Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Jabbles]

When is the hagwon's winter break this year? (for most if not all schools)

Thanks.

[schwa]

All are different.

[Bigs]

Winter break? HA! Consider yourself lucky if you don't get slammed with intensives!

[Skippy]

HAHA Bigs is correct. With Hagwons and Vacations here is some advice.

Vacation is usually two weeks out of a whole year (for most hagwon contracts). But actually whats happens in most hagwons do is give just 10 days. That 10 does comes out to about 2 weeks. Thus 5 weekdays and 2 day weekend makes 7 Day week times 2 make fourteen. Of course with schools now a days they hate giving this all at once. So most will say one week of in Winter and one in Summer. These terms are usually stipulated in your contract.

I have done contracts without getting my FULL vacation time. Yes I got national holidays off and what the school gave off rarely which ended up being only two to three weekdays. When they gave me time off it was in the slow period when the school did not have any intensives or vacation programs on. Rarely could I get off a whole week. I was able to get two/thrree days around Chusok to make it whole week rather then. But I digress

Hagwons will offer/say they have vacation time. Then later you go asking for them. They will say NO or later. I have heard of, read and talked to people who have in weeks up to months ahead planned for vacations and then told sorry you can not go on it.

Heck one of my friends parents came to Korea to visit. He knew of the visit a month ahead of time. He asked for some time off to go do some stuff with them. Once again NO go. Not even a Thursday, Friday off to get a nice long weekend.

You have to understand that schools can not usually fill you position when you are gone. Know sometimes schools will get around a missing teacher by doing the following.

1. Combining classes. One class soon becomes 20 students for some poor teacher.
2. Assigning to a Korean teacher. Expect when you get back tanned and relaxed they will be angry surely and pissed off at you.
3. Hiring a substitute. And filling a foreigner with another waygook for a week is usually illegal and gets down right expensive.

Also you are forgetting one aspect of Modern Korean psyche - "inability to plan ahead". You can say NOW to you owner/ school head. I am going to ****** on January 10th, 2009 for 1 week. I am using my Vacation time. They say OK OK (whatever) and give your nominal permission. Every month you remind them. You show them paid for plane tickets. They say yayaya nice. You plan your vacation, book the plane hotel room. Then comes December. You remind them as usual. Then the panic starts! It starts to register in their mind. CRAP! what are we going to do." You thinking that by reminding them and telling them about your vacation they will have planned. They would have some teacher organized. They will handle the classes for the time you are gone. They start back sliding. They ask you to reconsider going. They will ask if you wait another month till February! NO. OK. Next, can you wait 10 more days till Jan 29th. NO you can not change the plans. Know if your luckey they will sigh and accept their fate. OR they will hand you a whole mess. For example expect the following messes

A. They ask you to find some one to cover your classes. If possible can they do it for FREE or cheap!
B. Give you a whole bunch of work they say will cover for the time you are gone. Or possibly afterwords.

OR

C. Your FIRED! Got to love this one. Their thinking is you will wantg to keep you job so you will give up your vacation. True it might work for them but it can ever mess them up more.

So overall Vacations and Hagwons are difficult at best. Amazing if you can get! So if you want Vacation next winter. Plan ahead eveything now. Push your school till the UNDERSTAND. Try to hammer down what is happening around that time. You wil not get clear answers but try for some clarity.

Good Luck

[Tobias]

I myself have been encountering many lies and liars at my job of late, and I'm now resorting to either taping meetings or getting everything down on paper in contract forms. This is really pissing me off, as the job was great until about four months ago. One should not have to resort to these actions. Koreans should keep their word. But, live with it or leave. Or find a way to wiggle around the landmines.

Perhaps the OP should write up some sort of statement he can use down the road to get what he's been promised. He could sign that form and have his boss sign it as well. Would it stand up in court? Unknown, but it will definitely cause loss-of-face problems if it's used against the liar(s).