Prison Diary of a Fucked English Teacher

[Charles]

Prison Diary of an English Teacher

In recent months the Korean government has been cracking down nationwide on foreign English teachers working illegally...

...One visa-less American English teacher, who was arrested by police in the port city of Busan on March 24, sent OhmyNews a long, diary-style letter on May 2 detailing the circumstances surrounding his arrest, his day-to-day prison life and recommendations for improvements in the system. The letter's return address was from the Ministry of Justice's Immigration Office Detention Center at Yeosu, along Korea's south coast...



Don't fail to miss Part 2

[amdg]

Prison Diary of an English Teacher

In recent months the Korean government has been cracking down nationwide on foreign English teachers working illegally...

...One visa-less American English teacher, who was arrested by police in the port city of Busan on March 24, sent OhmyNews a long, diary-style letter on May 2 detailing the circumstances surrounding his arrest, his day-to-day prison life and recommendations for improvements in the system. The letter's return address was from the Ministry of Justice's Immigration Office Detention Center at Yeosu, along Korea's south coast...



Don't fail to miss Part 2

Charles, your lack of pathos makes you a disgusting human being. You should hope we never meet.

[Lupin4]

"If we are being held in this facility because we have broken the law, then don't we have rights?"
In Korea, the answer is...wait for it...."No."

Just because the American gov't doesn't care about stopping illegal immigrants, doesn't mean other countries aren't dead serious about folks breaking the rules.

And how can anyone alive after the release of "Midnight Express" think that non-Western countries give a crap about folks in jail?

[Charles]

Charles, your lack of pathos makes you a disgusting human being. You should hope we never meet.

I'll reserve my pathos for the unjustly imprisoned.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Prison Diary of an English Teacher

In recent months the Korean government has been cracking down nationwide on foreign English teachers working illegally...

...One visa-less American English teacher, who was arrested by police in the port city of Busan on March 24, sent OhmyNews a long, diary-style letter on May 2 detailing the circumstances surrounding his arrest, his day-to-day prison life and recommendations for improvements in the system. The letter's return address was from the Ministry of Justice's Immigration Office Detention Center at Yeosu, along Korea's south coast...



Don't fail to miss Part 2

Charles, your lack of pathos makes you a disgusting human being. You should hope we never meet.

You going to beat him up? You'll have to kick my ass too because I don't have much sympathy for this guy either.

[djgizmoe]

You going to beat him up? You'll have to kick my ass too because I don't have much sympathy for this guy either.

As much as I disagree with most of Charles' posts, this guy DOES seem to have been a bit of troublemaker. See:

When I was first brought to the immigration authorities in Busan, I was threatened verbally as well as physically because I refused to show them my passport.

Why exactly was he NOT showing them his passport?
On top of that, he was working without a visa (and doesn't deny it) so imprisonment and deportation don't seem that unusual...
However, I remember when I went to Seoul on a Japanese Visa trip and my bag was stolen, along with my plane tickets. The police were less than helpful, and Korean Air refused to reissue my tickets unless I had a credit card (which I didn't have at the time), plus I didn't have enough money to buy new ones. If it wasn't for the extraordinary goodwill of an American woman staying at my guest-house, I might have been a well and truly FG in Seoul. Maybe this dork's cellmate.

Did I mention I don't exactly like Korea?

[Blah Pete]

This guy is a whiner. Rights when arrested??
You are not in Kansas any more Totto.

From what I have experienced in Korea I would show them my passport and cooperate fully. This guy is lucky there were alot of guards on hand to subdue him. If they were short staffed that night they probably would have just clubbed him to be safe.

This guy seems like he has been in Korea long enough to know what to expect from the law. Actually the conditions in the detention center don't sound that bad, or are what is expected. At least they are kept in a detention center and not mixed with common criminals.

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

Prison Diary of an English Teacher

In recent months the Korean government has been cracking down nationwide on foreign English teachers working illegally...

...One visa-less American English teacher, who was arrested by police in the port city of Busan on March 24, sent OhmyNews a long, diary-style letter on May 2 detailing the circumstances surrounding his arrest, his day-to-day prison life and recommendations for improvements in the system. The letter's return address was from the Ministry of Justice's Immigration Office Detention Center at Yeosu, along Korea's south coast...



Don't fail to miss Part 2

Charles, your lack of pathos makes you a disgusting human being. You should hope we never meet.

Dont worry you wont have to because Charles is not in Japan or not likely to ever go, he just googles most of the stuff about Japan.

Charles came to FG because an image was hotlinked from his blog.

[FG Lurker]

I have to say that I don't have a lot of sympathy for the guy either.

Okay, he was working illegally in Korea...Something that I understand a lot of people do. (Even during my 8 days in Korea 10 years ago I had half a dozen job offers from random people when I was walking down the street!)

But damn, if you get caught and don't cooperate...That's just asking to make your situation a whole helluva lot worse.

[Socratesabroad]

Charles, your lack of pathos makes you a disgusting human being. You should hope we never meet.

You going to beat him up? You'll have to kick my ass too because I don't have much sympathy for this guy either.

Well, I'd be more than happy to step up for Charles. Anyone care to make threats against me as well?

The accused in this instance isn't some newbie fresh off the boat

I studied Korean here for two years at Seoul National University
I make the best of my time here by studying Korean...helping translate for the guards who can't speak English and the workers who don't speak Korean, including writing letters to the immigration officers and sometimes to the doctor's office...

So here is a guy supposedly with some command of the local language and familiarity with local laws & customs who knowingly violated the law. And I should feel sorry for him and his curtailed human rights?!?!

If immigration authorities have the right to take away our freedom, shouldn't they be obligated to make sure we are in the best of health? Is not our welfare, our very lives, in their hands? Are we not under their control?...
[snip]
We are not criminals!

Note to detainee - By willfully violating Korean immigration law -both in teaching illegally and refusing to show officials your passport, you are in fact a criminal. Maybe not a violent offender, but a criminal nonetheless. Time to drop the human rights complaints and take responsibility (and punishment) for your own actions.

[Buraku]

the South Koreans are f*cked up, they still think they're at war, everyone goes blasting stuff in the army and they're ready to defend the South from the North
Lucky for the North Koreans and regular gaijins, the South Koreans direct most of their anger at Nippon
which often erupts into street protests when every some Yasukuni racist or the Tokyo blinky major opens his mouth.





So you say they should round up all those idiot eikaiwa teachers in Japan

that after years of teaching can only get their Nippon students to say 'I a speaku berry goodo Engrish'

Don't worry the Nippon cops already have that rat on the gaiins website, and Nick Baker is taking one up the tailpipe for the team, Mehrpooran wasn't so lucky

[canman]

At first I got a page all in Hangul, now it won't connect. Does anybody have it cached. I'd like to read what the guy was whining about.

[FG Lurker]

At first I got a page all in Hangul, now it won't connect. Does anybody have it cached. I'd like to read what the guy was whining about.

I can get to it, but it's pretty long. I'll email it to you if you PM me your address...

[canman]

Thanks FGL. I finally was able to read this diatribe. I'm not sure what to think of it. This is a 30 something year old writing and speaking like a 10 year old. Sure we all want to be treated with respect and dignity and given our due rights. But you broke the fucking law you loser. Ok its not like you pistol whipped a bank guard and made off with a lot of money, but non-the-less you broke the law and now you have to pay for it.

[AssKissinger]

Dear Korean people,
Please forgive me for my wrongdoing. Forgive me for falling in love with your country, food, culture, people, history, land, spirit, cities, mountains, trees, traditions, manners, neighborhoods, skies, rivers, scenery, atmosphere, joys, triumphs, disappointments, fashions, parks, museums, language, movies, TV shows, music, families, seasons, paintings, arts and much, much more for the past six and a half years.

I was born in New York City. My parents are Jamaican. I'm 34 years old. I studied Korean here for two years at Seoul National University, but I still have so much more to learn. If I am able to in the future, I wish to continue my studies, live in Korea and eventually become a Korean citizen. I want to contribute whatever I can to making my adopted home the best place it can be.

No wonder he had to settle for Korea.

[Samurai_Jerk]

So a native English speaker who studied at Seoul Nat'l University for two years couldn't get a visa to teach English in Korea?? Something is not right with this picture.

[FG Lurker]

Dear Korean people,
Please forgive me for my wrongdoing. Forgive me for falling in love with your country, food, culture, people, history, land, spirit, cities, mountains, trees, traditions, manners, neighborhoods, skies, rivers, scenery, atmosphere, joys, triumphs, disappointments, fashions, parks, museums, language, movies, TV shows, music, families, seasons, paintings, arts and much, much more for the past six and a half years.

I was born in New York City. My parents are Jamaican. I'm 34 years old. I studied Korean here for two years at Seoul National University, but I still have so much more to learn. If I am able to in the future, I wish to continue my studies, live in Korea and eventually become a Korean citizen. I want to contribute whatever I can to making my adopted home the best place it can be.

No wonder he had to settle for Korea.

I was laughing pretty hard at that too.

Dunno if Korean immigration is like Japanese immigration, but if it is then after that little episode he isn't likely to be getting a Korean passport anytime soon.

[Maths Dude]

He should have just got a Korean babe pregnant and married her. Live and learn

[amdg]

[kotatsuneko]

Charles, your lack of pathos makes you a disgusting human being. You should hope we never meet.

i`m so with Chrales on this one, the guy was knowingly breaking the law, and hence trashing the rep of other potential workers in the field. dude got what he deserved, and probably some anal adventures to boot

[AssKissinger]

I support amdg and look forward to the video link of the fight. Kick his fucking ass dude!!! Charles is gonna get punked!!!

[kotatsuneko]

you mean Charles is going to partake in punk cosplay?

I really have no idea why Charles gets so much shit thrown at him, the guy simply offers his opinion, just like everyone else here, posts some decent, relavant links often, and yet has 3 or 4 people flaming him all the time.

its shit like this that stopped me from donating to the site. anyone can of course flame me all they like, first sign of it and all i see in the future is a huge donkey dick this place is for discussion, not personal affronts after all.

[AssKissinger]

He started it.

[Oradea]

I have to admit, that the Fucked G in Korea is a bit of a moaning tosspot. Stand up and accept responsibility for your actions. If he loves Korea that much, then surely he would have found a way to get a visa sponsored. I have to agree that something ain't right about his story. If he really studied Korean at the Uni there for 2 years, and has knowledge of laws and what not, then it should have been really easy for him to get a visa. If the whole thing is actually true, which I have doubts about.

[Charles]

[AssKissinger]

[FG Lurker]

I really have no idea why Charles gets so much shit thrown at him, the guy simply offers his opinion, just like everyone else here, posts some decent, relavant links often, and yet has 3 or 4 people flaming him all the time.

Personally I have given up on Charles. I no longer give a shit.

He'll never figure out why people dislike his style so much cause he thinks he already knows everything -- and is busy telling everyone about it.

(Ever notice that the more people blabber on about what they "know", the less they usually do?)

[Big Booger]

[kotatsuneko]

i think this is usually referred to as a "bert and ernie" relationship

[FG Lurker]

i think this is usually referred to as a "bert and ernie" relationship

Wasn't the rumour that bert and ernie were a gay couple?