Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Grotto]

lets see. I sign a contract stipulating a furnished apartment. Now myself personally I go through that section and put in everything I feel stipulates a furnished apartment. When I arrive I make sure everything is there!

I do expect a clean mattress, as Pecan so aptly pointed out they are inexpensive. So why the hell doesnt the owner go out and replace it rather than put a new teacher through extra stress.

Wow thats great advice...dont ask for anything and put up with crap for an entire year Sage advice my ass It is posters like this that make it harder for the next teacher that comes along.

'Why are you complaining? Peemil and Pecan never complained! They were good little trolls who came to work and never uttered a word of complaint!' 'Why their mattress had a dead rat sticking out of it and they never complained '

This is the kind of expat mentality that ticks me off. Hey you should expect to be screwed around upon arrival and you should also shut up and take it.

Lets take a look at the original post shall we?

Upon arrival they find out they have been lied to.
They get put in a filthy apartment.
They are put to work in seperate schools.
They were abandoned at the airport and forced to find their own way to the city.
They had to pay their own bus fare to the city.

Myself personally I would have told them that I would not be working at their school that I would find another job because of all the lies that I was told.

To expect a first time visitor to arrive in a foriegn land, find out where they have to go, buy a ticket, travel there not knowing exactly where it is borders on criminal and edges around ludicrous!

Suck it up Not a chance

Koreans will do the avoidance dance as long as they can. If you calmly and firmly tell them what you want and that you will not teach until these demands are met then you will see how fast they will suddenly find money, an opening, a new apartment.

One thing to remember is that they have paid upwards of 3,000,000 won just to get you into the country. If they want to throw this away on account of 20,000 won a month for travel cost or a 50,000 won mattress then let them. There are tons of jobs available in Korea so there is NO reason for you to listen to Peemil or Pecan

[pecan]

Why can not people just post advice without damning other posters for their differing points of view?

I have faith in the OP to decide on his/her own from the advice that is given here.

Obviously, people's expectations are going to differ, so it stands to reason that their level of satisfaction is going to differ, as well. For example, I "needed" a queen-size mattress and an oven, but I did not "need" a TV. My employer was not contractually obligated to provide either.

Should I have screamed to the heavens about my conditions?

It did not specifically state that the furnishing were to be new. Moreover, it did not state the size of the mattress.

Obviously, I took care of my personal needs on my own.

Apartments should be left dirty upon departure in Korea and cleaned by the party that moves into the apartment. It is a cultural thing, so expecting your apartment to be clean upon arrival is a mistake on your part. We all have differing levels of desired cleanliness, so I prefer Korean's cultural practice. Whenever I have moved, I have always clean my new apartment from top to bottom (the light fixtures, the window frames, behind the cupboards, etc.), but I know other foreigners that just clean the floor.

Do you expect each and every employer to read every individuals mind?

Be realistic. Some people are happy to sleep on a used mattress. Though I am not one of them, I would never expect my employer to provide all new furnishings.

Complaining will come back to haunt you.

Nut

[the eye]

Grotto...

don't you think the op left a few important loose ends up to chance???
would YOU trust the word of complete stranger and move to he other side of the world???

pecan is right. different people have different standards...it is up to you to MAKE SURE everything is up to YOUR standards.

my last job... i was lied to about the apart. i arrived to see that i was to live IN the hogwan. shower on the balcony. and use the public toilet at the other side of the building.

complete shit, right??

wrong...there is currently an american teacher living there with no complaints.

the op simply neglected to protect himself, yet you say he was screwed.

he obviously set himself up.

[peemil]

[pecan]

[Grotto]

I too have traveled around the world. I have also never had to call mom for cash. I have a whole suitcase full of valuable lifeskills to draw upon. I too know how to find my way around different countries without being able to speak more than a few words of the language. I have either lived in or visited more than 10 different countries around the world. Japan, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan just to name the asian ones.

I am not everyone!

To expect others to have the skills that I have is asinine('ass'inine)


If I was hired back home and furnished accomodations were part of the deal and it turned out to be a crapburger with a side of crap I would not put up with it there nor would I expect anyone else to do so So why do you expect people here to roll over and play dead

How many times have you been lied to back home? How many times did you sign a contract back home? How many times have you been screwed over back home?

Personally Never been screwed over on a contract back home Specs usually exceeded my expectations when I arrived.

[pecan]

You may have traveled "to" a few countries, but you obviously failed to learn anything valuable from your experience.

I doubt any person would expect others to act or think like you.

This is not "back home," and the sooner you realize that, the better.
No poster has advocated "rolling over," rather they have cautioned complaining about trivial things.

Though I have lived and traveled in far more countries than you, it only took my first experience abroad to confirm my understanding that things are viewed and responded to differently in other parts of the world.

What has prevented you from seeing the light?

What does being "lied to" or "screwed over" have to do with anything?

[Grotto]

More words of wisdom from the colon sucking pecan.

So you have traveled to more countries than I have....oh so you know all the countries I have visitied? I have been through Europe, North America and parts of Asia.

I learned plenty from my travels. Apparantly you havent! Your advice is to show your belly and lick the hand that feeds you.

[pecan]

Grotto,

[Grotto]

Oh Pecan can you really be that naive?

I got to the school you just left...I come to a bloodstained mattress, mold, mildew, I am lied to about the location, fornicated around the contract issues....I know what contract I signed but both parties involved need to hold up both ends of the contract.

Anyways...I come to the school you have just left. I am greeted with a dirty apartment, blood, filth and whatnot, distant from the school, and not WHAT WAS AGREED TO.....yet the Koreans are surprised Pecan worked here for a year and never complained once How dare you ask for whats in your contract...Pecan never did

By endorsing the bend over take it up the ass concept you make it hard for anyone who works at a place that you worked. You make it hard for the next person that comes along.

Oh I know you say screw him! I dont know him, why should he have it any easier that I did

And it is exactly that attitude that sucks. If you are firm and fair with your employer then the next person along does not have to go through crap.

Try to think of it as educating your employer, it will help him out in the long run too, less teachers will pull midnight runs and the world becomes a better place.

Why? Because you stood up and did what is morally, legally and just all round good comon sense.

Or you could be like Joe Thanks, piss moan and cry about everything in your contract, be a loser and end up getting fired because his school couldnt stand his evil. Oh yeah and they were afraid he would beat the kids!

[Grotto]

What others do does not affect you?



Yeah ol Thomas Edison and his light bulb didnt affect you.
Marconi and his telegraph didnt affect you.
Ford and his car didnt affect you.

and the list goes on...and on...and on.

Try to look at it from a Buddhist standpoint.

All actions of all beings are like dropping a pebble into a still pond. As the ripples spread out they react with other ripples forming even more ripples. The actions of one can affect the whole universe in ways they are ignorant of.

Like Joe Thanks...his actions will affect him in ways he doesnt understand the dumbass

[peemil]

Jeez... You got to work for a few hours and look at what this thread has become.

I've never stated here that you should just roll over and get screwed. All I've said here is that the best thing that you can do is to turn your situations to your favour. Jumping up and down in front of your Director isn't going to get you any respect. You know what gets respect. A bit of gumption.

Look. I can tell you this much. Most of the time that foreigners bitch about their apartments and their lot, in my few years of experience here is because they bought it on themselves. Especially when it comes to apartments. I've never seen anyone living in an apartment that I would say was unfit. I've seen some people bitch because there is a water mark in the corner or the bed isn't big enough. Or the stove needs a clean.

I've never seen anyone who's walked into a place and it's been a dog house. If that was the case, then yes, I would say complain. But the reality of the situation here is that a lot of the time it's pointless whining about not being able to have it like you do at home.

You think you're better than your employer? Think you've got lots of lessons to teach. This is how the world works mate. There are bosses and then there is us. The boss tells us what to do. That is the way the world works. You are just like the rest of the morons you go screaming at their boss over petty shit because you think that you are better.

I'd just love you to go screaming at a boss in the West. You'd soon find your bum out on the street. Which is where a lot of you pedantic, stuck up never had to do a day's work, spent all your time drinking and screwing in Uni, go home and cry, think you're better than everyone else, morons belong.

[schwa]

For all your experience & 'wisdom,' Grotto, you seem to own the title of bitterest man on Daves forums these days.
Congratulations. To what do you owe your success?

[casey's moon]

Hmm, wonder if the OP will ever read any of this...

[PECisDplace2B]

Don't listen to Peemil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No you're not a whiner, you're a guy that is getting screwed, and what your experiencing now is just the beginning of a 12 month round the clock gangbang at your expense. Peemil thinks that because they are Korean then they are exempt from having to behave like decent human beings.

Your only hope is that your other workers aren't tools and that they will help you out. You need to pressure the boss togethor. If they aren't game, then try and get a release letter. I'm also from Kwangju and my boss has tried to pull some dirty shit since I got here and we have always stood up to him and got our way.

If you can't get a release letter than there is always Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan...home.