Korean Job Discussion Forums

[D.D.]

I had noticed lately that my co teacher is a total freak. This makes my job hard as she is one of the only people that speakes English.

Yesterday I was outside talking with the male teachers and they said home now. They meant that we can go home early because it was exams.

I went inside and started to get my stuff and she was like where are you going. I said that I was going home and she said why and pretended that she didn't know that she was supposed to have told me.

I could go on for hours about all the shit that she does. What makes it worse is that the office of education stood behind her when I challenged her authority and told her and me that she is my boss.

Sometimes I will be walking down the street and a non english speaking teacher will pick me up and drive me to a staff function. She will be sitting their with an evil angry look on her face after being caught out for not telling me about the function.

Koreans play so many power games it's amazing. When I first got there she made advances towards me and when I ignored them it's been freaky lady head game ever since.

I decided it is not worth it to stay here. I have lived and worked in many countries but Korea by far is the rudest place.

Too bad I can't speak to the other teachers who I know are cool.

[T-J]

Not to be a smart ass, I really am looking for clarification.

I thought the Korean was the teacher and the foreigner was a TA.

I don't know as I don't work in the PS school system.

[D.D.]

We are called guest teachers now.

[maingman]

dontt you mean Guess teachers

[T-J]

[Xuanzang]

Sounds like she needs to get laid. One way or another.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[ChopChaeJoe]

You are telling us this why?

[sojourner1]

Confront her and be direct about the problem you have with her. She will try to lie her way out of it and falsely act like nothing is wrong when you have her backed up against a wall, but will very well know what you're talking about. Tell her, you don't play head games nor accept lies as answers. Tell her you will begin to not listen to her, because you don't no longer care nor have respect for her. Tell her, she might as well give up her power trip since you refused her advances and make it clear there will never be anything with you on a personal level, because you're just going to be more trouble than it's worth and you may take it higher to the county office or even higher if she continues to be this way. Tell her we can choose to both get along and harmoniously work together or we can have a very difficult time. It's your choice, miss.

[BadBadMan]

Uh.. how old is she?
If she's over 30, I wouldn't be surprised. There's a term: 노처녀 히스테리

Unmarried women over 30 often have this type of hysteria because they're sexually frustrated, lonely, and overstressed about not having a nice ol' husband beside them. They're rude to Koreans, too, so don't worry about it too much.

[John_ESL_White]

it's a 'women' thing, not a Korean thing....

[yingwenlaoshi]

[Seoul'n'Corea]

[jiyull]

I'm having similar problems, so I just talk to and hang out with all the other teachers at school and outside of school functions.
I have a better relationship with the students that don't like me haha

I talked to my co-ordinator, I have to wait until winter camp is over to transfer and just listen to the other older teachers, if anything comes up.

I'm Korean btw, so it might make that easier...

[Big Mac]

I have similar problems with my co-teacher.

I don't think any of it is intended to be mean-spirited though. It's just the way things are in Korea. Lack of planning runs rampant and lying is accepted. There's also a lack of respect for foreigners in general and a feeling of being a superior race. That problem is magnified where I am in the country, because there is less willingness in the country to accept that we are different. I know it's screwed up, but oh well.

I never get told any important information and find out about things at the last minute, usually at the exact moment the important thing happens. I don't get told about group functions, I assume because it makes the other teachers feel uncomfortable when I am around. I'm just as happy anyway because no one speaks English at these functions and no one tries to translate. I'm not consulted on anything that I think is important regarding the classes, I assume because they think that I am the dumb foreigner who doesn't know anything anyway. I was actually told the other day that foreigners don't know anything about education. I guess that's why their English textbooks are such superior documents. All I suggested is that they let me proofread the worksheets and tests they create for the class, but they will have none of it.

I just try to brush it off as part of the culture. But it does bother me sometimes.

When it really bothers me is when they fail to give me important information about my pay. My pay is often late and they don't offer any good explanation. There are also important things (like overtime) missing from my pay and they don't seem to feel that I need an explanation on why or when I will actually get it. I fought for two weeks after pay day to get any sort of explanation on that one, and I still don't completely understand.

My co-teacher is the only one in the school who speaks English too, so she's basically the only one I can communicate with. It's annoying, but oh well.