Korean Job Discussion Forums

[NYC_Gal]

People don't tend to get wasted on planes (at least not the ones I've flown), which is another factor. A creep factor.

It's a matter of preference. If you can get out of it, why not?

[Fishead soup]

These things are great. I went to the Seaside. We ate Sashimi that was so fresh that the tail was still twiching. We later went to a night club.

[ThingsComeAround]

Orientation does not equal the "teacher's retreat".

My last year I got sick and couldn't attend the retreat. This year we are going to Jeju! I'm psyched

I see the facilities at the orientation haven't changed one bit. The entertainment venue has, too bad

[Illysook]

I am new to GEPIK. I worked at a hagwon last year. The orientation/retreat was a nice chance to meet other teachers in my area and get some ideas for future lesson plans. Sure, I sat through a few snooze worthy lectures, but since the alternative was desk-warming during an exam week, it was okay with me.

[GoldenPennies]

I just went on a retreat last weekend. We had some fun times, but I would not go on one again.

Positives: We went to a national park and saw some beautiful scenery (for only one hour). I got to see NK through a barbwire fence. We played drunken soccer on the beach.

Negatives: All they ate the entire time was sashimi, we went to one restaurant that served cooked meat (I generally like Korean food, even the raw fish and squid, but I can only take so much of it). The place we stayed at was way too small for the amount of people we had. I think we had 8 people in each room. People were snoring, farting, and entering/leaving the room, so it was difficult to get some shut eye. The beach we went to was filthy. Litter was everywhere, and after playing barefoot soccer, (the principal insisted everyone take their shoes and socks off) everyone had a strange coat of silver on their feet.

The worst part of the trip had to be the bus ride. Our school rented a party bus with a noraebang system installed. At 7am on a Saturday morning we set out. They immediately started drinking heavily. By 8 am half of them were wasted. This was when the torture started. They cranked up that noraebang and started singing away. The volume was so loud that I wanted to stab my eardrums. For 5 hours straight we drove, singing the whole time. The worst part was the more drunk they got, the more annoying they were. Especially one teacher in particular. He couldn't keep his hands off of me (probably a latent homo or something). At one point he put his hand out toward me, as if to shake my hand. I gave him my hand and he immediately grabbed it and brought it toward his mouth to kiss it. Before he could accomplish this strange feet I took my hand away with such swiftness that he ended up slapping himself in the face. That was the highlight of the trip for me.

[namerae]

I don't see why people have a problem with retreats. Personally, I think of it like a work field-trip which are awesome for us because you get to know your coworkers on a more personal level and everyone gets more comfortable with each other.

Plus, having men and women sleeping in the same room isn't that big a deal in my book. Like someone else mentioned, you sleep on buses/trains/planes with people of the opposite sex and there's no threat. So what makes you think there's going to be a problem? I think you, OP, have to let the leash out a bit on your S.O. If you have reason to distrust them, then I can see what you're talking about, but otherwise shouldn't they have fun just as much as you? "Fun" doesn't mean an orgy, it just means participating in a work-funded retreat.

I, personally, am looking forward to it

[GoldenPennies]

There shouldn't be any problems with the retreat i say go for it!

[pkjh]

Those teacher retreats are great. I always look forward to them, nothing but drinking and not worrying about what people will think of you if you have to stop the bus every 5 minutes to hurl.