Before I begin my short tale of the adventures in Southeast Gyeonggi-Do, I must relay an amusing event which occurred while I was working in Ilsan.
I began teaching a class, and some kid forgot his book. I gave the kid my copy, sent him outside and told him to go to the front desk and get a copy. I marked the pages we were covering and expected him back shortly.
It took a while, but he returned. He didn't have any copies of the pages I marked, but he had a lukewarm cup of instant coffee. A secretary/desk teacher followed him in with another cup of coffee. She asked if I was ok.
I told her I was fine.
She then told me it's not alright to send students out of the class to bring me drinks.
Anyhoo, back in Bucheon I prepared for my move to the Gwacheon area. The new boss would be picking me up in his car, but there wouldn't be room for a few of the things in my apartment like my recently purchased bike or my clothing hanger. I was a little sad to see my new bike go, but it only cost about 60,000 won and the hanger I could do without.
He assured me that all of the paperwork would be taken care of, my visa would be transferred over and my contract would remain the same.
He took me to my new apartment, which was in Sanbon in Gunpo. The place was okay, but it was pretty bare and not as nice as my old place. He asked if I wanted to stay there or move to an apartment in Uiwang that was a loft style officetel. I opted for the officetel. I truly longed for an apartment where I could have guests over in a room that wasn't my bedroom. I had to stay in the Sanbon/Gunpo apartment for a couple of weeks though while he found my new apartment.
The Sanbon apartment was okay. The neighborhood was pretty happening, and the apartment wasn't tiny, but it was a pretty standard one room villa style apartment. There was also a decent hof upstairs where I had a few meals.
The school was okay as well, but not great. At my previous school, I had only taught one speaking class under the new Lingua system. In the new school, half of my classes were under the Lingua system, and I was teaching writing and multi-media. The speaking class books were good, but the new books were shit. They were written in Korea, which means instead of hiring someone who speaks English to write an English textbook, they hired a bunch of Koreans with a basic understanding to write the books. Most of the class time in the writing class was taken up by me correcting the books for the students and giving them other tasks.
The multi-media classes consisted of me pressing play, letting the students watch CNN videos and then giving them tests on the video after playing it twice. I don't know why they needed someone with a college degree from an English speaking country to do this job, but I accepted it.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Updates coming soon
I will continue my tale and let you all know about the exciting world of gwacheon, uiwang and gunpo shortly. For the time being, however, I will be in Fukuoka on a visa run that has cost me almost 4M won. The reasons for this will be told later on in the story, though.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Things start to get unpleasant part 5
So, I worked through the rest of the week. On Friday, there was a staff dinner at the Ilsan school, but I turned down the invitation. I had to take the subway home because the Ilsan boss was attending the staff dinner. He walked me out and showed me where the subway was and asked me to work for another week. I declined, but then he offered me a permanent position. He explained that he'd handle all of the visa stuff and that he really wanted me to work there.
I turned him down because things were still generally good in Bucheon and I enjoyed my life there. I took the subway home. On Sunday, the head teacher in Ilsan called and begged me to work for the next week. After a ton of begging and the cancer stricken teacher calling me, I finally agreed.
I finished up the week easily enough, but on pay day, I noticed my boss had neglected to pay me my severance. Upon returning to Bucheon, I immediately called my boss to ask what was up. He apologized and explained that the money would be in by Tuesday night at the latest. He had to spend a lot of money on renovations and purchasing the new name. I was pretty skeptical and pissed, so I went into work and made my boss sign a document promising that the money would be paid by Tuesday. Had I not done him a huge favor by working at another school for the last two weeks, I wouldn't have been so pissed, but begging for a favor and then turning around and not paying someone severance after a huge favor is done is a pretty shitty thing to do to someone.
I waited. After work on Tuesday, I went to the bank and checked my balance. My money still wasn't there. I went back to work and went into my boss's office. He said "I'm busy, hold on a minute." He was playing solitaire. I told him that he needed to pay me now and pulled out the signed agreement. He said he forgot. He picked up a bank book and went out to pay me. He said sorry and that he was heading straight to the bank to put my pay in.
The next day, I went to the bank. The money wasn't there. So, my boss actually pretended to go to the bank to delay my anger for half a day. I immediately called my boss. There was no answer. I tried several more times. I then sent him several angry text messages. I started off with simple ones like "Where's my money?" and "내금전 어디에??" which I'm pretty sure isn't quite correct. After a couple of hours, I put in my notice and started sending out my resume. I went in and talked to the head teacher and told him I would not be working there after one month. I decided to do the decent thing and give them a full month notice.
A couple hours later, I get a call from my boss. He was in the hospital. He said that he couldn't pay me the day before because the bank was closed. I was a little skeptical, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He promised he'd pay the next day. It took another five days, but he finally payed me my severance. When he came back he said something in horrible Konglish about how he could put me on an immigration blacklist if he wanted. This was of course in front of one of my students.
After that, things went fairly well. Then, the head teacher brought up the new vacation policy. They were offering now instead of 10 days paid vacation on days of the teachers choice, 20 days half paid vacation during exam periods. So, we would get 2 weeks off at a time and receive 75% pay for the month. I agreed because I wanted to go on a long vacation.
During the first long vacation at the end of April, I was contacted by the VP who wanted to know if I could work at a different branch in Gwacheon. The pay and contract would be the same, but it would be in a different location. I went and checked out the other branch and the area around it. I agreed. I didn't want to deal with any more bullshit from Tony.
I turned him down because things were still generally good in Bucheon and I enjoyed my life there. I took the subway home. On Sunday, the head teacher in Ilsan called and begged me to work for the next week. After a ton of begging and the cancer stricken teacher calling me, I finally agreed.
I finished up the week easily enough, but on pay day, I noticed my boss had neglected to pay me my severance. Upon returning to Bucheon, I immediately called my boss to ask what was up. He apologized and explained that the money would be in by Tuesday night at the latest. He had to spend a lot of money on renovations and purchasing the new name. I was pretty skeptical and pissed, so I went into work and made my boss sign a document promising that the money would be paid by Tuesday. Had I not done him a huge favor by working at another school for the last two weeks, I wouldn't have been so pissed, but begging for a favor and then turning around and not paying someone severance after a huge favor is done is a pretty shitty thing to do to someone.
I waited. After work on Tuesday, I went to the bank and checked my balance. My money still wasn't there. I went back to work and went into my boss's office. He said "I'm busy, hold on a minute." He was playing solitaire. I told him that he needed to pay me now and pulled out the signed agreement. He said he forgot. He picked up a bank book and went out to pay me. He said sorry and that he was heading straight to the bank to put my pay in.
The next day, I went to the bank. The money wasn't there. So, my boss actually pretended to go to the bank to delay my anger for half a day. I immediately called my boss. There was no answer. I tried several more times. I then sent him several angry text messages. I started off with simple ones like "Where's my money?" and "내금전 어디에??" which I'm pretty sure isn't quite correct. After a couple of hours, I put in my notice and started sending out my resume. I went in and talked to the head teacher and told him I would not be working there after one month. I decided to do the decent thing and give them a full month notice.
A couple hours later, I get a call from my boss. He was in the hospital. He said that he couldn't pay me the day before because the bank was closed. I was a little skeptical, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He promised he'd pay the next day. It took another five days, but he finally payed me my severance. When he came back he said something in horrible Konglish about how he could put me on an immigration blacklist if he wanted. This was of course in front of one of my students.
After that, things went fairly well. Then, the head teacher brought up the new vacation policy. They were offering now instead of 10 days paid vacation on days of the teachers choice, 20 days half paid vacation during exam periods. So, we would get 2 weeks off at a time and receive 75% pay for the month. I agreed because I wanted to go on a long vacation.
During the first long vacation at the end of April, I was contacted by the VP who wanted to know if I could work at a different branch in Gwacheon. The pay and contract would be the same, but it would be in a different location. I went and checked out the other branch and the area around it. I agreed. I didn't want to deal with any more bullshit from Tony.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Things start to get unpleasant part 4
So, the Ilsan guy picks me up, and he's pretty nice. Apparently, the teacher I was subbing for had cancer and was recovering from treatment. So, this guy was fairly decent. Most hagwon bosses would fire someone with cancer and leave them to deal with insurance and treatment. The school was decent, and the students were alright. The school used pretty good books that the kids all liked, and everyone who worked there seemed decent.
The conditions weren't so great though. They weren't horrible, but they weren't as good as the conditions at my school. Instead of teaching about five classes a day with ten minute breaks between each class, I taught seven classes with no breaks. Most of the kids were good, but there was one kid who asked me "Teacher do you like Puck You?"
I dragged this kid out into the hall. I didn't want to invest a lot of time dealing with the kid since I would only be teaching him for one more day, so I brought him to the head teacher and told him to repeat what he said to me to her. That night I got a very apologetic call from her saying she was so sorry that the kid said something so offensive and that it wouldn't happen again. I was a little surprised, because this is pretty standard fare. Usually, Korean staff don't care and either lightly scold students or ignore it. I told her not to worry because I had experienced far worse.
The next day after I finished teaching, the Ilsan boss took me out to dinner and my Bucheon boss met us at the restaurant. We were at some "famous" restuarant and the Ilsan boss ordered bibimbop for us. It was pretty good, but I just wanted to go home. When my Bucheon boss arrived, he said "Oh no. He is America person. He needs meat!!" He then ordered some galbi. I had a few pieces, but I was already pretty full. My Bucheon boss, Tony(I forgot that I decided to include his name)spent the next twenty minutes stuffing his face and speaking with his mouth full and spitting half of his meal on my plate in true Korean fashion.
After a little while, Tony turned to me and said I need to work there for the rest of the week, but after that I would be teaching in Bucheon. The Ilsan boss would also be taking me out to dinner every night to show his appreciation. I protested, but after enough guilt was pushed in my direction for being taken out to such a nice restaurant, I finally agreed. Mostly, I just wanted to go home and get out of the uncomfortable situation of eating with two ajeoshis in a "famous" Korean restaurant.
So, I worked at the Ilsan school for the next three days.
Hmm, this looks like it will turn into a six or seven part series.
*****Stay tuned for part 5*****
The conditions weren't so great though. They weren't horrible, but they weren't as good as the conditions at my school. Instead of teaching about five classes a day with ten minute breaks between each class, I taught seven classes with no breaks. Most of the kids were good, but there was one kid who asked me "Teacher do you like Puck You?"
I dragged this kid out into the hall. I didn't want to invest a lot of time dealing with the kid since I would only be teaching him for one more day, so I brought him to the head teacher and told him to repeat what he said to me to her. That night I got a very apologetic call from her saying she was so sorry that the kid said something so offensive and that it wouldn't happen again. I was a little surprised, because this is pretty standard fare. Usually, Korean staff don't care and either lightly scold students or ignore it. I told her not to worry because I had experienced far worse.
The next day after I finished teaching, the Ilsan boss took me out to dinner and my Bucheon boss met us at the restaurant. We were at some "famous" restuarant and the Ilsan boss ordered bibimbop for us. It was pretty good, but I just wanted to go home. When my Bucheon boss arrived, he said "Oh no. He is America person. He needs meat!!" He then ordered some galbi. I had a few pieces, but I was already pretty full. My Bucheon boss, Tony(I forgot that I decided to include his name)spent the next twenty minutes stuffing his face and speaking with his mouth full and spitting half of his meal on my plate in true Korean fashion.
After a little while, Tony turned to me and said I need to work there for the rest of the week, but after that I would be teaching in Bucheon. The Ilsan boss would also be taking me out to dinner every night to show his appreciation. I protested, but after enough guilt was pushed in my direction for being taken out to such a nice restaurant, I finally agreed. Mostly, I just wanted to go home and get out of the uncomfortable situation of eating with two ajeoshis in a "famous" Korean restaurant.
So, I worked at the Ilsan school for the next three days.
Hmm, this looks like it will turn into a six or seven part series.
*****Stay tuned for part 5*****
Things start to get unpleasant part 3
A few weeks after the remodeling fiasco, my second year at the Bucheon school began. Things started out pretty well. Under my new contract, I had no more Saturdays and a small raise. I did, however have to stay at the school from 2-9 regardless of whether or not I had classes during that time in exchange for the lack of Saturdays. This wasn't so bad though, because they had put computers in all of the offices, and I spent my free time reading, surfing the web, practicing Korean or playing the best computer game of all time, Escape Velocity Nova http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_Velocity_Nova Think of this game as a cross between GTA, Freelancer and Battlestations on Facebook. You start off in a crappy spaceship. You fly around doing random odd-jobs and earning a bit of money. You then get a better ship, buy and sell weapons and outfits for the ship and then get involved in one of six major story lines. You then get access to better ships and weapons but can put the main missions aside for a while while you fly around different systems to explore, trade or pirate other vessels and take on side jobs. It's pretty great.
Anyhoo, things were going pretty well for a while. Under my first contract, if I re-signed(I do love how re-sign and resign have entirely contradictory meanings) my severance would come with the first paycheck of my second year, so one month after the end of my first contract. We'll come back to that in a later post.
On a Friday after my first couple of weeks on my second contract, my boss approached me.
He asked me if I could substitute teach in Ilsan for a few days. I told him I couldn't because I had a lot going on in my classes in Bucheon. He told me they'd be covered and not to worry about it. I asked him what the conditions would be. He told me I'd be teaching from 1-7 and that the Ilsan boss would pick me up at 12 and I'd get home at 8. I wouldn't be paid extra. I told him that I wasn't really interested.
Monday morning, I got a call from my boss. He called to tell me that the boss in Ilsan was on his way to pick me up. I asked him what the fuck he was talking about because I had told him I wasn't going to substitute. He begged and pleaded and explained how the guy in Ilsan was his senior and he had to say yes. Finally after he promised that it would be only two days, I agreed.
Anyhoo, things were going pretty well for a while. Under my first contract, if I re-signed(I do love how re-sign and resign have entirely contradictory meanings) my severance would come with the first paycheck of my second year, so one month after the end of my first contract. We'll come back to that in a later post.
On a Friday after my first couple of weeks on my second contract, my boss approached me.
He asked me if I could substitute teach in Ilsan for a few days. I told him I couldn't because I had a lot going on in my classes in Bucheon. He told me they'd be covered and not to worry about it. I asked him what the conditions would be. He told me I'd be teaching from 1-7 and that the Ilsan boss would pick me up at 12 and I'd get home at 8. I wouldn't be paid extra. I told him that I wasn't really interested.
Monday morning, I got a call from my boss. He called to tell me that the boss in Ilsan was on his way to pick me up. I asked him what the fuck he was talking about because I had told him I wasn't going to substitute. He begged and pleaded and explained how the guy in Ilsan was his senior and he had to say yes. Finally after he promised that it would be only two days, I agreed.
Things start to get unpleasant part 2
So, a few hours after I left messages everywhere and went off to get my fingerprints taken for my criminal background check just in case, I get a call from work. It was about a half hour before my first class. The call was from one of the secretaries saying that my first two students canceled. I explained that I wasn't coming in anyways and that I had left a message. They didn't understand and wanted to know what was up. I tried to explain that I'm not coming into work while they're painting in a small space with no windows. She didn't quite understand, so I just said I'm sick.
About an hour later, I get a call from my recruiter. I generally dislike recruiters, but this guy and his company are pretty great. The recruiting company is and was esl-planet. This call came 11 months after I started at the school. The recruiter called to ask what was going on because my boss had called him to request two new teachers because he wanted to fire me and the other teacher who didn't come in and pay an immigration officer to ban us from ever coming back to Korea.
I explained the situation. He seemed pretty shocked. He advised that I go in anyways and try to smooth things out, but to take pictures just in case. He then calmed down my boss, and I went in. The place was pretty unbearable, but only one of my students decided to come that day because the rest didn't want to weave through cords attached to running saws in order to sit in a tiny room filled with sawdust and paint fumes any more than I did. On the way in, I made sure to snap tons of pictures with my phone and got the other coworker who opted to stay home to pose with a seven year old student next to a pile of rubble and power tools.
I spoke to the head teacher who said he agreed with me, but I should have handled it more professionally, and that I should just apologize because the boss was pretty pissed. The boss came in, but he had calmed down a bit.
He told me that he was very disappointed and that I stayed home because I hate Koreans. He then said that I wouldn't do that at a job in America. I then told him that if someone running a similar business in America decided to hold classes for children in a construction site, he would be facing class action lawsuits from both the employees and the parents of the students, his business license would be revoked, and he would most likely be facing criminal charges as well.
He then pointed out the new oxygen pumps in each of the rooms and said that he deeply cared about all of the teachers and had them installed in all of the rooms for our health. The oxygen pumps were actually just a gimmick of the franchise he bought based off of some study that if you pump oxygen into a room, students would be more alert and receptive.
I decided to drop it and hope that this was the end of my troubles at this school. Aside from the past week, my experiences at the school were generally good. My hours weren't too bad. Even though I sometimes had a heavy class load, my prep time was minimal, I had complete control over the content of my classes and I had various other perks.
This, however, was only the beginning.
****Continued in Part 3****
About an hour later, I get a call from my recruiter. I generally dislike recruiters, but this guy and his company are pretty great. The recruiting company is and was esl-planet. This call came 11 months after I started at the school. The recruiter called to ask what was going on because my boss had called him to request two new teachers because he wanted to fire me and the other teacher who didn't come in and pay an immigration officer to ban us from ever coming back to Korea.
I explained the situation. He seemed pretty shocked. He advised that I go in anyways and try to smooth things out, but to take pictures just in case. He then calmed down my boss, and I went in. The place was pretty unbearable, but only one of my students decided to come that day because the rest didn't want to weave through cords attached to running saws in order to sit in a tiny room filled with sawdust and paint fumes any more than I did. On the way in, I made sure to snap tons of pictures with my phone and got the other coworker who opted to stay home to pose with a seven year old student next to a pile of rubble and power tools.
I spoke to the head teacher who said he agreed with me, but I should have handled it more professionally, and that I should just apologize because the boss was pretty pissed. The boss came in, but he had calmed down a bit.
He told me that he was very disappointed and that I stayed home because I hate Koreans. He then said that I wouldn't do that at a job in America. I then told him that if someone running a similar business in America decided to hold classes for children in a construction site, he would be facing class action lawsuits from both the employees and the parents of the students, his business license would be revoked, and he would most likely be facing criminal charges as well.
He then pointed out the new oxygen pumps in each of the rooms and said that he deeply cared about all of the teachers and had them installed in all of the rooms for our health. The oxygen pumps were actually just a gimmick of the franchise he bought based off of some study that if you pump oxygen into a room, students would be more alert and receptive.
I decided to drop it and hope that this was the end of my troubles at this school. Aside from the past week, my experiences at the school were generally good. My hours weren't too bad. Even though I sometimes had a heavy class load, my prep time was minimal, I had complete control over the content of my classes and I had various other perks.
This, however, was only the beginning.
****Continued in Part 3****
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Things start to get unpleasant part 1
Around the time when the two new employees started working at our hagwon, CDI moved in one floor below us. For those of you who are unfamiliar with CDI, It's a giant, hugely popular English hagwon/academy. When this happened, many of our students left and joined the more famous and prestigious academy.(At this point I should mention that my teaching hours were increasing, and my boss was pulling a ton of obnoxious crap like calling me in the morning and telling me I need to come to the academy right away to interview students who never showed up.)
Around this time, I was negotiating my contract for the next year, had saturdays removed and re-signed.
In order to gain more students and compete with the hagwon below us, my boss decided to buy a franchise name which was gaining popularity. I'm not too sure about libel/slander/defamation laws here, so I'll just say that the franchise/chain rhymes with Ringua.
After the Chinese new year break, I returned to work. As I stepped through the door, I noticed that there was rubble strewn everywhere, a cloud of grey and white dust, and the sound of drills and electric saws.
I immediately went to the head teacher and asked him what the hell was going on. He explained that they were remodeling and going with the Ringua theme. I asked him why we were open and why the boss didn't think there were any health or safety issues when there were students as young as seven years old running around a construction site. He said he agreed, but the boss didn't want to lose any money by closing the school down for a few days.
I did my best to teach the few students who decided to come during the renovations and had to step outside plenty of times to breathe air that wasn't filled with sawdust and cement powder.
During this time, my boss decided he didn't want to stay around the academy during the construction, so he took a vacation to Busan.
Towards the end of the renovations, the workers brought in cans of paint and paint thinner to be used the next day. I talked to the vp and asked him if they were going to be painting and using paint thinner during business hours the next day. He said they were, but they were only going to use a little bit of oil based paint and set up an electric fan to bring in fresh air.
The next day, I decided to stay home. Early in the morning, I texted my boss, head teacher and the vp that I was not coming in. I then left a voice message on the academy phone saying the same thing.
***Continued in Part 2****
Around this time, I was negotiating my contract for the next year, had saturdays removed and re-signed.
In order to gain more students and compete with the hagwon below us, my boss decided to buy a franchise name which was gaining popularity. I'm not too sure about libel/slander/defamation laws here, so I'll just say that the franchise/chain rhymes with Ringua.
After the Chinese new year break, I returned to work. As I stepped through the door, I noticed that there was rubble strewn everywhere, a cloud of grey and white dust, and the sound of drills and electric saws.
I immediately went to the head teacher and asked him what the hell was going on. He explained that they were remodeling and going with the Ringua theme. I asked him why we were open and why the boss didn't think there were any health or safety issues when there were students as young as seven years old running around a construction site. He said he agreed, but the boss didn't want to lose any money by closing the school down for a few days.
I did my best to teach the few students who decided to come during the renovations and had to step outside plenty of times to breathe air that wasn't filled with sawdust and cement powder.
During this time, my boss decided he didn't want to stay around the academy during the construction, so he took a vacation to Busan.
Towards the end of the renovations, the workers brought in cans of paint and paint thinner to be used the next day. I talked to the vp and asked him if they were going to be painting and using paint thinner during business hours the next day. He said they were, but they were only going to use a little bit of oil based paint and set up an electric fan to bring in fresh air.
The next day, I decided to stay home. Early in the morning, I texted my boss, head teacher and the vp that I was not coming in. I then left a voice message on the academy phone saying the same thing.
***Continued in Part 2****
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Alex
Alex was and probably still is an asshole.
He was pretty smart. He taught himself Spanish, French, Korean and Mandarin. He never taught himself, however how to interact with people. He would often ask something like "How was your weekend?" and when anyone started to answer, he'd either start talking about something else or walk away while you were talking.
He would ask for other teachers to cover classes for him and then never return the favor.
At this academy, the schedule was pretty flexible because most of the classes were one on one. As a result, schedules would often change every few weeks when a new student came or when one of the students had to change the time they came in. Alex took advantage of this. He would go behind the front desk and change the schedule. He would give the other teachers students he didn't like or who were at an inconvenient time.
His interaction with several of the students was also a little odd. The Canadian teacher and I noticed that he would make a considerable amount of physical contact with many of the middle school boys. At first it was playing around with taekwondo moves. Later, I saw him walking down the street towards the academy with his arm around the shoulder of one of my students. He also mentioned to the Canadian coworker that it wasn't fair that she and I got all of the good looking students while he got all of the ugly ones.
We both had our suspicions about him but figured he was just a little off balance. Then one morning, the Canadian teacher received a telephone call. It was about 7am on a Sunday. He wanted her to go to his apartment and pick up his laptop. She asked why, and he said he needed her to get it right away and he'd explain later. She didn't really want to, but he begged and pleaded, so finally she did.
The night before, our school had a company dinner. Everyone went out, ate and talked, and there were a few beers at the table. Alex drank about half of one.
After she picked up the computer, he explained that he went to a jimjilbang(spa/sauna) after the dinner. He fell asleep and had an erotic dream because of all the alcohol he drank. During his erotic dream, he somehow groped a child who was sleeping near him. The child went to his father and told him that someone groped him, and Alex was picked up by the police.
After hearing the tale of groping a child because Alex was "having an erotic dream," the coworker wanted to know why she needed to pick up his computer. He said he just didn't want anyone taking it because it was expensive.
News of the incident reached our school. This was because the parent of the child wanted blood money from our director. As is the custom here, no criminal charges were filed, but Alex needed to pay a ton of money. He didn't have that kind of money, so the school had to pay. I have no idea why, but he wasn't fired for quite a while.
A couple of months later, he was let go because the school didn't want to keep paying the parent of the groped child and because everyone hated him.
He was pretty smart. He taught himself Spanish, French, Korean and Mandarin. He never taught himself, however how to interact with people. He would often ask something like "How was your weekend?" and when anyone started to answer, he'd either start talking about something else or walk away while you were talking.
He would ask for other teachers to cover classes for him and then never return the favor.
At this academy, the schedule was pretty flexible because most of the classes were one on one. As a result, schedules would often change every few weeks when a new student came or when one of the students had to change the time they came in. Alex took advantage of this. He would go behind the front desk and change the schedule. He would give the other teachers students he didn't like or who were at an inconvenient time.
His interaction with several of the students was also a little odd. The Canadian teacher and I noticed that he would make a considerable amount of physical contact with many of the middle school boys. At first it was playing around with taekwondo moves. Later, I saw him walking down the street towards the academy with his arm around the shoulder of one of my students. He also mentioned to the Canadian coworker that it wasn't fair that she and I got all of the good looking students while he got all of the ugly ones.
We both had our suspicions about him but figured he was just a little off balance. Then one morning, the Canadian teacher received a telephone call. It was about 7am on a Sunday. He wanted her to go to his apartment and pick up his laptop. She asked why, and he said he needed her to get it right away and he'd explain later. She didn't really want to, but he begged and pleaded, so finally she did.
The night before, our school had a company dinner. Everyone went out, ate and talked, and there were a few beers at the table. Alex drank about half of one.
After she picked up the computer, he explained that he went to a jimjilbang(spa/sauna) after the dinner. He fell asleep and had an erotic dream because of all the alcohol he drank. During his erotic dream, he somehow groped a child who was sleeping near him. The child went to his father and told him that someone groped him, and Alex was picked up by the police.
After hearing the tale of groping a child because Alex was "having an erotic dream," the coworker wanted to know why she needed to pick up his computer. He said he just didn't want anyone taking it because it was expensive.
News of the incident reached our school. This was because the parent of the child wanted blood money from our director. As is the custom here, no criminal charges were filed, but Alex needed to pay a ton of money. He didn't have that kind of money, so the school had to pay. I have no idea why, but he wasn't fired for quite a while.
A couple of months later, he was let go because the school didn't want to keep paying the parent of the groped child and because everyone hated him.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
New teachers and the beginning of the end.
A little over half way through my second year, three teachers were let go. One was let go because his classes were dull, although he seemed like a pretty nice guy. The other two were let go because they had no degrees and immigration was snooping around. Two new teachers came to replace them. The new teachers were Alex, who was a dick, and another teacher whose name I forget.
The other teacher was pretty great. He was pretty amusing and had lived in Korea for ten years, was married and was a generally nice guy. He left his previous school because of a legal issue, however. Apparently, he was driving one day and was cut off. He was greatly angered and followed the car for a few blocks honking his horn and shaking his fist. The driver ahead of him called the police.
The teacher went on his way and stopped pursuing the driver who cut him off. While he was at a red light, someone came up to his window, started yelling at him and reached inside the car. The teacher was a bit frightened and didn't know what was happening so he hit the accelerator and drove off.
As it turns out, the person reaching into his car was a police officer who wasn't wearing a uniform. When the teacher accelerated, he hit him with his side view mirror
and somehow severed the police officer's penis. Later he worked out a deal and had to pay what's known as "blood money" so the officer could buy a prosthetic and be reimbursed for his pain. His school let him go because of this incident.
Later, though immigration got wind of the incident and deported him, so he was at our school for about a month.
The other new teacher, Alex deserves a post of his own.
The other teacher was pretty great. He was pretty amusing and had lived in Korea for ten years, was married and was a generally nice guy. He left his previous school because of a legal issue, however. Apparently, he was driving one day and was cut off. He was greatly angered and followed the car for a few blocks honking his horn and shaking his fist. The driver ahead of him called the police.
The teacher went on his way and stopped pursuing the driver who cut him off. While he was at a red light, someone came up to his window, started yelling at him and reached inside the car. The teacher was a bit frightened and didn't know what was happening so he hit the accelerator and drove off.
As it turns out, the person reaching into his car was a police officer who wasn't wearing a uniform. When the teacher accelerated, he hit him with his side view mirror
and somehow severed the police officer's penis. Later he worked out a deal and had to pay what's known as "blood money" so the officer could buy a prosthetic and be reimbursed for his pain. His school let him go because of this incident.
Later, though immigration got wind of the incident and deported him, so he was at our school for about a month.
The other new teacher, Alex deserves a post of his own.
Bucheon apartments and noise.
As I mentioned earlier, my first apartment in Bucheon was pretty decent. It was big, in a good neighborhood and all of the appliances were in good condition. I did, however have horrible neighbors. Down the hall, a man and woman lived and had fights at three or four am every night. These were not your typical brief shouting matches. These were Korean fights.
They would start off with yelling. Then there was shrieking as if someone was being murdered followed by dishes being thrown.
When one of the teachers at my school was fired, my boss asked me if I could move into his place because it would save him some money. I told him I'd have to see the place first. When I saw the place, it was great. It was the same size as my first place, but it was on a lower floor and had a much better layout. It had an actual countertop in the Kitchen, a camera for the door and various other perks. So, I took the place. I took the place and was pretty happy with it for a while. I was also next to Homeplus, so any shopping I needed to do could be done rather easily. Here's a picture of it for you. Keep in mind, I was still unpacking and cleaning up, so forgive the mess.
On my first Sunday in the apartment, though I found out that my noise troubles were far from gone. In my first year, I had come to accept the obnoxious vegetable trucks screaming "TOMATO!!!TOMATO!!!" over and over again. At some point they would drive off, and they were only there every once in a while. My new apartment, however, was next to Homeplus. From 8:00am-8:00pm every Sunday, a greeter would stand outside of the entrance to the parking garage which was right below my window. With a megaphone, she would say "Welcome to Homeplus" to every car that entered. It nearly drove me insane. When you have to work on Saturday, Saturday tends to be the one night of the week when you stay out late and have drinks with friends. Homeplus was not very helpful for my hangovers.
They would start off with yelling. Then there was shrieking as if someone was being murdered followed by dishes being thrown.
When one of the teachers at my school was fired, my boss asked me if I could move into his place because it would save him some money. I told him I'd have to see the place first. When I saw the place, it was great. It was the same size as my first place, but it was on a lower floor and had a much better layout. It had an actual countertop in the Kitchen, a camera for the door and various other perks. So, I took the place. I took the place and was pretty happy with it for a while. I was also next to Homeplus, so any shopping I needed to do could be done rather easily. Here's a picture of it for you. Keep in mind, I was still unpacking and cleaning up, so forgive the mess.
On my first Sunday in the apartment, though I found out that my noise troubles were far from gone. In my first year, I had come to accept the obnoxious vegetable trucks screaming "TOMATO!!!TOMATO!!!" over and over again. At some point they would drive off, and they were only there every once in a while. My new apartment, however, was next to Homeplus. From 8:00am-8:00pm every Sunday, a greeter would stand outside of the entrance to the parking garage which was right below my window. With a megaphone, she would say "Welcome to Homeplus" to every car that entered. It nearly drove me insane. When you have to work on Saturday, Saturday tends to be the one night of the week when you stay out late and have drinks with friends. Homeplus was not very helpful for my hangovers.
China
A little under halfway through my second year in Korea, I took a trip to China. I neglected my trip to Thailand in the postings about my first year, but there wasn't anything too interesting there. Sun, beaches, girly drinks in coconuts, elephants, monkeys and various other standard Thailand things.
My trip to China wasn't particularly memorable, but it was still quite interesting. I bought my tickets a couple months in advance, and they were pretty cheap. The tax and visa, however ended up costing more than the ticket itself, so I was a little annoyed.
I went there in early September. I decided I wanted to go during a time when I wasn't going to be horribly uncomfortable being outside. Anyhoo, I went to Beijing first. I stayed at a lovely little hostel and met several other travelers with whom I went out for drinks.
At the hostel, there were people from the UK, Germany, Sweden and the Philippines. We all grabbed some taxis and headed to the bar district in Beijing and had some drinks. The German guy with us was a bit tanked. He really really loves Libya and wouldn't stop expressing his love for the country the entire night. At the bar we went to, there were a couple of Koreans. I chatted with them a bit about my life in Korea, and they went back inside. The German joined them in some sort of drinking game, came outside, puked and passed out. The Koreans walked out, seemed fine and grabbed a taxi.
While I was in Beijing, I did the regular sort of sight seeing. I saw Tienanmen square and the forbidden city. The forbidden city didn't do much for me. It was huge and old, but it was kind of dull. It seemed like just a ton of uniform buildings and stone courtyards.
I later went to Behai park, and that was amazing. I guess it was more interesting because of how they integrated the landscape into the design of the park and had a variety of structures. Here's a picture for you.
While at Behai park, I went into the restaurant at the park and had some great, but bizarre food. I had a meal of turtle soup, camel hump and deer penis. At a hole in the wall restaurant somewhere near my hostel, I had the tastiest food I found in China. I have no idea what its name is because I just pointed at a random menu item because I can't read or speak Chinese. It was sort of like a Chinese Tamale, and I hope it was pork inside.
I later decided to get out of Beijing. I went to Jinan which is a nice "little" city with some cool sights. The first day I saw some crazy garden/hotsprings. It was really odd because the water was eerily blue. This wasn't like a clear lake or beach. This was blue of its own accord. Here's a picture.
I spent about a week and a half in China and had a pretty good time. I saw some sights, had some good food and bought some really cheap items. I still have the jeans I purchased for around $3 US.
My trip to China wasn't particularly memorable, but it was still quite interesting. I bought my tickets a couple months in advance, and they were pretty cheap. The tax and visa, however ended up costing more than the ticket itself, so I was a little annoyed.
I went there in early September. I decided I wanted to go during a time when I wasn't going to be horribly uncomfortable being outside. Anyhoo, I went to Beijing first. I stayed at a lovely little hostel and met several other travelers with whom I went out for drinks.
At the hostel, there were people from the UK, Germany, Sweden and the Philippines. We all grabbed some taxis and headed to the bar district in Beijing and had some drinks. The German guy with us was a bit tanked. He really really loves Libya and wouldn't stop expressing his love for the country the entire night. At the bar we went to, there were a couple of Koreans. I chatted with them a bit about my life in Korea, and they went back inside. The German joined them in some sort of drinking game, came outside, puked and passed out. The Koreans walked out, seemed fine and grabbed a taxi.
While I was in Beijing, I did the regular sort of sight seeing. I saw Tienanmen square and the forbidden city. The forbidden city didn't do much for me. It was huge and old, but it was kind of dull. It seemed like just a ton of uniform buildings and stone courtyards.
I later went to Behai park, and that was amazing. I guess it was more interesting because of how they integrated the landscape into the design of the park and had a variety of structures. Here's a picture for you.
While at Behai park, I went into the restaurant at the park and had some great, but bizarre food. I had a meal of turtle soup, camel hump and deer penis. At a hole in the wall restaurant somewhere near my hostel, I had the tastiest food I found in China. I have no idea what its name is because I just pointed at a random menu item because I can't read or speak Chinese. It was sort of like a Chinese Tamale, and I hope it was pork inside.
I later decided to get out of Beijing. I went to Jinan which is a nice "little" city with some cool sights. The first day I saw some crazy garden/hotsprings. It was really odd because the water was eerily blue. This wasn't like a clear lake or beach. This was blue of its own accord. Here's a picture.
I spent about a week and a half in China and had a pretty good time. I saw some sights, had some good food and bought some really cheap items. I still have the jeans I purchased for around $3 US.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Time to incorporate pictures into my blog
I'll get to this journey later, but I feel like uploading a picture now. This is a picture from Namwon, a city closely neighboring Jeonju. Jeonju is an interesting town in which I wouldn't mind living. I've visited it twice, but both times I went there people told me that it's famous for bibimbap. I love Korean food. Kimchi is amazing. I use it in most of the foods I cook. It's a vegeatable. It comes spiced. It lasts for a while. It's already cut. I love it.
Bibimbap, however, is one of the dullest foods I've ever encountered. It's healthy. It tastes alright. It doesn't, however have any qualities which merit praise.
Anyways, here's my picture. I like this picture for some reason, but I can't put my finger on it exactly. The only reason I can think of is that I like the geometry of it. I took this picture with a recently purchased lumix camera. I like this camera for a number of reasons, but the greatest thing is the grid view where you can frame shots quite easily.
Bibimbap, however, is one of the dullest foods I've ever encountered. It's healthy. It tastes alright. It doesn't, however have any qualities which merit praise.
Anyways, here's my picture. I like this picture for some reason, but I can't put my finger on it exactly. The only reason I can think of is that I like the geometry of it. I took this picture with a recently purchased lumix camera. I like this camera for a number of reasons, but the greatest thing is the grid view where you can frame shots quite easily.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
An outing with my new coworkers
For the first month, I got to know three teachers at my school pretty well. There was my supervisor/head teacher, Joe. He was a Korean American who was a pretty decent guy. He kept Tony's zany Koreanness in check. There was Kevin. He was an Adopted Korean/American who was as foreign to Korea as I was. I got to know these two because we were the three people who smoked at our school, so we would always be in the stairwell smoking together during the breaks. The director smoked as well, but he would smoke in the lobby.
And there was V. I will call this teacher V because her name is not as common as many of the other names I've come across in my time here, and also because I come into contact with her on occasion. Anyways, V started at the same time I did, taught in an office next to mine, lived near me and was the only other person of non Korean descent. She's pretty cool and we fought the man together a couple of times.
Anyhoo, there was an outing planned for both our academy and the other academy my boss owned in Incheon. The three people I had gotten to know weren't coming. I'm not much of a socialite, but I figured this would be a good opportunity to get to know the other teachers and have a good time.
I rode in my boss's car along with Terry, another Korean American teacher I never got to know very well. I'm not sure where we went. I was told we were going to GangwanDo and that it was an island off of Incheon, so all I know is that we went somewhere about 3 hours away from Bucheon.
After driving for a while, we got to the area of the condo we would be staying in, and we stopped at a local fish market. I go with my boss in his shiny suit to haggle with the fish mongers. He points out a few fish, and the fishmonger pulls them out of the tank and clubs them. One fish jumped out of a nearby tank, and my boss yanked the fish club out of the monger's hand, chases after the fish and clubs it. He brings it back and adds that to the pile.
After getting all of the fish, we get to the condo where the secretaries from my school and a bunch of people I've never met were hanging out. It was a pretty nice place. There was a Karaoke machine in the room, and outside there was a ping pong table and a net for the Korean soccer/volleyball game.
The secretaries prepared a meal of sushi, and my boss pulls out three cases of soju bottles from his trunk. The feast begins. I was sitting next to the husband of a teacher from the other school who was about 50 years old. Throughout the meal, he poured both of us soju shots which we drank together. I soon lost count of the shots that were poured and passed the threshold between tipsy and sloppy.
I don't remember much from that night except for one conversation. I sat down with the secrataries from my school. One of them asked me how many soju bottles I could drink, and I said eight. This was a blatant lie. I'm not a lightweight, but after two bottles, things get fuzzy.
Apparently I just stumbled around for a while and then passed out pretty early. The only problem I caused was someone having to drag my unconscious self to the room where the men were sleeping.
The next day wasn't too bad, but it was a long trip home.
And there was V. I will call this teacher V because her name is not as common as many of the other names I've come across in my time here, and also because I come into contact with her on occasion. Anyways, V started at the same time I did, taught in an office next to mine, lived near me and was the only other person of non Korean descent. She's pretty cool and we fought the man together a couple of times.
Anyhoo, there was an outing planned for both our academy and the other academy my boss owned in Incheon. The three people I had gotten to know weren't coming. I'm not much of a socialite, but I figured this would be a good opportunity to get to know the other teachers and have a good time.
I rode in my boss's car along with Terry, another Korean American teacher I never got to know very well. I'm not sure where we went. I was told we were going to GangwanDo and that it was an island off of Incheon, so all I know is that we went somewhere about 3 hours away from Bucheon.
After driving for a while, we got to the area of the condo we would be staying in, and we stopped at a local fish market. I go with my boss in his shiny suit to haggle with the fish mongers. He points out a few fish, and the fishmonger pulls them out of the tank and clubs them. One fish jumped out of a nearby tank, and my boss yanked the fish club out of the monger's hand, chases after the fish and clubs it. He brings it back and adds that to the pile.
After getting all of the fish, we get to the condo where the secretaries from my school and a bunch of people I've never met were hanging out. It was a pretty nice place. There was a Karaoke machine in the room, and outside there was a ping pong table and a net for the Korean soccer/volleyball game.
The secretaries prepared a meal of sushi, and my boss pulls out three cases of soju bottles from his trunk. The feast begins. I was sitting next to the husband of a teacher from the other school who was about 50 years old. Throughout the meal, he poured both of us soju shots which we drank together. I soon lost count of the shots that were poured and passed the threshold between tipsy and sloppy.
I don't remember much from that night except for one conversation. I sat down with the secrataries from my school. One of them asked me how many soju bottles I could drink, and I said eight. This was a blatant lie. I'm not a lightweight, but after two bottles, things get fuzzy.
Apparently I just stumbled around for a while and then passed out pretty early. The only problem I caused was someone having to drag my unconscious self to the room where the men were sleeping.
The next day wasn't too bad, but it was a long trip home.
A good beginning
Although cleaning my apartment was a bit unpleasant, the apartment itself was pretty keen. It was an officetel and it had a decent bathroom and it came with a huge wardrobe.
I went to work to observe some classes and teach one at the end of the day. My schedule was pretty great. Although I had to teach two classes on Saturday, I was teaching about 15 classes per week my first month. All but one of my classes were one on one classes, and I had no kindergarten. It was pretty nice. There were other nice things about this new job. I had a full ten days of vacation, not the BS ten days including the weekend I had with my previous job, and I could take them when I wanted, not on scheduled school closures, which I also had and was payed for. My students were all at a pretty high level, and I neither needed to follow nor create a syllabus. It was pretty much, a student came in, we picked up where we left off and we went at a pace that worked for the student.
The one really nice thing was the summer intensives. At my previous school, they just made me work an additional two or three hours a day and I got a little bit of overtime for it. At this place, I was asked if I was interested in teaching. I was teaching about 18 classes per week at the time, and the class they wanted me to teach was an additional 1 hour per day M-F. Even though it only brought my teaching hours up to 23, I was still payed for it. I was payed 40%of the tuition for the class. That came out to around 1.2M for 15 extra hours of work, and my days were still lighter than an average day at my previous job.
It was not all sunshine and lollipops the whole time there, but we'll get to that when things go downhill fast.
I went to work to observe some classes and teach one at the end of the day. My schedule was pretty great. Although I had to teach two classes on Saturday, I was teaching about 15 classes per week my first month. All but one of my classes were one on one classes, and I had no kindergarten. It was pretty nice. There were other nice things about this new job. I had a full ten days of vacation, not the BS ten days including the weekend I had with my previous job, and I could take them when I wanted, not on scheduled school closures, which I also had and was payed for. My students were all at a pretty high level, and I neither needed to follow nor create a syllabus. It was pretty much, a student came in, we picked up where we left off and we went at a pace that worked for the student.
The one really nice thing was the summer intensives. At my previous school, they just made me work an additional two or three hours a day and I got a little bit of overtime for it. At this place, I was asked if I was interested in teaching. I was teaching about 18 classes per week at the time, and the class they wanted me to teach was an additional 1 hour per day M-F. Even though it only brought my teaching hours up to 23, I was still payed for it. I was payed 40%of the tuition for the class. That came out to around 1.2M for 15 extra hours of work, and my days were still lighter than an average day at my previous job.
It was not all sunshine and lollipops the whole time there, but we'll get to that when things go downhill fast.
The return to Korea
I had a nice, relaxing trip home and came back to Korea for a second year. This was going to be my last year, but somewhere along the way, I got sidetracked.
My new boss picked me up at the airport. My new boss was an odd guy. I'm still a little pissed at him, but we'll get to that later. He filled the role of an ajeoshi quite well. Every time he spoke, he sounded like he was drunk (Although he supposedly never drank because it upset his stomache).
He had no problem insulting me or the other teachers on a regular basis, and he pathologically lied. He also did almost no work at all. His name was Tony.
So, during the long drive to my new home in the pleasant suburb of Bucheon, I had some odd, very uncomfortable conversations with Tony.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"No."
"You should get one. They are good for sex. If you don't have one it's ok though, there are many prostitutes near your house. They are also very good for sex."
When we arrived at my new apartment, it was pretty good although lacking any furnishings. I didn't really care too much though. It was in a good location, and it had plenty of space. I was also later reimbursed for the costs of the furnishings and he bought a bed. He wanted me to go to the school so I could go over my schedule and get some paperwork done, but I convinced him to give me a bit of time to take a shower, shave and change out of the clothes I had been wearing for about 24 hours.
When I came back home from work, I learned one of the very important lessons about Korea I was going to learn that year. When Koreans move out of an apartment, they leave a disgusting mess. I hadn't noticed it when I first came in because I just dropped my bags, went into the bathroom and took a shower in a half awake daze, but when I started unpacking, it was disgusting.
All of the cupboards were filled with rotting food. The apartment was covered in a layer of pubes and dust, and there were two open garbage bags filled to the brim with used feminine hygiene products. I had to run to Homeplus anyways to buy something to sleep on and a kettle for the next day, so I bought a ton of cleaning supplies.
I began cleaning, and although it wasn't what I would have liked to have been doing, it was rather easy to do in an empty apartment. Everything was going swimmingly until I got to the drain in the kitchen sink. I lifted up the food catcher thing so I could rinse it off, and it was filled with a green sludge the likes of which I had never smelled. I'm pretty sure that at some point, the sludge had been vegetables at some point, but it had been sitting in that drain for god knows how long, and when I lifted the food catcher thing up, I was hit by such a strong stench that I immediately threw up. I finished cleaning and doused the apartment with bleach just to be sure.
After cleaning, I went for a walk to check out my new neighborhood, and it was pretty good. There were tons of convenience stores and restaurants and businesses nearby, so I was pretty set. There were also tons and tons of Anmas, juicy bars and barber poles.
My new boss picked me up at the airport. My new boss was an odd guy. I'm still a little pissed at him, but we'll get to that later. He filled the role of an ajeoshi quite well. Every time he spoke, he sounded like he was drunk (Although he supposedly never drank because it upset his stomache).
He had no problem insulting me or the other teachers on a regular basis, and he pathologically lied. He also did almost no work at all. His name was Tony.
So, during the long drive to my new home in the pleasant suburb of Bucheon, I had some odd, very uncomfortable conversations with Tony.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
"No."
"You should get one. They are good for sex. If you don't have one it's ok though, there are many prostitutes near your house. They are also very good for sex."
When we arrived at my new apartment, it was pretty good although lacking any furnishings. I didn't really care too much though. It was in a good location, and it had plenty of space. I was also later reimbursed for the costs of the furnishings and he bought a bed. He wanted me to go to the school so I could go over my schedule and get some paperwork done, but I convinced him to give me a bit of time to take a shower, shave and change out of the clothes I had been wearing for about 24 hours.
When I came back home from work, I learned one of the very important lessons about Korea I was going to learn that year. When Koreans move out of an apartment, they leave a disgusting mess. I hadn't noticed it when I first came in because I just dropped my bags, went into the bathroom and took a shower in a half awake daze, but when I started unpacking, it was disgusting.
All of the cupboards were filled with rotting food. The apartment was covered in a layer of pubes and dust, and there were two open garbage bags filled to the brim with used feminine hygiene products. I had to run to Homeplus anyways to buy something to sleep on and a kettle for the next day, so I bought a ton of cleaning supplies.
I began cleaning, and although it wasn't what I would have liked to have been doing, it was rather easy to do in an empty apartment. Everything was going swimmingly until I got to the drain in the kitchen sink. I lifted up the food catcher thing so I could rinse it off, and it was filled with a green sludge the likes of which I had never smelled. I'm pretty sure that at some point, the sludge had been vegetables at some point, but it had been sitting in that drain for god knows how long, and when I lifted the food catcher thing up, I was hit by such a strong stench that I immediately threw up. I finished cleaning and doused the apartment with bleach just to be sure.
After cleaning, I went for a walk to check out my new neighborhood, and it was pretty good. There were tons of convenience stores and restaurants and businesses nearby, so I was pretty set. There were also tons and tons of Anmas, juicy bars and barber poles.
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