Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Fike2308]

Hello,

I went to Korea in late Feb. 2005 to work for a hagwon.

I had worked as an ESL teacher in a Chinese University the year before and that was a great experience so I felt confident in myself as a teacher.

However, after a month our director (at the hagwon) who I got along with "left" and was replaced by a Korean woman who just didn't seem to like me for whatever reason(s).

To make a long story short, I resigned after 3 months because I just got fed up with this woman and my living conditions. The school refused to turn on the water heater so I had to take cold showers which, as a western guy, is just unacceptable.

Also, I got really sick one night and had to go to the hospital the next day where I was diagnosed with 3 different bacterial infections and given a week's worth of medicine to take. At the hospital my director asked me if I would be able to teach the rest of my classes that day. I told her I could not. She then asked me if I would be able to teach the next day. I told her it would be better for me to stay home and rest and take my medicine which displeased her immensely. I kindly reminded her that my contract permitted me to take 3 SICK DAYS with a doctor's note and she was with me in the hospital and pharmacy so I felt like I had "proof" of my illness. The next morning she came into my apartment and then my room and woke me up and b*tched me out for not showing up that day even though I had told her I would be using my sick days.

After that we never got along and she was always looking to find fault with me. I felt like she wanted to fire me or at least make my life a living hell so I gave 4-weeks notice and paid a fee for the expenses incurred on my behalf. I however did not pay for my entire phone bill because I had wired most of my money to the U.S. but I did leave her my MP3 player as some sort of collateral.

Anyways, as far as I know I did not do anything illegal. I did not do a "midnight run" and I gave her 4-weeks notice so I never violated the contract in anyway but knowing her I would not be suprised if she made up some lie(s) about me (which she had threatened to do on at least one occassion) and tried to get me "blacklisted" or something.

However, since then I have been teaching here in China and I will receive a recommendation letter from this University upon completion of my contract. I also have contacted my former University and requested a letter of recommendation which I am sure to receive because I have maintained good rapport with them over the years.

So, I am hoping if my reliability was brought into question because of this woman's testimony my recommendation letters would demonstrate my commitment to teaching and that this hagwon experience was the exception.

Any thoughts or suggestions or feedback?

My Visa/Contract with that hagwon expired in Feb. 2006 so I figure that by 2007 I should be able to find a job with a public high school in Seoul.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

BAF

[Ya-ta Boy]

You became eligible to return to Korea the day after your previous visa expired: Feb. whatever, 2006.

Only Immigration knows if you have been blacklisted. If you have a Korean friend here, ask him/her to contact Immi and find out if there is anything in your file that would prevent you from returning to work here. If you don't, you will be running the risk of finishing up in China and accepting a position here, only to find out at the last minute Immi won't let you in.

It's possible you will have to pay that old phone bill. I would only be fair. It's also possible you would have trouble getting credit cards and the like. It wouldn't hurt to contact KT and try to pay off this debt.

I doubt very much letters from a Chinese university will have any weight here.

[BigBlackEquus]

I disagree on the part of the uni thing. If Korean employers will accept a stupid worthless piece of TESOL paper from something as dumb as TEFL-R-US, then they will put you ahead of others because you have university experience in China.

Come back. You'll probably be just fine.

[Fike2308]

Thanks guys.

[Roch]