Got this today…
Hello Suki,
Thank you for application to me through Email.
My name is L** L** at ******* and I am glad to contact you to find you a job in Korea.
I got your resume and other documents well.
Unfortunately, the position which you applied is looking for only North-American teachers. So, it is not for F4 visa holder teachers.
My answer:
I AM a North American teacher and have lived 42 years in the United States. I have only been in Korea (for the first time) 9 months.
I got my F-4 primarily so I could stay in Korea without sponsorship if the need arose.
If, by North American you mean only white, then no I am not white. Both my parents were white and my siblings were white and everyone I knew was white and I speak perfect English and I only speak English.
I got my F-4 primarily so I could stay in Korea without sponsorship if the need arose.
If, by North American you mean only white, then no I am not white. Both my parents were white and my siblings were white and everyone I knew was white and I speak perfect English and I only speak English.
At least they were courteous enough to write back…
Hello Korea ! 
Your response is hilarious! I sadly want to give them the benefit of the doubt though. Maybe they want an E-2 applicant so they can enslave them to their contracts and view F-4s as having too much independence and therefore dangerous. I would love to know if you get a response back from them though.
Thanks, I thought it couldn’t be left unaddressed. And you didn’t really think I’d get a response back, did you?
OK. Kindergarten applications here I come. I love little kids that age! I’m just hoping I can love them for six hours a day!
My new co-teacher suggested I learn Korean…
:(
I had to remind her I’ve only been here 9 months!
Koreans are always telling me this. “But Korean is very easy! Foreigners are always on t.v. speaking Korean!” and then I have to remind them that they were college students who do nothing but study Korean every day for two years straight…
Anyway, everyone cross your fingers and toes for me. I’ve applied at an academy where the vast majority of their staff are gyopo. Hopefully THEY at least understand that yes, adoptees can count as North American native English speakers. And hopefully, the student’s parents aren’t freaked out by the sight of non-white people teaching English.
when i registered as a foreigner at the immigration in seoul, the office rep kept asking for my korean birth certificate. she was under the impression that f-4 visa holders were korean-born folks who had naturalized citizenship in another country. if this mix up occurred at the immigration office, it doesn’t surprise me that others might be mistaken as well. i get the sense that there are many hakwons and public schools who actually prefer ethnic koreans, whether or not they speak korean, so i hope you hear back from some soon. good luck. -j