Korean Job Discussion Forums

jeefunk22 · Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Alright. This school has all of my stuff, which I fedexed at the outlandishly expensive rate as requested.
Now my departure date is getting postponed because they say the current teacher wants to stay a few weeks longer!
I'm not sure what to do... there was so much stress on everything needing to happen quickly and so now I've quit my old job and am ready to leave. I'm unemployed, soon to be homeless because I had arranged to get rid of my apartment, furniture and possession-less, and if I stay around here much longer juggling all this I won't have nearly enough money to survive on once I get to Korea.
It's not like I can look for other options at this point though because I just sent them a signed contract and copies of all my stuff. Right? Or can I?

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

antoniothegreat · Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Location: Yangpyeong

ditto

poof · Joined: 23 May 2005

Depends what you want to do and whether the employer has actually submitted the docs to immi. or just has them in his possession. As they are just doc copies, you can opt to tell your employer no thanks if he has not yet submitted them to immi. He might rant and rave that you've let him down, but he's also put you in a bad position although probably doesn't realise it. You are then free to look for another job, but it'll probably take just as long - 'a few weeks' - to get set up with a new job so just automatically walking away from this one may not be an option.

I know exactly what your situation is like because I had a similar circumstance of facing homelessness in my home country last year. It was very stressful and there was no one to help me out. I decided it would be financially cheaper to come to Korea and get a job from here. I came here on 1 million won and lived in a gosiwon dorm for 3 months. It wasn't fun, but I 'made it'. Probably, if I were in your shoes, I would do the following: I would find out exactly what stage of processing your docs are at. If they are submitted to immi for 100% sure, I would come to Korea, hang on and do a visa run to Japan. I would also insist on speaking to the teacher who is holding out to confirm that there will be a place for you on a specified date. If the teacher and employer was kind enough, they may let you stay in their apartment which is probably school owned. That would be the hopeful scenario. Good luck.

poet13 · Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:10 am Post subject:

I agree that living here, even in a rented room, can be cheaper than over there. Should you decide to take that route, you will actually have more jobs availablde to you, because many employers look for employees IN korea first. If you choose to come here and live cheap, you will have to prepare yourself to do just that. You can eat well on less than ten US a day. If you smoke and or drink, your budget can double or even quadruple. You can do it, but only if you are disciplined.
Good luck.