Korean Job Discussion Forums

Pak Yu Man · Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Location: The Ida galaxy

I thing everyone hits a wall at the 6 month point. I did. If I would have left (I really thought about it, got in contact with the airport and all that), I wouldn't have had the life I have now. I would never have met my wife...blah blah blah.

Just hold on for a couple more months and things will be good. Become a bit lazy around the school if it will save your sanity. There are games you can use that could be fun for you and the kids. Try them.

queenbee · Joined: 21 Jan 2006

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to reply to my post, I feel I got really helpful, quality advice. The thing is, when someone writes a post like that, they're really looking for an explanation of why their gut is telling them to stick it out, which is basically what I got. So thank you.
A quick update: although it was only a few weeks ago that I posted, my frame of mind has had a bit of a turnaround..... I have relaxed a lot, and finally feel as if I'm doing what the director wants me to do - that is, to have fun with the kids and not to be too teaching-focussed. As I said already, this feels pretty unnatural, but I seem to be managing! I have been doing a bit of different stuff too, which has helped.

I was talking to one of my Korean colleagues (all of whom are great, btw) about 1.5 weeks ago:
One day - She: "Be kind to the students. They said you are not as kind as [the previous FT].
The next day - Me: "The students are ignoring the no-Korean rule. I am finding it very difficult to enforce".
Same day - She: "You should punish them, or bring them to one of us and we will punish them."
Me: "And then the students will say to you that I am not kind to them."
She: "Aah. Yes."
The KT above is actually a good friend of mine. It was interesting to point this out to her...I hope it made a few things clear!

Woland · Joined: 10 May 2006 Location: Seoul

This is a great thread and maybe should be stickied.

The advice that everyone is giving is great and right on target, both about teaching practice and about taking care of yourself in a difficult time. I just want to reinforce Juergen's point that you are doing a lot of the right things as a teacher in trying to make adjustments for your students' level and trying to make the class fun for them while still having them learn. It will take time for atitudes to change and it may not happen with these groups all the way, but the things you've learned can be useful down the road. Hang in there, give yourself credit for how you've dealt with this, and a break in terms of judging yourself too harshly. It will get better.

drumpounder · Joined: 20 Jun 2006

Queenbee I feel for you. Iam now down to counting days. 23 to be exact till I am on a plane outta here. I hit the wall about 3 months ago. I teach in a technical high school in a small farming town. I teach the bottom 10% of the bottom 10% in terms of ability according to Korean stats. Freshmen and seniors. I have seniors who cannot read or write hangul!

I'll mention that I have a Korean co-teacher with me in every class. It is needed. I asked him recently, "where are so and so, I haven't seen them all week?"

"Oh, they are in jail, they raped a young girl."

"Where is the young man who sits in that chair?"

"He is in jail for assault."

The best advice I can offer is this, and I truly don't mean to sound trite. But concentrate on one day at a time. And teach the teachable kids. If the rest want to follow...fine. If not...f*ck 'em.

Don't quit. If you do they win. Stick it out, one day at a time. In a few months you'll be where I am. And believe me, it feels great. I did it !!! Good God but I thought many times I couldn't get through. I'd get drunk, maybe shed a few tears of desperate frustration, then show up the next day to teach the monsters (oops) kids. Ya gotta laugh!!!!

When life hands you lemons...make lemonade

Good luck

rocklee · Joined: 04 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul

Sody · Joined: 14 May 2006

I feel for ya Queenbee cause I experienced the same cr*p when I used to teach in Japan. Lots of great advice in this thread. Don't forget the sun. Go for walks regularly, get plenty of water. Do hobbies regularly, it will help. Anything to focus less on the job and more on maintaining a life.

Whatever you do though, don't ever go back to working at an hagwon after your prison term is over. Just leave and never look back. It is a dead end job, even in Korea. I learned that the hard way working for an eikawa in Japan. If you are serious about teaching get a teaching degree back home or if you wanna put one foot in the water first, get a job at a public school here. BoL to you.

Sody

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

'(hagwon job) it's a dead end job, even in Korea'.

Honest to God, talk about speaking for others. Working in a hagwon is tough, it's not an easy job. The conditions are not easy to live with. I suppose you could say one smartens up and moves on to a public school, or uni (big hagwon) but what about the person who likes being in a different country, like Korea. Still, you figure a person ought to 'never look back', try a public school gig (in Korea) to get a foot wet, get an education degree and work back in (whatever country you're from, Canada, U.S., etc.). A point where numerous people have said, 'I wish I were back in Korea, hadn't left, because now I have so many responsibilities I can't tear loose....').

Suppose a person has their own free will, set of likes/dislikes, and doesn't want to return to their bland homeland and actually likes the chaos, the disorder, the surprises (pleasant and unpleasant) of working in a hagwon. In a way I agree with the 'work smarter, not harder' idea and getting out of hagwon work. But I also think it's a very tough job in many ways (easy in others). Those who find it unbearable and who left can not say it was entirely the job's fault, paint it black, and say it's a dead end job. They left, it ended, their hagwon career is dead. That can be said.