jodi has asked about this reimbursement several times. It is always like this. Other employees have demanded that pay stubs be issued and some have experienced unexplained delays in obtaining their resident permits and medical coverage. Some employees want consistent meal breaks. The management lies, diverts and balks. They delay payments all the time, giving all kinds of ridiculous explanations. It is exasperating and tiring.
The company is a big corporation—one of the largest chain of franchises in the English education business in the country. Jodi finds it difficult to understand the financial inconsistencies and lapses if they are following an American business model as they say they are.
The teachers they find are usually very well mannered and polite. They are well qualified and earnest at their work. They work hard. It is not easy teaching children from eight years old to 18 years old. The foreign staff work alongside the Korean teachers teaching back-to-back classes from mid-afternoon until about 8:00 or 9:00 in the evening, often without a supper break. They actually teach more classes than their Korean counterparts, up to 30 or 35 hours of class time a week, although the Koreans must arrive earlier in the day and stay to lock up at night. The foreigners teach the maximum time slots to guarantee to the parents that their children get equal maximum time with the foreign teachers, as is advertised. The foreigners take over some of the Korean’s classes and the Koreans get more time out of the classroom that way.
On the other hand, the foreign teachers are paid higher salaries (though without most bonuses) and they’re given lodgings. Some of them are kind of unreliable because they come here after graduation wanting to have a working holiday.
Jodi knows it is hard for them to appreciate the cultural difference, it being a gap so wide yet invisible to the newcomer. She tries to talk to them and rein them in but sometimes they are too individualistic.
“Well, I’m not Korean,” they might say, “I do what I choose. It’s my life.”
She feels she is pulled every which way. On top of her regular teaching hours, she is always being called upon to translate this, write that, speak to this or that person, or run odd errands. She also must attend all the discussions between management and the foreign teachers and deliver the evaluations. She must be on hand long after closing hours on paydays.
Finally, Jodi starts demanding English Haven more money for the additional work. They reach a compromise whereby she remains on the teaching schedule on a part-time basis and devotes the rest of the time to foreign teacher coordination with the title of coordinator and a matching salary.
As if that was not enough, her mother requests that she help out in the family business. Her mother runs a small food store in the neighboring city. She likes Jodi to learn the ropes, in case, and fill in for missing staff occasionally or when there is special work like inventory to be done.
Jodi starts to dream of getting a new job apart from the English academy and her family. She performs internet research and asks around. There are a number of options for her here in town or in Metro Seoul. Her mother, however, will not hear of Jodi taking up something else, especially if it means living in another city. Her mother depends on her.
But the monkey wrench in the spokes of her plans is the social relationship her mother has with directors of some English Haven academies. Three sisters of a wealthy family own English Haven franchises and act as directors. They have done favours for Jodi’s mother and other members of her family, and Jodi working for them is a payback, a favour given for past favours received.
It is the kind of sacrifice expected among kin. Those with lesser authority must submit, those with more authority must oblige. There is no negotiation for it is expected. It is tradition and honour at play and individual wishes do not figure at all. She is supposed to give up aspects of her personal life.
Jodi therefore bides her time, thinking that she is at least acquiring good career experience. As time rolls by, however, she becomes more and more impatient and restless. She wants to get away. Therefore, she begins to talk to her mother.
“They ask too much of me, Mommy. And there are always problems. The foreigners are not happy and they are always arguing. It’s not their fault, though, because English Haven administrators are a little crooked. There is funny stuff going on here and there. There are mysteries about payroll and such. It’s stressful. I’m too tired most days. I can’t spend enough time with my boyfriend. Please, Mommy, I want to do something else. I’m grateful for this experience but I can’t carry on like this for much longer. Please, Mommy. Can’t you speak to them?”
But her mother is firm. She asks her daughter to carry on nevertheless. She says she feels unsatisfied due to Jodi’s lack of a clear plan as an alternative to the course she is now on. “What else will you do? Where else will you get good experience and status like this? Tell me.”
Jodi has no reply. All she can come up with is a vague notion of returning to university to complete her undergraduate degree. She knows that her mother feels it important for her children to finish university. There is also status and honour in that.
“Yes, dear. You must finish one day. But not yet. Please be patient and hold on for now.”
So Jodi struggles on. Her boyfriend is frustrated and wants her to give him more attention. They discuss and they fight. They break up and then conciliate. Eventually, they break up for good. Jodi is discouraged even more, of course.
But her mother does not value Jodi’s relationship with that boyfriend very much. She thinks it is a good thing that they have separated because she thinks that her beautiful daughter could find someone better and better situated. She does not want her to marry yet. She wants her daughter to experience a career and marriage. Career must come first, especially because of the biological clock. Anyway, it is the fashion nowadays.
“I am not going to get married yet. I’m only 24. But I will one day. It takes time to get to know a man. Anyway, for now, I need a personal life. I need to go out and have fun sometimes.”
“Fun! Plenty of time for that. You have duties first. Work for English Haven, then go back to school.”
Jodi attempts to persuade her mother again and again. She begins to point out the shortcomings in her English competency.
“You know, Mom. If I am to have a great career, I really should become better at English. Look here. I made so many mistakes writing this letter. And I mispronounce a lot of words and mix up my grammar. I’d really like to go abroad to study—just for a year maybe.”
After several similar pleas, her mother begins to relent. She talks it over with her peers and recognizes that English immersion would be invaluable. What is more, the family looks good when a member travels to the West and can communicate well with foreigners.
Jodi feels that the only way to escape the tangled web in which she is caught is to go overseas. She talks it over with friends, Koreans and foreigners. She researches. Finally, she decides that she wants to get a work visa to work in Australia for a year. Two of her Korean friends agree to go with her. She establishes some contacts with Australians returning to their homeland.
She presents the plan with a timeline to her mother. “Going to Australia will be a great experience for me. I can work there and get better at English. I can even enroll in an English class while working full-time. I think tourism might be a good field for me. A trip to Australia will be useful in building a career in tourism.
Her mother agrees to think it over and discuss it with the relatives before making any announcement to English Haven. Jodi sets a tentative departure date six months in the future and sets about applying for a visa to Australia.
She also sets about finding a Korean English teacher to take her place at English Haven. “That may the only way that they agree to release her,” she surmises. “They wouldn’t want me to leave now because there isn’t anybody else to do this kind of thing.”
She does not want to promote this company or bring some nice person into a bad situation, so she is reluctant. She will do her best to apprise the new candidate of the situation and urge her to consider taking it as a stepping stone of a career path, as she has done. Of course, the directors of English Haven would prefer to find someone recommended by their peers, someone in the loop like Jodi. It therefore is not easy finding a replacement.
Ten months later, Jodi is in Melbourne. She is working in a Korean restaurant and sharing an apartment with other expats from Korea and elsewhere. They go out a lot and make new friends regularly. She likes the city and is enjoying her new found freedom away from Korea and all her troubles.
Her boyfriend is speaking to her again and says he will make a trip to visit her. He is understanding, he says.
She is learning about the restaurant business. She has never done such work before and she finds it difficult, but she just keeps smiling and doing her best, and the boss stays happy and customers continue to leave tips. It will do for now, she decides.
She never found an ideal replacement for English Haven back in her home town, although she had made several recommendations. It was past the six-month deadline that she had told everybody and finally she had thrown up her hands in exasperation and said resolutely, “I’m quitting. Two weeks from today will be my last day. Find your own replacement.”
Her employers had never heard her speak that way before and they were a little stunned and stung. They had accepted that she would leave for a period of immersion abroad with the intention of completing her degree. However, they were not satisfied. It seemed so complicated to have someone else step in Jodi’s shoes when Jodi had made everything smooth and simple.
They offered more money if she would stay longer, but she flatly refused. She had had enough. She did not want to burn any bridges, especially for her mother’s sake, but she had to set a limit on her cooperation.
Tonight, a mixed group of Australian co-workers are in the restaurant trying a barbecue. “This isn’t the kind of barbie we know,” says one in their party uncertainly. Nevertheless, the group likes the meal when they try it. They especially enjoy the soju liquor that is traditionally eaten with it.
These customers chat and flirt with the servers energetically. They teach the Korean servers Australian phrases and pronunciation. Everyone laughs together.
“How about a song?” asks a guest. “I heard you Koreans love singing.”
“Yes, sing us a song. An Australian song!” reply the servers. The cook and the manager come to listen in, totally pleased.
“All right, then. Here’s the chorus. Yes, the chorus. Sing it between the verses. Try this: To me heave away, haul away. We’re bound for South Australia! Repeat: To me heave away, haul away. We’re bound for South Australia! It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make sense! It’s just a folk song, one of the best.”
Everyone trips over the words through the laughter, excitement and liquor. Soon, they launch into the entire song, full throttle.
In South Australia I was born
To me heave away, haul away
In South Australia round Cape Horn
Chorus
We're bound for South Australia
Haul away you rolling kings
To me heave away, haul away
Haul away, you'll hear me sing
We're bound for South Australia
Jodi renews her Australian work visa the next year. In the subsequent year, she enrolls in studies at an Australian institution. Somehow through all that, she meets a new lover.