Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kriswithak]

Ok seriously I'am losing my hair! , I've been at my hagwon for 4 months and i looked into the drain, it is choco-block with my hair, i checked after i noticed it was getting thin. (I'm 26 and have no history of baldness anywhere in my family). I know what my hair looks like and I'm the only one who uses the shower, the drain was clear when i started eons ago.

These kids are driving me insane, I'm over worked, always paid late and I started getting a eye twitch (i think from stress). I want out, and i don't want to teach kids anymore, I need some advice. I see my options as

1. Give notice and get a LOR, and try to find (with 6 months teaching experience (i taught right up to adult level, one on one a few times a week)) another job teaching adults, I don't mind split shift work I've done it before for 2 years while i studied and can handle it.

2. Run. (I guess this option is always open for me) I'm afraid of being screwed, the boss tried to screw me on the phone bill after being here a month, but i got it checked and confronted them, i know they have lied about other things too, I really really dont want it to come to this, I really love those adorable little monsters but my health has to come first.

I have my original notorised degree (after a week of asking for it) and a photocopy of my transcript. My CRC is with immi and so is the rest of it.
Questions:

1.Please be honest. What are my chances getting a job where I'm not going to go nuts and bald? (I really love teaching and meeting people, i have made some good Korean friends i trust and get along well with people in general.)

2. I know each employer has different requirements, but what documents will i need to reorder? Another CRC? Another sealed transcript? I want to get my things together now ready for August. I know it was dumb of me not to have copies but I'm really a newbie (just graduated last year) to all this and was kind of seduced by a beautiful Korean girl into coming over here.

Thank you for reading.

Kris

[rollo]

Relax, and enjoy the children, they are great and that is what is important. You will move on and upward, and it will be good.

[WadRUG'naDoo]

Jebus. My eye'd start to twitch if my boss was always paying me late, too. I'd friggin' lose it.

[litebear]

[young_clinton]

Save some of your money for hair transplants in Thailand, they're not very expensive there. Go on Rogaine right away, it definitely slows down and in some cases stops balding. Right now is a really good time for Rogaine.

[northway]

[hammmmy]

[ttompatz]

[Modernist]

Why do I say, know what it really means to teach kids?

THIS is why.

I like the kids I teach too, some of them are so cute it's almost impossible to believe they are real.

But this isn't about if you like kids or if the individual kids are nice or sweet or even smart. It's about the day-to-day reality of dozens or more at a time, keeping them going, entertained, at least vaguely learning something. It's about the screaming and the singing and the chanting and the repeat-after-me over and over and over again. It's about no attention span, it's about the blank looks for simple instructions even after months of saying the same things.

Teaching young kids OFTEN drains you. It is NEVER mentally challenging except to the extent you are trying not to go insane with boredom and repitition. It is VERY difficult to do consistently well because you can end up, sooner or later, like this poor OP.

I have asked Korean teachers many times, of 5 levels which is hardest: kinder, elementary, middle, high or college. Every time, always they say youngest is the worst.

If you come to Korea to teach, know what you are actually getting into. Pulling a runner is all that can really be done here, but it's a lousy thing all around.

[lichtarbeiter]

I'm not sure if this will be of any comfort, but the vast majority of cases of stress-related hair loss aren't the same as balding. The hair you're shedding now should grow back within a year. I'd just get the hell out of your hagwon situation ASAP.

[kriswithak]

Thanks so much for a quick response,
I've decided I'm going to run back home with tail between my legs and start afresh in some months, ashamed but much wiser and prepared. I'll give teaching and Korea another crack in the future. I think this is the fastest ticket out and it will be easier to prep in my home country.

Any problems with this plan of action?

[litebear]

[Son Deureo!]

Before you pack your bag and hail that cab to the airport, there are a few things I hope you'll consider....

Your hair. It might be stress, but it could very well be your shampoo. Korean shampoos are harsher than most Western brands, as Asian hair is generally coarser than Caucasian hair. Have you tried switching shampoos?

The timing. The fact that you've been here for 4 months and are thinking about bailing is all too familiar. It's common to feel severe culture shock and depression right around the 3-6 month mark. This may very well be culture shock speaking and something you'll get over.

The kids. It's your first time teaching, and teaching kids is never easy. Eff anyone who says it is. Add a language barrier and the lousy administrative support you get at most hogwons, and classroom management can be a downright nightmare. But have you tried learning how to get better at it? Read up on activities and classroom management techniques? It's not for everyone, but once you learn a bit more about what you're doing, teaching kids can be rewarding and fun.

The money. Hopefully you've already been saving a bit, and if you can make it to the end of your contract, you'll be able to add abut an extra $5k final paycheck to whatever you can sock away on a monthly basis.

Your resume. You say you want to come back here to teach adults. Having a completed year on your resume will do much more for getting you the better job you want in Korea than having to make excuses for why you left your first job here after 4 months.

Your friends. You say you've already made some good friends here. Do you really want to walk away from them because of some bratty kids and a douche of a boss? And what about that beautiful Korean girl you came here for?

Look, I don't pretend to know all the details about your situation. Maybe it is untenable, your boss paying you late every month is certainly a serious problem. Have you talked to him about it? Let him know that this is unacceptable?

I was losing my hair long before my first hogwon job, but aside from that, I could have written the same post you did in my first 4 months here. But I stuck it out, turned a few of my problem classes around, stood up to my boss, met some great people, collected that fat paycheck, took a great vacation in Southeast Asia, and got a much better job here my second year (still kids, but about half the hours for better pay).

I still get a twitch sometimes thinking about my first boss, but I'm always glad I stuck it out. Things get better, and most of what you're having a hard time with probably can be dealt with if you're willing to put in the effort.

If you decide you really can't handle it, litebear and ttompatz's advice on how to cancel your visa to get another job in Korea is spot on. Just make sure you have a complete set of new documents, including your apostilled CRC, before you go. And keep your mouth shut until after you get paid.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

[marsavalanche]

I`ll contribute. I recently pulled a runner from a school that was screwing me over with pension, health insurance, late pay, unpaid overtime, visa reimbursements never returned, pressuring to fire me, you know the drill. Actually Ive lost count of how many lies were fed to me over the phone by the head teacher who I suspect had the boss breathing down their neck during the conversation.

Luckily I had applied and received TWO sets of CBCs with apostilles just in case. So After 1 month I gave them the finger, pulled a runner, and am now enjoying my new job. No regrets, if they were going to pull all of that in the first month, you can bet Id be one of the `help, I got fired in my 11th month` people here.

Your health is more important than those kids btw. Lets keep it real. Do what you gotta do, at the end of the day its either you being their whipping boy or enjoying your life in this country.

[Modernist]