Tag: Journalism

Posted in 30 day challenge

Day 2: Do you want to be famous?

Posted on by DinaDaily

“She started off writing a blog about dating in Korea. Now she is changing Journalism as we know it. Let’s have a round of applause for Dina Daily!” – The Independent.

Yes. I want to be famous. And while I can imagine all I want is to become famous for being me, that’s probably not going to happen. But I do have a few ideas about how I will rise to fame.

Now before you guys jump down my throat to tell me that I am not thinking about the downsides, like not having privacy, I have already thought about everything. I will be fine!

The first way I see myself becoming famous is, by being the first black news reporter in Korea. Now, there may have been one already and Sam Okyere is probably going to beat me. But I really want to be known for breaking a barrier in Korea. I want to be known as Dina, the Black British girl who sounds like a Korean.

If that doesn’t work, I want to be famous for my booty. Hahaha I’m kidding!

I want to be famous for changing journalism orcoming up with a new form of journalism. Now, I know this is a big one, and probably the least realistic, but a girl can dream! Studying journalism really opened my eyes as to how slanted the media is. All major news outlets are reporting what they think is news worthy. But nobody really reports on important news unless it is negative. So I want to make a change!

The fun one, would be to be married to a celebrity! Now, don’t pretend like you wouldn’t want that to happen to you too! Who would reject their favourite celebrity crush?! So, Kim Woo Bin, I am waiting for you. 😏

The last thing I want to be famous for is helping people. In specific, the first thing I want to do is, to make Female Genital Mutilation illegal in every country. My mum was mutilated and is still traumatised by it. To defend my Grandma, she didn’t know any better as she was 14 and living in a country at war when she had my mum, so I am not angry at her. But it shouldn’t even be an option in any country. After doing that, I want to keep helping people by putting an end to as many problems as possible.

Now, I know some of you are thinking, ‘You shouldn’t help people for the fame.’ I understand where you are coming from. But, I believe that publicity is needed in order to make a big difference. What way better to get publicity than to be famous? I would use my fame to help people by bringing more attention to the problems and by fund raising events where celebrities and people with a lot of money are invited to donate money. I would make sure that those funds are all donated to the cause. Also, if I were famous, I would donate most of my earnings to whichever problem I would be trying to end.

So, yes! I want to be famous! And it’s not because I want money or because I want to buy a house.

Let me know what you would like to be famous for!

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Posted in Korea, Teaching, Uncategorized

Final week!

Posted on by DinaDaily

So guys, I have been working at this school for almost a year. Finally, my contract is coming to an end!

Although this place isn’t as bad as my co-workers and I make out, I feel like I have been counting down the days until the end of my contract since my second month. With just one week left of my contract, here is a quick review of my time here and what I am hoping to do in the future!

This is my third school in Korea. I must say, I have had excellent days and terrible days. It is so hard to tell which one I had more of. But there is one thing for sure, the staff here are amazing. I have met awesome people and made friendships which I am sure will last even after I finish working here. It’s almost like a little family. There have been dramas but when I think about my last 2 months working here, everyone has gotten along with each other.
We give a lot of stick to our team leaders, but again, I think this is one of the nicest management teams I have had experience with. Not only in Korea but back home too. It’s come to light to me in the last couple of weeks that team leaders have to do things that the director tells them too. The problems are coming from the director.

The whole time I have worked here, I haven’t really had a problem with working. Although I do complain a lot to my co-workers! The biggest issue I had was the apartment. I already wrote a post about that so I won’t mention it much here. You can go and read it here.
I always knew, but it put it in concrete that  your home has a big affect on your mood and productivity. I was and still am so unhappy in my apartment that my mood would be down all the time. There was never one day where I woke up and felt happy and in a good mood. I always wake up thinking ‘Well, I better get up and go to work.’ There was never a day where I thought, ‘I want to go home and just chill.’
I also wasn’t getting good nights sleep. Nightmares and hearing traffic outside or the neighbours. My door lock randomly ringing. So many things that distracted me from getting a good nights sleep.

Not getting enough sleep, paired with teaching classes of 19-52 students in the morning, is never something that I will get used to. Yes, the classes I taught were fun and sometimes interesting, I don’t think there is anything that makes teaching 52 students okay. It’s draining. Sometimes there are good schools, with kids that actually want to learn and enjoy your classes. But most of the times, we had terrible schools with children who swear, don’t take part in class and constantly talk over you.

Overall, as much as I complain, (and I know I complain a lot so I have mentioned it several times in this post!) I enjoyed working at this school. I am only sad to leave the amazing teachers I have met working here.

So the future?

Well, as you guys may or may not know, I studied Journalism and I still want to be a journalist. Unfortunately, finding work other than an English teacher in Korea is hard. I am looking for journalism jobs and I am hoping to blog more. I wish to make a living out of my blog, but I know I still have a long way to go.

I have taught for over 2 years now and I know it is not a career that I want to continue doing.
So, if you have any journalist friends in Korea, please let me know and let them know about me!

This coming week, I am going to be busier than ever. But after I finish working here, I am hoping that I will have enough time to blog more!

Until then, wish me luck and stay tuned!

Posted in Korea, Teaching, Uncategorized

Signing away freedom

Posted on by DinaDaily

March 2016 marked two years for me in Korea. two years and my third company in the same field.

While I have said this on multiple occasions, this time I am fighting the urge to quite my job and move on. But if only life was that easy. Every day, I feel more and more trapped in my work place and the tiny room that I should be calling ‘home’.
I know, you are probably wondering “what is stopping you if you are that unhappy?”. It’s pretty simple. Contract.

Being an ESL teacher in Korea means that you have to get an E2 visa which is bonded with your employer. Once you want to stop your employment with the company you have signed a contract with, you have to get a ‘Letter of release’ and you can transfer to another visa (D-10 or another E2).

Sounds simple, right? Wrong.

Most companies refuse to give you a letter of release if your contract is not finished. Honestly, if you have completed your one year contract, there is no need for you to obtain a ‘letter of release’ anyway. The only people who need a ‘letter of release’ are those who wish to finish their contract earlier than one year or, those who have been fired and wish to stay in Korea. But when a company refuses to give you one, it is almost impossible to do anything about it.

When I signed my contract, I saw that there was a section which said that I will not receive a release letter if I end my contract before the 1 year mark. Even if I give the requested 3 months notice before leaving. I know I shouldn’t have signed the contract if I didn’t agree with that term. The problem was, I didn’t want to face another hard time of trying to find a new job. It took me three months the first time, I wasn’t going to go through that again. So when I was offered a job on the second day of unemployment, I went for it. It was a reputable company funded by Seoul government, what could possibly be wrong? Honestly, I love this company. The staff, the fun classes, my students, but teaching just isn’t for me.

When I came to Korea, I came with the hopes of teaching English for a year and either start my career as a journalist/editor or go back to university here to get my masters degree. My first job was a disaster. For my second job, I got promoted fast and I loved it, but then management changed and it was a nightmare. So, when I hit my two year mark in my third school, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I have wasted two years of my life. Two years where I could have been doing other things to do with my degree and my dreams.

So, next Tuesday marks three months until my contract is finished. Within these three months, I will be searching for jobs and blogging more in order to get back in the flow of writing. I will try to write blog posts at the least 3 times a week. If I fall behind, scold me guys!!

This week, I have already posted twice, so I will post another on Friday. I am going to try something new so, keep an eye out!

Posted in Uncategorized

I have completed education!!

Posted on by DinaDaily

Yesterday I got my results for my degree.

You are reading the blog of a student who has been awarded a Bachlour of Arts Honours degree in  Journalism – Second Class Upper division!!! I got a 2.1!

Although it isn’t the 1st I had hoped for, considering what I have been through this year with mum being hospitalised & loosing my job, I am so happy to atleast have got a 2.1! All the stress paid off!!

So now I have to step into reality & try to find a job until I can go back to Korea! It’s scary!

Having been in education for 20 years, that’s it!! I will miss education that’s for sure! Who knows? I might do a masters in Korea! Hahaha

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