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philogirl81
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
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 Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:37 am Post subject: Tomorrow I am free |
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Well, tomorrow is my last day of working at my Wonderland. I'm actually feeling a little misty eyed right now. And it's not because I will miss this place. I feel like I have failed somehow at living abroad. It's the first time I have been abroad for any significant length of time (besides Canada, which doesn't count).
I wish that my job experience had been better. After landing, I had nine hours before I was in a class by myself with ten 4year olds. It was quite harrowing considering that I had never taught before. I'm not ever really sure that the situation at my school got better than that. I've had chairs thrown at me from learning disabled children, been told to lose weight, been yelled at when I asked for a book for class, had my wages garnished etc, etc....
I hope that I never again work for a place where people are so willing to put each other down. There has been so much negative energy in my life for the past few months, I hope that it will soon wear off so I can go back to feeling normal.
On the plus side, I will never again have to get dirty looks from my boss again. Well, after tomorrow.
I appreciate everyone allowing me to bloviate from time to time. In two weeks, I will be teaching English to monks and trekking in the himalayas. It can only get better from here.  |
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dmbfan
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:44 am Post subject: |
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O.P.
Don't be too hard on yourself. You are not the only one to feel the way you do. Wonderland is definatley not the best place to teach in Korea (I know...trust me). I don't know many people who finished a contract with them...so, cheer up!
Good luck on your next adventure!
dmbfan |
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formerflautist
Joined: 30 May 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:42 am Post subject: |
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Congrats on being done. You got stuck with a crappy job, it happens. You've lived and survived in a completely different country and that is an accomplishment. It does take guts to even get on the plane.
And, as a side note, two weeks left for me! |
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Wondering
Joined: 23 May 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:56 am Post subject: |
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| Hey, you stuck through a horrible job and honored your end of the bargain to the fullest. That is something to be proud of! You've just had a year of character building. Well done! |
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philogirl81
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:09 am Post subject: |
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| Wondering wrote: |
| Hey, you stuck through a horrible job and honored your end of the bargain to the fullest. That is something to be proud of! You've just had a year of character building. Well done! |
Actually, I broke the contract. I came here in October and I am leaving now. I had to give a miserable 60 working days notice. I only made it through eight almost nine months. I was actually told that I was the first person to ever break a contract with Wonderland. It was officially the longest eight months of my life! I wish I could write a book about it and call it "Prisoners of Wonderland"
Oh... wait... that's already been done. Darn.
The worst thing that they were going to do was charge me to stay in my apartment. I'm leaving nexy week, but my last day is tomorrow. I have to move all my stuff out on Saturday and stay at a guest house, even though the apartment is going to sit empty for a few months. They were going to charge me 50,000 won a night to stay in my ant and cockroach infested apartment  Gooodbye, Wonderland, Goodbye! |
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Wondering
Joined: 23 May 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:21 am Post subject: |
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| Um, you still gave notice as per your contract. You certainly took the high road. |
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philogirl81
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:26 am Post subject: |
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| Wondering wrote: |
| Um, you still gave notice as per your contract. You certainly took the high road. |
I guess that's true. I really, really wanted to walk out at least 50 times if not more. |
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blaseblasphemener
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:36 am Post subject: |
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Boycott Wonderland! (Wish we could)
Sounds like an amazing adventure you have coming up. Hope you achieve Zen, or at least get some sweet rugs for cheap! Don't be hard on yourself. One of the blessings of life experience is learning to spot crappy and untenable situations, and bailing out at the soonest possible moment. Life is too short to waste on evil people. |
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xtchr
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:41 am Post subject: Re: Tomorrow I am free |
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| philogirl81 wrote: |
had my wages garnished etc, etc....
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Garnished with what? |
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philogirl81
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:52 am Post subject: Re: Tomorrow I am free |
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| xtchr wrote: |
| philogirl81 wrote: |
had my wages garnished etc, etc....
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Garnished with what? |
Some lemon vest and a whole lot of lovin' ....
No, I have "Lost" my deposit for a host of issues such as "You played a game the last five minutes of class on Tuesday" and "You came in five minutes late for your unpaid prep time in the morning" and for not bowing to my boss and putting in face time, etc, etc... |
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spliff
Joined: 19 Jan 2004
Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:04 am Post subject: |
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| WTF...that BS has nothing to do w/ a housing deposit...go to the labour board. |
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philogirl81
Joined: 06 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:26 am Post subject: |
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| spliff wrote: |
| WTF...that BS has nothing to do w/ a housing deposit...go to the labour board. |
Really? I was told repeatedly by one of the foreign teachers that the hogwon could do whatever they wanted with the deposit. Would the labour board be able to do anything about it though, realistically?
I'm not really interested in any more BS. |
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ED209
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:53 am Post subject: |
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Well since you're leaving the country it may not be worth the headache to chase. Do report them to labor board. Make sure they keep your complaint on file. Then if anyone else has an issue with them your complaint may help. Also once you are free consider naming and black listing them. Although Wonderland is well known round here for sucking.
If those monks throw anything at you make them sit on the floor  |
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Jellypah
Joined: 27 Oct 2004
Location: ROK
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:23 am Post subject: |
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| Just out of curiosity, how much was your deposit? Call the labour board tomorrow and see if they can call your employer and get that back to you! |
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Freaka
Joined: 05 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:02 am Post subject: Re: Tomorrow I am free |
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| philogirl81 wrote: |
Well, tomorrow is my last day of working at my Wonderland. I'm actually feeling a little misty eyed right now. And it's not because I will miss this place. I feel like I have failed somehow at living abroad. It's the first time I have been abroad for any significant length of time (besides Canada, which doesn't count).
I wish that my job experience had been better. After landing, I had nine hours before I was in a class by myself with ten 4year olds. It was quite harrowing considering that I had never taught before. I'm not ever really sure that the situation at my school got better than that. I've had chairs thrown at me from learning disabled children, been told to lose weight, been yelled at when I asked for a book for class, had my wages garnished etc, etc....
I hope that I never again work for a place where people are so willing to put each other down. There has been so much negative energy in my life for the past few months, I hope that it will soon wear off so I can go back to feeling normal.
On the plus side, I will never again have to get dirty looks from my boss again. Well, after tomorrow.
I appreciate everyone allowing me to bloviate from time to time. In two weeks, I will be teaching English to monks and trekking in the himalayas. It can only get better from here. |
Philogirl, I'm sorry to hear that you had such a horrible experience! At least it'll be over soon!  What is Wonderland?
You'll be teaching English to monks in the Himalayas? Wow! How did you find this job? |
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