Korean Job Discussion Forums

PimpofKorea · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:32 pm Post subject: Doing the least amount

I know I will probably sound like a deekhead but does anyone else try to get away with doing the least amount of work possible?

I am all about the games..movies...general screwing around. My situation affords me these opportunites because if by some small chance I did get canned...it would be hard for one of my jobs to find a replacement that can work only 2 days a week. Since I can pick another part-time hakwon gig in a few days...it really doesn't concern me. When I first came here almost 3 yrs ago...I did try my hardest..but I learned that its worth your energy to properly educate these kids..(even 30-40 yr old adults too)

Teaching English in Korea is like being part of a cleaning crew. Now you are the only that actually knows how to get the place cleaned and you make sure that your area is spotless and nice. But the other members consistently f'up their areas and yours as well. So the goddamn place always stays dirty. Eventually....you being the only guy that cleans it right...says the hell with it..and does it half-assed like all the others. If the Koreans are going to screw up all my work...why the hell should I even bother..might as well just screw around and get paid.

(I know some dingaling will say..."stop crying you puzzy"..so I already got you covered there big guy)

blynch · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Location: UCLA

mercury · Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Location: Pusan

You have only just now discovered the secret of "teaching" in korea?

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

Sadly, fter 3 months in public school, I'm starting to think you're right.

sojourner1 · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:59 am Post subject:

Yes, I have been taking my job too seriously due to getting upset over class interruptions, conflicting management, and misunderstandings. Here is one example of my work getting screwed up.

You're teaching a class and a Korean teacher or the vice director comes in to tell you that you are wrong in what your doing when you're doing the agreed upon correct thing. Then the kids go against me after observing such conversations and this makes my job that much harder in that I am whistling Dixie for classroom control. Not once, but many times again and again over the months. When I am not teaching, vice director seems to have a big dildo up her butt in that she won't talk, is defensive, unfriendly, and generally unapproachable. It pisses me off that all business matters and communications between me and the hagwon are conducted while I am teaching classes.

Maybe I too need to stop being so serious about my work and just let things slide and ride the calendar to the end.

blaseblasphemener · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:21 am Post subject:

[quote="sojourner1"]Yes, I have been taking my job too seriously due to getting upset over class interruptions, conflicting management, and misunderstandings. Here is one example of my work getting screwed up.

You're teaching a class and a Korean teacher or the vice director comes in to tell you that you are wrong in what your doing when you're doing the agreed upon correct thing. Then the kids go against me after observing such conversations and this makes my job that much harder in that I am whistling Dixie for classroom control. Not once, but many times again and again over the months. When I am not teaching, vice director seems to have a big dildo up her butt in that she won't talk, is defensive, unfriendly, and generally unapproachable. It pisses me off that all business matters and communications between me and the hagwon are conducted while I am teaching classes.

Maybe I too need to stop being so serious about my work and just let things slide and ride the calendar to the end.[/quote

3.5 rules:

1. Never ask permission, ever.

2. Make yourself happy. You're here for a good time, not a long time. So have a good time, the sun can't shine every day. -Trooper.

3. Don't ever expect rationality in Korea. And don't take this shyt too seriously. It's not home. The number one rule of Korea is do as little as you can get away with, nod your head alot, and pretend you care. No one will ever know the difference.

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

While I believe that most of the above remarks are justifiable, it is possible to have a rewarding experience, have your hard work appreciated, be taken fairly seriiously, get paid well, and have a decent amount of time off working in Korea.

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

[quote=" 3.5 rules:
... The number one rule of Korea is do as little as you can get away with, nod your head alot, and pretend you care. No one will ever know the difference.[/quote]

A very sound analysis. Did you ever work for the public service in New Zealand?

blaseblasphemener · Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:42 pm Post subject:

Unposter · Joined: 04 Jun 2006

Regardless of Profession:

Korean Manager: Do the impossible by yesterday and improve productivity by 5% even if you have to stay till midnight everyday.

Employee: Yes sir! Yes sir! (standing in front of his computer screen with starcraft playing) The work was actually done the day before yesterday, productivity is up 10% and I have been staying in the office till 2 am every day (hides soju bottles) every day. I promise! I swear!

6 months later...

Korean Manager: Nothing has been done. Oh well. I'll just lie on this report and no one will know.

Vice President: Nothing was done. Just lie on this report and send it up the line.

Moral of the story: Always pretend like you are Scotty on the original Star Trek. Always complain that things are impossible. If you look like you are working hard that is often enough.

If you work hard, Koreans will just expect it. 90% of the time, you will never be rewarded. With every reward comes more never ending expectations.

It is all about power in Korea. Those with the power set the impossible expectation. Those not in power crying how high should I jump?

That said doing small favors for people can get you favors in return. Just becareful if you don't get your tat for tit move on...

Mix1 · Joined: 08 May 2007

True dat...On working here in the hagwon system... It seems sometimes the foreigners are just for show and/or marketing purposes. Whether or not the classes are the most efficient ways to teach Koreans "usable" English is up for debate.

It's sad, but in this type of system it can be useless to stress over it sometimes. I agree it can be healthy to let go and not take it too seriously...as this just seems to work against you.

But... even in this context one can still have an effect, and we should remember this. Even if your job is poorly structured and they have you giving students terrible useless exercises they hate, you can still be a little creative and make it interesting for you and the students.
Sometimes when things are going badly in a class, I just say to myself that today, the students will at least learn this word, or this phrase, and I will drill it into them a few times throughout the class. Sometimes making a joke out of it and laughing with them about it really helps their attitude and yours. It's all a game, but there can be positive results. And hopefully, the students who really do want to learn are gaining something.

And...I've found PimpofKorea's attitude of "not taking yourself too seriously while in Korea" to be one of the most beneficial for preserving your sanity if you work in one of these unstructured school systems. Wink

Smile, nod, and wait for payday...cha-ching!

RobertX · Joined: 07 May 2006

its easy not to try but doing a good job is rewarding in itself.

schwa · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Yap

I know working class parents who take on onerous extra jobs to afford tuition for their kids to attend english hagwons in hopes of giving them a leg up in this competitive society & it breaks my heart a little every time I hear transient slackers taking pride in their "least" effort.

Mix1 · Joined: 08 May 2007

Who knows? Maybe the OP's least efforts are still pretty good. PimpofKorea seems like a witty character, so his classes may even be fun for the students, hence they might learn quite a bit without thinking about it. I've worked with a few "professional" teachers with edu degrees, etc., who always put in 100% and many students hated them and their classes. We all taught from the same books and the students test scores were not too varied from teacher to teacher. Therefore you never know.

I think how the courses are structured makes a lot of difference in how well students learn, and probably also plays a role in how a teacher feels about what they are doing. Some formats may take a lot of effort from the teacher while some may not, etc. It seems the OP was complaining in part about how the management and curriculum can suck at times, and also about the perception that effort can be unrewarded or even in some cases frowned upon if you aren't playing the game properly (i.e. Korean style) so you can just end up running your head into the wall, proverbially speaking.

So, if the OP is a bit disenchanted by how English is sometimes taught in this country, and so now mostly just looks forward to getting paid... well, maybe its not such a bad attitude after all, considering his circumstances, which, by the way, we don't really know anyway.

yingwenlaoshi · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: ... location, location!

I hear ya, man. It's all they deserve, really. I try to do as much as I can, but I sometimes think it's too much. I just stick with the I'll teach it, but I'm not doing anything outside teaching. Breaks are breaks and free time is free time.

Last Thursday, I told my adult class that if they wanted to discuss anything about Korean current issues that they could check Korea Herald's online newspaper and e-mail me topics they would like to discuss. They get all confused, "Isn't that your job?" I'm like, "No. If you want a book or something, tell my boss. I don't have time." I've been doing research and finding material for them the last three months or so. It makes the classes run more smoothly, etc., but I don't feel like doing any work at home. One's like sending me messages, "I haven't receive the topic yet. What's wrong?" Can't send you topics and questions while I'm watching a movie, bucko!

I'm a great advocate of doing the best you can while you're doing it, but if you want me to do any extra work, you better damn well pay me for it. I wasn't hired to write your curriculum for you. Screw you!!