Hey

I am looking for other lesbians who have or are considering teaching English as a foreign language. I am currently researching teaching in Korea. From what I have read this seems to be the place to start. I am interested in hearing from lesbians specifically because as women and as lesbians there may be obstacles we encounter that others do not.

Anyone?

Miss Logic

Hi there Miss Logic,

I know you asked for lesbians, but while you're waiting, I thought I could at least share with you my experiences as a gay teacher in Asia.

I moved to Beijing about 8 months ago, and am teaching Business English at a University here. I am gay, and have become quite active in the gay community here. First of all, I had no problems getting a job (though to be honest, here in China especially, you get hired before your bosses ever actually meet you, and no I didn't state in my resume that I'm gay), and now that I'm here, I'm quite out and open and haven't had any problems at my job because of it. I also know many lesbians here in BJ that have had no problems at all in getting jobs, living safely/happily with their partners, etc. Now that being said, I think China is a unique country in that it's mainly atheist citizens don't really see the same problems in homosexuality as western cultures (as long as it's not their own child anyway), and also because of the communist background, women are seen as more equal than could be said in many other countries around the world. I know you said you are thinking S. Korea as your jumping point, so this post is not an ad trying to convince you to come to China instead, but I think some of the above statements I've made about China might not hold true in SK. From some of the korean friends I've made here, I've heard that homophobia is a bigger problem in SK than here (though there is something to be said about being an expat anywhere... we are treated mostly as outsiders with strange cultural habits anyways).

So I hope this helps, and I hope you get some more responses from the ladies out there on the forums. Good luck, and if you ever end up in Beijing, let me know!