Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sadsac]

My wife and I worked for he same hogwan in Ulsan for almost three years and in that time I managed the school, recruited, developed a curriculum and made it as good a place to work at as I could. We resigned, the director and his wife had opened a second school and it only had 9 students after eleven months of operation. Things changed, it wasn't fun any more. I was sent to the second school. illegally. My wife was to take over my duties at the principal school in Sadong, she didn't want to accept the postiton, but was told she had too.

I made a mistake of selling my boss a laptop which I had bought on leaving Australia. Not smart, it wasn't the most honest unit, as I discovered. I offered to purchase it back from him and he refused. My wife then has a major altercation with him and resigns. I was going to complete the final months of my contract, but the he sends a note up with the secretary asking for the keys to the school and school van to be returned. Even though he was downstairs at the time. I then also resigned.

He then turned into a nasty, vicious, mad dog Korean. He accused my wife of stealing a hard drive and called the police on her. After I threatened to rip his head off and shit down his neck, he told me it was only a joke. Very funny. Since we have left, he has spread malicious and slanderous gossip and whenever a prospective employer had rang, he has told them that we are terrible teachers, theives and liars. Other Korean friends are astounded by his behavior.

I love teaching in Korea, but I now truly dislike the Korean phyche and the need to tear people down, who endeavoured only to do their best for the students and the institute. All he ever said was how could such a good friend do this to him and his family. He could not separate the friendship from the business relationship. Three years and my only complaint is that he became a typical Korean hogwan owner when we resigned. He cheated us of money owed and lied about why we left to immigration, telling them that he fired us.

Has anybody else experienced this.

[Alex Buffa]

I was working at my school for nearly 2.5 years when my boss once said to me in his office:

"young girls don't want to learn from a guy who's getting married, they only want single people".

I was shocked to the core and could not believe that he was saying this but there he was. I got a few promises of promotions and extra responsibilities but I knew it was just a blow over for Jan, when my key moneyfor my housing was due. I was told I would no longer be teaching my adult classes and my that day was my last day. I told my students and to my delight they all quit and demanded a refund!!! The next day I was transferred to a university to teach for 3 months at a language center.

I had convinced my company classes to stop that month..so those lucrative contracts dissapeared and my boss knew what I was doing, since I was taking my students with me while I was leaving. My objective is to continue teaching my students, his objective was to get me away from them as quickly as possible. Funny thing was after my 3 months at the university, the boss there complained to my boss that I was making students quit because they would join my new class at my new workplace while arranging for my new classes when I returned with a new work visa.

On the plus side, there was no screaming, no threats, no money held back. I don't throw tantrums and I don't run out of contracts like a runner, but I will stand very calm, state my opinion and expect that all things that were agreed to are done. If I work, I will work well even though I'm not happy with my boss since my personal opinions of him should not be reflected towards my students, it's not their fault nor their responsibility to hear any whining or complaining. But if they want to continue with me..they can have that option. My boss tried to tell my studnets they had a "better" teacher coming. That might have worked if they were new, but some of them were my students for over 2 years. It's not easy to just tear that type fo relationship apart when some students are comfortable with a style of class they enjoy.

Long story short....I was fired (quite thankfully and at my insistance) and went my own way. I never spoke with my old boss again nor did I have any problems with other employers, but I did make sure that my interviewer understood the circumstances of my departure. When asked why I left the school I simply say that management and I had a difference of opinion when school enrollment was down and I decided that it would be best for myself to find a more professional workplace.
I also mention that some bosses get very angry when an employee wants to leave.

They always seem to agree with me about that when I interview. In your position, your boss may be losing money and is venting his frustration and placing blame on you. No one wants to admit they are a failure or the cause of their own problems. I would not take his actions to heart and accept the fact that when it comes down to crunch time, he's only worried about money, and not those who he employs to make sure he can make a living.

Be happy, and don't use him as a reference in the future...

Alex

[Son Deureo!]

Yes, I am experiencing it now. When I discussed the prospect of signing on with my current hogwon for a second year my boss made a me terrible offer with more hours (going from 100 to 120 per month), only a 100,000 won raise to 2 million, one week of vacation time instead of 2 that I'd only be able to take at the end of my contract (so no vacation till January 2005), and still no health insurance or pension (I'm American, I get it all back, I want to pay pension).

Since rehiring me would have saved her a great deal of money in airfare and recruiter fee her refusal to improve my conditions indicated to me that she wasn't serious about rehiring me. She even said that she wanted to look around to see what kind of teacher she could get for the money she was offering. So I looked for a better offer and got one.

As luck had it, I know someone who is looking for a job, and I introduced them in hopes of creating a win-win-win situation. I move on to bigger and better, she still saves money on her new teacher, and my friend gets a job with a pretty good schedule and nice apartment.

Since then, however, my boss has been nothing but nasty to me throwing temper tantrums and yelling at me on a daily basis. She's also hinted that she shouldn't have to pay for my airfare since I'm not leaving Korea (my contract is clear on this point: teacher gets cash equivalent of a return air ticket), and is stiffing me on half of the extra pay that she agreed to give me for teaching a winter intensive class (which was already less than my contract's overtime rate). I'm supposed to be OK with this because we're "family". All before my friend has signed the contract for the new job. He will not be taking the job now, and she has 9 days plus Lunar New Year vacation to find a new teacher.

Nice work, boss.

I saw behavior like this from my previous boss, being very emotional and temperamental when it comes to dealing with the foreign employees. It seems to me that Korean hogwon owners expect a level of loyalty from their foreign teachers that isn't realistic. I can't imagine why she expected me to sign on for a second year when she was offering me a worse deal than I'd already had, but it really seems to be what she expected of me.

[dominic]

according to your logic I guess Sadsac and his wife are rasict too right? But of course you probably have nothing to say about this either.

[rapier]

And thats the strangest point you make- the lack of appreciation for genuinely good work. You do your hardest to teach well and genuinely improve the school, but they actually put obstacles in your way.There is a deep seated distrust of others in the Korean psyche- they fully expect people to take advantage of them, because thats exactly what they'd do to others at the first opportunity. Its almost as though you'd get more respect by being a slack, uncaring, selfish employee...
Of course esl is a cynical industry..don't hold any great hopes that you can form a genuinely good bond/ relationship with your employer: you're basicaly a commodity that he will sell down the river whenever it suits him.
I believe racism is the basic factor at the root of such bad behavior- you can inflict any indignity on a foreigner and it doesn't really matter because he's not "one of us" at the end of the day..
Sadsac- I know well what you mean about the need to tear a good person down- they treat you better if you show what an a**hole you can be. if you go all out to please and prove yourself to your employer, they won't want to know.

[ulsanchris]

sadsac which school did you work for?

[Real Reality]

sadsac,
I hope you and your wife will be all right and recover from the experience quickly.

I have experienced mistreatment and some refusals to pay money owed to me. I have had to call or go to the labor board on more than one occasion. One experience was really awful.

You wrote, "He cheated us of money owed..." Will you try to go the labor board or a lawyer?

rapier,
I tend to agree with what you wrote in your post.

Foreigners See Koreans as Irrational, Unethical
A majority of foreign residents in South Korea believe Koreans lack a sense of ethics and rationality, according to a survey Saturday.
http://www.yonhapnews.net/Engnews/20031115/300100000020031115102353E3.html

Foreigners Give Koreans Low Marks for Ethics
When asked if South Korea regards wealth and power as the most important values in life, 50 percent of the respondents said "yes" while only 20 percent disagreed. Foreigners' negative assessments also prevailed in their view of the Korean people, according to the survey. About 62 percent of the respondents believed Koreans are racist, and 11 percent said they were hostile to foreigners in general. Only 20 percent answered Koreans treated everyone equally.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200311/kt2003111618540511990.htm

According to a recent survey, as many as 90 percent of Korea's youth think they live in a country that's corrupt, and a considerable number of them say they're ready to join the club if the occasions calls for it later in life.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200310/200310080034.html

[crazylemongirl]

I often wonder if the cause of my current problems is the fact that I've just passed the 11 month mark of my contract and I'm not staying on at the school despite the fact I'm staying in Korea.

It's a shame as I like the teachers and the kids I teach. The hours are good. But the b/s that I've had to deal with, a not good salary (1.9), in a not nice area are the main reasons for staying on with this boss.

clg

[TheUrbanMyth]

[canuckistan]

After two years, I get the feeling that if you're a qualified teacher from NA you get instant respect in Korea, even though others working here who aren't and who do a great job teaching anyhow can still get treated badly. Koreans love image, and the "professional teacher" qualification goes a lot further here than just having a bachelor's degree.

[sadsac]

Interesting that many have experienced a similar, rather dysfunctional rational when resigning after a protracted period with the same school. My wife and I, had the highest retention rate of students within the school and the most disciplined classes. Yes, many of the students that we taught have now left and the school is suffering. Up until the time of our resignations, our relationship with the director and his family was great, we spent vacation time travelling through Korea with them and considered them friends. The problem was with the work relationship and being able to differentiate between the two. I am not racist and love Korea. My students still email me, but I have never and will never advocate that they leave MIT. I will not demean my professional integrity and stoop to the same level as this man.

Thank you all for your positive and enlightening responses. May 2004 the year of the teacher.

[shawner88]

[sadsac]

shawner88 said

Wow, what a hero! Sounds like you had a pretty easy job at least. Only 9 students for a year?

The second school when established only had 9 students. The school I managed had 350 - 400 students and 9 foreign teachers. We did not employ any Korean teaching staff. I only went to the second school for the final two months when we purchased the enrollment of a defunct school. I went over to manage the student transition because I and my wife excel at would we do. I love teaching, I love the interaction with my Korean students. I finally found my niche and I want to keep on teaching.