Job Discussion Forums

izzyismydog · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:45 am Post subject: EF Kelkit DO NOT GO!

Just a word of caution, since nobody has bothered to post here about it...but I know that since my runner from there a couple of months ago there has been one more (at least one more I've heard about) so... DON'T GO!

If the school (or isolation or other teachers or students) don't make you crazy, EF will (all the way from Istanbul...!)

For me, the final straw was when they ripped me off in my pay... it took them over a month to find a replacement teacher (they only found one to replace both myself and my boyfriend) who has just taken off, too.

If stupid EF had just paid us what we were owed (see my post on the matter a few months ago), we MAY have still been there, since we weren't in the mood to be that fussy.

Though we are SO GLAD to be gone...

Otterman Ollie

So just for the record where exactly is this place ?

izzyismydog · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:57 am Post subject:

it's at the Attaturk Erzincan Uni, Kelkit Branch (Aydin Dogan built it and it has his name all over it) in the North East, about 2 or 3 hours south of Trabzon, 45 minutes north of Erzincan, 7 hours south west of Georgia, about 12 nighmarish minibus hours from Van, etc. etc. Kelkit itself has a non-fun population of about 20000 (mostly cows and covered women) in some fairly beautiful hilly-mountainy surroundings. It was quite interesting in a small eastern turkey town way(though admittedly dull), and extremelely difficult to get booze over Ramazan. Not the reason we left, though in order to have stayed we would have had to start drinking a lot more. Like most of the foreign staff ends up doing.

Otterman Ollie · Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 11:18 am Post subject:

You have my deepest sympathy !

molly farquharson · Joined: 16 Jun 2004 Posts: 839 Location: istanbul

so where did you run to?

whynotme · Joined: 07 Nov 2004 Posts: 728 Location: istanbul

izzyismydog · Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:18 am Post subject:

it's actually like a technical branch of the university that they have. They teach organic farming, accounting, and something else (computer something?). Aydin Dogan (who is some rich newspaper owner or something) grew up in the area so built the uni there in his name (and Attaturks) and it's there to help the farming community area mostly. They do the first of three years as English Prep, so it's 6 hours a day of English for their whole first year of school. That was Aydin's idea, I think. He pays our salaries and for our accomodations. The uni is only a couple of years old, and is falling into a state of terrible physical disrepair, as well as having some of the worst organizational problems one could imagine on every level possible (though I hear this is a common problem all over Turkey). It's about a 20 minute walk from the nearest town (Kelkit) and was a good experience in ways and if they simply would have paid us better for our time we would have put up with the b.s. and revolting conditions at times. The students didn't even have textbooks, and we had a very low photocopy budget.... and the students paid for their textbooks which never arrived (and still hadn't last I heard). It was a huge percentage of small town eastern turkey farm boys attending, which also made teaching them a bit horrible besides all the other problems. We did get a free apartment (on campus) and free cable, which made our lives bareable. Yeah cable TV!

izzyismydog · Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 7:22 am Post subject:

oh, we ran back to Taiwan, where they have some level of respect for teachers, and we get paid well (and the right amount)... which makes even crappy conditions a lot less crappy.

the weather is also a lot better here! While we were in Kelkit, it was snowing, and they were busy putting up the radiators in the uni. We had to wear mittens (and coats and scarves and 3 pairs of pants) while we were teaching to keep ourselves from freezing to death.

it reads 25c on the AC in my classroom where I am typing right now (and we are having a cold snap)... YEAH TROPICS!

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

izzyismydog · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:22 am Post subject:

ghost, you are having such a time of it in Taiwan. I don't know where you get your luck (or why you don't have any).

I don't know that the TEFL industry is any different, anywhere. It's always all about the money... though some places (even in Taiwan) give a (bit of) a darn about their students. You may not often be able to create your own curriculum but a good teacher will learn how to make the most of it. A good employee will learn to make the most of it and do what's expected of you or figure out some sort of compromise. Or walk if you don't like it (or quit in some proper manner if they aren't going to rip you off even more than they already have as in my EF runner). Or get fired, I guess, like you do. THough in my time here I have never known of anybody to get fired, so you must really know how to pick your jobs or are doing something seriously wrong. Or are an ugly old fat non-white dude with a heavy scottish accent in which case they've got it in for you and there's nothing you can do once a blonde blue eyed canuck walks in with a resume.

There's got to be something around here that isn't simply getting the kids to shout words and throw a stickyball. Maybe you can get a job where you get them to colour pictures, too. Find out about the job before you sign the contract, like what you have to teach and how and when etc. Of course you are a smart ghost you must know that's the way to do things.

Oh, and of course you should play games with the kids. What do you do, make them sit at their desks all night after 8 hours of school? You CAN make games educational...