Korean Job Discussion Forums

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

I'm fed up to here with the incompetence of my hagwon boss. I arrived 7 weeks ago, looked over the apartment and made a list of changes that needed to be made. I handed in the list and a few things have been taken care of.

How long am I obligated to wait for him to change the bulb in my bathroom? I want to look professional when I go to work and I can't do that properly with a dim bulb. The hogwan boss is the owner of the apartment, and this is a matter of principle. I am not a janitor. I don't know how he expects me to live this way. It isn't civilized. It isn't what I was promised in my contract.

Do you think I could take this to the Labour Board, or should I just quit?

VanIslander · Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:22 am Post subject:

How many ESL teachers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

starbrightgirl · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Location: roar

If you havent' mentioned it to him yet, I'm guessing you don't like confrontation. Give him a written second notice with the date of your first request. If nothign's done, you can always quit. If you were to report him, it'd have to be as a landlord. I don't know what the rights of tenants are in Korea yet, but sounds like a longwinded process just from my imagination.

denverdeath · Joined: 21 May 2005 Location: Boo-sahn

You should definitely quit.

Before that, shove the bulb up your boss' hindside and make him squeeze by putting a knife to his throat.

After that, hire a hitman from the Labour Board to finish your "bidness".

Best of luck.

Homer · Guest

Run away!

You should not accept to live in darkness...in fact...your boss should pay you money for psychological trauma caused by that lightbulb...I say ask for at least 25 million dollars here.

Then, go the the Labour Board and sue him....but...at all cost...do not get off your pasty white butt and change the bulb yourself...no...never...thats not your job...the "natives" should do it for ya...

Laughing

Oh my...good one ya-ta

coolsage · Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:27 am Post subject:

How many Koreans does it take to screw in a lightbulb? One, to be notified that a lightbulb needs to be screwed in . Two, who come with the actual lightbulb, but without the ability to reach the ceiling, wherein the lightbulb dwells. Three, counting the one who brings the books in order to stand precariously on a swivel-chair in order to reach said bulb. Four, includes the one who is brought in to stabilize the swivel-chair. Five, is the one who is employed to hand the new bulb up to the guy swinging on the swivel-chair. Yes, it's five. It happened in my office just last week. Job creation.

ontheway · Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:31 am Post subject:

I do hope this is a joke. Otherwise, there are two dim bulbs in the bathroom.

Big Mac · Joined: 17 Sep 2005

Just for your information, I replaced the lightbulb in my bathroom twice while I was in Korea all on my own! Really, can you believe it?

It was so hard. I walked the fifty paces to the LG 25, bought a lightbulb for the very expensive price of a couple of thousand won and screwed it in on my own. My God, I should have sued my boss for that!

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

No this is not a joke. I think some of the posters did not take me seriously. I'll have you know I take pride in my appearance. It's important to look professional. Appearances do count here in Korea.

It is a sign of disrespect for my boss not to see that I have liveable living quarters. My contract says "a fully furnished modern apartment". Would the Labour Board consider my situation a breach of contract? I don't see how they couldn't, but I'm new here. Getting ready for work in the morning using Braille is not part of an ideal living environment. I do not appreciate some of you making jokes out of my situation.

The reason I'm asking about quitting is because my friend at another hogwon quit because the boss did not supply a microwave as promised. My friend's contract also said 'a fully furnished apartment' and after living for two weeks without a microwave my friend quit. I think one week would have been long enough. I mean, can you imagine? Like my friend said, "I didn't come to Asia to live in the Dark Ages!" I think my situation is every bit as serious as my friend's was.

coolsage, the situation you describe is not applicable to mine. The ceiling in my bathroom is quite low. Even I can touch the ceiling without standing on the toilet. I don't think they'll need to send more than three people. At this point, I am more than willing to hold the new bulb, so maybe only two people need to come. I don't have any more sympathy for my boss. It is his responsibility to get a light bulb changing team together. He should have taken this into condsideration when he decided to go into business.

Homer, I'm really interested in your suggestion about suing for psychological trauma. W25 million is a year's salary. I could pay off my college loan and have a nice vacation on a beach somewhere. Can you tell me how to go about doing this--suing, I mean? I would really appreciate any advice you can give me. (Could I really ask for more? I have been suffering for seven weeks after all.)

blackbear, your 'story' was...ummm too vulgar for me. But I did like the idea of a candle under the bed. I'm that fed up with this situation.

ddeubel · Joined: 20 Jul 2005

I think that there is only one true option. Don't change the bulb, change apartments. ....

Seriously, this is the proper thing to do. It is common here to change apartments when a bulb goes. Especially so when it is a bathroom bulb.
Same goes with other things. Hell, I just changed my refrigerator after the bulb went. Works like a charm, this new one.

I'd ask the boss for a new apartment. Maybe he could find a blind person to live in yours in the meantime????

DD

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

Big Mac, it wasn't the lightbulb that got screwed. You spent a couple of thousand of your own money. And did the labor. I think the grease in your food of choice is clogging your arteries. It's behavior like yours that are at least partly responsible for my situation. If the rest of you allow hogwon bosses to shirk their responsibilities, then the rest of us pay for it when they try to treat us the same way. Get some backbone...and a healthier diet.

ontheway, I wasn't going to dignify your comment about two dim bulbs, but changed my mind. You can call me a dim bulb diva if you want. Your words cannot hurt me. Sticks and stones!

pet lover · Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Location: not in Seoul

Forget about the bulb. Get some candles. It's so much more romantic to sit on the toilet when everything is lit only by candle light.

VanIslander · Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 2:31 pm Post subject:

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Bathroom lights are important; If the luminescence is insufficient you could very well leave yourself open to the possibility of a character like Swiss James trying to give you a figging...

quilter · Joined: 11 Feb 2006

Is this thread for real? If it is, it seems that you are looking for any reason to leave your company and the light bulb angle is just your excuse to get out. Is that the case?
What exactly is wrong with your light bulb? Does the light in your bathroom need to be rewired or something? If that is the case I understand wanting to get your boss to have someone come in to do the work. If you only need to change the bulb, then I think you need to take a little personal responsibility and as some other posters have said, just go out and buy a bulb and do it for yourself. Grow up! You aren't in kindergarten!
Contractually speaking, I hardly think a dim light bulb is grounds for suing or even a reason for quiting. If your boss promised a furnished apartment and there was no bed, I could understand, but a dim bulb?

Many years ago I worked for a company that provided me with an apartment that had no hot water in the kitchen and a traditional Japanese style bath (fill the tub then heat the water) but no shower. You can imagine what a pain in the ass that was. Initially I had to heat water for washing up on the stove and it took about 30 minutes to heat up the water for a bath. I invited my boss over one day, after not doing my dishes for about two weeks, so she could see the state of things and demanded she install hot water in my kitchen, and she did. I eventually ran a garden hose from my kitchen to my bathroom to rig up a shower. It wasn't perfect, but did the job. The point I am trying to make is that I liked my job, so I put up with it, and after a short time I got used to it.

If a dim light bulb in your bathroom is the only thing you have to complain about, then I think you can count yourself lucky!