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GEPIK Fall Orientation information is posted
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NQ



Joined: 16 Feb 2012

PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bollocks wrote:
The administration are not my parents. I neither require nor seek their permission concerning my personal time. For them to suggest otherwise is insulting.

Either:

A) This event takes place during normal working hours. Times before 8am and after 5pm are mine in which to do as I please.

-or-

B) The entirety of the event is controlled by GEPIK. They "own" us for the duration of our time there. The time spent at the event should be considered time at work, and we should be paid for it. If they wish to control my substance abuse for 72 hours, I am owed 72 hours worth of payment.


I see what you're saying. Yeah you don't get paid extra outside your reg. salary, so yeah you just get paid for the 8 hours you'd normally get paid for each day. But I don't mind it, because I don't have any of my regular classes and the classes at the GEPIK orientation are just mostly other teachers talking about their teaching experiences and you just have to sit there and chill. If we had to do any real work outside the 8 hours we're paid for each day, then yeah maybe we should get more money but I'm fine for what it is. It really is nice meeting other teachers and listening to their experiences and stuff. Easy way to make new friends too.
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TheUrbanMyth



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 5:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nora wrote:
[q
The one I went to, they trashed the rooms, skipped the meetings, and if they did come, they were hungover and slept during everything. T



Heh, you got off easy. At least there were no fire extinguisher fights in the hallways or people stumbling into your room to throw up in the sink, bathtub or floor...anywhere but the toilet.
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dairyairy



Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea

PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

TheUrbanMyth wrote:
nora wrote:
[q
The one I went to, they trashed the rooms, skipped the meetings, and if they did come, they were hungover and slept during everything. T



Heh, you got off easy. At least there were no fire extinguisher fights in the hallways or people stumbling into your room to throw up in the sink, bathtub or floor...anywhere but the toilet.


When did you go to GEPIK orientation that it was that bad?
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nora



Joined: 14 Apr 2012

PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 7:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

newb wrote:
Quote:
"have an MA and treat my job as a job,"


Nice. It's what GEPIK wants.


Too bad I jumped the GEPIK ship long ago. Enjoy the orientation folks! Laughing
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yfb



Joined: 29 Jan 2009

PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 9:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dairyairy wrote:
TheUrbanMyth wrote:
nora wrote:
[q
The one I went to, they trashed the rooms, skipped the meetings, and if they did come, they were hungover and slept during everything. T



Heh, you got off easy. At least there were no fire extinguisher fights in the hallways or people stumbling into your room to throw up in the sink, bathtub or floor...anywhere but the toilet.


When did you go to GEPIK orientation that it was that bad?


The 2008-2010 orientations allowed alcohol and without exception every single one turned into what was described before. In 2010 they reminded us to please act like mature adults and consume alcohol responsibly. Predictably the place got trashed afterwards and the coordinators were pleading with people to get back in their dorms after midnight. I suppose those are the breaks for preferentially hiring 23-year-old drunken idiots. I wish I could find the original posts on Daves from 2008 but those seem to have been deleted.

Another teacher at the 2012 orientation told me that there was an orgy at the 2009 orientation. Though this isn't verifiable, I wouldn't be surprised if it was true, given some of the characters I've seen at these events.

Quote:

Hold on. Did you say no alcohol *allowed*? That's a big difference from, "We aren't providing any alcohol."

I was not aware that I was 16 years old and living with my parents.


Oh, the indignity dripping off this post is positively astounding. You're still an assistant English teacher bound to your contract. Tax money is still being spent on you to send you to the resort and pay for your meals. Deal with it.
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dairyairy



Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 12:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Predictably the place got trashed afterwards and the coordinators were pleading with people to get back in their dorms after midnight.


I've heard that coordinators and guest speakers were some of the bigger drinkers. Is that true?
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hogwonguy1979



Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: the racoon den

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 1:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

people whining about no booze here's a good memo:



GROW THE BLEEP UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're supposed to be adults now act like one, this aint college anymore

no wonder Koreans have such a problem with us, you cause it[/b]
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Bollocks



Joined: 12 Feb 2009

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 6:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

NQ wrote:
...removed for the sake of expediency... It really is nice meeting other teachers and listening to their experiences and stuff. Easy way to make new friends too.


Based on subsequent posts in this thread, I must question your judgement regarding the niceness of other English teachers. Some of them seem like stuck-up prudes.

For example: I am a vegetarian.

So, I don't eat meat. I object to it on a moral basis. But I do not attempt to force my views upon others - no matter how detrimental I may view them to be. It is not my place to coerce others into living as I live. To do so would be judgmental and prudish. . And I am not that kind of person.

Likewise, I have recently begun the Couch to 5k program. http://www.c25k.com/ It is advised that I refrain from alcohol consumption while training. If I should fail that directive, my progress may be retarded. But that problem is mine alone. It does not belong to anyone else..

I may desire a drink throughout the orientation. Such is the nature of my Scottish ancestry. (I believe we have a predication to alcoholism).

To protect myself against my ancestral weakness, I might desire that there be no alcohol in my vicinity, so that I am not tempted to consume it.

But, I must not take my advised abstinence from alcohol and force it upon other people. To do so is extremely unethical.

Imagine that I were a hardcore vegetarian - one whom insists that others eat as they eat - else they suffer the consequences.

You would (rightly) want to punch me in the face. It is not my place to tell you what you may and may not do with your own body.

Likewise, GEPIK may choose to fire us for being raging alcoholics - if said addiction interferes with our teaching.

[edit]: Likewise, if we prove ourselves to be the kind of person you can have a drink with, more power to us. [/edit]

Indeed, this orientation should be viewed as an oppourtunity to thin the herd of people who are unfit to teach. But, by banning alcohol, we diminish our ability to identify and remove from the profession those who genuinely do not belong.


To that end, I will be bringing alcohol with me to orientation, sufficient (I hope) for 20 people for 2 nights. If you choose to partake, and your actions get you fired, good riddance. Otherwise, I shall welcome you as a new friend in gyeonggi do.
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NQ



Joined: 16 Feb 2012

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually drinking alcohol can be other people's problem too if you get too out of control. You can distract others in the classroom or cause unruly behaviour. So it's not unethical at all, as you can impede other people's learning.

Yeah I guess GEPIK can use this as an oppurtunity to fire those who are unfit for teaching, but are they gonna do that at the expense of people getting out of control?

You can control your drinks, you should understand where they're coming from. Don't blame your Scottish ancestery for wanting a drink. If it's really that bad, then you have issues and you should seek help and not pass it off as something you can't help.
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newb



Joined: 27 Aug 2012
Location: Korea

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 2:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why don't GEPIK let adults make their decision to drink or not to drink?

If they cross the red line, get rid of 'em.
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JustinC



Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Location: We Are The World!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 3:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hah! By that reasoning drink and driving should be allowed to 'thin the herd'.

And why not make speeding legal? Same ethics, right?

Bollocks you're a veggie in meat-land, so you already have enough problems; bringing enough booze to get 20 people drunk is extremely stupid. I hope you get fired on the bus, you idiot.

<edit> How many people are going to teach drunk? If none then why should they be penalised by being ambushed. at an event that's advertised as drink-free, by you, ya cnut.</edit>


Last edited by JustinC on Tue Sep 25, 2012 4:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Airborne9



Joined: 01 Jun 2010

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 3:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Who cares!

Its what 2/3 days. For those who are complaining that GEPIK aren�t treating you like adults, it�s a fair point, but those who were treated like adults years ago f**ked it up. When I went, the place was trashed. It wasn�t only FOTB, young grads that were acting like drunken c**ts.

Why is this even the big argument? My main problem with the orientation (and for most GEPIK run workshops) is that it wasn�t practical. All they told us was how to play games, good websites for lesson plan, explained about Kimchi and then we watched a Korean movie. Listening to some guy who thought at a school in a rich part of Ilsan talk about classroom management and how he and his co teacher use stamp and stickers to motivate their students. I work in a rural school, Co-teachers afraid or not bothered standing up to kids. Prepare me for that GEPIK man.

I have been told that the orientation has gotten a lot better, I�d like to hear from those who went to this one, especially those who have been in Korea for a while
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JustinC



Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Location: We Are The World!

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 4:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A colleague went to one in March; it was great for first-timers. Maybe not so great for those who've been in the job a few years. The booze ban was in place, although the resort had a convenience store with plenty available. Anyone could've got completely pished in their room or the grounds and no-one would've been any the wiser. You just have to be very discrete or you'll find yourself on the next plane home.

Doesn't seem really worth it to me, but I've lived in 'dry' countries for a few years.

I would've thought organising an event for hundreds of recent college grads needed some boundaries, and as it's only for a couple days then having a booze ban isn't quite life at communism levels, eh?
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dairyairy



Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 4:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

newb wrote:
Why don't GEPIK let adults make their decision to drink or not to drink?

If they cross the red line, get rid of 'em.


GEPIK never wanted to punish anyone because they would have had to start with their own coordinators, or so the stories go. Why? Because many of those who got drunk and "crossed the line" were GEPIK coordinators, sponsored employees, and the guest speakers. GEPIK coordinators used to host parties in their rooms for the teachers in their areas. Those were the wildest parties of all, according to the stories from long ago.
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mushroomyakuza



Joined: 20 Sep 2012

PostPosted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 12:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We can sit here and debate our rights to drink ourselves silly or not all day long. Bottom line is if you want the job and do not want to jeopardize losing it over a couple of nights of mad partying - something I'm sure most of us would do in our free time once we actually have to the job anyway - don't drink. It's 3 days. Seriously. If you honestly can't handle that then maybe you don't want the job enough.
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