Korean Job Discussion Forums

[paperbag princess]

or lack thereof...

does anyone else think that it is simply inhumane to not heat a school when it's below zero? i can't beleive that people think it's acceptable to send their children to school in coats to stay in them, yet the "teacher's office" (which i don't have access to b.c i'm in the after school program) is heated to a toasty 20 degrees. we have two dinky gas heaters and they are on for the duration of the classes, which means that basically just as we are leaving, the classroom is warm enough you can't see your breath.

[stat]

in the summer our office was so cold due to the air conditioning that we had to wear jumpers (the windows were left open to prevent fan death).

now it's the winter, and we're sweating in thin cotton shirts. Our eyes are stinging with the dry heat. Again, the windows are open to prevent heater death.

[Ya-ta Boy]

The parents don't object because the shops where they work aren't any warmer.

What I can't figure out is why everything isn't insulated better. It would sure save some money on imported oil.

PS: The classrooms are a lot warmer than the teachers' office. Grrrrrrr. My feet freeze and I have fur-lined slippers.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[crazylemongirl]

Our heating would be fine if the boys didn't open the windows but took of their coats. Grrr.

[chiaa]

[jacl]

The big standing air condition heater is turned on the main floor of my hagwon and each classroom has one of those plug-in rolling heaters. Heat is not skimped where I teach although I try to conserve because I don't like it when it gets too hot. When you feel a chill, it's time to turn her on. It would be better for my boss's electric bill to leave the classroom door open, but it's best to keep that closed due to noise. No floor heating where I work. I think that can become quite expensive.

[jacl]

I hate the winter jackets that make noise with any frictional movement. I should buy a coat rack and make it a rule to take off your jacket before class starts.

[Karabeara]

Life is better now that it is undeniably cold outside. That means they leave the gas on all day, so we can heat our rooms. When it is a bit closer to 10 degrees outside, however, they turn the gas off at noon to save money. That really angers me, because the students have to air out the rooms at lunch time. So there is no heat except body heat after that. I was really becoming angered by it. One of my students said that heat in classrooms is a relatively new thing in Korea.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I am fond of the old custom (1980's) where the heat in apartments was controlled by someone downstairs. All heat was turned off during the day because the men were gone to work. Only the women were home--so why heat the building? Ya gotta love Confucianism.

[Dysupes]

Ya-Ta,

That's still the case in my apartment. The heat only gets turned on from about 10-11pm til 7-8am. The rest of the day is heat free! Yippee!

Thank God for little heaters though as mine follows me wherever I go in my place and keeps me warm (well, my legs warm, at least!).

[mindmetoo]

Or heating in general seems to be a Korean peculiarity. Canada isn't exactly an energy poor nation, but we're a cheap people. We keep the heat low and dress warmly in the house: sweater, wool socks, and extra blanket. I get the feeling Koreans like to crank up the heat at home and walk around in their undies in the dead of winter.

[margaret]

We have a big oil heater out in the hall that usually keeps the classrooms warm enough even with the doors closed, as long as we wear coats, which I don't mind. However, later at night, when it gets colder, for the last hour or 2, if the boss and he husband aren't there, they turn the heat OFF--it's just me, a couple classes of boys and the science teacher left. The science teacher is extremely warm blooded--he always turned the a/c down to 17 degrees and has finally started to wear a jacket, and the boys are warm because they move as much as they're allowed to and fight and wrestle during breaks. But I discovered a wonderful solution. I got my boss to order me a seat-heater from the home shopping catalog. It only costs 20,000 won and keeps me toasty even when there's no heat on and it's freezing.
Margaret

[Ya-ta Boy]

[Ya-ta Boy]