Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Grotto]

CLG hand your principal a dictionary and tell the moron to look up "leave" as it applies to in your case.

The leave does not start from the second the person dies...it starts from the time you leave. Ask your principal if Korean teachers are treated so rudely~!

Smacking him soundly about the head and shoulders with a giant dried squid comes to mind too.

My condolence I too lost my grandmother a short month ago.

[Zyzyfer]

Ugh, that's disgusting.

My ex-coworker recently had some issues at home, a bit of a family emergency and all, so he had to go home for a few weeks. The bosses (there were 3 at the school) hummed and hawwed over his dilemma for a while before finally agreeing to let him go. When he got back and received his pay, he told me that they charged him for rent while he was gone.

[crazylemongirl]

Thanks for the replies. I'm sitting at Incheon waiting for my flight, which of course is delayed.

In the end I just had to bite the bullet and swallow the fare as there is only one airline flying to new zealand, korean air.

Asiana told me they could get me to sydney and then I would have to find someone to take me on to Auckland, Qantas told me to talk to talk to a travel agent (despite having nearly 100,000 airpoints with them!) and Air New Zealand wouldn't answer their phone.

As for the comments about Koreans. Let me say that everyone in my school but the prinicpal have been excellent. My students were the best I've ever seen today. One of them came up gave me some candy and asked me ever so politiely that if I had time could I please take a picture of the opera house for him (I didn't have the heart to mention that Auckland doesn't have one).

The English Teachers kicked in 100k between them. My minder ended up bawling to me at the end of the day when I said that he had upset me. 'He's not a bad man, just a little misguided.'

The VP kicked in 30k. And even the Principal gave me 50.

The two days that I get docked, probably won't happen because it's more trouble than it's worth for the school to work out how much cash I need to lose.

Yes my prinicipal is an ass, but the understanding of the rest of the staff more than made up for it.

[JongnoGuru]

That's wonderful, CGL! (I mean, as wonderful as things might be given the sad circumstances.)

See, it's just as I was saying: Koreans are very understanding and sympathetic when it comes to family crises. They'll listen, help you out, and truly commiserate with you. They really are there for you in times of need.



What? You mean that's not was I was saying in my earlier...


Oh, okay. Say, anyone fancy some crow? I've got three large ones here, and I don't think I can manage.


BTW, please know that I'm eternally envious of how much better you were treated (in the end) than I was. Good for you.

[sheba]

Sounds like things are working out... thats awesome! All the best for your trip home...

Thinking of you!








PS: AirNZ work with Japan airlines, which means you would have a stop over in Japan... no love lost there!

[pegpig]

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

CrazyLemonGirl----First, I'm sorry for your loss...hope you and your family are doing well.
I had the exact same dilemma last year at my high school. Both of my granparents died at the same time. When I told my director I had to leave for 7 days, he didn't even say sorry. He basically just freaked out about my going. The first thing he did was wip out my contract and say that I have to produce both death certificates. When I told him that I couldn't get one, he said I couldn't go. I basically said "f*ck you, I'm going. I already have my plane tickets. So fire me, pr*ck. Your school needs me more than I need you." I was that angry (mostly because of my grief too) He even hauled me into the prinicpal's office and they were so concerned about these death certificates. It's government policy, he told me. They finally told me I can go, but that it was imperative that I bring death certificates back
I couldn't believe how classless they handled this whole thing. I think basically what it boils down too is that they probably thought I was doing a midnight run and were freaking out about it.
And you know what's funny? After all this crap about the death certificates, they didn't even ask for them when I came back. I think they just wanted to see if I was bluffing about going in the first place. They probably thought the same thing of you (trust doen't seem to exist here) It just goes to show that I shouldn't have worried...they are desperate for a foreign teacher and knew they couldn't replace me easily. Idiots.

Anyway...my heart goes out to you. I know the grief that this brings and it's worse when you are far away from your family. PM me anytime if you feel like talking more.

[McNasty]

CLG,

Sorry to hear about the loss of your grandmother.

I recently had an immediate family member pass away and my school also requested a death certificate. In a tramatic situation they(employers here) rarely show any compassion(or at least very little). However, I understand why they have these types of procedures. There are people out there that will make up lies about a death in the family to get out of a contract or get some vacation time. It has happened and will continue to happen.

As for questioning your grandmother's age that is simply uncalled for and completely irrelevant. It is a simple task to get a copy or even an original from the funeral home. Do what is absolutely necessary and disregard the ignorant requests with the simple response of "explain to me why you need this type of information and who is requesting it?" After a reaction like that they will only request the absolutely necessary information.

Best of luck,

McNasty

[denverdeath]

CLG, I hope things go well for you back home and I'm glad that things are looking a bit better for you.

In '97, I was in Dae-goo and was shocked to receive a call from my sis on Dec. 17th saying that my dad had died after fighting his second heart attack in the hospital for 26 hours. His Christmas present to himself was supposed to be his last day of work on the 24th. All in all, the hakwon I worked at was s%it, but they were more than understanding at that time. I was fortunate to have had a K-g/f at that time who helped me loads. The director was actually trying to give me a week off and also gave me a 100k, which I didn't give a sh%t about and didn't understand the significance of at the time. There were no questions about age or death certificates. I guess things have changed. Because my hometown is located in the backwoods of Canada, I knew it would be hell to try and get home for the Dec 22nd funeral. Fortunately, I had an aunt who used to work for Air Canada and she pulled lots of strings. Also fortunately, my father worked for a pretty good company; I thought later, "an amazing company," as they flew me from Toronto back home on a private jet to arrive in town at around 4am on the 22nd. I thought I was in love with that K-g/f, so only asked for three days so I could be back for Christmas Eve to be with her. One day in the air back home, one day back home for the funeral, and one day in the air back to Korea. It was the worst trip of my life, but it would have been worse if I hadn't made it for the funeral. I really appreciated my family and the help some Koreans gave me at that time when it was really needed. I understand your situation and hope that your boss is a bit more understanding in the future.

Hope you gram rests in peace...

[kalbi]

CLG:

You have my sincere condolences. It is always that much harder to receive news like that when far away from home. I hope the time with your family make this a little easier for you.

Sorry about your boss's reaction too. Sometimes I am saddened by the fact that our hosts forget that we are people too with joys and sorrows, with families who love us and whom we love, with homes of our own and lives that may not revolve around our jobs!!

To all:
FYI......If you have a death in your family, a berevement fare is the way to go. Not only wll they give you a huge discount, they will get you there on time, even if that means flying you first class, or on one of their partner airlines. You will also get priority in terms of waitlists, boarding etc. I personally, on one occassion, was asked by an airline and agreed to give up my confirmed seat to someone who was trying to get to a funeral, which resulted in me having to overnight enroute to my final destination.


K.

[just because]

Sorry to hear it also CLG,

I would have went crazy on the principal....this on top of your apartment situation, I think i would have been walking to Japan.

[inkoreaforgood]

Sorry for your loss.












Sorry for your boss, too. He's insensitive, and lacking in compassion.

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

This is one of those cases where working at a public school can be worse than working at a hagwon. Nearly all public schools will require you to acquire a death certificate. It is a government policy they made on foreign teachers to prevent premature departures/midnight runs. It is a bullsh*t rule that they are adamant about and I have had the same experience. Hagwons don't usually require this, and if your haggie boss is cool, he/she should let you go without a problem. This is the one thing I hate about the public school system...the mandatory death certificates.

[Derrek]

CMG:

You know, I'd tell them to shove it right where the sun don't shine, and tel them if they want me to stick around, they'd better be more civil about it.

If they didn't, I'd happily move half of my stuff home when I went to see my grandma, and return to take the other half with me as soon as I got back and got my next paycheck.

Copy of the death certificate, my ass... what an insensitive *beep*!

[crazylemongirl]

I'm back from funeral leave. My family was interrupted by a call to their house by my school to check up on my story while I was in transit. They weren't exactly thirlled by that.

I showed up at school today and last period my minder said to me that the principal had been wondering today as to whether I had shown up or not as he had not seen me. I had actually arrived early as I had been doing prep since I had been away for a week.

I photocopied the obitury from the paper and gave it to my minder, which just mentioned that she died and who her family was and where the funeral was. I got my minder to sight the original.

I then was informed by my minder that apparently my principal is demanding the orignal copy of the paper for the school. This is my only copy of the paper and I'm drawing my line in the sand over this. The school can sight the original but I'm not handing it over. Stay tuned.