Korean Job Discussion Forums

uberscheisse · Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Location: japan is better than korea.

let's examine the utter BS of the OP, point by point.

"don't work for these people, as they will abuse you and use you. If you like being exploited, then work here. "

false. they will tell you exactly what they expect of you. it's in the contract. read your contract. if you don't like said contract, don't sign it.

if for some reason you don't like the way things have turned out in your contract, the management have never had a problem with signing letters of release. unlike other academies who will threaten and kowtow you into staying the full year, because they don't want to pay recruiting fees again.

"You have to work on Saturdays"

false. this used to be the case, but now it's by choice only. saturday classes just don't seem all that popular.

"and the housing sucks... The housing is full of bugs, too."

false. the 2 apartments i've had are comparable to most of the apartments i've seen, hagwon-wise. they're conveniently located and i have never once seen a roach. mosquitoes, maybe - but this is korea. buy some raid. we used to rent some other apartments but the leases have since expired. since the OP is from 2003,

"My friend works there and wants to leave after being there for only 2 months."

lie. it's interesting that princess' friend didn't post this if it was important enough to warn people about.

"My friend had no hot water for a week."

did your friend know how to pay his/her bill? did he/she talk to any of the staff about it? any housing issue i've had has been dealt with within 48 hours, and usually it was due to an error of my own doing.

"The boss calls after 12 midnight just to tell teachers that parents are complaining."

i have serious doubts about this claim. the staff that work there work from 9am-9pm and live in places as distant as incheon and ilsan. they all have families and small children and would not even be awake at 12am - let alone call someone at that time. as well, if a complaint had been made, they're best dealt with at a time when the staff can actually phone the mother back to give the teacher's perspective.

as well, how could a complaint be lodged at such a time when the office has been closed for 4 hours already?

the 'boss' is an early riser, usually gets up around 6am to exercise and start his day. he would definitely not be awake at midnight.

"Half the time, they are probably not even complaining."

possibly true. in fact, probably true. it is apkujeong.

the "flaws" i spoke of are the fact that we sometimes do have to cater to the whims of annoying, pretentious apkujeong moms who don't know piss-all about education... because they pay the bills. our boss has been up-front about this since day 1.

but can you name a hagwon that isn't like this? especially one in a rich area?

uberscheisse · Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Location: japan is better than korea.

ChuckECheese · Joined: 20 Jul 2006

uberscheisse · Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Location: japan is better than korea.

goodgood · Joined: 22 Nov 2006 Location: seoul

I hate how so many people here always automatically jump on the school defenders, especially when they give a complete and not overly rosey picture of the school.

Not that I automatically believe what everyone says, but I find uberscheisse's clear and rational assesment to sound much more believable than the OP's.

I worked with one guy who got fired- he deserved it more than anybody on earth- Anyone who has ever worked with, or even just met the guy would agree that it was fair, that he deserved to be let go. He was an ass.

But he could post any number of ridiculous things about the school, and everybody would believe him- then I would come to give the other side of the story, and I'd get jumped all over.

ChuckECheese · Joined: 20 Jul 2006

Bottom line?

I trust no one in this board but myself. Therefore, neither OP nor the defender of the school can be trusted. However, I've DECIDED to trust the OP. I believe in most cases, it's the school's bad behavior that prompts people to post negative thread here.

flint · Joined: 11 Apr 2004

What I find amusing (and strange) is that it took someone who claims to have worked at the school for 3 years this long to reply to the post. The original post is 3.5 years old. It was resuscitated 2 years ago at which time some people debunked it. (but not the people currently complaining about it) It was brought up again last year, at which time someone debunked it. (but not by the people currently complaining about it.) NOW it is brought up again so two people who purportedly work(ed) there can debunk it again.

Am I missing something here? No one has been posting that the school should be blacklisted since the OP, right? This leaves a few possible reasons why someone would restart the thread.

1)The school so insecure it needs to get teachers (real or make believe) to come on annually to debunk it.

2)There are a lot of complaints floating around the ether about the school but not making their way to Dave's so current teachers feel they have to rehash this post to defend or curry favour with their boss.

3) Re-opening the issue has become an annual holiday event.

4) Someone was REALLY bored and decided to go trolling.

or

5) Some people are just that freaking slow to respond.

Seriously Uberschiesse, if you had taken your own advise to others when you posted "everyone please shut up" the issue would be dead again. Instead you keep ranting on and on about it, attacking someone who doesn't agree with you. All over a post that is THREE AND A HALF years old!!

The LAST post before you felt so indignant that you had to reply to the original post was over a YEAR before yours. If you love you director and school so much one can only wonder why you didn't leap to their defense a year ago when it was rehashed or even 3 years ago after you started working at a place that was so great (and only 6 months after the OP was made not 3.5 years).

Hell, you have done more to make it an issue again than the OP ever did especially with the attitude you showed to someone who didn't agree with you. Deserved or not, the lateness of your retort combined with the way you attack someone who doesn't agree with you can make people wonder about your motives.

If you REALLY want it to die you should follow your own advice. Odds are the thread will slip back into obscurity. At least until you or someone else associated with the school brings it back to life next year.

uberscheisse · Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Location: japan is better than korea.

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

So the question I pose to Mr. uberscheisse is:

"If you didn't want your boss and his hakwon's named dragged through the mud, why did you dig up a 2 year old post?"

It was long since dead and gone

AND NOW

you have make it front page news again.

Do YOU have some ulterior motive?

babtangee · Posted: Sat May 12, 2007 2:22 am Post subject:

EDIT: I am wrong. I hate you, Dave.

Uberscheisse: I am sure much of what Princess wrote was crap. However, you said you've had disagreements with your employer concerning the ass-kissing of mothers; and the former employee complained about your bass calling her in the middle of the night to badger her about this parents complaints. Don't you think then that there is possibly some truth to the story?

I understand, the teacher may well have been crap; but if my employer ever called me in the middle of the night to complain about my work performance he would surely get an ear-full both over the phone and at work the next day.

Furthermore, an intelligent and decent wonjang would realise that parents complaining is par for the course in this business, and would not base his judgement of his teachers' performances on what one or two fruity mothers think on any given day. To bother a teacher with such crap is only going to add to his stress and negatively affect his performance (few mothers know a damn thing about what an English teacher should do, though they all have strong opinions).

Is it possible that your boss made a mistake with a teacher in the past and has since learned from it, uberscheisse?