Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Scorpion]

I've never worked for Epik, but I did the Gepik orientation. It's a bloody joke. You learn nothing and it's essentially just another procedural hoop that they make foreigners jump through. I'm not surprised that some people got drunk and didn't take the event seriously. But banning all instructors from drinking is insulting. And Koreans getting sanctimious about other people's drinking habits in their down time is just retarded. Forcing strangers to bunk with each other is also insensitive. If they want us to respect Korean custums, they should also make an effort to respect ours. We cherish our privacy and personal space, and don't like being put in a small room with another stranger.

Anyway, I had sent the coordinator an email saying that I required a single room. I explained that I was uncomfortable sharing a room with someone I didn't know. And I got it. I had a room to myself. So the OP might try that route and see if it works. I was quite ready to sleep on the sofa in the lobby rather than share a room, but I lucked out.

But the whole orientation thing is a friggin joke. I had been working at Gepik for four years before I went. I learned nothing, and several of the 'instructors' were barely out of their teens and had never taught in the Gepik system. They were, in all likelihood, simply selected because they could speak English.

One day at lunch I went walking around the grounds and walked through the front gates to have a look around. The security ajoshie sees me and starts yelling and gesturing for me to come back. I'm thinking WTF? As I don't take kindly to be yelled at, I ignore him. So he gets on his phone and three minutes later one of the Korean 'instructors' comes running down (yes, running) to inform me that I cannot leave the grounds at any time during the orientation. She insisted that I walk back with her - not trusting me to go back myself on my own steam. We had to walk back together.

Honestly, would it kill Koreans to occasionally show people some respect?

[Scorpion]

[recessiontime]