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HELP! Rip-off Position or no?
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Soju erner



Joined: 04 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2003 10:57 pm    Post subject: HELP! Rip-off Position or no? Reply with quote

I'm a korean-american living in Busan. I just got here about 3 weeks ago and have had sorry luck in finding a job here. I did just have an interview today at a school, English Channel. They want me to work 30 teaching hours each week, though i would have to actually be at the hogwan for 40. Also every other saturday I would have to work for 4 hours. They would provide housing and the pay is 1.8 million. They want me to make a decision as to whether I would accept this job or not today!! I feel that for working 160+ hours a month for only 1.8 million is really not that good of a deal, but I am beginning to wonder if this is as good as it will get for a Korean-American in Korea?? Please I'm calling on all Vets here to lend me some of your wisdom. SHould i accept this job or tell them they should look elsewhere..

oh, the reason I have to decide today is they just lost their last employee to Pneumonia? and they start classes again on Monday. The person interviewing me also said 1.8 was the highest the director would go. I told her that since I already paid for my airfare here, and that I don't have to go on a Visa run (i'm getting an F-4), that really i'm saving the school a good sum of money. She didn't seem impressed though.

What are your opionions here? Thanks in advance.

SE
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Jaundiced Jonz



Joined: 10 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul, sixth circle of Hell

PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2003 11:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds like a pretty poor deal to me.

Demand housing, especially if they're in a tight spot. You should have some bargaining power. Things seem better in Seoul these days, maybe you should try your luck up here.
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Soju erner



Joined: 04 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2003 11:06 pm    Post subject: housing is provided. Reply with quote

Jaundiced-

Thanks for your post. They actually are offering housing, so does that make the offer worth taking? I haven't seen the place, and don't really know what amenities it has/needs. If I do crumble and accept this job, I will make sure that it at least has a wasing machine. I don't think i can use a washboard forever...

thanks again,

SE
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slump



Joined: 02 Jul 2003
Location: Pundang, beside Samsung Plaza

PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2003 11:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a Korean-American, it seems to me that most employers will try to treat you as they would a Korean, which definitely means bad working conditions. Do you speak Korean by the way?
Anyhow, I think Korean-Americans here get the worst of both sides..

PS I've never seen washboards in appartments!!
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Soju erner



Joined: 04 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2003 11:37 pm    Post subject: I don't speak korean. Reply with quote

I tend to agree that Korean-Americans don't get a fair shake here. But yea, I don't speak korean, I know that would help. So were you saying that was as good as it gets for KA's? Are you KA by the way or were you just making an observation?

Thanks for the post.

SE

Didn't see that part bout washboards when I first replied.. hehe, its sorta a unique situation i'm in right now..
I'm staying at a place my friends dad has that he used to use for his employees of his company. It doesn't have a washing machine, so I use a washboard Shocked to wash my clothes.. Definitely feel like a frontier-man doing so, but i think it has made me have a new appreciation for modern day appliances. Wink
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Morning Calm



Joined: 28 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2003 11:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You guys are barking up the wrong tree. Why are you applying for a job when you already know that they are specifically looking Bob Brown to work at their school? If they wanted Bob Kim to work at their school, it would be for a different job all together. KA clean house in the academic director position because they are bilingual. Not only do they clean house in the hagwon, but after schools out, they can hop over to their Aunt's friends house and freely teach spoiled little Hee Su for 30,000 won an hour.

If your a KA, you should step down hard in the beginning that you are NOT KOREAN. But this also means that you better not nibble on the benifits that Koreans do get in the company. Once you've bitten the fruit, you will be forever posioned and feel like shit when your boss treats you no greater than yang ah jee whose been pulverized by a gangpae and thrown into the ditch to root.
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slump



Joined: 02 Jul 2003
Location: Pundang, beside Samsung Plaza

PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2003 11:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow...so u were serious bout that washboard deal, eh?

I'm not a K-A, I'm a F-UK, half French half British (which is only half a sin for Americans...Very Happy) But I was only noticing that K-As get a raw deal in Korea, being sometimes treated badly as foreigners and as second-rate Korean citizens. Regarding teaching jobs, Korean English teachers sometimes give a hard time to foreign teachers because they're pissed due to the differences in treatment, so speaking Korean would've helped you fit in a bit easier, but you will most probably be required to work as much as the Koreans do, although your wage is highier, while your collegues will treat you as a wae guk in...Frankly speaking, I wouldn't want to live in Korea as a K-A.
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Soju erner



Joined: 04 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 12:17 am    Post subject: uhm.. Reply with quote

Morning Calm-

Let me try and understand what you're telling me. I shouldn't even try to get a job at hagwons? I don't know of many if any hagwons that would specifically recruit a KA who doesn't speak korean over a blond American. If you do, please let me know!!

About that bit of "nibbling fruit" and such, what are you talking about? I admit I am a newbie here, but really, i think you've gone on a bit of a tangent and I'm not sure what you're referring to..

Slump-

yea, i was serious, hehe. Embarassed The only problem i've had being a KA here has been while looking for a job. I've been told that the hardest part is getting my foot in the door and afterwards, once I've got experience, getting a job shouldn't be too hard. Generally, people here are really great. Once they find out about my past, they really and (i believe) genuinely want to help me have a good/positive time here. I don't regret coming here at all. I just will have to eat more ramen these days until I get that perfect job for me.

Generally, I think I have decided to not take this position. I think they (the school) realize that I am not having good luck finding a job and are going to try and stick me with this not-so-great position/pay/working hours. Thanks for all who posted and if there are any others who have insightful comments, please post away. Until next time.

SE
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William Beckerson
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 12:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fact one about working in a hagwon: They want whities. There is this stupid mindset here in Korea that the only white people who can speak English properly are Americans and Canadians, so the moms want to see our pale butts standing in front of their kids.

Fact two: If they cant afford whites, they'll hire KAs. However keep in mind that they dont want you in the first place and will do their best to ditch you once the place turns around.

It's a big pile of crap... but as a KA, it's pretty much what you'll get anywhere, so I guess the only question for you is: How much money do you have left?
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captain kirk



Joined: 29 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 9:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

SE, keep checking the thread. there will be more perspectives on kyopos in korea and have you used the search?
re; beckerson's point two. i've seen it. a hagwon was just starting up and i was the first foreign teacher. the hagwon had been slowly starting up with the help of two kyopos. they were hard-working and really pushing to get the school going. but suddenly, they were both fired. it was something about 'complaints' from parents or accents or something. but it was an imperial load of shit. they were shocked, slapped in the face, pissed off and indignant. wouldn't you be? the boss promised one free housing. it was pitiful watching the kyopo squirming, trying to fit it all into a 'just world'. from that time on i'd a second confirmation of 'why i disliked the boss'. a couple of days later, and before monday, two new zealanders arrived to take the place of the dismissed kyopos.
pretty distressing stuff i know. you sound a little too flighty and chirpy to have your feet on the ground should a shocker zap yuh. you might want to toughen up and put on some shark skin given the waters. good luck. take it easy on the fine washables!
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rapier



Joined: 16 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is the "English channel" job teaching adults, in gangnam, by any chance?
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Morning Calm



Joined: 28 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 7:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay Soju'err here's the scoop:

Hagwons want white dudes, not you. Why?

Over many many many years of Korean education, parents no longer believe that their English Teachers can actually speak English. The only way to be sure of this, because they can't speak English themselves, is to make sure the teacher is not ethnically Korean.

Because you're a noob, I'll be patient and explain even more to you. Get your damn F-4 before they change the law. The the sweetiest deal for KA that even the white guy is jealous about. Start swinging from apt. to apt and do privates. These are going to be your bread and butter for the rest of your Korean life here in Seoul. Don't work in a hagwon. You'll never get paid what you deserve.

Now, if you want to be that Corp. American Ivy League Korean/American Prince of Bel'air Wall Street with a stick up your ass who just hangs out in Apkujang kind of guy, then..........................

Clean up your resume and clean up your Korean skills. By some nice threads from Hyundai Dept Store and start visiting these Headhunter people you see in the Korean Herald all day. Start dating some of these office chicks in there, because they are HOT, but also because they are going to land you a job. Make sure you sleep with'em, but know that she has also slept with your potential boss to.

Get into a corporate job, then suddently act like a dumb foreign who can't speak Korean. Speak English to your boss from your frist day of work. If you can't speak English, you're basically *beep*.

Korean/Americans get the wrong end of the broom handle because they bend over and let everyone take turns. You need to take control of your own identiy crisis and learn how to be what you are: a globalized person.

Don't be cocky because there is nothing worst than a KA prick, but have the confidence that you will someday be the leader of Korea and the only means for it to become completely globalized.

Understand now? Or do I need to teach you how to spell "rice" in Korean too?
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Soju erner



Joined: 04 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 8:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

RFR- I'm doing fine financially. Thanks for the post.

Captain Kirk- I have used the search, as I have been coming here for the past 4-5 months. I am aware of the perspectives that native Koreans have on KA's teaching at hagwons. I was asking at the beginning of my thread if this was as good as it would get for a KA.. Not sure what you mean by "flighty and chirpy", maybe you doubt my intentions? Thanks for the story though.

Rapier- No, the hagwon is down here in Busan, where I am...

Morning Calm- We need more helpful people like you in this forum and even more so here in Korea. thanks for the post.

As of my last post here, I had already called the school declining their "offer". Thanks for those who posted. I'll be sure to come back seeking advice again later.
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Morning Calm



Joined: 28 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 10:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Humm...I think my words were a bit too strong in my last post. Sorry.

But I don't really have any pity on KA here. They have there own situation and have to learn how to deal with it just like the white guy. There are good and bad aspects of both sides and there really isn't any reason to compare the two, but just accept the fact that your situation is different and make the best of it.

KA have so much potential here in Korea and there isn't too many people who will deny it. In many ways, people are jealous of the fact they are bilingual and bicultural, but you'll never hear me say this out loud in public because the last thing we need to do is inflate their ego's of being the next cultural icon hidden behind hip hop cloths.

White guys on the other hand have it easier at first, true.......but, they have a difficult time sinking into the cultural because Koreans are flat out racist. If a white guy wants to have a job here other than being an English teacher, it's really tough unless they are fluent in Korean. Not only this, but the people who really love Korea, love it's culture, food and way of life, never are accepted as being Korean. In other words, you can be invited to my house, share my soju, but don't even think about dating my daughter.
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Wombat



Joined: 28 May 2003
Location: slutville

PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 11:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a side note, Korean racism does wear one down after awhile (and before anyone gets ready to tell me how horrible it was of me to say that, let me say that no, I don't think racism is a uniquely Korean trait, etc etc.)

That's all. I just thought I'd pop that in.

Wombat
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