Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Glorf]

I came over to Korea a couple of months ago, and then discovered that something I'd never even thought of is a serious issue over here.

My hands shake. This is a condition that runs among men in my family. My understanding of it is that there's nothing modern medicine can really do about it, but I've never worried about this. My grandfather who had it was a chain-smoking alcoholic, and it didn't stop him from living past 80. I've got an uncle and a cousin back home that weren't forbidden from going into the military over it, and so it's just not something I worry about.

As I'm sure you guys can guess, it's obviously not that simple here. I was at a small hagwon where I had to do part-time work and then do part-time work at a public school.

After a month I found out that the principal of the public school didn't want to see me there anymore. Every day she had complained to the owner of the hagwon about it, accusing me of being on drugs ( I was tempted to say they should just give me a drug test, but I get the feeling this wouldn't fly in Korea) and then commenting on the fact that I wasn't giving individualized enough attention. I realize that the attention issue was my fault, but judging by the reactions I've often gotten from Koreans, I get the impression that the real issue is the way my hands shake. The owner of the hagwon has been extremely helpful in this situation. She's working on finding me enough part-time hours at other places to keep me, even though I've already been replaced. She gave me the notice early last week, and was able to get another foreign teacher to start at the beginning of this week. In spite of that, the owner of the hagwon is has said that she wants to find me enough hours for me to stay where I am, and has gotten me a couple of things that will give me decent hours. One of the Korean teachers at the hagwon wants me to give privates to his son ( I'm gonna make sure it's okay with the owner of the hagwon and get all the necessary paperwork filed first, if I do end up taking him up on that offer), and so it seems like there is a chance that I could stick around Korea for awhile.

I'm just wondering if people with more experience think this will continue to be an issue EVERYWHERE that I go in Korea. I'm remaining optimistic about the situation, and a few foreign friends in the area have told me they don't see an issue. I just wonder since I've gotten some odd reactions from Koreans, and want to get all of the input that I can.

Btw, I'm 22, Caucasian, and got my B.A. earlier this year. I'm assuming someone might ask for that information if I hadn't added it somewhere in this post.

[pet lover]

Just how much do your hands shake? My hands shake, well, more like tremble, ALL the time. If I've taken my asthma medication recently, that ups to anything from a shake to a violent shake. I'm pretty good at hiding it though...the normal everyday trembling I mean. Most people never notice it. I try to always have my hands ON something so that it's not visible.

If this is something others in your family have, well, I'm inclined to think that there is some kind of medical term for it. If so, in the future, tell your employer upfront that you have a "medical condition" that causes your hands to shake. If they are given a reason immediately, they won't be as inclined to speculate and come up with wild ideas.

[wylde]

my hands shake like 'steady eddie'.. never lost a job from it

[joe_doufu]

Have they broken the contract over this? They can't just terminate you because they don't like the way your hands shake. If you aren't getting your due, take them to the labor authorities.

[Dan The Chainsawman]

I have a Korean Coworker that looks like the tazmanian devil all the time. the kids are scared to death of her, and frankly so am I for a whole different reason which I will not elaborate on.

She hasn't got canned. Take them to task on it... B.S. alert!

[donno]

I am not 100% sure if this is still a law or not...things change all the time here.

BUT, it is my understanding (at least I know it was factual a year or so ago) that unless you've worked at your hagwon for 6 months, you will not have a case with the labor board.

A school can fire you with no notice and there's no recourse.

However, as far as pay goes, they must pay you for every day you've worked.

[shifty]

My wife's and all her siblings' hands shake. It's never been an issue with employability or anything, really. I've never even heard a comment passed, it's just something you observe.

It's more a tremble than a shake, isn't it? I don't think you should place too much store by it, unless it's a juddering shake.

If I were indifferent to someone, with no valid reason, I'd be inclined to harp on something like that.. thus maybe accounting for the principal's complaint.

[Hollywoodaction]

Contact the labor board. At the very least, they owe you a month's notice.

[Grimalkin]

I also have a similar shake (as had my father and grandfather). People have been commenting on it all my life...including of course here in Korea. However nobody so far has questioned my ability as a teacher, altho' i know in the past at home some people from time to time speculated on whether or not or not i was going thro' drug/alcohol withdrawal (it got back to me). This has never caused me anything more than amusement.

There is however a drug you can take that temporarily alleviates the tremor....it's a beta blocker (it's main use i believe is to reduce high blood pressure). In the past i used it sometimes for interviews, it's very effective and dirt cheap and as far as i know can be used safely long-term. If you feel your tremor is affecting your job prospects maybe you should consider using it. Feel free to contact me if you want more info.

[pest2]

[pet lover]

At my very first job, I replaced a extremely thin red-head guy. So yeah, very pale skin, lots of freckles. You couldn't even see that he had eyebrows or eyelashes unless you were really close and the light was good. Found out from some of his students a few months later that rumors were flying that he looked like that because he had AIDS. After questioning them, I learned that they made that assumption based on the very pale skin with freckles, nothing to do with his weight. I think he was probably the first red-head they've ever seen up close. They were positive that his freckles (and he was very freckled) were AIDS spots, or whatever you call them. I rather think that this is why the school didn't have many students. The boss was never aware of the rumors, and when I told him, he was shocked. I think he also wondered if the freckles had anything to do with the student count.

[sadsac]