Korean Job Discussion Forums

Whistleblower · Joined: 03 Feb 2007

I am just glad that I don't work with the OP as he sounds like he is unwilling to be flexible and jump into any situation with two feet. He obviously missed Wales too much and needed his much needed leeks.

some waygug-in · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

You could have given it a week or two.

2 days? Rolling Eyes

There's no way they can force you to pay back the airfare, but

it would be the honorable thing for you to do.

Just wondering what you hoped to gain by posting your story on here,

as I posted earlier most of us have been through much worse, stuck it out

and survived. (some even thrive on the nuttiness)

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

yfb · Joined: 29 Jan 2009

I could understand if OP had endured months and months of abuse and ill-treatment from his hagwon.

But his entitled attitude, combined with the fact that he was in the country for 48 hours before leaving, and combined with the fact he thought he was doing the company a favor by repaying airfare is disgusting.

Let's list the grievances OP had with his hagwon that were apparently worthy of wasting everyone's time and money over.

1. "They left me in an empty room with no study aids!"
2. "The other native teachers didn't want to babysit me and hold my hand every step of the way!"
3. "The other native teachers ignored me!"
4. "They didn't buy pots for my apartment!"
5. "I didn't know the water was safe to drink! I had to buy bottled water!"
6. "I had to learn songs and stories on the fly upside down!" <- this one I just don't get
7. "I wasn't enrolled in orientation the instant I stepped off the plane!"

Guess what? When I started, I was thrown in a classroom of 30 6th graders with no instructions, a half-baked curriculum, and no other orientation other than "teach the children". I arrived in March, and my "orientation" was in June. That's three months of on the job experience. That's normal in Korea. I was certainly stressed and miserable. But I stuck with it and I'm a better person for it. That's life.

tremault · Joined: 25 Sep 2012

PatrickGHBusan · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:36 am Post subject:

OP.....you lasted 2 DAYS and ran out.

Whatever your reasons are (and they are not very good), you packed it in after 2 days, this is all on you.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do in the future but do not try to paint this any differently than what it is please. These attempts at justifying your actions are just helping to sink you further.

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

I thought the last post from tremault was rather good. If you want to make a better pizza you prepare and look after your ingredients well. If you're just after the money you feed people any old **** and hope they won't notice.

Lazio · Joined: 15 Dec 2010

Dog Soldier · Joined: 29 Sep 2010

Please do not use your Welshness as an excuse for you running out. It may have been the way you were raised but it's certainly not the way I (a fellow Welshman) was raised.

As for you heading home after 2 days. I honestly think it was the wrong thing to do and you should have at least given it a few weeks to see if it really was for you but that is by the by now. As far as you know, the orientation, the pots and the native teacher thing could have been sorted a few days later, but you didn't really give the situation enough time to play through.

To answer your original post...no they can't do anything and on the strength of your posts I assume you have no intention to ever return to Korea. So who cares?

tremault · Joined: 25 Sep 2012

Whistleblower · Joined: 03 Feb 2007

Can we lock this thread as it is becoming a tit-for-tat debate? Just a waste of web space at the end of the day.

nicwr2002 · Joined: 17 Aug 2011

jjajangmyun · Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Location: way down south!

OP sounds like some punk cowgirl going for a free holiday.

bookworm · Joined: 22 Jun 2011

I�m going to chime is as someone who has both taught and done the hiring and firing.

You need to ask for the things you need in Korea. Unfortunately it is very common for teachers to be thrown in at the deep end. It�s not best policy, but it does happen and far more than it should. This is when you need to ask your co-workers for help if management won�t give you any. When it comes to household things again you need to ask, and keep asking until someone listens.

Now, I don�t think the way your recruiter approached this was the best, but the school do have an argument to ask for the refund of airfare. A lot of schools have a contractual obligation of six months before it becomes non-refundable. Do you have a copy of your contract? What does the clause on airfare say? I know you feel the school broke the contract first due to their lack of support, but did you bring this up with them and try to mediate the problem?

Also if you do decide to return to Korea and need a letter of release you may not get it. I was once told by immigration not to issue one to a teacher who left my last school. That�s not to say we listened, but note that it is advice they may give the school.

Also, as a fellow Brit I think somebody seriously overcharged you if you ended up paying that much for your documents.

busanliving · Joined: 29 Apr 2009

Op probably used one of those seriously overcharged sercices for their documents as they are incapable of doing anything on their own.

As a Brit I am very ashamed a fellow Brit has come to Korea and stolen from their employer with no serious justification apart from the fact you wanted to be babysat and that didn't happen. Your co-teachers probably assumed that at 32 you knew how to look after yourself, we're capable of buying a pan (they probably didn't even know you didn't have one) and would ask if you needed help. Asking for a library wouldn't do you much good, and many places don't have a tourist information.