How can I find a friend?

[Gandalf]

I teach English but the children at my old schools are a bit young. At one school they are between 5 and 7 and the other school between 11 and 16. I am miles, not Bilbo!

But you just said "They range from 18-24"....so which is it miles do you teach children or college kids?

Hmm. I thought my sentences were quite clear.

My previous work was freelance. My main two jobs were teaching young kids and slightly older kids at two seperate schools. My new job is at a university where I am finally putting my qualifications to use.

If I were to have a beer with "past" students it would be a little bit wrong. I have experience teaching every range you could ever imagine, but right now it is your standard college age young adults.

...do you have no colleagues? Have a beer with your current students, take them on a field trip to a pub.

I have one coworker, but he is Canadian!

Actually, he seems like a nice guy but is a fair bit older than me and keeps himself to himself. And it just wouldn't be cool for me to go drinking with my students. What kind of professor leeches onto his students for company? That is just the height of sadness. Plus in Korea life is quite different from in our countries. Here the students have been at high school from 7am till 9pm in the evening. It's like being released from prison. They deserve to enjoy their own time and find their own friends. In fact Korean university students are mentally younger than what we were. They haven't had the chance to experience or enjoy anything. The last thing they need is the sad, old English professor saying "be my friend, come to the pub!".

I have Korean colleagues, but this place is unusually hands off. You don't really see anyone. You teach your classes, you talk to the admin, but you don't see any other figures. I have made friends with one professor who I met on the day I was interviewed (along with other higher uppers), but this is his last week. He is leaving because he was promised things, looked at his contract and found things were not realised. He gave me a warning saying that this is a quality university, but just make sure you pay lip service to certain professors who really control things. Like a Korean Dershowitz situation really. He is a nice guy and I have his contact details, but he is moving back to Seoul tomorrow and will spend time finishing his Phd and getting things published. He gave me a lot of good advice about publishing actually.

I spend most of my working time in the classroom, in my office and in the admin room. That's it really, there isn't a great deal of time to interact with colleagues.