Korean Job Discussion Forums

[poet13]

Ah, I was asked if I was interested in doing it. I think it would also mean organizing it from top to bottom. Does anybody have any idea what kind of money a student can be expected to pay per day for an international trip? Not including airfare. I want to work up an idea of what I can do for X dollars per day. I'm thinking about 100US a day ought to cover everything and what I can do with that.

Just need a starting point.

[sojourner1]

Sounds exciting. Take em' to Borocay, Cebu, and other places for various activities. Instead of teaching English village, you're taking them for an immersion into the real thing!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Obviously you know the Phillipines way better than me, but when I took a group of eight students to Canada it cost about W1,700,000 / per student for a week including airfare. Ground transportation was the only thing that ended up costing a lot more than I thought it would. Excluding that it cost far less than $100 / student / day. While it was a very worthwhile experience, indeed probably my most memorable teaching experience, it was sure no holiday for me. Imagine a whole week of counting 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 ... 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8.

If you're handling the finances I'd ask for a school credit card or a substantial deposit on your credit card in case something happens.

[bassexpander]

This story sounds somewhat like what happened to my co-worker here at my uni, and it didn't play out well. The school was running a camp, though -- different than your situation. I'll just mention it, in case anyone else gets roped into this.

Upfront, she assumed she would be getting at least 30,000-40,000 an hour for her teaching (what she's paid in summer months for summer classes here). Later, as things went on, she suddenly found out that they were going to pay her about 70,000 won PER DAY for expenses, and THAT WAS IT. No hourly wage. She was livid. What's worse, the school had relied on her to help set up the camp.

The response was basically, "Well, we're sorry, we can't pay you that much. We are paying your plane ticket." She basically told them to take a flying leap, and they ended up settling on a higher overall amount, but it was still less than if she had stayed and just worked regular summer school here. She also told them that she was not going to be playing nursemaid to these students, as was sort of expected.

So the moral of the story is, be sure you know EXACTLY what you'll be paid in advance of this whole thing. Also, make sure that they know if the wages change, or are manipulated in any way later, you will NOT do it. And make sure all flights are paid.

I know it sounds crazy, but the school really manipulated her in this. She assumed they wouldn't screw with her (because they generally don't with classes here) and she got burned badly.

Another thing -- the curriculum on the phil. side was disorganized and not very effective. Also, some of our Korean female students saw the warm weather as an opportunity to dress in short-shorts. The place our school partnered with turned out to be a Catholic school. My friend (and students) were given a rude lecture about their dress. This really angered my friend, as they were given no advanced warning. The Korean girls went out dressed overly sexy, and were teased/whistled at by the filipino locals in town. You'd be advised to warn your students about dressing appropriately if they are older.

[poet13]

Thanks for the replies. I think I would take them on day trips to Baguio, Manila, Alogapo, Pangasinan, etc, staying on Luzon. I have a friend who has a small, little used, conference center with four person bungalows we could base and resupply from.

Security (not armed, just people <the equivalent of ajumma chaperones I guess> to keep an eye out for rip-off artists and pickpockets in the tourist areas) and transportation are easy.

As far as finances, I would probably send everything to my account in the Philippines, and just use my ATM card there.

The trick is figuring out how much the parents should be told to cough up for the trip, cause I think it would be very difficult to get more expense money after the fact. We could refund by the head afterwards easily enough.

Airfare would be handled by the parents beforehand. So I guess my question is more, "For those of you who have done this before, what did the students pay?" (Thank you Y_B_s)

I asked the person who is "in charge", and he hemmed and hawed, finally saying that, "It shouldn't be too much, but it should also be enough or the parents wont' think they're getting a good value for their money." Typical Korean thinking....more expensive is better.

[poet13]

Bass - scary story on pay. As far as dress code, it's rural middle school kids. Probably not going to be a problem, but they would get a "culture class" before embarking.

As far as the curriculum, I would organize that myself from here. More than one person working at my home there is capable of organizing a bus, or a tour of something....my way. That's with a minute by minute schedule, backup plans, and a certain "firmness" to how things occur. Day trip to the beach.
Day trip to Manila.
Daytrip and hands on activities at a local artisans workshop near Subic.
Local cooking workshop.
Visit to a local market on market day. (ten acre markets)
Visit to a local unversity and high school.
etc.

What about chaperone/student ratio?
I was thinking 3-5 students, 1 chaperone.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[poet13]

Yeah, Angeles is out. I thought I could take the boys down to try their hand at picking up girls, and the girls to try their hand at picking up old fat foreigners, but the parents might have objected.....

Hadn't thought of phone cards. I guess they would have to have access to phones in the first place...hadn't thought of that either.

It's easy enough to rent a quality bus and driver in the Philippines.

There wouldn't be any hanguel computers where they would be staying. hmm....

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[poet13]

So how much free time did they want? Were they happy to be organized the whole time, or would they have been happier with two or three hour blocks of free time? They would be staying out in the country. The conference center is on a former mango plantation and the nearest town is abot ten minutes by car and only a few thousand people.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[sojusucks]

Are other teachers going with you? I would request that if I were you.

Why? Sex tourism (first article is the best):
http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/01/15/korea-a-sex-tourism-destination/
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=business04_mar29_2006http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TRAVEL/NEWS/08/25/childsex.tourism.ap/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_the_Philippines

If your students indulge in prostitutes and so on, it will be your head on the chopping block.

I know a guy that taught at the school that had the big scandal where students went to a foreign country and visited brothels. He said that the Korean teacher had to apologize to all the classes each and every day for a couple of months solid, and that the Korean teacher had to apologize to the school, students, parents, and anyone else the school thought appropriate.

The Korean teacher still has his job. You may not. How much do you trust your male students (if you have any)?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[poet13]

It would not happen. I was thinking abotu the student teacher ratio. I think at least 1:5 is the minimum. Considering there would be some 30 students, there would likely be 7 to 10 adults.

Anyways, this may or may not come to fruition. When I mentioned pay, the guy got a blank look and said, "Pay?". Jackass.