Negative Teachers in Japan and Korea

I made a video today because I wanted to share a little advice with people who are new to teaching or who are aspiring to teach.

When you move abroad for the first time to work in a school, you will meet people who really enjoy life in that country. You will meet people who like teaching, work hard at it and get a lot out of their situation.

You have been planning this move to Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, etc., for a really long time and have been so excited to move. You finally get there after months or even years of anticipation and when you arrive at your new school, you have a coworker who simply complains about everything around them.

We all have bad days.  I have been living abroad for almost ten years and I definitely get them from time to time. I have bouts of homesickness when I wish I was back in Canada teaching in a Canadian school. I also have days when I may complain about my job or other aspects of life in Japan. I have those days, but they don’t come often.

Some future coworkers may have days like that everyday. They always seem to be bitching negative. Their personalities make them seem like “human rain clouds.” They are almost like a cartoon character walking around with that little cloud above their heads at all time dumping rain and misery on them.

These are the people you need to try to avoid. If you cannot avoid them, take what they say with a grain of salt. People who are unhappy, for whatever reason seem to make their voices heard the most. Being unhappy about life abroad occasionally is normal. If someone is unhappy all the time, something is wrong. They are obviously not cut out for life abroad or life in the classroom!

You are starting your new adventure in the classroom and must be optomistic and enjoy it!

Check out my video on the topic:

The latest addition in my son’s toy collection. I though it appropriate to add to this blog! You won’t see a school bus like this in Korea or Japan, but kids do indeed have to take buses to their private schools.