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ChrisLamp
Joined: 27 Jul 2010
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 Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 6:24 am Post subject: Positive Reinforcement |
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| Does your Korean boss ever tell you you've done a good job? |
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computermichael
Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Location: Anyang
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| Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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No, most of them never have. Nobody ever really complains about me, but it's been rare in my time here for a Korean coworker, especially a boss, to go out of their way to say anything positive about me. I don't expect everybody to lavish praise on me, but sometimes it's nice to hear some kind of positive feedback from a figure of authority.
They can't really say anything good about the foreigners where I work now because they play the Korean teachers against us. The Korean teachers make about 1,000,000 won less than the foreign teachers and have to work more. They're very bitter about it, so it's convenient for the people who employ them to have a scapegoat.
I did have a boss who would only ever praise me, and he did it excessively. I'd be eating something, and he'd come and make a big scene, saying, "OH LOOK AT THE MICHAEL EATING THE CHOPSTICK SO HARD FOR FOREIGNER BUT THE MICHAEL CAN DO IT!" Or maybe it would be about using the copy machine or choosing a textbook or some other banal part of my job. It always seemed disingenuous whenever I put real effort into something and felt like what I did actually warranted approval. He was the owner of a cult-like religious school and ripped me off anyway. |
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Slowmotion
Joined: 15 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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| I work in a public school, and usually I tell my coteachers thank you and they say thank you back. One teacher always tells me I did a good job too lol (older teacher) |
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loubird
Joined: 27 May 2010
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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| All the time, but I work in a public school and don't have an co-teachers, so I suppose it's just them being nice. |
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Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
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| Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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| When working in a hagwon: sometimes, but I feel the hagwon I was working at was an exception to the rule int that most give very little to none. In public school: so much it's sometimes creepy. I'm pretty sure public school co-teachers are taught to butter us up. That and in public school they make as much if not more than you. They've certainly got more opportunity for upward mobility. |
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happiness
Joined: 04 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:09 am Post subject: |
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Today. She said I was listening to her. Which means obeying. That in Korea is a compliment.
Im not really obeying...she doesnt see me slackin! |
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rkc76sf
Joined: 02 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 5:03 pm Post subject: |
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| computermichael wrote: |
No, most of them never have. Nobody ever really complains about me, but it's been rare in my time here for a Korean coworker, especially a boss, to go out of their way to say anything positive about me. I don't expect everybody to lavish praise on me, but sometimes it's nice to hear some kind of positive feedback from a figure of authority.
They can't really say anything good about the foreigners where I work now because they play the Korean teachers against us. The Korean teachers make about 1,000,000 won less than the foreign teachers and have to work more. They're very bitter about it, so it's convenient for the people who employ them to have a scapegoat.
I did have a boss who would only ever praise me, and he did it excessively. I'd be eating something, and he'd come and make a big scene, saying, "OH LOOK AT THE MICHAEL EATING THE CHOPSTICK SO HARD FOR FOREIGNER BUT THE MICHAEL CAN DO IT!" Or maybe it would be about using the copy machine or choosing a textbook or some other banal part of my job. It always seemed disingenuous whenever I put real effort into something and felt like what I did actually warranted approval. He was the owner of a cult-like religious school and ripped me off anyway. |
 That's hilarious, the funniest thing I've read all day. I know the patronizing you're talking about, not really complimenting, it's more annoying than if they said nothing at all. The copy machine story reminds me of when I got tired of trying to read all the Korean on our copy machine and went into the settings page and changed the language to english to make double sided copies and shrink four to a page. I forgot to change the language back and for Koreans to be so good at English, they couldn't figure it out to save their life. The office boss got really mad about it. I laughed and thought to myself, give me a break. |
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Kaypea
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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| rkc76sf wrote: |
| computermichael wrote: |
No, most of them never have. Nobody ever really complains about me, but it's been rare in my time here for a Korean coworker, especially a boss, to go out of their way to say anything positive about me. I don't expect everybody to lavish praise on me, but sometimes it's nice to hear some kind of positive feedback from a figure of authority.
They can't really say anything good about the foreigners where I work now because they play the Korean teachers against us. The Korean teachers make about 1,000,000 won less than the foreign teachers and have to work more. They're very bitter about it, so it's convenient for the people who employ them to have a scapegoat.
I did have a boss who would only ever praise me, and he did it excessively. I'd be eating something, and he'd come and make a big scene, saying, "OH LOOK AT THE MICHAEL EATING THE CHOPSTICK SO HARD FOR FOREIGNER BUT THE MICHAEL CAN DO IT!" Or maybe it would be about using the copy machine or choosing a textbook or some other banal part of my job. It always seemed disingenuous whenever I put real effort into something and felt like what I did actually warranted approval. He was the owner of a cult-like religious school and ripped me off anyway. |
That's hilarious, the funniest thing I've read all day. I know the patronizing you're talking about, not really complimenting, it's more annoying than if they said nothing at all. The copy machine story reminds me of when I got tired of trying to read all the Korean on our copy machine and went into the settings page and changed the language to english to make double sided copies and shrink four to a page. I forgot to change the language back and for Koreans to be so good at English, they couldn't figure it out to save their life. The office boss got really mad about it. I laughed and thought to myself, give me a break. |
This story appeals to my malicious side. I would never do this on purpose, but it never occurred to me that I could make the copier do an English option for me when I do my fancy copyin'. Some of the teachers in my office aren't English teachers, though, so it would be evil for me to
"forget" on April 1st or something... |
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todes_8ngel
Joined: 06 Jun 2010
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:41 am Post subject: |
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Everyday after my last class my coteacher always say, "thank you for your hard work."
She's awesome. |
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