What do Americans in their twenties and thirties want when they move to Asia? Is it adventure? A chance to see the world? A fresh start?
For Alabama native Joe McPherson, founder of the influential Korean food blogZenKimchi, it was a combination of all of the above that sent him relocating to Korea as an English teacher eight years ago. The decision was life-changing, as McPherson is now a publicly recognized Korean food advocate. He hails from a growing community of food lovers of which he is one of the earliest founders.
McPherson has passionately blogged about Korean food since he stepped off that plane bound for Korea. His web presence has garnered increasing attention, and he has been featured in the New York Timesand the Wall Street Journal, and consulted for major television shows. In turn, McPherson has been featured frequently onSouth Korean television, keeps himself busy with various food-related events around Korea, and is due to create even a bigger splash with his forthcoming book on food globalization. Here is an account of his adventure in Korea, a country increasingly on the radar of would-be expats.
(Editor’s Note: This interview will be divided into four exciting installments over the course of the week. Please check back for the next segment, or follow us on Twitter, @AsianTalks for updates!)
AsianTalks: Joe, let’s start from Day 1. What was the genesis of your Korean sojourn, and how did you make the transition from teaching English to becoming one of South Korea’s leading food advocates?
It was a very scary leap. I had wanted to do that for a long time, but I didn’t have the right visa to do anything but teach English. And then when I got married (to my South Korean spouse) I could do other things, but I still had obligations to my school, and my school owned my house. So I had to save up enough money to buy my house from my school. And then I was able to do this full time, which was kind of scary, because I was exploring territory that not many people had explored. There’s a famous joke: what do you call a foreign nuclear scientist in Korea? The answer is English teacher, because there’s no other job for a Westerner other than English teacher in Korea. It’s really hard to find a job other than that.
And I see so many people who are so smart and so talented in so many other fields, but they want to see Asia, and this is the only thing they can do, teach English in Korea.
AsianTalks: That’s interesting. And do you think that system should change in South Korea?
It’s gradually changing. There’s talk of moving to a more Japanese visa-style, where you can own your own visa. Right now if you are an English teacher your school owns your visa so if you have a bad employer and you need to change jobs, you have to leave the country, and deal with a lot of issues, sometimes have to wait until the end of your yearlong contract. So recently immigration instituted a new program where you can build points and get an F visa. I call it ‘F’ for freedom! With F visas you can have any job you want, in any field, just like any Korean citizen can. So immigration has gradually been instituting a point system for people to get F visas.
They still create pretty big barriers for people, like those who seek a business owner visa. You originally had to have 50,000 dollars in capital, now you have to have 100,000 dollars in capital.
AsianTalks: When you decided to move to Korea, did you know what to expect?
Sort of. Unlike a lot of foreigners here, I actually was attracted to Korea beforehand. I fell into studying and loving Korean history in college. And I became a Koreaphile after that. I became really obsessed with anything Korean. So when the opportunity popped up, meaning the dot-com bust, I jumped on it.
AsianTalks: Was your blog originally a food blog, or did it evolve into a food blog?
Like most blogs, it started off as a diary, and I noticed that it was concentrating a lot on food. And around that time food blogs were starting to get noticed, and I started reading food blogs, and I thought, wow, I didn’t know I could write about something other than my life. I could just write about food. And that made it much easier.
The thing was there really were no active Korean food blogs at the time and I wanted something to read. So I created the blog to have something to read.
Up next: Find out how Joe got his big break while food blogging, South Korea’s changing expat population, and why he’s smitten with Korean cuisine!
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