Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Teddycakes21]

This post was actually a response to the "why are you upset with your school" thread, but I wanted to share my experiences and feel that my school is worthy of its own thread. It really is brutal.

Here is basically a quick peek into my life as an English teacher here in South Korea. Read at your own risk!

* My school is a christian school.
* They asked me to tithe 10% of my salary and I refused. They pushed this issue for 7 months and even tried to make me feel guilty.
* Regular work hours 8am-6pm.
* MANDATORY morning prayer service (completely in Korean, goes until 8:45). So lame. I could be using this time to prepare for my first class, which is at 8:50.
* Wednesday night MANDATORY chapel from 7:20-8:30 (completely in Korean).
* Sunday church service 11am-12:30pm... MANDATORY.
* They re-use the printer paper and put it back in the printer.
* They LOCK the "good" (haha - unbelievable) printer paper.
* They (Koreans - principal, Korean teachers, Korean employees) tell me ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I am an employee at the school and they think it's okay to just go weeks or months without telling me anything relevant to schedule, changes, plans, holidays, 1/2 days... I am always the LAST person to hear anything. Usually 1 minute before something has to be done, causing serious inconvenience.
* They acted "surprised" when it came time to pay my bonus, after a year's worth of hard work.
* They told me that I "don't work as hard as the Korean teachers and make more money" when negotiating my 2nd year contract. I told them that I shouldn't be compared to Korean teachers, being that I am a) not Korean b) under a contract with specific terms of working hours, pay, etc. c) offer services and talents that the Korean teachers cannot offer.
* When I take food at lunch, the kitchen lady STILL screams something at me, laughing hysterically at me if I choose not to take rice.
* The school janitor tells the owner in detail the contents of my garbage.
* People in the office singing / screaming / laughing / carrying on like it is a circus.
* There is a toilet in the school's main office (my office).
* They tried to hurry me through the signing of the new contract. I noticed that specific things (bonus, work hours) were changed and called them on it. They acted as if they were "surprised" again. It was a clear attempt at trying to take advantage of me, and they tried to bully me into signing quickly.
* They had me working at two schools for one year. I didn't realize that this was illegal. When I mentioned this to them, they justified it by saying, "We own both schools, so it is okay." They stuttered this in broken English, obviously.
* The other school was 50 minutes away. Sometimes I would get home as late as 9pm. They seem to be incredibly adamant about working hours - unless, of course, they can get me to work beyond those hours without compensation.
* An mp3 player and 2 ipod usb cords were taken from my desk. All at different times. When I asked the Korean teachers why this keeps happening, they just stare at me, as if I am an alien or something. They didn't even bother to ask one student about this.
* The Korean teachers make so much noise, laughing and chatting at a loud volume, but when I say one word, the whole office suddenly gets extremely quiet. You could hear a pin drop. They think it is so "interesting" whenever I have something to say. Not in a "I want to help you" way, but more like an "Oh God... look at this needy American" kind of way.

I don't know... those are kind of the big ones that really stick out to me. Today I had another deal where I overheard that I might be going to Seoul tomorrow for a school presentation. I also heard that I will definitely not be going. The principal was there all day, and didn't mention a thing to me, so I figured I might not be needed.

Later in the day (5pm) I saw my principal and figured I should ask him if I will be going. He said yes. I asked what time and he said 7:30am.

How stupid of me! Of course they would need to show the American face to everyone.

I wonder when he was planning on telling me this information? 7:29?

Oh well. This turned into a rant, but it is a well-deserved rant.

Before anyone asks why I am still here, there are a few reasons why I have chosen to live with this:

A) My wife is also working here, and together we are making a decent amount of money. We are saving for our future, spending very little, have a decent apartment with no rent.

B) I would rather not go through the visa process again.

C) I don't trust anyone in this country enough to try something else.

If you say that your school is so much better, I will have trouble believing this - just based off of the things (and people) that I have seen in my 18 months in South Korea.

I am beyond the point where I am surprised by anything here. I know that even though I have a decent connection with the owner of my school, they were still willing to try and cheat me when negotiating my contract. I can not bring myself to expect better from any other Koreans or any other institutions.

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The point of this thread was to share some of my experiences at this school, and to ask others who can identify with some of these things to share their experiences as well.

[Bog Roll]

Mate, your school sounds horrible BUT why re-sign? The free apartment you get anywhere in Korea - I had married friends who got a pearler of an apartment in Jukjeon and they work for GEPIK.

Working in two places? Put your foot down - just tell them you can't do it - what are they going to do? Ring immigration!

The extra hours - get your contract out and just say NO!

Hey - its not easy - I am in the middle of shitty China and the FAO at my university has tried to get me to work extra classes for 70 rmb an hour -
I told her to kiss my whip! She kept asking me - seven or eight times, using emotional blackmail and not taking 'no' for an answer but still the anwser stayed the same - you have to do this and become tougher because they will have you working there all day.. (thats whats happening with you now isn't it?)

Does it really say you have to go to church on Sunday in your contract? Again - they would have to kiss my.. but then again, I would not work for a 'christian' school in Korea...

[runthegauntlet]

I would say.... absolutely yes.

But, eh, you resigned...

[English Matt]

You don't believe anybody has it better than you? Dude, everybody I know (including those who work for hagwons) have it better than you.

The paperwork for the visa is not exactly difficult or demanding to get. Put in a bit of research, find a decent public school in GEPIK or EPIK and switch. Is your wife a Korean? If she is then the visa issues do not exist....if she's not Korean then surely she would support your decision and either move with you, or help you switch to a better employer. No amount of money is worth putting yourself through a miserable experience.

[yingwenlaoshi]

You are in South Korea, the greatest country in the whole, wide world.

You should be giving thanks at chapel time, and you really should give that 10% tithe not to God, but to your principal.

[Teddycakes21]

[Bog Roll]

[Teddycakes21]

[Teddycakes21]

[yoja]

As entertaining as this thread is, I still don't understand why

[Teddycakes21]

[proustme]

Sorry for your situation. Your school and its people are the problem. Not you. The people there don't respect you or your work. That's a bad situation to be in.

[Teddycakes21]

[yoja]

ah, so the lack of maintenance/cleanliness of said toilet is the problem, not the toilet itself. Gotcha.

PS if you really want to get out of church on Sundays, you need to start loudly voicing unpopular opinions while you are there, or calling everyone to repentance, or mildly stirring up trouble along those lines. Make yourself unpopular, and have fun doing it. Pretty soon church won't be "mandatory" and you will again be free to spend your Sundays as you wish, as (I'm hoping) is spelled out in your contract.

On an off-topic but related note, my brother, when forced to attend church as a teenager, stole a key to the chapel and/or would make sure one window was unlocked and then on Sunday night he would catch a bunch of pigeons, toss them along with some birdseed inside the church, and then lock up/close the window. The church remained locked up and unoccupied all week until Sunday morning. After about a month of this mysteriously happening, my mom stopped forcing my brother to go to church. She also had this disappointed, defeated, "my spirit has been broken and I'm praying for your lost soul" attitude for awhile. It was awesome.

[ChopChaeJoe]

That place sucks. Anywhere would be better.