Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nspidle]

Trying to make a long story short: I was told I would be in Ilsan (which is far enough from Seoul) but when i got here I'm in a place called Paju (5 miles from N. Kr.) I have friends in Seoul and a majority of the foreign teachers community is there. It's important for my success living here, so far from home, to have a group of friends around me. I'm the only foreign teacher at my school and my Korean counterparts don't seem interested in hanging out.

I need some advice on the following:

This switch constitutes a breach of contract in my mind. I'm considering jumping ship to another school. How? I'm also thinking about sticking it out here for a while but bailing in the winter (half way done with my contract). A midnight run seems like a pretty crappy thing to do but I do consider it an option. Would there be a lot of backlash from giving notice of my decision to break my contract?

[cruisemonkey]

[ChinaBoy]

If you give notice, you'll likely lose your last month's pay.

[Kikomom]

Public school or private?

[CentralCali]

Evidently, it's a public school. It's not a bait and switch. Your contract is with the POE and you are assigned based on their requirements to staff a particular school. You can be assigned anywhere in the province and that's what happened.

It doesn't take that long to get to Seoul from Paju unless you're walking.

[Fishead soup]

[Unposter]

If you don't want your assignment, calmly and in a non-accusatory manner explain your situation to someone who can do something about it.

If that does not work than you need to ask yourself how important is this. If it really is that important, give notice and look for another job.

You may find that if you give notice they may take your situation more seriously.

It is very important to stay calm and not be accusatory if you do not want to burn any bridges with whatever public school system you are working with.

[nspidle]

It's a Hagwon. They have two branches. During my hiring process they interviewed me from the bigger Ilsan school. Then wen I got here they placed me here in Paju. I came based on all the info that they told me at the other school:30 minutes subway from Seoul. 6 other foreign teachers. ect. My contract even has the address of the other school on it.

Legally speaking I'm not sure if the school I'm working at is the same entity as the school I signed the contract for. They may be the equivalent of a franchise.

[Ramen]

[Ramen]

[nspidle]

[ChinaBoy]

[I-am-me]

A year goes by fairly quickly. Do you really want to hassle with all that paperwork again? Just wait a month and check to see if they are paying your taxes and other benefits. If not, they violated your contract and its your ticket out.

[nspidle]

[air76]

I think that the best bet is to tough it out...by the time you went through all of the hassles you'd be half way through your contract anyhow and leaving the country and giving up your bonus and whatever pay they owe you when you run will cost you quite a bit.

Buy an X-Box...load up on books...go to Seoul on the weekends...and tough it out. A year here really does fly by and the financial benefits to complete your contract really are quite good. Not to mention that if you complete your contract you'd be in line to get a much better job next year, whereas if you run out then you're going to be stuck starting at the bottom again at another job (which may end up having issues as well.) Pretty much every contract in Korea will have a couple gray points that make you feel like you were ripped off, even the best jobs.

The same thing happened to me when I first came to Korea...hired at one school and transfered to a city 1 hour away the day before I arrived. I ended up loving it there....I think that once you resign yourself to living in Paju that you'll make friends and have a good time.