기러기 아빠 (Goose Daddy)
I believe this topic is
sensitive especially that Koreans are so family, custom and culture oriented. It
is about a phenomenon in South Korea that I was not aware of and it is a - wild
goose father phenomena. I don’t know this term, goose father, until my Korean teacher
told us in one of our sessions of Korean Language. What I know is the rising
numbers of Korean students in the Philippines. Who’s some are simply studying
English and some continued their studies up to college. This Goose Dad
phenomenon caught my curiosity, so I’ve done some research to learn and to have
an in-depth knowledge about this topic.
South Korea’s
government today is not only busy branding their country but also serious in
shaping their future society, maybe to be the next ‘English speaking country’ was not on their list but if the
country’s current rate of English students in and out of the country continues,
there’s a possibility that they would be someday, not to mention their advance
education and technology
English education
in Korea stayed in mainstream since it was first introduced way back in 1883, when the Joseon government opened an
English language school in order to train interpreters. Since then, English has
enjoyed the status as the most popular foreign language during the greater part
of its existence in what is today South Korea and most of its development has
been led and shaped by the educational policies of the highly centralized
government.1
I admire Koreans for their endless thirst
for excellence and their continuous pursuit of English education. To have better English education, Koreans
sent their children together with the mother to English speaking country while
the father was left in Korea to work as hard as he can, living alone, to
finance the living and children’s education expenses abroad. Everyday more and more Korean families were separated, living
apart, to learn this universal and hegemonic language called English. Parents,
mostly fathers sacrificed themselves to give their children better education
and more advantages in life.
Their main destinations of studying English
are United States, Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand and recently
Philippines. Mostly Koreans preferred Philippines among other English speaking
countries because of some advantages like a. cheap school fees, b. English speaking country c. cheap cost of living d.
close in South Korea and f. less stress ( compared in South Korea, where
competition in school and work is sky high ).
This phenomenon form the term - Giroegi Appa (Romanization of 기러기 아빠2 which literally means
“goose dad"). This term is inspired by an iconic bird, Giroegi
-that has a natural devotion on its partner and its offspring, Korean fathers
showed their absolute and unconditional love by staying in their homeland for
the sake of bright future of their children.
But is it really worth it? What has forced to these
loving fathers to be on this state that so lonely and miserable?
Fathers,
living alone they become lonely, isolated and restless. Newspaper reports say
that some of them often die of heart attacks from overwork at night in their
deserted homes or lonely offices, trying to fulfill their main goal in life of
sending as much money as possible to their beloved families abroad3.
While others suffer from malnutrition due to poor and irregular meals
as no one was tending their personal needs.
Like migratory wild geese, these geese
dads only visit their families during holidays,
because frequent visit and travel expenses would be expensive.
Lately, this scenario became the Korean society’s
problem as annually numbers of Giroegi Appa rises tremendously as more and more
fathers walked on this fate. Ironically, it was the same society that pushes
them to be on that situation. A nation where competition is high and inevitable,
where social status, education and reputation are highly valued, the English
language almost became the society’s standard, and prerequisite for everything,
school, work, and even partner in life. In short, education is highly valued as the path to status, money and success.
According to Kim Seong-kon, a professor of
English at Seoul National University and president of the American Studies
Association of Korea, ``The unnatural
phenomenon of wild geese daddies is a clear sign of something wrong in our
society,'' ``Tragically," says Professor Kim, ``the only consolation for lonely Korean fathers is that their children
are living in a better place. The equation is simple: If Korea was a good place
to live, wild geese fathers would not exist.4"
--------------------------
1, 3 and 4. - History
of English Education in Korea by
Kim Eun-gyong
2
- 기러기 아빠 (Giroegi appa)
image by http://blog.daum.net/josephlee54/2313
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