Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ilsanman]

This place could get awesome ratings I swear. Here is what has already happened this week.

Monday: One Korean teacher who speaks immaculate English is really hated here. Why? Because she sometimes speaks English to Korean teachers in the teacher room. This is not a new thing, I just never found this out. The K teachers hate it so much that they complained to the boss, and the boss told her not to speak English in the teachers room anymore. His reason? Because he admitted that 'they can't speak English' so she shouldn't make them feel bad. WTF?? Teaching English and can't speak it? Ridiculous.

Tuesday: The cleaning ajumma (who is a real bag) decided to rag out one of our female teachers for smoking. Before you wonder, she went outside to the proper smoking area. Her reason? Because 'nice women don't smoke'. In her rant to her about not smoking, she admitted to being an opium addict in the past. I guess since she quit, it gives her the right to rag on others.

I am looking forward to Wed-Friday this week.

[Ultimo Hombre]

Sounds entertaining.

[hugekebab]

[soviet_man]

Come on Ilsanman - you have been around the eslcafe block a long while ... you wouldn't still be here if you couldn't play the office politics !

I've always found if a Korean doesn't like you, give them a crappy gift (like say a multi pack of spam or a bag of tomatoes) and then they will usually *always* look out for you and be nice.

Especially for a cleaner ajumma or a building ajosshi!

Works wonders when you need something fixed or need someone dobbed in to the militsia without getting your own hands dirty.

[Ilsanman]

She doesn't speak a word of English and I'd never let her know that I can understand her. I'd ignore it if she ever addressed me, since if she was addressing me, she should be using English, me being a dumb foreigner and all.

[seoulteacher]

[Milwaukiedave]

IM,

If you write a book about it, I'll buy it. Sounds like some interesting situations going on at your hagwon.

[joshuahirtle27]

Please please please tell us what happens the rest of the week.

[wylies99]

Pick up something valuable, put it in the cleaning ladies cart and then tell the boss you saw her steal something.
Oh, Stewie Griffin taught us that one.

[joshuahirtle27]

Teach the kids a new word that none of the Korean teachers know.

[Join Me]

You mean there are actually jobs in Korea that aren't a total drama? Seems to me that is what these people live for?

[Ya-ta Boy]

I'm sorry that your school is second rate, but that isn't my fault. You need to recruit more dysfunctional teachers if you want to compete in the WTF happened today? sweepstakes. I've been at this school just short of 2 years and this is what I've seen:

a) Teacher #1 calls in every Monday with 'female' problems so she can bang one of the students (adults) while someone else teaches her class

b) Teacher #2 takes 'selected' students to the church near here so she can bang him in the confessional

c) Teacher #3 draws pictures of the 'male member' on the whiteboard while he demonstrates how to do a pole dance...and asks female students what they enjoy doing with their boyfriends and if they want to do that with him...while ignoring his newly-wed wife

d) Teacher #4 got fired for banging a student for three months. This was found out when the two of them got caught with him drunk driving

(those are the sexual problems)

e) Teacher #5 would only talk to the top two or three students in his class while ignoring the rest on the days he chose to actually engage ANY of the students because he was too busy reading the book he was interested in

f) Teacher #6 would only speak to your knee cap when you said, "Hello".

g) The teacher who broke another teacher's nose when said teacher took a pen from the first teacher's desk without asking.

h) Teacher #7 who bought a kitchen table, bunk beds and a car for his girlfriend while she was living with her boyfriend because they (the girlfriend and the teacher) were going to get married.

i) Teacher #8 who would stand outside the building and shout up to his friend on the 3rd floor at 2AM and ask for a loan because he'd already spent that month's pay three or four days after payday. He eventually got fired because he couldn't teach and his clothes hadn't been ironed in a year or two. He also would call in 5 minutes before class time to say he was 'sick'. Hangover was the correct word.

j) Teacher #9 who answers, "Orange" or some other unrelated word to the greeting, "Hi. How are you?"

This is not to mention the teacher who went postal over her non-appearance in a class photo, the one who was turned down for a 1 month extension on the winter vacation or the PhD expert teacher who put all his students to sleep in protest at his complete and total incompetence in the classroom.

It is not humanly possible that I am the only one to have co-workers who are completely and totally unemployable in any non-dysfunctional universe. It just isn't.

I've been here since '94 and for years I said about 1 in 3 were 'strange'. In the last two years I have had to raise my estimate of the number of completely unqualified un-natural Westerners to 2 in 3.

I would welcome anyone who can challenge that number. (Please provide some kind of acceptable proof.)

[caniff]

Damn, Ya-ta, that's quite the list. All I can come up with right now is that, at my first (and only) hagwon, two male NETs on separate occasions punched two female NETs full-force in their faces (one of them was sent flying down a flight of stairs).

I've worked alone the last few years, so I guess I'm missing out on quite a bit of drama.

[Captain Corea]

Holy frak you guys - I believe ya, but that is some sorry state of affairs.

[Ultimo Hombre]

I guess my situation is much better than I had previously thought. These stories are bonkers. My school isn't run in the most professional manner, but I don't have to worry about any of this crap. My hot water not working is probably my biggest problem at present.