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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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Goku
Joined: 10 Dec 2008
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 Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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While I feel bad for the guy (I really do)
My cynical and caustic nature will just prevent from feeling the full brunt force of pity.
10 mil won isn't THAT much money. If he has to ask complete strangers for that kind of money he's either really poor, (which would beg the question why is he on a tourist visa in the first place... a ticket here is about 2 mil right there, and you don't exactly tour a country if you're poor) or he doesn't know how to get money.
If I ever needed 10mil won to save my leg I'd have relatives and family members, maybe even friends that could spare that money. Now I'm not trying to make him feel bad by saying he has no friends or family that can support him, but many people in small amounts that he should already be connected should help him. Not handouts on facebook.... and especially not Dave's ESL cafe.
If people do help him, that's great. And I love charitable people. And I can understand his situation. I might do the same in his situation if I couldn't get that amount of money. And I certainly give him the benefit of the doubt and don't think this is a scam.
But I just have to wonder... WHY is he touring he's so poor!??! |
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moosehead
Joined: 05 May 2007
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 10:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Robot_Teacher wrote: |
Moosehead, I did read that in your post last night, I don't know why you're defensively lying about that. Maybe you changed your mind by re-editing your post and didn't really mean to say it.
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either your reading comprehension skills leave a LOT to be desired or you have some private agenda that's not been clarified - which is it?
This is what I wrote:
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the way this is written can be excused if it is indeed, sincere, but quite frankly it does read like so many scams do
please act now
it's all up to you
something really terrible will happen and it's all your fault if you don't do anything |
seriously - you might stop and think about how incredibly offensive you have just made yourself to be by calling someone a liar - in fact you might even apololgize but considering how quick you were to jump in there and make your accusations of course I don't expect it -
just try and stay on topic, ok? |
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Ruthdes
Joined: 16 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 11:07 pm Post subject: |
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| gangwonbound wrote: |
Doesn't like the Wolfhound pub had an account which people donated for Bill Kapour(spl) last time where they still had some left over cash or something?
Also didn't we raise a shed load of cash for Bill? Something like 40,000? Isn't like 10,000 a lot easier to raise this time? |
This is EXACTLY what I was wondering and just posted on the facebook group's FAQ thread. When I went to the fundraiser at the Wolfhound last year, they had already raised enough money and told me that the excess would go into a "burned teachers relief fund" That is no joke, that's what the girl said to me! After asking her wtf? it seemed that it was going to be a more broad type of fund. So where is this money?! Surely this is just the sort of situation it should be used for?
Yes, he should have had travel insurance...stupid. But does he deserve to lose his limb and possibly his life because he is poor and and took a stupid risk and made a bad decision!? Especially when we can help? I'm going to donate 20,000 won. Not much, but it will help.
We all do dumb things from time to time. I just hope that if (god forbid) I ever end up in a similar situation, whether from bad luck or my own fault, I have a community to help me like Matt does. Pay it Forward was a damn sappy and annoying film, but the general idea is a good one and I try to follow it when I can. |
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madoka
Joined: 27 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Thu May 28, 2009 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Goku wrote: |
| But I just have to wonder... WHY is he touring he's so poor!??! |
I guess you didn't see the pics of him smoking cigars in Thailand on his facebook page. Or all the party pics. I'm guessing he blew all his money on having a good time and didn't plan on a rainy day. Not particularly bright when you have known health problems and know that your family or your 174 friends on facebook can't afford to bail you out. Well, I guess that's why we have people like Forward Observer who will magically come forth and save his posterior. 
One thing I would like clarification on though. It sounds like he was an illegal teacher who was caught with health problems between visa runs. His friends merely claim he was not illegally teaching when the problems occured. Seems like an unusal way to phrase it if he was legal. In addition, nobody has come forth and said he has a degree and no schools were listed on his facebook page. Can anyone confirm that he was definitely not illegal? |
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Forward Observer
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Location: FOB Gloria
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| Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 1:58 am Post subject: |
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| Any one of the millions of churches in this country could bail this guy out in a heartbeat. Where's the love there? No one contacted them yet? Relying on cheap ass ESL teachers isn't going to save this guy ya know... |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 5:19 am Post subject: |
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| Goku wrote: |
While I feel bad for the guy (I really do)
My cynical and caustic nature will just prevent from feeling the full brunt force of pity.
10 mil won isn't THAT much money. If he has to ask complete strangers for that kind of money he's either really poor, (which would beg the question why is he on a tourist visa in the first place... a ticket here is about 2 mil right there, and you don't exactly tour a country if you're poor) or he doesn't know how to get money.
If I ever needed 10mil won to save my leg I'd have relatives and family members, maybe even friends that could spare that money. Now I'm not trying to make him feel bad by saying he has no friends or family that can support him, but many people in small amounts that he should already be connected should help him. Not handouts on facebook.... and especially not Dave's ESL cafe.
If people do help him, that's great. And I love charitable people. And I can understand his situation. I might do the same in his situation if I couldn't get that amount of money. And I certainly give him the benefit of the doubt and don't think this is a scam.
But I just have to wonder... WHY is he touring he's so poor!??! |
As I understand, he flew in to look for a job. That's not a very common thing to do in Korea. That's more common for people looking to work in Japan. Anyway, this guy, from what I understand, was legal for three years. I will admit, I haven't saved a ton, myself, but I, thanfully, have a few million in pension and will take a few million with me. I should have been more careful, I think. I have a job lined up for me when I go back to the U.S.
I will donate a little money to this guy. He somehow looks familiar. I've seen him around.
There was once a story of a boy who went to play in the water. He couldn't swim and all of a sudden the waves took him away from the shore. He started yelling for help. A man started lecturing him instead of helping. The boy said, "Save me first, lecture me later". We are talking about life-and-death for a young man. It's not the time to judge him, it's the time to help. |
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hamlet712
Joined: 16 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 5:43 am Post subject: |
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Read many of the posts forgive me if I repeat people
1) if you are battling blood clots:
a) maybe travelling to other countries is not the smartest of plans
b) if you do do travel, yeah, they do have a thing caled travel insurance, might have been smart to get some of that.
c) If you choose to ignore a and b perhaps youd better have some money stashed away so that when your bad choice of a and your stupidity of b come back to haunt you you can pay for the surgery.
2) Medical insurance is not the same thing as travellers insurance, and as someone noticed, its a good thing Korea is not giving medical insurance to tourists, just like in Canada.
3) I am no expert but isnt Gangrene caused by improper cleaning and prevented by Antibiotics? Couldnt he have either cleaned his wound and or gotten antibiotics? Or was the cost of Antibiotics too high for him because he had no medical coverage?
4) I am sorry that he may die, but there ae millions of people world wide who are dying everyday and most of you wouldnt give them a damn cent, and we are supposed to give money to this guy who had a chance to be covered and didn't? Is it that he is American and not say Ethiopian or Laotian? |
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jinks
Joined: 27 Oct 2004
Location: Formerly: Lower North Island
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| Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 6:29 am Post subject: |
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| I gave a small donation (I know someone who says she knows the guy), but that's about the end of my involvement. I'm interested in any updates, but I'm not interested in tough-love lectures or bleeding heart empathy. If you want to give, just give. If you don't want to, then don't, but quit the crusading, people. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 6:32 am Post subject: |
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I hope he comes through this ok.
It's a lesson to everyone here - save some freakin' money. Sure, you might be having a grand time, but if you've got nothing in the bank, your safety net is pretty weak. If you've been here for three years and have little to show for it... something's wrong. |
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moosehead
Joined: 05 May 2007
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| Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:27 am Post subject: |
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another suggestion - how about holding a fundraiser/benefit over in Itaewon - Stompers does that from time to time - or even just passing the hat at the HBC music fest this weekend -
might help a bit anyway.  |
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margaret
Joined: 14 Oct 2003
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Has anyone heard what happened to this guy? |
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Goku
Joined: 10 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 11:16 pm Post subject: |
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| margaret wrote: |
| Has anyone heard what happened to this guy? |
For you:
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Today, June 4th, I had the first surgery to repair the area where my skin tissue was damaged and removed, but this surgery is only the first. I must have a second, more complex surgery to repair more damaged tissue. At this point, the doctors are unsure when this second surgery may happen due to issues with Deep Vein Thrombosis. It is a very difficult surgery, and at this point it is not clear if this surgery will happen at Soon Chun Hyang Hospital, another Korean hospital or even possibly in the U.S. I have been in the hospital now for one month, and finally the light is shining at the end of the tunnel. I know I�m not anywhere near the end of all this yet, but at least I know that the end will come eventually.
It has been difficult at times to remain in good spirits and come to grips with everything, but seeing everyone so willing to help in whatever way they could was one of the main reasons why I have been able to cope and find the humor in this situation. Thank you all so very much. Being in the hospital and not out in the neighborhood with all of you sucks, but in the end it will only be that much better once I finally get out. I am in debt to you all. Thank you so much.
Matt Robinson
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From Lydia:
Matt's doing well; his skin graft went as planned, and there hasn't been a problem with it. I went to see him last night, pint of Baskin Robbins in hand, and we chatted for a while.
Although the wound is closed, there is still a major reconstructive surgery ahead. This surgery is essential for his future health. Soonchunhyang has said that they don't want to do this surgery because it's so risky given the Deep Vein Thrombosis, so Matt is going to look into other hospitals and talk to other doctors who are more skilled and/or have more experience in this area. We will continue fundraising efforts for this surgery.
Right now, we're waiting for him to recover from the skin graft surgery; his expected discharge date is June 13th, I believe.
Thanks, everyone, for all the support, and bless you all!
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June 8th
I am HAPPY to report.... as of 3 p.m. today, Matt's current balance was 350 won!!!!!! Which is about 35 cents US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe this???? We have paid approximately 22,000,000 on Matt's account.
BUT we are continuing our fund-raising initiatives because Matt has a long way to go..
Right now Matt is trying to get his medical records from the hospital so he can get second opinions on his next surgery... which will be much more complicated. Matt has been told that he will receive 4 copies of his records, but they have also been very concerned about what Matt is going to do with the records and have asked him why he needs them. So, we will see how long it takes... obviously these documents are needed for Matt to make decisions about his health and next step and the sooner he receives them the better. Ideally he could have some answers before leaving this hospital... we'll see.
TOMORROW (Tuesday 9th) there will be an article in the JoongAng Daily written by Kim Mi Ju, and on Saturday the 13th, Sabrina Rech will be covering Matt's story on TBS radio, Seoul of Asia segment. Will check on the time.
Please come out to support Matt and the Seoul Player's special performance of Silly Cow on Thursday night (11th, 8-9:30 p.m.) or Dance for Matt at OBEC on Saturday13th.
Again, great job everyone and keep up the good work!!!
Colette |
PS. 22 million won and they used it all? I thought the surgery was only 10 million. Can anyone clarify this? |
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Daegudavid
Joined: 08 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:08 am Post subject: |
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Bad things happen and they can't always be helped.
It's good to see the foreigner community coming together for this young man. |
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Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
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| Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:53 am Post subject: |
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| Goku wrote: |
| PS. 22 million won and they used it all? I thought the surgery was only 10 million. Can anyone clarify this? |
Hospital charges get racked up day-by-day on top of the cost of the actual surgery/procedures. They don't stop billing until the patient is discharged.
Then there will be reconstructive surgery down the road yet--more bills to come. Payday for me is next Wednesday and I'll be pitching in another $20, just because I've been graced with the ability to do so. (And I like to pay my karma forward.)
God Bless you kids for taking care of your friend.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2905853 |
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