Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

The last foreign teacher (from Jolly Old England) left the apartment in SHAMBLES. It took me WEEKS to get it close to habitable- along with belated help from the hogwan director. The former teacher left all kinds of trash and empties. The bathroom?- It's better if I leave out any details, in case anyone has a weak stomach. The place was a wreck. I threw out A LOT of trash and collected worthless items that may have had sentimental value to someone with a pea-sized brain.

Now, four months later, the director told me that the former teacher called with a list of things he left in the apartment, and he wants them back.

My questions?- Why should I care, at all? Any applicable Korean laws? There's no- "Finders Keepers" because he left nothing but, how do the English say this, um, RUBBISH, and that's where it went- INTO THE TRASH.
I already told the director that none of the former teacher's stuff is still in the apartment and that I won't waste any time looking for his crap. The director didn't seem like he wanted to make an issue out of it, with me, but does anyone have a similiar story to tell?

[ChopChaeJoe]

The guy should have taken his crap with him.

My place was brand new. in fact, it was a car port before I arrived. Apparently the city inspector said it was uninhabitable. Good enough for a waygookin, I suppose.

I like the place. Private bathroom, bigger than the other apartments in the building.

[wylies99]

The director actually caused me to be late for class because of this BS.

[Homer]

He or she (director) meant well I suppose (getting the teacher his stuff back) however from what you described, his or her stuff went along with the garbage he/she left behind...hence its gone and with good reason.

[vdowd]

Understand Wylies99,

How about this scenerio several years ago. I arrive at my new, shared accommodation and my male room-mate is gone for a weekend. I unpack and go to put my suitcases into the small, only closet in the apartment. Find it overflowing with women's clothing, pictures, personal items, etc in black, plastic bags - OK, I say to myself, I'll ask my room-mate about it when he gets back from the weekend.

He says, that a former teacher went to France for a 10 day holiday and pulled a runner a year before. She had said she would be back in 6 months to pick up her stuff but did not show. Stuffed her things into a small space inside my empty suitcases in the closet.

More time passes - roommate moves on and 3 more arrive and go. Need the space in my empty suitcases to store off season clothing so I finally threw out her things except for a few nice items that fit myself and a few friends. It is 4 years later and still no word.

Even if she had called, I would have told her the truth - who the hell are you and why should I care. They weren't important enough to take or come to get in a timely fashion and they were taking up my space.

Tough luck and thanks for the nice coat.







provided

[Hyeon Een]

[poet13]

I think unless the person arranged for the items, whatever they were, to be stored before they left, they're gone. i would make exceptions for (and protect from pilfering) things of obvious value..... like a guitar, or high end cook ware (calphalon or something), but not for clothes and stuff.

[jajdude]

I think the worst is moving into mold-infested apts. Once I had a good 2-3 hours' cleaning to do. That stuff will make you sick. Another time it kept growing back and I got sick. I left the job for that and other reasons.

[ilovebdt]

I would say unless they stated before they left that they would be leaving certain items behind which would be collected at a later date then they are out of luck.

Do they think you are their personal storage service or something?

Get organised and take care of your stuff people or lose it.

ilovebdt

[spliff]

My place is brand new. The former teachers left it in tip top condition...even left a lot of food, too...

[wylies99]

[i_teach_esl]

[Oreovictim]

My coworker is best friends with the guy who I replaced. When I mentioned that the place is still messy, my coworked looked shocked and said, "He cleaned it." Excuse me for having standards.

If you're leaving, here are a few things that you should do.

First, remove your crap from the fridge. Sure, I do need a bottle of mustard and ketchup, but I don't know who you are and where you've been or even how longs the craps has been there.

Second, take down your stuff on the walls. Yeah, they're bare, but I have an appreciation for art, and the rock climbing calendars just don't cut it for me.

It's appreciated when you sweep, but using the mop on the floor works wonders. Also, dusting the few bits of furniture and wiping down the small fridge and freezer only takes a few minutes. I know, I know, that would cut into your drinking time. Silly me.

You'll have to excuse my rant. It's just that I spent hours cleaning up little things that should have been taken care of.

[wylies99]

[sweetonsno]

Mine was bad too. The kicker was that my roommate had lived there for a full month before I arrived. She'd stored all of the stuff the former tenants had left (along with stuff from teachers at our school who were relocating) in my room. The closet is full of bed frames and broken electronics, as well as a plastic bag full of clothes that look like they've been urinated on. It was pretty terrible. The kicker was that one of the guys came back to the apartment (no notice, another former tenant called us to tell us he was coming about twenty minutes before he arrived) and he had the nerve to not only take back a bunch of useful things, but accuse us of stealing some of his stuff. It's like, "Dude. You left this here a YEAR ago. You obviously didn't care about it, it stuck to my hand when I picked it up." Needless to say, I was peeved.