An Email

Again from Ruined for Life
I wrote this in response to a talk with my unprofessional director about teaching more in lock-step with my colleagues. I went to a progressive education school and incorporate ideas that were not commonly used in the 19th century. I am not a slave to the text book and that bugged a few malcontents, who wanted the safety of just going through the book page by page.

October 11, 2010

Dear Dr. L,

I've thought a lot about our talk. I appreciate all your feedback and I will now use the book a lot more and do it all in sequence more slowly (one concept at a time).

Also, I need to ask you a favor. If one more student comes to you with even the smallest complaint, please fire me. I am so stressed in this job. I can't sleep or eat properly. I think it's because I'm living in such a dirty, run down apartment, surrounded with men who enjoy toilet humor and now teaching students who complain about every little thing because they love to criticize the woman who's below them in the pecking order.

I will try to do this job, but really perhaps unemployment would be better.

Also, today I will tell Reggie that I will not be in his crude movie full of bad jokes.

I offered to write the teachers' script, but he wanted to do this horrible, degrading movie. When I was in my 20s I actually pursued screenwriting as a career. While I never became famous, I was accepted into Act One: Writing for Hollywood. One thousand people applied and I was one of 30 selected. I have received writing honors from the American Film Institute and gotten praise and been invited to interview to write for the television program "Family Ties" and "Growing Pains."

As a Christian, I will not participate in his movie. I was going to, but should follow my gut and refuse.

Thank you for your consideration.

Susan

Ever Had a Job So Bad It Made You Sick?

I did till recently when I quit working at KNUE's teacher training program. Holy Moly. My former blog that was deleted by some malicious moron chronicled the craziness. In October, I suffered from a terrible case of hives. It was all over and I itched incessantly. That prompted the following"

Subject: 30 days
To: "Dr. Lee"
Date: Saturday, 30 October, 2010, 9:12 AM

Dear Dr. Lee,

All week I've had a growing skin condition. I tried to get to the English clinic here at Yonsei but it wasn't open. I'll go on Monday. I do think this problem is work related, caused either by stress or the bedding in the depressingly dismal apartment. If the doctor agrees, then consider this my resignation letter. There's no point in working at a place that makes one sick.

Since I must give 30 days notice, I wanted to write this now to "start the clock." Yet perhaps the doctor will assure me that this won't recur.

Sincerely,

Susan

My first resignation letter.

There's something weird about making yourself a Lord in your email account name.

Drawing the Line

So I've gotten sick of Dr. Lee's remarks in meetings about my appearance. At first it didn't seem like a big deal. "We're so glad to have a beautiful woman on our staff now" was easy to brush off and just attribute it to ignorance, but the remarks have continued. He makes a lot of inappropriate remarks to the trainees and many may think it's funny.

However, this is a country where sexual harassment is rampant and I think part of that is because women brush off the casual remark, which could be complimentary. But that's how they get painted into a corner. I thought it was particularly weird, when our director at KNUE urged some younger trainees to try to be more attractive for one of the trainers. This trainer caused a scandal some time ago when he started a romance with one of his students and then dumped her. She was devastated and there was a big brouhaha when her brother came to school to call the trainer out.

With that in mind, I wrote and sent the following:

Dear Dr. L,

Although you may think you're just being grandfatherly when you comment on my appearance or that of the trainees, in most professional organizations, remarks on women's appearance or any jokes like "This is my love letter to you," are considered extremely unprofessional.

This may just be your humor and style. I do want you to know that remarks of this nature should stop as far as I'm concerned. They're just unprofessional.

I hope that's all I need to say.

Regards,

SK

Next I have to see if he's going to sit in on class today. That's got to stop too. He can come back when he's seen 5 hours of all the other teacher's classes.

From the archive, October 2010.

N.B. He stopped for about 2 days and started up again.

Originally Posted in Sept. 2010

September 12, 2010

Still NO VISA

Okay, now I'm anxious. I thought for sure the visa would be in today's mail, if not yesterday's. I need the passport and visa to go. I hate the idea of having to change this flight again. I have half a mind to just not go and find a different job as much as I'm tired of all this job hunting and waiting.

I'm especially put off because the department Coordinator refused to come pick me up at the bus station. We've gone back and forth on this request. I've said that I'd really appreciate some help with my bags and finding the way to a new place after being on the road so long. I'll leave my house at 5am if not before to get on a 7am flight to San Francisco followed by an 11 hour flight to Seoul. Then I have to get a 2 hour bus to a town near my small town. That's when I'd like to have a welcome and someone to take the reins.

Nope.

I even offered to pay the Coordinator for her time and the cab. She refused.

I suppose they just don't do this, though every other job I've had does. In China and Japan several people met the new teachers and we didn't have to touch our bags. In Korea the first time two people met me at the airport. It's just nice to see such people and relax about a new endeavor. I really thought this young girl would be happy to make some extra money.

The thought I have is if I don't get this help, does it mean that I won't get other help at KNUE.

Yes, that's exactly what the refusal meant.

Where to Work?

For my money, as an English language teacher, I'd avoid working in Korea since all the governments of English speaking countries receive so many complaints about workplaces that take advantage of their teachers. Maybe there are a few good schools, but you can do the same work and save as much, probably more, money by working in another Asian country.

Here are some of my reasons:

1. Obtaining a visa is now a big hassle. The teacher will have to spend lots of time and money getting documents apostilled, and if you're unlucky like me your future workplace will give you the wrong information so you waste time and money going to the wrong agency in the wrong city in your state.
   
   
2. The won's value is a joke. It's very weak now. Japan's yen is strong as are other currencies.
   
   
3. The cost of living is high. Going out for a simple meal of Korean food costs nearly $15, whereas my meals in Jinan, China cost $1.50.
   
   
4. The art of management is in its infancy in Korea. They just don't know how to lead. Yelling is a favored management style. Some may have read a management book, but they don't understand the concepts or apply them.
   
   
5. The apartments are usually crap. My Korean apartments, in Seoul and the countryside, were tiny. The one at Korea National University of Education in Gangnae was dirty and the furnishings would be rejected by a second hand store. You'd think they'd realize they should clean an apartment for a new teacher or that a college educated person, or any person would want a comfortable chair to sit in. These squalid apartments just show that the management thinks the teachers are sub-human. If you do get a crappy apartment, leave the job immediately. This is a sign. Every aspect of the job will be crappy.
   
   On the other hand, in China, Japan and Indonesia my apartments were furnished humanely with new furnishings and appliances on par with what the typical middle class worker had. Now I grant you we had problems, lots of them with the Indonesian house, but it was as nice or nicer than what our Indonesian colleagues lived in.
   
   
6. Right now there's a lot of xenophobia in the Hermit Kingdom. A friend who's married to a Korean and has biracial children told me that, "It's becoming more and more clear that foreigners are regarded as a necessary evil." An insightful professor from America was quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education as saying that Korea's push for globalization is actually driven by nationalism. That sounds ironic, but what it means is that Korea wants to appear international so it can continue to tell itself that Korea is the best.
   
   
7. Unlike in the other countries I've worked in, when I arrived in Korea this last time the orientation for teachers was dreadful. Usually, there's a cordial walking tour of the whole campus, followed by a trip to the bank, grocery store, and post office. Of course, is normally picked up upon arrival. In Gangnae, I had to beg 5 times and offer to pay the secretary myself to get picked up after traveling 12 hours by plane and 2 by bus.
   
   
8. There are few good travel opportunities in Korea and traveling internationally can be expensive. In Japan and China, I never ran out of festivals to see or temples to visit. The cultures were vibrant. Korean culture just didn't do much for me. You can test this out by reading some books on the country. I now have promised myself to only work in countries that have one a Nobel Prize in literature. That's my sign that the country has enough sophistication to interest me. I need more than a steady flow of beer. I like to see and explore. There isn't much worth seeing in Korea.
   

So my advice is to teach elsewhere as it'll be more profitable and interesting. You'll probably be treated better.

Signs

Signs that Korea National University of Education was going to be the worst employer I've ever had:

1. It took five requests to get someone to agree to meet me at the bus stop. The Coordinator just didn't want to bother. I even offered to pay her or a friend of hers to come get me. Still no luck. In the end they did come.
   
2. I asked them to send me a copy of the text book I'd use and they refused.
   
3. The Coordinator sent me on a wild goose chase twice giving me the wrong information on where to go to get the documents for my visa apostilled
   
4. It's in the middle of no where, Miho. Generally, the farther away from Seoul, the worse the school. Though some do get bad jobs in Seoul.
   
5. The director asked few questions during the interview. He really only asked what I did with Black Sheeps.
   
6. The lowest grade a student can get is an 80%.
   
7. With the creation of websites like Happy Campus, it's so easy for students to plagiarize, so don't teach writing in Korea.
   
8. The pay was lower than I got before. I thought it would be okay since I was in the country and doing teacher training. The prices have gone way up since I left in 2007.
   
9. I ignored my impulse to see photos of the apartment I'd be in. Though pictures aren't enough. One needs to check the water and find out if to get a good shower one needs to go into the students' dorms as I did. In this case pictures would be enough. There wasn't one comfortable chair. There were grease stains on the walls. Most of the lights were burnt out. Though I was allowed to fix it all up.
   

Let the teacher beware.

If you have a college degree, you can do better.

On My First Days at a Bad Job

Sadly, I don't think I've ever felt this much culture shock or disrespect in my life. Other than meeting one other new teacher, who's very friendly, this has been a bad experience.

I did get my visa on Monday. That morning I had more or less decided not to come, because the school said they wouldn't pay for a change fee from the airlines. Also, I've heard too many lectures on the virtues of not quitting. Please.

The school did say they would pick me up at the bus station. That took 5 requests from me.

When I got to the bus station after 26 hours of travel, no one was there. After about 30 minutes two people showed up: the Coordinator, and new teacher from Australia. The new teacher took my heavier bags and whispered he knew what I was going through and warned against saying what I felt. Good advice and what I normally do as I'm not as assertive as I think I should be. During that 30 minute wait, I toyed with the idea of just going back to the airport.

Anyway, when I got to my apartment I was shocked. It looked like a hovel, furnished with cast off chairs and dilapidated cupboards. It's 80 degrees here and there's no air conditioning. We didn't have any pots, pans, dishes, glasses -- nothing to cook with. Not even a cup. Unlike Jinan, where we always had some food and a clean, spacious apartment, we got the less than the minimum, which considering that I was to work the next day made settling in tough.

The other teacher's place was worse. It was filthy with dust and syrup spilled through the shelving long ago and no one wiped it up. He had to spend 7 hours when he first got here making his place inhabitable. That's after 12+ hours of travel.

There's no phone service even for on campus calls.

I know that educated fully employed Koreans don't live like this, but it's okay for us to. How demeaning.

The rest of the staff consists of 5 people who've been here for years and seem, if their own words are any indication, like a bunch of [deleted] who don't care much about teaching. If you're a sloth you'd love this job.

A lot of them smoke and do that in X's office. On his first day, he went to his desk and it was covered with ash. All the desks in that area were. In fact, under the loose ash, there was gray, ground in cigarette ash. That took a long time to clean. He's probably on the outs with his new peers since he's requested everyone stop smoking in the room where smoking is prohibited anyway.

I'd like to get a different apartment, but I heard the other teachers' apartments are worse, which is hard to believe. There's really nothing off campus that I can see nearby. Besides the school does not provide a housing allowance in lieu of their run down ones.

Tomorrow I'm going to Seoul just to avoid my squalid apartment.

I did teach today and like my students. I have three groups for writing each was split with my two colleagues each absorbing half of mine. They don't seem comfortable collaborating so I inherited two groups who learned different things. So the first few days will be spent clearing up lots of confusion.

Originally written in Sept. 2010