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My First Rant:
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Blue Flower



Joined: 23 Feb 2003
Location: The realisation that I only have to endure two more weeks in this filthy, perverted, nasty place!

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:34 pm    Post subject: My First Rant: Reply with quote

Why is it that we are the last people to know about anything? I happened to mention to the one of the Head Teachers on Tuesday, about starting normal school hours (afternoon-nights) on Wed, she was like, no, no, Thursday. Which was ok, I thought, lucky I asked, or I would have still been sleeping instead of teaching my 10 am class. Then Thursday rocks around, I get to school, spend time planning lessons, doing my roll, stuff like that, time comes for my first class. Lo and behold, no students. Confused, I ask the Korean English Teacher - wheres my students? And she said - class times had changed. I was getting annoyed at this point. Obviously. So she spent the next 30 mins, going through my timetable for that day - what students, levels, etc. Which left me no time to plan any lessons. Fun fun fun.

But at least I had a rough idea of what was going to happen when. But then, a higher level class rock in, that I had absolutely no idea about, and the lesson was diabolical, as you can imagine. I'd only taught this class once before, and was told they were only a summer special class.

Then on Friday, I go to my other elementary school ( I work in 4 different schools - all owned by the same guy) and have no timetable at all! I had no idea what classes I was having, until the students physically showed up. I was totally pissed off. Added to that, I fell off a chair when i was doing the video thing, hurt my foot, broke a window - it just popped out, and fell down about 4/5 stories, and is totally ruined. It was hillarious at the time. You should have seen the students faces.

I wasn't picked up by the school bus, so had to get a taxi to my middle school, was pretty much late, as I had to limp everywhere like a leper. Did the one class I thought I had, as I was told the other two start in Sep. Went home, mucked around, and started cooking dinner. Then got the phonecall - where are you? You're supposed to be teaching now. So get to school - and have to pull yet another lesson out of my ass. I was VERY angry.

How hard is it to keep me informed. Am i supposed to be teaching, or just standing on my head like a goddamn show monkey? This is the first time something major has happened, but little inconsistancies have been going on from the first. I let one of the head teachers know how pisssed off I was, she told the boss, but I am going in early on Monday, to let her know if something like this happens again, they will be missing an english teacher. I feel like I might be pulling a tantrum, and that maybe I should just roll with it, but it is so frustrating, and I feel like they totally disrespect me as a person, and a teacher, as everyone else, including the students, knew what my classes were, except me.


Last edited by Blue Flower on Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
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kiwiboy_nz_99



Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Location: ...Enlightenment...

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome to Korea Very Happy
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Blue Flower



Joined: 23 Feb 2003
Location: The realisation that I only have to endure two more weeks in this filthy, perverted, nasty place!

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What welcome!

Though I consider myself lucky that this is the first bad stuff to happen in my 5 months here.
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Gord



Joined: 25 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paragraphs would be nice.
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rawiri



Joined: 01 Jun 2003
Location: Lovely day for a fire drill.

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

parawhonow?
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Kyrei



Joined: 22 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Others will correct me if I am wrong (as I frequently am), but you should know that working in four different schools, even for the same owner, is illegal. You would need a work visa for one school and then three special-permit visas for the others, but you can only have a maximum of one special-permit visa.

Keep that in mind when you go to speak with your director about this. My advice? Get a schedule in advance and see that it is stuck to, organised and respinsible. If not, leave.

Kyrei
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Blue Flower



Joined: 23 Feb 2003
Location: The realisation that I only have to endure two more weeks in this filthy, perverted, nasty place!

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord wrote:
Paragraphs would be nice.


Is that better?

How about you send me an annotated transcript with my punctuation and spelling mistakes circled? I am sure that would be very helpful.
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captain kirk



Joined: 29 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

a genuine rant has no paragraphs, as it's all in 'one breath'. can't be rational about a rant. good rant, I enjoyed it very much
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Blue Flower



Joined: 23 Feb 2003
Location: The realisation that I only have to endure two more weeks in this filthy, perverted, nasty place!

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kyrei wrote:
Others will correct me if I am wrong (as I frequently am), but you should know that working in four different schools, even for the same owner, is illegal. You would need a work visa for one school and then three special-permit visas for the others, but you can only have a maximum of one special-permit visa.

Keep that in mind when you go to speak with your director about this. My advice? Get a schedule in advance and see that it is stuck to, organised and respinsible. If not, leave.

Kyrei


Hmm, that is interesting. I think though, that it is legal, as they are all sort of under the same umbrella. Just in different locations. Maybe I should check. What should i say?
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Blue Flower



Joined: 23 Feb 2003
Location: The realisation that I only have to endure two more weeks in this filthy, perverted, nasty place!

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 9:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

captain kirk wrote:
a genuine rant has no paragraphs, as it's all in 'one breath'. can't be rational about a rant. good rant, I enjoyed it very much


Thank you.

I actually think I scared some of the teachers. They are used to seeing me very placid, smiling, and very happy go lucky. They haven't seen me unleashed yet.

I would actually have felt better about it, if they students themselves didn't know either, but they did. One of the head teachers told me that My new timetable had been handed in to the Director on Monday. Yet I wasn't given it till Friday night, after I had stomped around, glaring, and telling everyone within earshot how pissed off I was.

Added to that - a new korean english teacher is starting soon. So god knows what sort of impression I and the school made on her. Here I am swearing, falling over, breaking windows, and moaning about the schools total lack of organisaitonal ability. And the poor girl was sitting there trying to set my up with some 35 yr old guy she knows. Just wasn't my day.
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bucheon bum



Joined: 16 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 10:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

but blue flower, you do realize this happens in the corporate world back in the west? Or have you never had a real job?? Stop making racist remarks Smile.

But seriously, on the one hand you are lucky you haven't gotten this kind of schedule change before now. On the other hand, for all that to happen to you on one day is rather brutish.

Its been my experience though that this kind of thing happens all the time in late august/early september and then during the winter break as well. My schedule kept on shifting in decemeber, then again at the end of feb./beginning of march. It makes sense since a lot of kids are dropping because of the school break, while others are signing up for the same reason. Makes scheduling a bit chaotic. I think that you won't have to worry about this in another week or two... until around x-mas that is.
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kiwiboy_nz_99



Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Location: ...Enlightenment...

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 10:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unfortunately at this current stage in the developement of the esl industry in korea, your story is pretty common. The only thing I can think of is to have a bunch of ready-made "get out of jail" lessons that are sure fire winners, and have them for a variety of levels. This thing ain't gonna change quickly.
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BTM



Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Back in the saddle.

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 10:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That sort of thing used to happen at my university, and I've got a buddy working at one of the chaebols at the moment, and he tells me it's exactly the same thing there.

Korea would be running the bloody planet by now if they could organize themselves, given the great stuff they've managed to pull off in the last few decades just being random chaotic stressbuffaloes!
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The Great Wall of Whiner



Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Middle Land

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 10:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

captain kirk wrote:
a genuine rant has no paragraphs, as it's all in 'one breath'. can't be rational about a rant. good rant, I enjoyed it very much


Correct.

Change it back to a rant and ignore god, I mean gord.
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canuckistan
Mod Team
Mod Team


Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Location: Training future GS competitors.....

PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 10:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Korean planning" does not exist.
Could it be due to the constant threat of imminent extermination by the North? Or is planning/thinking about anything past "now" a Confucian thing?
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