Korean Job Discussion Forums

[icyx]

Hey all, kind of having a nervous breakdown and looking for advice. I'm currently at the EPIK orientation, having been offered a job and all, but I'm just starting to realise that I may not pass the health check that we had today. Does anyone know what happens if you don't pass? Are you immediately deported, including jail time and everything? Should I just be upfront with the EPIK organizers, quit and hop on the next plane home, saving myself deportation / fines? Or is that even possible??

Any help is appreciated

[OculisOrbis]

It all depends on why you failed the test. Care to give the reason for your concern for a more detailed response?

[Kurtz]

Jail time? do you have evidence of ganga in the blood stream?

[jurassic82]

Jesus!!! Jail Time? Are you serious? If you fail the health check because of your drug test then the worst they will do is send you home. If that's the case seriously you should have known there was a drug test before you came. Besides that and the HIV/AIDS test it is pretty hard to fail the health check. I was told I had high blood pressure and cholesteral, along with being a little over weight and a cavity. I have heard and seen much worse from other teachers. Try not too stress too much about it unless your drug test comes out tie-dyed you should be fine.

[Troglodyte]

I've heard that if you fail the medical exam, they quickly gag you, throw you in the back of a bongo truck, and drive you to the a boat waiting at an undisclosed location. Supposedly, from there you are transported to a small island just off the coast and kept indefinitely at a forced labor camp where you are socially re-educated and made fit for reintegration into the general population.

It's hard to know exactly what happens after a failed medical exam because as yet, few teachers have ever been heard of after failing. They just disappear. Occasionally one will wash up on the shore delirious and babbling about how great kimchi and k-pop are but they never survive long enough to get the whole story from them.

[schwa]

Wait for the results. Dont say anything to the organizers. Who knows what the tests may actually check.

Should it come back positive, suggest there must have been a mistake & ask for a re-test. Maybe that one will go your way.

You really should have known better. You wont go to jail, but your Korean adventure might come to an abrupt expensive end before it even starts.

[Changwon Charlie]

If you are SURE you are going to fail and have been in this country for any length of time I would be leaving straight away.

In all probability, even if you do FAIL you will probably put on the next plane home (at your expense) so if you fail either way you will be apying for your flight. At WORST you could be having a stint in a Korean jail (not for long I would assume but who knows) and deportation, once again at your expense.

So I suppose you are rolling the dice. If you think your percentages for PASSing the test are very high I would just stay quiet. If you think you will FAIL I wouldn't be risking it as you will be paying for your flight home anyway.

[Kwangjuchicken]

[schwa]

Hah, I rousted the chicken!

[ttompatz]

The only thing that will happen if you fail the medical is you won't be able to get your ARC.

Failure to get your ARC means you have to leave Korea (at your expense) within 90 days of your arrival.

IF you were arrested as part of a drug bust and tested positive it would be different (jail, fines and eventual deportation).

.

[oldtactics]

This post is a good example of what-not-to-do-on-the-internet.

OP, you realize that people who work for EPIK are also posting and reading Dave's? Maybe it's not the smartest thing to be writing about this while you're AT orientation?

Anyway, don't leave unless you have a confirmed fail.

Must be nice to have so many job options available that you can afford to sacrifice this one. How is this potential failure a surprise? Ugh.

[Otherside]

OP, what EPIK city are supposed to be working in? I'm currently on the waitlist, and need to know whether I should start packing

[Waluigi]

I'm guessing from the worried tone that it is a drug test we are talking about?

I had an 'indiscretion' back home before I came out here and I was seriously bricking the medical. I was playing out all the worst case scenarios in my head and all, but it turned out fine.

I'd say as long as you didn't do any class As a week or two before your blood test, you'll be grand.

if it is a certain 'soft' drug you are worried about, well, most hospitals simply don't have the facilities to check for it... so try not to worry.

[jcm87]

They always had a drug test but it was never for weed. Within the past couple of months though they started testing for it, and this is the test for the visa I believe, so it's standard no matter where you are. Who knows if they'll actually follow through with it though, it seems like such a minor thing to take away someone's job for. Ask for a retest, and when you take it again, drink as much water as you possibly can. It'll dilute your urine and make the test inconclusive, meaning you'll get another retest. By this point it'll be out of your system. Unless you're a really heavy smoker, in which case you have about a month before you're clean. Then you're screwed.

[nathanrutledge]