Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MA_TESOL]

I worked at a women's university for about 5 years. Mnay of my friends who had left there encouraged me to leave and find a better situation. Well I have always a a strong loyalty streak that has proven to be both a weakness and a strength. I liked my university and after working in a bad hogwan for a year, thought it to be a good set-up. I am an older man of 55 years. On several occassions the program director spoke to me about my appearance. That I was old and had to compensate. I always wore a suit and tie and cared about how I dressed. Later in my stay at the university the Director spoke very harshly and I felt unjustly to me. I was angry and the following day handed in my resignation. I finished my last semester with the highest evaluation I ever had. Less than a week later I was hired based on my resume and a good word from a friend, at another university.

The new university has been amazing. I am lecturing in a major department rather an English program. This semester I have 10 classroom hours a week. I get 5 months holiday. No meetings. Autonomy in the classroom. Can ever choose my own books. Also, I am the youngest foreign lecturer in my department.

This position is so much better than the position I had at the old university. Today I am grateful for every harsh word the old director had spoken to me.

Something to add to this. I experimented with some thinking exercises. Once I did this with the student evaluations that I received. I visiualized a certain number and when I got my evaluation that semester it was spot on that number-not even .01% off. I did this visualization for a new position as well. The money amount, the holdays, hours, office etc. I visualized this and then let it go and a few months later I was in that exact situation. Perhaps, coincidences, I don't know. But I think that if we don't do something to improve our situation that life will sometimes arrange our situation so that those improvements occur?

Has anyone ever experienced a set back that ended up being a blessing in disguise?

[Colorado]

I think that things will always get better, unless of course they get worse, wihich is also a possibility. Or you could die. Then it won't matter.

[Faunaki]

One time a guy dumped me and I was totally crushed but in the end I found my husband who is wonderful. If the guy hadn't dumped me then I would have stayed with him and maybe at this moment would be barefoot and pregnant with a ciggy hanging out of my yap and drink in my paw yelling at the kids and dogs and pigs and chickens.

Oh and on a serious note. I've tried that visualization thing three times. It has only worked once. I tried really hard too and am still trying. But nothing so far.

[thatwhitegirl]

Visualization? Wow. That sounds so....um...weird. But some people really swear by it.

How exactly does it work then? How long to you have to 'visualize' it? How do you think about it?

Basically, what's the process?

[i4NI]

That visualization stuff is all taught in new age thinking , i.e. "The Secret"

anyways, congrats on your better position.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I personally would like to take the three little middle school bitches (and I wouldn't use that word about a single one of my current 450 students, btw) who were the straw that broke the camel's back at my old hagwon by taking them out for ice creams if ever saw them again. Well, actually I'd rather just give them a gift certificate for Basken Robbins and not have to be present myself. Were it not for those three, and management's attitude to how I should react to being treated like shit, I may well have made the terrible mistake of lasting a year at that place instead of moving on to the wonderful school I have now. Were it not for them I wouldn't have marched into the boss' office giving him an ultimatum, and a resignation later the following week when he failed to do anything about the ultimatum I gave him. Who knows how long I would have stayed there becoming more and more miserable.

[Yaya]

[MA_TESOL]

[jdog2050]

[MA_TESOL]

well you probably do better with positive visualizations than always rehearsing in your mind negative future events. Again, I don't know. I will have to try it several more times and if coincidences continue to happen, I may become a believer.

[Eedoryeong]

I've had a few of those myself. Yes it is great. Good on you for your new job!

I don't think that you become a satellite dish for receiving and focusing positive karma/kharma but I do think when you have made a decision to start thinking in those directions (decided at the moment of the visualization exercise) that you make yourself open to certain opportunities, interpret ambiguous events in a way that they can be harnessed to your benefit, and you do a whole lot more things that generally work toward your getting that thing. I can see this making a whole lot of sense in networking scenarios (like looking for a new job) but I think it would not work so well wishing, say, you could make Hugh Hefner jealous or visualizing your gimbap is actually a jeyook bokumbap.

But I generally subscribe to the notion that it works.

Good stuff!

[earthbound14]

If you visualize how you will make the things you want happen and you can honestly see them happening because you have done the ground work that will likely bring these things into reality...I'm all for it.

If you spend your time seeing yourself on a beach, with a cold beer, a foxy lady and millions in the bank....well, I'm not going to say it won't. Having a positive is a good thing. I just think you'd have better luck seeng your objectives and doing the work to get there.

In that sense visualizing works great. Visualizing skydiving, and practicing in your mind has proven to be far more effective than just jumping out of a plane, however, the best practice is to study (which is a sort of visualization) and then physically practice (or act it out). Don't ask me hoe they got volunteers for this exercise...."Excuse me sir, would you like to jump out of a plane with absolutely no instruction and no prior visualization?

Works great for skiing too. We say pick your line, then stick it. You don't have to stick to it, but having a visual idea of where you will go and what you will do usually means you will be a lot more successful. When you get really good, you seem to know exactly what to do, when to do it and more importantly what you plan to do. The whole run (rocks, drops, trees, drifts...etc) seems to flow. Your visualizations become much closer to the reality of what you can do and what your are doing.

I've never been able to do that with a job though.....I hate working.

[the_beaver]

[aka Dave]

Nice story. Good job and good luck.

[FMPJ]

One time, I was reading Chicken Soup for the Lonely Old Guy's Soul and I visualized myself not hating it. But it didn't work: I hated it.

Then I started reading Reader's Digest, which was the silver lining!

Surely God has a plan for us all. That's why I just throw my trash on the street and burn as much oil as I want--everything works out in the end.