Korean Job Discussion Forums

larrysheinfeldstein · Joined: 13 Jun 2007

What's with all the cynical, sarcastic people on ESLcafe? I started a thread a couple of months before coming to Korea asking people for advice about my school. I received a couple of replies about my school being full of sheisters and crooks blah blah blah and how they screwed over their creditors and went backrupt ect...I decided to take the job anyway thinking I could probably wiggle my way out of a situation since I know a lot of people in Korea who know their way around. Turns out none of the stuff people told me was true and I now work at a pretty damn good school. My remarks about the cynicism is not drawn from my post alone but the general tone of alot of threads. Does anyone really know what their talking about or does the advice on this forum come exclusively from disgruntled ex-pats.

agentX · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Location: Jeolla province

A little from column A, a little from column B.
Did you consider perhaps that those posters were right about your school at the time of posting, then by the time you got to that school, said school had cleaned up their act? I'm working off the assumption that you are telling the truth here, in that the school is a 'pretty damn good school'. The posters you mentioned either were lying or, perhaps the school has indeed improved. If you are there and enjoying it, then I am willing to make the assumption that the school improved before you arrived.
Like all message boards, there are people with a chip on their shoulder, and some who do not. It reminds me of the classic saying "There are bright stars, and there are those that are dim."

Julius · Joined: 27 Jul 2006

agentX · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Location: Jeolla province

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

How long have you been at this good school?

larrysheinfeldstein · Joined: 13 Jun 2007

About 4 months. The issues discussed were not concerning working conditions but about the school's past. I found out that they previously had trouble and one of the branches was blacklisted. I posted asking about the current conditions at the school. One of the moderators and several other people replied as either a pm or a direct post. I was told that they still had severe financial troubles and that employees were getting screwed for pension, deposits and paychecks. The reason I was told was because they couldn't pay their creditors so they changed their name and re-open under another guise. It is a franchise so I specially asked about my branch. Now that I am in Korea, none of this turns out to be true. They did indeed have some financial troubles a couple of years ago but it wasn't because of cheating creditors and they didn't change their name because they went bankrupt.

Why would I be lying? I'm not even telling you the name of the school!

babtangee · Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 8:42 am Post subject:

tzechuk · Joined: 20 Dec 2004

huffdaddy · Joined: 25 Nov 2005

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

Meanwhile, you probably are getting screwed and don't even know it.

larrysheinfeldstein · Joined: 13 Jun 2007

"Meanwhile, you probably are getting screwed and don't even know it."

Thanks for the example, that's exactly what I'm talking about.

You are naive for assuming that 1. I am basing this on what someone told me and 2. that my information comes from either a Korean teacher, a Korean or admin.

And yes, I work at W. I would be interested in anybody else experience as I am sure there are alot of people that have/do work there. I have a friend who has been working there for 4 years and several others friends that work at another non-francise brach.

Listen, All I'm saying is that they didn't change their name because they screwed over a bunch of people and needed to start with a new rep and nobody is getting screwed over for their deposits or paychecks. I'm saying this not because I want to try and make some holier-than-thou rant to try and redeem this schools reputation. I couldn't care less. I just feel that, like me, alot of people searching for advice are probably getting a little overly paranoid.

John

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

Adahma · Joined: 14 Jun 2007

I've gotten that same feeling from the posts on here, has made me question whether Korea is the place I want to come teach.

larrysheinfeldstein · Joined: 13 Jun 2007

I've never worked anywhere else so maybe you could elaborate as to why my situation sucks so badly.

Areut · Joined: 18 Sep 2006 Location: Behind You!!!!

I wouldn't come on here saying how great your school is until you finish your contract get your severance and all that you are supposed to get.

Because when it comes down to it you don't know yet if anything people are saying is incorrect or not.

One last thing how long have you been at the school? 2 weeks? A month or almost completed your contract?