2/1

Hello hello everyone! Welcome to my second networking interview!! This time, I’m interviewing the endlessly talented (and endlessly busy) Professor David Tizzard!

Professor Tizzard is currently an assistant professor of Korean Studies at Seoul Women’s University and a visiting professor of Korean Studies at Hanyang University. He was actually my first professor in Korea when I did a T4 program at Hanyang University. He and I have kept in contact since I left and he has continued to amaze me with all of the things he does. To start this interview, I asked him to list out all of his (paid) jobs and the list is…just wow.

Along with being a professor at two universities, Professor Tizzard also works as a columnist for the Korea Times and a book reviewer for NK News. He also broadcasts 5 days a week for Arirang News, where he talks about Korean history and other topics.  He is also a senior contributor to Asia Society, where he makes videos about Korean events and Korea related topics in English to promote them to people who can’t speak Korean. He also works as a freelance proofreader and editor as a side hustle.

Moving onto his unpaid work, Professor Tizzard hosts a podcast called Korea Deconstructed where he “talks to Koreans about Korean issues” ranging from K-pop to Confucianism to mental health in Korean society. The podcast is extremely well made and gives listeners a look into Korean society and culture from the people who know it best. I am a big fan of the podcast and would recommend giving it a listen! He also plays in a band, which is just too cool. And last but not least, Professor Tizzard is a husband and father, his most important job. He is truly a jack-of-all trades and I was very lucky to have been able to interview him.

I knew a lot about what Professor Tizzard does now, but I wanted to know how he got to where he is now. Professor Tizzard is originally from England and attended university in the southern part of England, majoring in Business Administration, which he quickly learned wasn’t for him. So, he decided to switch to the English-Theatre department, which I agree is much more fitting for him. After graduating, he went on to work at one of South England’s top music venues as a manager. He would meet many of the most popular artists and groups at the time, as they would play at his venue. But as fun as this was, Professor Tizzard wanted something else; he was in need of a change of scenery. He said that since a young age, he had traveled all over the world with his family, but he wanted to go somewhere he hadn’t been before. So of course, he chose South Korea.

After arriving in South Korea, Professor Tizzard began working at Berlitz in downtown Seoul, where he would teach business men English so they could interact with potential partners in other countries. However, this is job ended up not being for him (especially since he worked from 6:45 am to 9 pm :0), so when his friend told him about an opportunity to teach in a program at Seoul Women’s University, he jumped at the chance and took the job. Professor Tizzard reminisced on his time as a teacher at SWU, saying that although he was just a teacher, he “knew [he] belonged there”. So, in order to stay at the University, he decided to get his masters in Asian Studies and Civilizations at Sejong University. While doing his Masters, Professor Tizzard was offered a position as a Professor of Korean Studies at SWU. And of course, because SWU was where he was meant to be, he immediately said yes. But in order to fully be a professor, he still had to get his PhD.

However, before getting his PhD, Professor Tizzard would face a set back that, although painful and frustrating, would ultimately be an invaluable lesson for him. During his masters program, Professor Tizzard was taking a Taoism course and, with it being his favorite class, he put the most effort and love into every assignment, specifically comprehensive exams. He was extremely proud of a paper he wrote for this exam, believing it to be good enough to be published, and he expected his professor to think the same. However, upon receiving a 59 on it (when the required grade to pass was a 60), he was absolutely shocked. When he asked his professor why he’d been failed by 1 point, his professor said, “David, humble yourself and come try again”. Although he was devastated and angry (which is understandable), he now looks back on it and realizes the importance of that lesson. He said that “It was the best lesson I could have learned. That one failure taught me more than anything else“.

With this new vital lesson in tow, Professor Tizzard graduated with his PhD in Korean Studies from Hanyang University and continued with his blooming career, where he began to do occasional tv and radio spots, as well as writing columns for the Korean Herald and other news sources. His band was also really popular at the time and he even started his podcast during this time. All this while being an Assistant Professor at SWU. But even with all of this, Professor Tizzard felt that it wasn’t enough for him; “I was never satisfied”, he said. He then began his work at Hanyang University in 2019 as a visiting professor of Korean Studies, which is where I met him in 2021.

So with all of this said, you all must have the same question: How does Professor Tizzard do all of this? I wondered the same thing and his answer, though not exactly what I was expecting, was very nice.

“I love everything I do. This is my career, I love what I do so I don’t work a day in my life. I also don’t think or talk about what I do. Outside of interviews and sit downs like this one, I don’t bring up what I do. I love these jobs and I’m always grateful for them. And I think what really helps is that I have my wife and kids. Having that stability that a home brings me lets me face the chaos of life. I really couldn’t do it without them…I also don’t sleep. So that helps. Sleep is boring”.

I will have to respectfully disagree with Professor Tizzard on the last point but I agree with everything else ㅎㅎㅎ. I also asked him about any hardships he’s had in Korea. And I’m quite jealous of his answer.

“I…don’t really have any.  Am I meant to?”

When I asked him to elaborate, he said that the people of South Korea have always been very helpful to him and have given him a lot, so he is very grateful and thankful for them. And that he’s a very lucky man. And for him to have come all the way from the UK all alone and become this successful all while having no hardships, I’d have to agree; he’s a very lucky man.

During our interview, Professor Tizzard said that more people have been asking him for advice recently and he doesn’t really like to give it. So of course, I had to ask him for advice as well ㅎㅎㅎ! Here’s what he had to say.

1. Try to see Korea as it is, not what you want it to be.
   1. My thoughts) I think this is particularly valuable advice as Korea is becoming more and more popular. Many people will come to Korea with a set of expectations and then be disappointed or surprised when it doesn’t live up their dream. Korea has its amazing parts and its not so amazing parts, like everywhere else. So it’s important to recognize that and accept Korea for what is has and is and not what you (possibly) falsely imagined it to be.
2. Find the strange familiar and the familiar strange.
   1. Try to find the unique things about Korea that can bring you closer to the country and the culture. Embrace Korea and find what makes it different from what you’re used to. Don’t always seek out the familiar; you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Despite not liking to give advice, the advice he gave is really valuable and helpful to not just me here in Korea, but to the next Ted Wang fellows and anyone else who comes to Korea after this. And I hope that you all are able to use this advice well, just as I am now.

Thank you again Professor Tizzard for allowing me to interview you! It was great catching up with you after almost 2 years (어머) and I look forward to seeing you again soon! Also lets work on trademarking that second piece of advice; I think you’re onto something with it.

Thank you very much for reading! My next interview will be with 조원익 (Warnik Chow), a recent graduate from SNU who did corpus linguistics research during his last semester at SNU. Fun fact: I referenced his publication in my current research on machine translation errors between Korean and English, so it’s crazy that I’m able to interview him! :))

Until then, 건강을 조심하고 맛있는걸 잘 드세용~~!

PS- Here is what Professor Tizzard and I ate during our interview! 맛있겠죠? ㅎㅎㅎ