Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Qinella]

Do the public schools here tend to run the a/c? Is it all automated, or centrally controlled?

What about hagwons? I'm sure it varies from place to place, so what's yours like?

Last contract I worked at a place where we could control the a/c from a panel somewhere, and kept it running all day long in all the rooms we used.

Where I work now, I was informed by the boss that it's too expensive and we'll be using some fans that he bought. It's not so bad on a nice day, but now it's getting hot and mucky. The whole day I walk around feeling all sticky from just a little bit of perspiration mixed with humidity. The fans would be great if they were pointed at me directly, but instead we have to put it on rotate, which means I'm blasted with semi-cool air for about two seconds every twenty seconds.

The other downsides of the fans is that they blow students' papers everywhere, and we also have to keep the windows open which invites mosquitos. Also, a fan with a group of young kids is just a whirring distraction. They constantly want to play in the wind.

I had some students complain today about the temperature, so I turned on the a/c for the next 30 minutes of the class. Boss told me later not to do that again, especially since today isn't even hot. Um.. maybe the students were pretending to be sweating?

It's a crappy deal. Great school, but no money. Them's the breaks.

Q.

[Milwaukiedave]

It really depends on the school. The first school I worked at in the summer was a hagwon in Daegu. It was a new building and they had very good airconditioners.

The public school I'm at now does have air conditioners. The controls are in the room, but of course they can shut off everything downstairs. I just try to becareful only to use it when it's hot.

[flotsam]

As I have found out, the majority of Middle Schools does not have AC. We had a thread running about this a while ago.

So far, my school has been nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be in June--but the humidity is coming soon...

[Milwaukiedave]

A bit off topic...

In terms of humidity, I personally have found monsoons to be one of the worst times where I find myself sweating.

I'm sorry to hear you don't have a/c Flotsam, I hope you have some good fans though.

[Qinella]

Wow, the majority of middle schools don't use a/c at all? That's surprising! Man, those classrooms must smell horrible.

[rickhorton44]

I was informed at my school that they won't turn them on until late June or early July. They put one fan in my room. It's a public school, so I think they have a limited budget, but students often complain.

[flotsam]

[pet lover]

My classroom has its own free-standing a/c unit in a corner. I control the temperature....but haven't had to use it yet this year. It's been so lovely and cool so far. I also have two wall-mounted fans (one low enough for me to hit my head on repeatedly throughout the day). I have windows that open on two sides of the room, so I can catch any breeze that is out there. It's a great set-up until summer hits. Then all those windows become a hinderance....they are HUGE and the sun starts shining in around noon. The room is so big that the a/c can't keep it cool what with classes going in and out every forty minutes and the windows themselves not sealing well. Then we bake.

[kiwigirl :O)]

at my haggie they turn it on for 10 or so mins so my kids dont melt like the wicked witch in wizard of oz and then one of my kt runs to the unit and switches it off and it repeats as they kids keep complaining....

[tiger fancini]

I'm in a middle school and so far I've used the A/C only once on a pretty hot Friday afternoon. The following Monday I got a message from the principal, saying that the school can't afford it...

[inspector gadget]

middle school, teachers room as AC but its only been turned on a few times. Classrooms only have fans, its a good thing on average i only teach 3 classes a day.

[ilovebdt]

[ella]

The windows don't have screens?

[sjk1128]

Down here in Busan it hasn't been so hot until the last few days. My school is on a hill by the sea and often gets a nice breeze off the water. Today, however, I have baked all day. We have air conditioners in all our classrooms as well as several of the large standing ones in our office - but no one is using them. Our VP turned the one behind his desk on one afternoon for about 30 seconds - until one of the teachers walked by, rubbed her arms dramatically and said "Ah! Chu-wuh-yo!" I could have slapped her.

The worst time of day for me is actually the commute to work on the subway and the bus. I'd pay an extra 1K won a day to have a cool ride to work and home if that's what is takes. Clearly, most Koreans don't agree.

[Cerriowen]

My school hasn't had airconditioning so far. Let me rephrase... they HAVE airconditioners in each room, but they have them unplugged with the remotes missing so we cannot turn them on ourselves. No fans. Actually I take that back too... they have fans, but every day I have to winge and moan to my boss to please let me use one. I usually end up with a fan once or twice a week for one or two classes. Maybe.

My students are groggy, tired, and really suffer from the heat, expecially in classrooms where there are no windows. One of my ways of keeping kids allert and interactive is *usually* to get them up and moving around, doing hand motions and/or dancing. But even sitting still they just want to lay their heads on their desks for a tiny bit of cool feeling and just keep complaining "teacher! hoooooot! Teacher!!!" Kids don't usually sweat much, but they are drenched and constantly have to ask to go get water.

It's much hotter inside than out.

Yet one more thing I hate about this school. <sigh>