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iotaphi821
Joined: 15 May 2009
Location: Currently North Carolina
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 Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 8:52 am Post subject: Curious about something... |
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So, i've decided to make the jump and am going to be accepting a job in Seoul sometime within the next coupla months. I've decided to go with a place called ESLPark, hopefully they wont stick me in some mini dictatorship of a school and leaving me sleeping in a shanty in the middle of a rice field some where. Then again, if they do, screw it. Only live once and all right?
Regardless, I've read about a million and a half wierd things about Korea, but something struck me as funny. This whole parents giving teachers gifts to influence their kids grades thing.
Does that stuff really happen?
Cause...you know...a new motorcycle.....
Just kidding, I am curious though. |
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tenchu77491
Joined: 16 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 9:01 am Post subject: |
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I get gifts a lot from parents and kids. It's not really to influence grades. Gift giving is very common in most asian countries.
PS
I usually get things like coffee, yogurt, doughnuts, ice coffee, etc. |
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iotaphi821
Joined: 15 May 2009
Location: Currently North Carolina
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 9:08 am Post subject: |
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coffee? doughnuts....
are we talking dunkin donuts or just run of the mill donuts, cause that's a deal breaker right there man.
Honestly, I don't care either way. It's just one of those random things that I read that I was curious about. You know how it goes. |
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tenchu77491
Joined: 16 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 9:15 am Post subject: |
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She gave me a half dozen doughnuts from dunkin doughnuts. =)
Though that case was a little special. She wanted to ask me to help her daughter prepare for her speech contest (was outside of our school, some sort of national contest). She asked me to help correct her speech and do a voice recording of it so her daughter could practice. So therefore it was an incentive for me help her, I mean how could I refuse that!
PS,
Even kids give me a lot of small gifts like food and drinks. It's just something that's really common. My favorite gift ever was official Oreos. Oreos, in Korea! |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 10:55 am Post subject: |
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Gift giving used to be a huge problem here. Sometimes it still is. It was quite common for teachers to drive home on Teachers Day with a trunk full of expensive gifts. It's now illegal.
Some of the logic behind it was: There are 40 kids in a class. A few gifts of the right kind--often explicitly spelled out by the teacher (computers, microwaves, TVs)--would bring individual attention to certain kids. |
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iotaphi821
Joined: 15 May 2009
Location: Currently North Carolina
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 11:44 am Post subject: |
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Dunkin Donuts you say.....
Yeah, see, that's what I'm talking about right there. Throw in some starbucks.....
Hehe.
Which btw, are there starbucks in Seoul?
Anyways, yeah, I heard about it. Believe it or not I actually hold myself to some pretty high moral standards (at the workplace at least), other than that I'm a drunken, no good, ne'er do well...
Probably shouldn't be advertising that >.>
Anywho, moving on to more important matters,, where's a good place to get a beer round abouts those parts. Matter of fact, does Korea even have good beer? Also, for any smokers, heard the cigarettes there are horrible, any truth to that either? |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:04 pm Post subject: Re: Curious about something... |
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| iotaphi821 wrote: |
So, i've decided to make the jump and am going to be accepting a job in Seoul sometime within the next coupla months. I've decided to go with a place called ESLPark, hopefully they wont stick me in some mini dictatorship of a school and leaving me sleeping in a shanty in the middle of a rice field some where. Then again, if they do, screw it. Only live once and all right?
Regardless, I've read about a million and a half wierd things about Korea, but something struck me as funny. This whole parents giving teachers gifts to influence their kids grades thing.
Does that stuff really happen?
Cause...you know...a new motorcycle.....
Just kidding, I am curious though. |
If you're teaching at a children's hagwon any reports or marks you give are meaningless in the students' academic life and if they're inflated it's just to create a better impression with the parents. You'll get a few gifts on Teachers' Day and Christmas, especially from parents who want their kids to get extra attention. |
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Demophobe
Joined: 17 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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| tenchu77491 wrote: |
| It's not really to influence grades. |
Because "grades" from a hagwon are worth less that the pencil lead used to scratch them out.
Think of the gifts as small motivators from parents who already know the score. |
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polonius
Joined: 05 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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| iotaphi821 wrote: |
Dunkin Donuts you say.....
Which btw, are there starbucks in Seoul?
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Yeah, to find the Starbucks in Seoul, turn left at the rice fields, walk down the dirt path for about a mile. You will see a row of shanties where they stick all the foreigners. Once you pass that, it is on your right.
BTW, ESLPark is just a recruiting company. I suggest going with as many recruiting companies as possible, and open up a new email account, cause you are going to get swarmed. |
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the foystein
Joined: 23 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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If you're teaching at a children's hagwon any reports or marks you give are meaningless in the students' academic life
The same is true in the public schools. |
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harlowethrombey
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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I get food and many, many love letters.
Honestly, I'd rather not get the flood of gifts. I'm just one person and I dont think its healthy to eat an entire chocolate cake or a bag of Twix on my own.
So, if you get gifts spread the wealth and give them to your coworkers or friends.
The love letters, though, are adorable, I keep those. |
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iotaphi821
Joined: 15 May 2009
Location: Currently North Carolina
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| Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 8:02 am Post subject: |
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| harlowethrombey wrote: |
I get food and many, many love letters.
Honestly, I'd rather not get the flood of gifts. I'm just one person and I dont think its healthy to eat an entire chocolate cake or a bag of Twix on my own. |
Honestly, I'd pass on the food just in case some miserable bastard spiked it with exlax. See...I have a lot of trust in my fellow man. Especially in a strange country where I'm a minority.
| polonius wrote: |
| Yeah, to find the Starbucks in Seoul, turn left at the rice fields, walk down the dirt path for about a mile. You will see a row of shanties where they stick all the foreigners. Once you pass that, it is on your right |
Yeah, I think I saw those directions....Right next to the crazy drunk guy in the Burt Reynolds get up right?  |
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Oreovictim
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 8:28 am Post subject: |
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Perhaps instead of asking about the quality of the donuts, you should find out if your school WILL be a mini-dictatorship or not. Talk with the current teachers. You're right; you only live once, but working at a crappy school for one year can seem like a lifetime. Best of luck.
The parents at my last school would bring in Krispie Kream donuts. I prefer Dunkin Donuts, but free food is free food. |
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iotaphi821
Joined: 15 May 2009
Location: Currently North Carolina
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| Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 7:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Oreovictim wrote: |
| Perhaps instead of asking about the quality of the donuts, you should find out if your school WILL be a mini-dictatorship or no. |
I plan too. Once I know what school I'll be in...I'm still in the fledgling process of getting all my stuff together.
And I'll have you know....doughnut quality is a very important factor in day to day life.
But yeah, I'm definitely not going into this completely blind. I have every intention of checking and then double checking my checking once I have the set down hard facts. Ya dig?
Btw it would seem you're a fan of oreos. I applaud you good sir in your choice of snacking. It's a wise one. |
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Big Mac
Joined: 17 Sep 2005
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| Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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Are you seriously coming to Korea to teach? Judging by your questions and the way you phrase things, you sound like you're 10 years old. Korea doesn't hire ten year olds.
If you really are serious, don't just stick with one recruiter. Use many. And do a bit of research about what you should get in a contract in terms of pay, pension, medical insurance, etc.
Stop focusing on the doughnuts and start thinking about the things you should care about. |
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