Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ballewja]

Has anyone heard anything about this school? I'm currently in Korea and job seeking and this is one of the places that wants to hire me. The only thing is is that it is shared housing and the housing is actually located on the top floor of the school's building...and the boss and director live in their own apartments on that floor as well. Don't know if I'd get much privacy there...

Anyway, if you guys know anything, let me know!

[Derrek]

Heck no!

Get used to students knocking on your door, your boss going through your things, and complete lack of privacy. No members of the opposite sex over... heck no.

This hagwon owner is the type that wants to scrimp and save money in any way they can. They won't even bother putting you up in your own off-school private accomodations.

Run far and run fast from signing this one.

[schwa]

Derrek's right. The comfort & privacy of your own home are crucial to a happy stint here. Dont do it.

[matthews_world]

Save money for your own place after a few months. Do a good job. Keep your students and director happy. After increased enrollment, they'll be hiring a new teacher in no time to stick in that room.

If you've interviewed with the director on site, like the contract and working conditions there, why not sign.

Love motels are there for a reason, and often have hourly rates .

[Derrek]

It's sort of funny....

There is a "cardiff giant" display near my home. It is considered to be the greatest hoax of all time...



"The Cardiff Giant

The Cardiff Giant, a gigantic ten-foot tall stone man, emerged out of the ground and into American life on October 16, 1869, when he was discovered by some workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. "Stub" Newell in Cardiff, New York. Word of his presence quickly spread, and soon thousands of people were making the journey out to Stub Newell's farm to see the colossus. Even when Newell began charging fifty cents a head to have a look at it, people still kept coming.

Speculation ran rampant over what the giant might be. The central debate was between those who thought it was a petrified man and those who believed it to be an ancient statue. The 'petrifactionists' theorized that it was one of the giants mentioned in the Bible, Genesis 6:4, where it says, "There were giants in the earth in those days." Those who promoted the statue theory followed the lead of Dr. John F. Boynton, who speculated that a Jesuit missionary had carved it sometime during the seventeenth century to impress the local indians.

The truth was somewhat more prosaic. It was the creation of an enterprising New York tobacconist named George Hull, who had been scheming of a way to strike it rich for quite some time. His idea of burying a stone giant in the ground turned out to be a stroke of genius. The entire venture cost him over $2,600 (all done with the collusion of the farmer Newell and the stonecutters who carved the giant), but the gamble paid off when a group of businessmen paid $37,500 to buy the giant and move it to Syracuse, where it could be more prominently exhibited.

In Syracuse the giant came under closer scrutiny. Othniel C. Marsh, a paleontologist from Yale, paid it a visit and declared it to be a clumsy fake. He pointed out that chisel marks were still plainly visible on it. These should have been worn away if the giant had been in the ground for any appreciable length of time. Sensing that the game was up (and having already cashed out), Hull confessed. But the public didn't seem to care that it was fake. They kept coming to see it anyway. They even began referring to it affectionately as 'Old Hoaxey.'

Recognizing the giant's popularity, the great showman P.T. Barnum offered the new owners $60,000 for a three-month lease of it. When his offer was refused, he paid an artist to build an exact plaster replica of it, which he then put on display in his museum in New York City. Soon the replica was drawing larger crowds than the original. This competition prompted the owners of the giant to file a lawsuit against Barnum, but the judge refused to hear their case unless the 'genuineness' of the orignal could be proven. Sheepishly they dropped their charges.

Many have declared the Cardiff Giant to be the greatest hoax of all time. Whether or not this is the case, its huge size and mysterious presence certainly tapped into some strange element of the post-Civil War American psyche. Although the massive public interest in the giant gradually died down, it remained popular. Even today people still make the journey to visit it at its permanent home in the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown, New York.


References:
Ross, Irwin. "The Cardiff Giant Hoax." American History Illustrated 1968 3(5): 38-41.
Sears, Stephen W. "The Giant In The Earth". American Heritage 1975 26(5): 94-99.
Franco, Barbara. "The Cardiff Giant: A Hundred Year Old Hoax". New York History 1969 50(4): 421-440.
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