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Atavistic
Joined: 22 May 2006
Location: How totally stupid that Korean doesn't show in this area.
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 Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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| idonojacs wrote: |
| This mess with the apostilles makes me wonder how long it will take for Korea Immi to reject an apostille from New Mexico, as it is not an English speaking country. |
(I remember reading a newspaper article around the time of either the Atlanta or Salt Lake Olympics. Some woman from New Mexico called the American ticket line and they said she had to call her own country's ticket line. Of course, this was years ago and I sure can't find the article now...) |
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nomad-ish
Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Location: On the bottom of the food chain
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| Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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| sojourner1 wrote: |
| I did hear that they want to double the number of English teachers this summer in public schools though I have no real confirmation of this. |
yeah, they probably want to...
| sojourner1 wrote: |
I do believe that the Korean government wants parents to invest that English hagwon tuition money into other things such as financial securities or business while their kids receive English education at their public schools. |
of course they do, but their public education system here is horrible: class sizes in my school range from 42-45 students in one class. i have the 3rd graders (middle school) once a week (45m), and i have the 1st and 2nd graders once every 2 weeks. i believe they have english class with their korean teachers 3 other times during the week (for 45m at a time). when i'm not in the classroom, my co-teachers just put on that CD-ROM.
it's not just with English either, many students also go to math hagwons.
until the korean gov't does some serious reforms to the education system, and specifically English education in public schools, there will always be hagwons and parents will always invest their money in them |
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Khenan
Joined: 25 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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It's an interesting point that the government would rather have the money coming to them in tax form. Is the proliferance of private language schools a relic of a lacking school system?
And what does this imply about americans in general, who have not created such an industry?  |
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twg
Joined: 02 Nov 2006
Location: Getting some fresh air...
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 1:36 am Post subject: |
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| diablo3 wrote: |
| "Don't be an E2-visa sponsored teacher in Korea" |
Is it the E-2 aspect you wish us to focus on, or the "not in Korea" aspect?
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| The ESL industry is about to implode. |
I've been thinking that balloon has been ripe to pop for a while now. Pity it has to be while I'm still here. |
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weatherman
Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:49 am Post subject: |
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| They said that it wasn't an official apostille |
Maybe we will have to get the apostille notarized, and then this notary apostilled too. Wait, I shoulded give our finest any ideas...... |
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gangpae
Joined: 03 Sep 2007
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 4:40 am Post subject: |
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| So an Apostille in yellow crayon won't work? |
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idonojacs
Joined: 07 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 5:29 am Post subject: |
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gangpae:
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| So an Apostille in yellow crayon won't work? |
Why wouldn't it?
But I think a mix of gold and salmon crayons would be prettier. After all, the only real purpose of an apostille is to make the document look pretty, as far as I can tell.
They seem to play no real role in guaranteeing the document is genuine 99 percent of the time, at least as regards the type of documentation Korea is asking for.
I'm beginning to think all of this nonsense is just for show, the drug and alcohol testing, the CRC, etc., to impress the Korean public that the government is doing something. But somebody needs to tell this to the bureaucrats who are processing these documents.
weatherman:
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| Maybe we will have to get the apostille notarized, and then this notary apostilled too. Wait, I shoulded give our finest any ideas...... |
Just wait until you are on the job for six months....... |
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paquebot
Joined: 20 Jun 2007
Location: Northern Gyeonggi-do
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 8:59 am Post subject: |
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| Khenan wrote: |
| Leslie Cheswyck wrote: |
| ^ You mean the state they almost named Columbia until some congressman piped up and said "No, no, we can't name it that. People will confuse it with the District of Columbia!" |
Haha... ya, that's the one |
I'm also from Washington State and was curious how you went about getting your criminal record check. Was it through a local police office, and could they send it directly to the Secretary of State for an apostille?
Edit: Just saw the details in another thread. Scary that they didn't accept an apostille from Washington! |
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lastat06513
Joined: 18 Mar 2003
Location: Sensus amo Caesar , etiamnunc victus amo uni plebian
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:33 am Post subject: |
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If you have to get your documents apostillized to work for a school that pays $3400 a month, you might as well go to the middle east (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait) where in some places you have to do the exact same thing, but you can possibly make more money (between $3500 to $4200 a month depending on your experience and qualification), get a bigger apartment (mine had cathedral ceilings in Kuwait) and it is much more stable than many people make it out to be.
With that 3.2 million won, do you get free housing or is the housing allowance calculated into the salary?
I had lived outside the US for 10 years and I just returned 2 years ago and it has been an uphill struggle trying to adapt to things here....so I perfectly understand your dilemma |
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Khenan
Joined: 25 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 10:11 am Post subject: |
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| With that 3.2 million won, do you get free housing or is the housing allowance calculated into the salary? |
It is not included, but I'd rather have the freedom of finding/choosing my own place anyway.
I never considered the Middle East... a couple friends of mine just spent two months in Abu Dahbi running their bastard child attempt at an international film festival. They said it was hell.
| Quote: |
| But I think a mix of gold and salmon crayons would be prettier. |
Absolutely! However, the apostilles are good for more than just looking pretty. But this is only true when they're used for the purposes they were intended for... which is not diplomas, medical checks, etc... |
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Ut videam
Joined: 07 Dec 2007
Location: Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Khenan wrote: |
Well, the result in the short term has been that my visa is delayed. I know there's a lot of bitter people here that have had bad experiences with Korea, but I'm still looking forward to it. Besides, I have a pile of student loan debt (Thank you, America), and really need a good paying job asap. My contract has me starting at 3.2m won, so I'd like to keep (get) this job.
My Secretary of State gave me some documents to give to Korean immigration that basically explains for them what their job is and how to do it. Hopefully they will understand that they are in violation of international treaties at the moment.
Over the course of this difficulty, I have done a lot of research into apostilles. I've read the entirety of the Hague conventions and tons of associated recommendations/opinions, etc, so if anyone else has had problems, I may be able to give you some insight on the *real* situation with apostilles.... if not the Korean situation. |
You should contact the U.S. Embassy as well. Though they are notoriously unhelpful, the rejection of an apostille is a matter in which the Korean government is in violation of international law and its obligations under a treaty to which the United States is also a party. Therefore, diplomatically speaking, it's a big deal. They're well nigh obliged to act on your behalf in this case. |
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moosehead
Joined: 05 May 2007
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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you know you never really gave the details on this rejection - who exactly told you it was rejected? hakwons are notorious about lying - surely you must have heard this by now? i'm wondering if they told you this just to get out of your contract for some reason?
if a hakwon wants to hire a teacher they will smooth out every detail possible with immi to get that teacher - if you told them this is an official apostilled document then why should they doubt that? you can provide access to how you had it notarized and apostilled, right? just tell them to check it themselves.
i once had a school email me and say i didn't give them the right transcripts - even tho i had - sealed, etc. - i quickly emailed back and told them they were the right ones - unless the requirements had changed and i had not been made aware of it? - she went back to immi and they were accepted - i have no idea at all what the problem was the first time- they never gave details.
don't be so fast about believing what's said - maybe they didn't believe it was real and rejected it expecting you to admit it was false and if you don't stand up for yourself, they are slapping each other on the back saying 'yes another foreign teacher tried to fool us and we caught the bastard!'
really, have some backbone - just demand to know exactly what the F*k is the problem you did everything you were supposed to do - !!
c'mon - go for it - unless you really didn't want to come over here after all and this is just an excuse to get out of it??  |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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double post
Last edited by bacasper on Sun Dec 30, 2007 2:49 am; edited 1 time in total |
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cruisemonkey
Joined: 04 Jul 2005
Location: Hopefully, the same place as my luggage.
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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| I call BS on the OP. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2007 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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Teachers in Korea should just leave. If you are not being harassed now with these new regs, you will be when it is your turn to renew in a few months. Initially, Korea will be happy to let us all go just to be sure there are no more swirlyfaces here. Then, after they realize there is no one left to properly teach their kids English, they may get rid of the regs and maybe even raise salaries (finally) to get us back.
Here are some suggestions:
Japan
China
Taiwan
Remember, the world is your oyster. |
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