Korean Job Discussion Forums

[summer33ny]

Since coming to Korea, I have been very passive about things..I guess not wanting to come off as the ungrateful, complaining foreigner and not wanting to start off on a bad foot with my co-teacher and co-workers. So I have let a lot of things go with little complaints..

For one, my boyfriend and I were given a small studio apartment to live in. I complained about this when we first arrived, but my co-teacher insisted that this was "usual" living arrangements for a Korean couple. So we decided to not make an issue of it anymore. Several times she told us that the landlady said a "larger" apartment may be available for us.. but nothing ever came of it. We also had the Principal over not too long ago and he also commented about the apartment being "too small" for 2 people.

Anyhow, we had a problem with our toilet never flushing properly. We told the school and they were over immediately and ended up installing a brand new toilet. So we were very grateful. But lately we have been having a horrible problem with our bathroom smelling like sewage all the time. I don't know what it is.. but it cannot be healthy. And it has only gotten worse since we first moved in.

I told my co-teacher and she talked to the maintenance person at the school who had installed our toilet and he said that it is a problem resulting from the building being old and that he cannot fix it. My co-teacher said that she can give us some stuff to pour down the toilet thay may help with the smell. But it is awful. REALLY. And I am having friends from home coming soon to visit...

In addition, my boyfriend was getting picked up for work everyday from a co-worker who lives in our town. Recently, she asked him for 50,000 won per month for her to continue driving him. Her reason behind this was that she would have carpooled with other co-workers if she did not have to pick him up everyday. He looked into the cost of the busfare and that would have been 80,000 per month. So he went for her offer. He also contacted our POE who said that it is our responsibility to pay for transportation expenses to our main school. Part of me wonders if this is really fair though... or usual..?

We have been here 5 months now. So I am not sure what can be done at this point. Is this typical treatment for foreigners? Are we being too passive about this? And if so, what action should we take? Or should we just continue to stick it out?

I guess naturally we are easy going people who can make the best of any situation-- but I guess that is the wrong attitude to have in this country.

[nathanrutledge]

I get bugs and some smells coming from the drain in my bathroom sometimes. I'm fairly confidant that the plumbing in Korea is not the same as it is in the US, i.e. the four bathrooms of the four apartments on my floor all lead to the main line with no trap in between and I'm getting my neighbors problems coming into my drain. Stick on your school about getting that addressed, be it having the landlord tell the neighbors to clean it up (if that is the case in your building as well), using plenty of drain cleaners and other good poisons to kill anything and everything in there, etc.

I'd say your best bet is to stick on your school/co-teacher and point out the size and the smell combo and angle for the larger apartment. I know a few couples here (around Suwon/Osan) who have larger apartments because they are couples, so you should be able to get one.

The bus fare, I ran into that too. Around my school there are no villas, only tall high rises with rich folks so I live in a "less affluent" (read - slums) area further away. When I brought up the issue of the bus fare, I got the run around and the final answer was there were some new villas about a mile from my school I could be moved to. The downside being I'd be a distance away from the bus station and subway station then.

IMHO, you can't be too nice. A lot of people on here will say "stick it to them, they're screwing you, don't go to work, kill your boss, etc..." but it sounds like you're on the right track. Keep ASKING about moving and see what happens.

[Ramen]

yeah! Kill your boss and anyone who bothers you and your bf.

[asylum seeker]

[D.D.]

50000 is a good deal. My co-teacher was driving me and her English was improving and then she just stopped picking me up as they said I had settled in. Now I pay 9000 each day in transport which adds up about 200000. Her English has also slid back to a low level. Some cool teachers pick me up when they see me at the bus stop some days but the silence can be painful with the language gap.

[summer33ny]

Sorry I didn't make it clear that I don't "expect" my boyfriend's co-worker to pick him up each morning. We are very grateful. But we had believed that the school is required to pay for transportation costs to work. This was because a couple we work with in our town has a transportation allowance each month and they have never paid out of pocked for taking the bus to work everyday. So we thought this was standard. And we had just assumed that the school wanted to save themselves some $$$ by having a teacher in our area drive him as oppossed to paying for his bus fare.

So when this teacher asked for money.. we wondered if this was legit. It was then that we contacted the POE who said that travel is not reimbursed. But our friends who are reimbursed each month say this is incorrect and unfair...

But then again..I guess there are no standards here about anything.

[I'm no Picasso]

Since when do people not have to pay their own bus fare to work? Your boyfriend's getting a $30 discount and the benefit of not having to ride a smelly, sweaty, crowded bus first thing in the morning.

Sounds like another couple of teachers who somehow thought they were signing on for a Korean vacation tour package or something. Have you and your boyfriend never worked before? You're adults. Everyone else is not responsible for your problems. If you don't like the housing your school provided for you, take the housing allowance and find a place that suits what you're looking for.

Easy going. Right.

[nathanrutledge]

Last year, I WAS getting paid another 100k per month because I lived away from my school. Turns out it was a mistake and they took it away from me. I asked "wasn't this for my transportation to school?" The response was that it was, but I had to take 2 or more buses to get to school. So GEPIK apparently does pay transport in that situation (even though I take 2 and they still said no - idiots.)

[summer33ny]

LOL!!! Yea right. Do you really believe them giving us a housing allowance is an option??? LOL. I wish. Unfortunately, that would mean giving us the amount that they told us the school pays for our apartment as oppossed to what they actually are paying for our apartment.

And about the driving.. well I guess that's fair then. I guess we should not listen to the other teachers in our town who have their busfare paid for every month.[/quote]

[Oreovictim]

What kind of place do you live in? Is it one of those small villas that are about three stories, or do you live in a high-rise?

I lived in a crappy villa called Easy View Apartments (Yong-in). Sometimes, that crappy sewage smell would come into my apartment. I've been woken up a few times because of it.

I had a friend who had the same problem. He lived in an old villa. We'd be sitting around at his place. The person living upstairs would flush, and then you could smell the crap for a few seconds. Horrible!

As far as the gas, 50,000 sounds reasonable. Not sure about your apartment though. If you're one of the countless people to have your pad posted on youtube, I could be a better judge on whether it's too small or not.

[sugarkane59]

I agree with I'm No Picasso. If these are your only problems then I would count yourselves lucky. You are in Korea, not America. There are always going to be things you are not 100% happy with.

[ChinaBoy]

It sounds like every problem you have, they don't do anything about. I would think sooner or later you need to be more forceful.

[D.D.]

I get the feeling that some people don't speak up and repress their feelings. Some people call this easy going but I call it a volcano waiting to go off. I sense some anger when I read this thread. Anger is really just repressed energy that some of us hold down . Your situation does not sound that bad unless there are some other things they have been doing to you. I think the small place should be dealt with. People who stand up for themselves are sometimes not liked but they don't hold many regrets inside. They tend to express their emotions and then the issue is over.

[Julius]

[alphakennyone]

Seeking work in country is (was) a great idea, but I'm not sure how feasible/easy it is now with the visa requirements.