Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bulgogiboy]

I'd like to hear from all the people who work/have worked with psycho co-workers. One of my co-workers is more than just insufferable, he appears to be mentally unhinged. The scary thing is, he treats me and the other native speakers in a really unfriendly/crappy way but he's a prince to his students, it makes me want to throw up when I hear him saying " God bless you everybody!".(I know from personal experience he doesn't give a toss about God) He's like Jekyll and Hyde with his students and me.

We both ended up in the ER room a few months back because he picked a fight with me in a bar(I had acccidentally walked into the same bar he'd been drinking in all night-doh!). Amazingly, we both kept our jobs and it's been fun ever since. I'm leaving today for another job, I can't stand to be in the same vicinity as him, I want to vomit whenever he's near.

He's a total psycho, he's a got a major anger problem, he's snapped in half/thrown several cellphones down the toilet because he got angry. Who does that??

I've befriended every whitey who's been at this school, they've loathed him. I have plenty Korean friends too.All the friends he has are his Korean students. It only seems to be the other foreigners who pick up on his mental instability, lies,etc. The students don't seem to notice the things he does as weird, e.g. he has a really annoying fake laugh that all the waeguks can see through, he laughs too much man. I guess the students just think: Laugh alot=good sense of humour.

He says he was a bigshot in the US, he told me his US salary within about 10 mins of knowing him, he says he came back to find his parents(he's Korean-American) and he has an MBA,etc,etc. He has dozens of job offers back home,blah,blah.

Here's an example of his reasoning:

When he was up in my grill picking a fight in the bar, literally challenging me with a beer bottle in his hand, and I said "come on, you're a Christian". He said "No, I'm a Catholic, not a Christian. I don't give a **** about religion". This man goes to church every Sunday and says "God bless you" every five minutes to his students. Put that down to alcohol right? Wrong. Just a few days ago in school he said the same thing: "I'm not a Christian, I'm a Catholic".

I'm I wrong in saying this: Christian=Catholic? I'm pretty sure Catholicism is the original standard of Christianity, though I'm not dissing any protestants out there, you're all Christians too as well.

what do you all think?

[denverdeath]

He sounds like he might be a Korean Christian...and maybe a bit of a psycho, too.

[billybrobby]

I've heard the "are you christian or catholic" from koreans before too, so it might just be some weird konglish. every thing else he does sounds whacked out.

[bulgogiboy]

Yeah, but the thing is, he's Korean in body only. He was adopted by Americans when he was a kid. As he's explained to me on previous occasions(including the night of the fight): "I am not a Korean, I'm an American".

He can't blame his ideas on being Korean any more than I can(I'm 100% caucasian British born and bred).

Another thing, he was adopted from a Korean orphange at western age 12 and he's studied Korean for a year or so but he's hopeless. I would have thought the Korean would be stored in his brain after such a long time of immersion. I mean 12 years old! Or am I being too harsh towards him because I loathe him so?

[RACETRAITOR]

Korean Catholicism is a lot less fanatical than Korean Christianity. They don't try to convert you (that I've seen) and they seem to think secular ideas like a separation of church and state are good.

[bulgogiboy]

I think you're right, British catholicism is the same. But he's American.

Catholics are Christians when all's said and done, regardless of their evangelical zeal. Aren't they?

They believe in Jesus, he's their God.

Anyway, my point wasn't really the religion, but the fact he's a nutjob. I'm curious if other people have to suffer as I do with deranged co-workers.

Tell me I'm not alone!!!

[Grotto]

I think this is a question for you to ask EFLteacher as he is the resident 'christian'

[SPINOZA]

My only male coteacher out of six coteachers is by far the craziest.

He's a really nice guy and we get along very well. He's kind and helps with stuff. He's also really popular with my western friends - they think he's funny as f__k. He is actually - he says funny things and will do stuff like fall asleep in boring meetings.

However he's not popular amongst the other teachers and is one of school's most feared teachers by the students. If some students are being d1cks in class or are rude, I'll threaten them with a meeting with [insert name] son saing nim. Other coteachers always argue with him and he's a lazy sod. Coteacher today said he was notorious in his previous school for being rather a difficult individual.

"Many students don't like Mr ___" I said.

"Many teachers don't too".

"Including you?"

"I don't want to say".

"That means yes".

"Not entirely 'yes', but....."

[cruisemonkey]

I worked for a week with an older (early sixties) American female who was completly unhinged. She could be quite normal one minute, and the next be screaming and swearing up a blue streak (in front of students) for no discernable reason. I would not talk to her. I saw her 'loose it' on several occasions - once when a coworker made the mistake of paying her a compliment. She was religious and at one point wanted to be nun. I think she may have had a brain tumor.

Yu-Bum-suk can fill you in on his experience with the same woman.

[nautilus]

Bear in mind that many westerners come here because they dislike the west for some reson, its an escape for them. Then they find they have to work with westerners in close proximity for 10 hours a day for a year.

In your case i'd say the guy has some complex involving being racially Korean.
Strange how many ethnic koreans come back here with a hate on for the west. not all, perhaps mostly the guys ( the gals get married pretty quickly and are never seen again).

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[chiaa]

Spend five minutes where I am at and all your co-workers will seem like the poster children of sanity.

The really weird thing is that I will get totaly normal people for a couple of weeks and then all the freaks will show up within a two day period. At that point I check when the next full moon is

[bellum99]

Catholic and Christians are not the same. There are very serious differences between them. True, both accept that Jesus is the son of God..but after that it totally diverges.

1: Catholics believe in Saints and Mary as a divine person.
2: Catholics believe that only a priest can give absolution.
---these things greatly differ from most denominations of Christian.

[On the other hand]

[laogaiguk]

There is an entire thread for Catholicsm vs Christianity. I want to hear about more freaky, crazy coworkers!