I don't object to the characterization depending on the meaning of the word.

Most who seek to travel abroad and explore life outside of the "comfort" and routine of "the ordinary" have been "touched" in some way.

They tend to have a colonialist mentality and seek privilege.  They tend to be socially awkward, compulsive, neurotic loners, hypocrites, and opportunists.

The title of "Loser" doesn't quite fit with many who have either rejected their society or been rejected by their society.

One can live without the pressure of having to meet the expectations their society places on them by relocating outside of their own society, a sort of nonconformity, "normity".

Many who seek such an existence tend to be social outcasts, queer, odd, abnormal, the "loser" (again, not crazy about using such a word, as many have been quite successful at creating a life that "works" for them).

Enjoy your Chew-suck, all!

How about some people enjoy something different? That's not enough?

The majority of people I have met here do not fall into the "colonizer" mentality category. They do not come seeking to abuse or misuse anyone - usually quite the opposite.
They are not perfect, nor is anyone, but most have not been "losers," whatever that means. Many are actually liberal arts majors whose skills line up with teaching English overseas, so they do it. Some are simply looking for something interesting to do. They like travel, etc.

The stranger, more mentally-tweaked among us certainly exist, but I don't think that percentage is very large these days, nor is it always a bad thing. Most are youngish twenty-somethings doing a couple of years overseas having experiences similar to what they'd have in any situation because they are young and confused, perhaps. In my twenties while living in the US, I saw the same level (or much more) of dysfunction among my cohort that I have seen here in passing or via direct friendships in Korea.

I don't know what kind of people users of this website hang out with, but I think much of an individual's view of "all expats in Asia" has a lot to do with how you perceive your immediate friend set or immediate relationships here (possibly coworkers, too). If you think they are all losers, then at least switch friend sets if you can't switch jobs. If you are hanging out with people who constantly think and say questionable things, drink too much, aren't interested in doing a decent job while they are here, etc. then find a new group who isn't like that. They are out there. Your view of the whole might change dramatically, or at least become more nuanced. It's like anywhere else.

Not at all, Waygug-in, I think we are finally starting to get somewhere. I'm glad Thomas was able to share his fears for the future, but so far the others who have posted have remained in the abstract and not provided the honest personal testimony that would allow true healing to emerge. Allow me to give my story:


My absentee father always used to say I was adopted as some sort of justification for not paying child support. I never believed it until the age of 35 when my mother said I had to move out of the garage and find my own way because she was moving with her boyfriend Pedro to go live on a Mexican Mennonite commune where they wouldn't have garages, just stabled where the clydesdales would be kept. I always resented her for not having a basement anyway, so I prepared to pack my belongings into a knapsack without protest. In the process I uncovered the adoption papers that listed my birthname as Eugene Lee. Mom and Pedro had slipped out without a word the night before, and nobody remained to give the full story. With nothing to lose and even less information to go off of, I set out on a mission to find my birthparents. Knowing Lee was a common name throughout Asia, combined with the memory of my first-grade best friend, an adoptee from Korea, I hid myself in a Hanjin container ship and set off for the Land of the Rising Sun.

My BA in artistic welding from South-east Western Iowa Polytechnical Institute (Go Gators!) came in handy to land me my first ever real job -- teaching English to kindergarteners -- but the debt it saddled me with cramped the boozing lifestyle I had settled into while I worked out a plan to find my birth parents. Then one afternoon I was awoken on the sidewalk a few blocks from my one-room by a lithe older woman with an ebullient countenance who said she would take care of me if only I followed her. Follow her I did back to her headquarters above the Nae Nae chicken where I met her 11 other followers. They all called her Aumma and chanted her blessings during my initiation ceremony, where I collapsed in a heap and for the first time really opened up about my adoption, my excessive drinking, and my student loan troubles. She said I was her child now and that as such she would take care of me. From then on I wired my full earnings to her with the promise that she would keep my creditors at bay, and I lived in relative peace until one day, several months later We sent Aumma off on what was supposed to be a three week trip to tend to her followers in another colony in Azerbaijan and never heard from her again. Jilted and dejected, and knowing I could never go back to Iowa now and face the banks, I'm here in Korea for the long haul.

That was 12 years ago already, and the three kids I had with Aumma would be nearly middle schoolers now if I didn't hold certain conspiracy theories that preclude me from allowing my kids to participate in anything that might amount to a mainstream brainwashing. My only solace is knowing my pale complexion is sometimes enough to dupe some naive local Tinder users into buying my dinner on our first date after running off the the bathroom and never returning.

My own idea of "hooking up".

So I've worked in Korea awhile. I am not seen as a loser by my friends back home actually a couple of my childhood friends have taught English in Korea too. Some of my other friends have visited me here also.

People who think of me as a loser are usually arts and crafts majors who haven't worked a day in there life and blame the government for their problems.

It's usually social justice warriors that label English teachers losers.

Hm. There may be  something wrong with my basic premise here. Argaluza and Duhan, you certainly don't sound like losers and I'm glad you're enjoying your lives here. (No Argalosers here^^) Perhaps I'm the only one? We could try to track down those two Canadian girls and see how they're faring

 

An Argaluza but not an Argalosa indeed!!

My mind goes back to those two girls and how they are faring a fair few times over the years... the plans of mice and men and all that... I hope they achieved what they set out to do.

Thought I was better than many when I first went,  realized I was worse than most

by the time I left.   

Agreed.

Quote from: donovan on September 11, 2016, 02:55:24 PM

Hm. There may be  something wrong with my basic premise here. Argaluza and Duhan, you certainly don't sound like losers and I'm glad you're enjoying your lives here. (No Argalosers here^^) Perhaps I'm the only one? We could try to track down those two Canadian girls and see how they're faring

 

An Argaluza but not an Argalosa indeed!!

My mind goes back to those two girls and how they are faring a fair few times over the years... the plans of mice and men and all that... I hope they achieved what they set out to do.

 

For the kind of money that they mentioned, I'm sure they gave quite a few lap dances as well as other, ahem, activities.

Hey Joshua

Thanks for that. (Just when I thought West Coast had killed the conversation!) I really created this thread satirically hoping for some banter. No reason for anyone here in Korea to feel like a loser or a failure if they're doing their job well and satisfied with where they find themselves. Even if this isn't where many of us see ourselves in the long term, it can be a good way to reset and gather steam for the future. And I think there are enough long-termers on this site who are obviously knowledgeable and committed to their work who can serve as models for anyone who wants to make a career out of this but feel discouraged by the negative views sometimes held by the populace toward EFL teachers here.

@donovan Your story is very, very interesting.

Especially that part about the 'ahjumma' beckoning for you and the antics that ensue - This remind me of my own experience walking around Cheongyangri station at night and an elderly ahjumma comes up and asks me "care for a good time?"

I was utterly shocked and surprised and my mind had severe difficulty wrapping around this 'ahjumma' with the words 'good time'. I ran and then found the conveniently located 588 district and then proceeded to choose who I would have my good time with.

The end :) 

The only time i think of someone as a loser is if they introduce themselves as a musician, or an artist or whatever the f@ck.  Maybe you did that back home, but barring a small percentage, you are an English teacher and whatever you just introduced yourself as is your hobby. When that is where you get your sole income from being an artist, then you are a n artist.  Just because you made a short film or displayed your paintings at the expat bar...you get what i am saying.  I think that is a perfectly acceptable reason to call somebody a loser.