Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kraggy]

Hi,

I'm public middles school.

My camp runs from 9 to 12.10 each day. I thought that I would be allowed to go home after this, but have just been told that I'm expected to stay until 4.20pm.

Do you guys get to go home after camp or do you have to stay the full day?

[CentralCali]

To be blunt, anyone who posts here that they get to leave earlier than 4:30 pm (the usual daily quitting-time) is a moron.

Remember, that you're contracted to be at school the entire work-day whenever school is in session, including winter camp and summer camp. Anyone who doesn't has just discovered that although the Korean teachers get to "prepare lesson materials from home" for the entire semester break, their school isn't extending that same privilege to the foreigner. Anyone who gets to leave before 4:30 is lucky and risks getting "officialdom" in a snit that'll have negative consequences for them and all the other lucky folks.

Got it good? Keep quiet? Got it bad but still within the contract and the law? Still keep quiet about others who have it good.

[ippy]

im here till 5. No problem!

Also, beware them that do get to leave after classes are over. You may end up with a nasty surprise when you want to take your vacation and magically find that those half days were being collated by someone at your school. If you get a half day, you takes your chance.

[CentralCali]

Exactly! Some time ago, I posted the form that's supposed to be submitted if you get to do the "prep at home" deal and someone asked me "Why on Earth would you submit that form?" The simple answer is: to avoid the disappearing vacation days surprise.

Here's an old "Humor in Uniform" anecdote from Reader's Digest. There was an MP company with K-9s stationed in Vietnam. The company was undermanned, so the commanding officer had the men pulling double shifts. One day, the First Sergeant informed the CO that, due to a number of illnesses with the dogs, the company is now short of K-9s. The CO told the 1SG, "Well, we'll just have to put the dogs on double shifts too." The 1SG responded with, "Sir, you can work a man like a dog, but you can't work a dog like a man."

Take this story however you want to. You can even wonder why I posted it here.

[BankOfRC]

I never asked, they never said anything. I can say I would probably leave if my school was that uptight. Only one reason public schools are worth it, free time that comes with it. You don't make enough money to deal with the other BS.

[ippy]

everyone i know who didnt have to desk warm last year said the same thing to me when i had to desk warm. Every one of them are deskwarming this year, and every one of them are still in their jobs (albeit more grumbly). Its amazing how much power we have to completely drop everything and live our lives without compromise... until we actually face a situation when we have to compromise. Then suddenly people think "actually, this is stilll an easy job, but i swear if they do ONE MORE THING then im gone!!!"

Inertia is a terrible thing

[rainism]

I'm going to to plead no lo contedere.

but post lunch deskwarming would be the easiest of them all to deal with.
take a nice long nap in the EZ which has much better AC than my crappy appt room, for starters. play some computer games and you're set, also in more comfy and cool conditions!

[jrwhite82]

You are contractually obligated to stay.

However in a lot of public school contracts it also said that your principal has discretion regarding your schedule.

Most people deskwarm. Some people don't have to. It really isn't that bad. Catch up on a good book. Do some prep. Watch movies. Bring in a yoga DVD. Play a game on your laptop. Learn how to make better .ppts. Learn how to use photoshop. So many fun things you can do with this time while you are technically getting paid. Yeah, it would be more fun to be home, but you signed that contract.

The good thing is that the schools that make you deskwarm are following the contract. This means when it comes time for you to get whats due (severance, airfare, deposit, etc...) they are probably going to follow the contract. They won't jerk you around.

[Modernist]

I was there right up to 430 today. It was annoying watching one teacher after another bolt, including my VP. BUT, I know that standards for me, the foreigner, are not anywhere close to the standards for the KTs. That's life as a guest worker, isn't it?

It'll be worse the next 2 days, as I am required to be there from 830 all the way to 430 without a single class to teach or prep for. I'm hoping I can get permission to go over to my ES and talk with my co-teacher about plans for their camp next week, at least.

[Charlie Bourque]

If I am understanding correctly, you guys are all talking about Public School's summer camps, right? >_>

[T-dot]

[CentralCali]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[CentralCali]

Second Update: In addition to the twice daily visits for the rest of the "camp," there will also be visits ("at random"--meaning daily) for the remaining dates of the summer break that have no camp classes.

Yeah, TheUrbanMyth. It would be great if we all got to hang out in an air-conditioned room. Alas, that's not the way it goes. Luckily, this year I actually do get to use the "English Zone." Do you know why I don't get to use it at any other times? Because the brats destroy everything they touch during the regular school semester. The kids for this camp, though, are pretty motivated, so they don't misbehave too much. My office is split off from the printer's office and the a/c control is in his office. I have to wait for the printer to come to work to turn the thing on. At least it's only 8:30 to 4:30 with a lunch hour included in that time.

It's not the working hours that bug me. It's the absolute lack of tact in presenting information to others that irks me at times. Speaking with a foreign friend just now, he said, "I honestly don't think they do it intentionally." It's kind of like how every Korean you meet in Korea is 100% convinced that those stupid rocks are of import to everyone on the planet--no concept of how others will feel.

[swinewho]

I've just got home now - I feel for you guys!

My AC unit has made my room too cold though, I think i'm catching a cold!

Might have to make myself a nice warm coffee and snuggle up in bed!