My Standup Routine About Teaching in a Hagwon for 1.5 Years Too Long
"I'm convinced she started the school just to give her kid a place to do whatever the hell he wanted and face no consequences whatsoever."
I haven’t been working at a Korean hagwon since 2022, and good riddance. I’ve found a much better job as a freelance writer and moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand. But the memories (and slight trauma) will never leave me.
This month, I started doing standup comedy at open mics in Chiang Mai. It has been very fun. I feel an energy being on stage. My act mostly consists of telling stories. Teaching at a private kindergarten was one fruitful source of stories.
Here are some excerpts from my show on Thursday.
1.) Unfortunately, the culture surrounding education in Korean in general puts too much pressure on children. It’s not the only reason, but one reason among many, that Korea has a high suicide rate.
2.) Many students are undisciplined at home, and it’s not really possible to keep students under control at a private kindergarten. But there’s one student who was worse than the others.
If you want to see my full set, which touches on other (non-education-related) stories that also occurred in Korea, visit my TikTok account and follow me. I warn you, though, some of my content in the beginning is bluer than the Korean flag.