An exclamation point on Seoul life
James Beckwith
Instead, he works in the entertainment industry, both as a performer and as a talent coordinator, finding foreigners for projects that need them.
“As every day goes on, Koreans are becoming more open to letting foreigners do other things,” he said. “There are more foreigners on TV now than there has ever been. If you want to do it here, you can.”
Beckwith’s family moved to Korea when his father was stationed at a local U.S. Army base.
“I was pretty naive when I got here. I was under the mindset that people still lived in huts made of grass.”
He said it isn’t easy to maintain a stable income without teaching.
“There were some months when it was pretty tight,” he said. “If you want to work in this industry, you have to be financially stable or willing to sacrifice. If you can’t afford McDonalds, you have to buy kimbap.
“If you want to do it part time, you’ll always be part time. Some people get started, but then they start taking English jobs. Then their schedule gets filled up and even when I have jobs for them, they can’t work.”
When asked if he would be doing the same type of job were he back at home, he replied, “In the U.S. you have so much competition. Here, they don’t care if you’re handsome, just if you’re white.”
Beckwith can currently be seen on the show “Neukkimpyo” (Exclamation Point) on Friday evenings on MBC. The show features foreigners learning about traditional Korean culture.
By Richard Scott-Ashe Contributing Writer [richard@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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