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Some horsey-faced middle-aged American woman wrote a blog about all the sex and drugs at the international law firm she was working at in Moscow, and got fired for her troubles.
and what's more -- she banged Russian DUDES? Yeecch! Clearly some self-esteem issues.
The fact that "expats" get drunk and fuck a lot is hardly news to anybody with half a brain in their head. Hemingway and Somerset Maugham were writing about that back in the 20's and 30's. It's not just Moscow -- "expat culture" anywhere, from Dubai to Hong Kong, from Bangkok to Rio, is equally dissipated.
The biggest danger is thinking that your experiences are somehow remarkable. (I plead guilty.)
While I suppose English teachers are expats, per se, I don't think of them when I think of that term; "expat" means engineers and lawyers and all those high-dollar riffraff. There's a second ring that consists of embassy employees and military types who have slightly more restrictions on what they do and where they go; and then there's the outer circle of foreigners working abroad that consists of English teachers, scuba diving instructors, Filipino housemaids, pirates, sex slaves, etc.
The point to notice here -- she was working for a law firm and making more than six figures a year. As an English teacher in Moscow you are very lucky even to make five figures a year. So please -- don't read this and send me a letter about how you want advice about working in Moscow as an English teacher. Go to fucking law school.
10 comments:
I used to read her columns in the Moscow News. I always kinda envied her, rolling with the rich and infamous. But her columns made her sound like a real bitch.
One of the things I loved most about Russia was the men. The men in my classes would always leap to pick up pens and papers I dropped, never failed to light my cigarettes or open my doors. Plus, they all have those amazing hazel eyes.
I'm kind of curious that you dismiss women who fuck a lot of Russian men as having self-esteem issues. I mean (ahem) given your track record of uh, well, you know. It's all a bit of the same, isn't it?
Russian men will pick up your pens and meet you at the bus stop -- and then scream at you for talking to another man or for speaking too much in public. I knew girls who were literally locked into their apartment all day by their husbands, and I saw far too many girls with black eyes. Never mind the infidelity, which was of course a two way street.
Wife beating was a favorite indoor sport of the Koreans as well, as I remember.
Yep. As a matter of fact, as I was reading the article, I was thinking you could totally substitute "Korea" for "Russia" in terms of alcoholism, machismo and wife-beating.
I had no idea that the TEFL world was like this. Like Moscow, Seoul is filthy with disgusting foreign boy-men, giggling girls and nothing but non-stop drinking. I actually think it's a bit worse here in terms of numbers.
I really want to go somewhere that's not like this - but if you and everyone else says it's like this EVERYWHERE, then my TEFL career might come to an end sooner rather than later. I'm too old for this shit. I am surrounded by American kids gone crazy.
like I said, try the Peace Corps or VSO or get a master's in TEFL and work for Fulbright or the USIS.
or better yet -- go back to America and teach English there. That tends to be a more authentic cultural exprience than teaching abroad, human nature being as contrary as it is.
I know, I know - you give good advice, it's true. I have actually been seriously considering going back to the states after my contract is up and teaching ESL. Might be a good evening gig while I work on a state certificate or MA TESOL. I wish my feet weren't so itchy, but it might be time to pack it in.
Eve,
Korea isn't even on the same map with Russia in terms of the things that you mentioned. I've lived in both. Your just bitter with culture shock.
Second, you are witnessing actual human nature. America is a sterilized and feminized society legislated and preached into one where men aren't free to act like themselves. If you want that, then be in America. If not, don't expect the world to be like that and keep your 'disgusting' generalizations and judgments to yourself. You remind me of the American women in Russia that complain because they can't compete with the amazing Russian specimens of femininity. Come to think of it, the situation applies in Korea as well.
Also, to label a whole country of expats as disgusting men boys just tells me that you don't get as much as you would like, you have social problems, and you are overly idealistic and bitter. I will agree that some men are like that there, but must every white man that dates a Korean (ie: not you) be subjected to your nonsense attitude?
Accept human nature, or go home where human nature is forced into a narrow tame version of the truth. It wont be any different anywhere else that you go. But of course, this is all probably just the interim period before you go home, marry middle management, and pump out a bunch of kids anyway, so what the fuck, right? Just try to have fun and stop being so judgmental.
The woman who got fired sounds like she had a very common case of lack of judgment and lack of ability to control emotions, given the obvious risk reward ratio between her column and her job. The end result was obvious, although I'm sure she was shocked and didn't see it coming..heh
It kind of makes you wonder how people with such poor judgment are routinely able to secure such jobs. To be less polite, they shouldn't be bake to secure such jobs. To be even less polite, its women who are mostly this emotionally impulsive and unable to make practical judgment calls. Such emotion built up by Eve is a prime example. The guys she has to work with have to suffer through her filter of over-emotional judgment every day. Despite what women say in terms of being equal and wanting equal pay, they sure are different to work with. Since when did hyper emotional filters become an asset at the expense of unemotional critical thought and judgment?
To play with the boys you should have the professional class and dignity of a boy. They sure don't care about your extracurricular activities.
@English Teacher X - When will anonymous trolls learn how to spell?
Bitch slap a hoe Anonymous .... nice!
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