“White Monkey Jobs”

And so this morning I learned a new phrase that I couldn’t wait to share: “White Monkey Jobs.” Stay with me here — it relates to the blog. No, really, it does.

Some of you know (and if you didn’t, now you do) that I have a certification that says I can teach English as a foreign language to adults. A few of you may know (and now you ALL do) that I have been looking at this as a means of making this peregrination a little more comfortable. In pursuit of this object, I have joined various online forums to understand how best to utilize this knowledge and training.

This morning I was sorting through the chaff, looking for the wheat (or was it looking for the sheep amongst the goats), when someone posted a video talking about “white monkey jobs.”

I’d never heard that phrase before. I was somewhat familiar with the Monkey King, but this was a new one for me. So I clicked on the link and lo and behold, a video. I’m providing the link here:

What happens when White Monkey Jobs go WRONG?

I had heard of travel bloggers getting these offers, but didn’t really pay much a attention to them, as I’m not traveling quite the same way. Still, it was an interesting insight to an aspect of the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language business that seemed, well, a tad disheartening? discouraging? distasteful? deceitful? Yeah, most of that. Kind of a reverse racism reserved especially for white foreigners.

The market for language teaching in China, South Korea, and Japan (as well as parts of Southeast Asia) continues to expand at a phenomenal, if not downright scary, rate and Facebook especially is rife with ads from yet another Asian-based language company, school, or agency looking for speakers of English — and many of them have such low bars to entry as to border on the absurd. For a number of these, it is definitely a case of “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Caveat emptor, indeed.

Still, the phrase stuck and I sense that it will re-appear from time to time, perhaps in a slightly altered way.

And since you have been so patient as to read all this way down, I’m rewarding you with some visual goodies. These are from the train on the way in to London Liverpool Station. Enjoy!

We struck up a conversation shortly after this and it turns out he was on his way in to London to take part in the re-enactment commemoration of the beheading of Charles #1… he was a Marshall for the parade… and was part of the Roundhead contingent. Nice chat…

In profile, across the aisle…

Engrossed in the screen…

Engrossed in the screen, Part Two…

Framed.

That’s all for this morning — hoping to get out and make some more images for you all to see.

Until later, á bientôt!