Never EVER EVER EVER work for Wonderland September 6, 2008

I have set up at hagwon blacklist on facebook if you have any schools to add, just type HAGWON BLACKLIST.

I know there are exceptions to every rule. I haven’t seen any updated comments about Wonderland. But don’t make my mistake. Don’t think that because you’ve been a solid worker with great results at previous employers that it will make any difference at Wonderland. They believe in head office rules over the law. They told me for seven months I was enrolled in the pension but i had no deductions. I went to the National Pension Board and forced them to contribute. Unlike some hagwons who believe one 40 or 50 min class equals one teaching hour, Wonderland does not operate that way. You will find yourself teaching over 170 classes a month while other schools you could be teaching 120. Compare those with public schools which are 88. And loyalty does not go rewarded. I trusted them for nine months, never looking at my contract, working those number of classes, and asked them for a reference letter. After all, I had helped out with the talent show, wrote a song for the graduation, stayed after work to edit speeches, and took over classes for sick Koreans, without extra pay which was in my contract I was to be paid. I figured it wasn’t unreasonable. But they declined. So i brought out my contract and there were several infractions. They basically said i was to abide by it but it was at their discretion to break the rules. And as to vacation, even though by law employees are entitled to ten working days vacation. Wonderland goes by their calendar and not the government and only gave nine this year. Next year it may only be 8.

The Wonderland chain is rigid, inflexibile, and will exploit you if you let them. They have done this with the new teachers they have hired on. DO NOT LET THEM DO THIS TO YOU. AVOID WONDERLAND AT ALL COSTS.

On top of that they were rude to my recruiter who called to get a reference. I was once asked why they never got calls for references..Hmmm I wonder why?

Venting out on a hypocritical environmentalist weirdo who also is a pig who likes to cheat people. September 25, 2009

I know a long title but heres the thing.

I have been in Korea for 2 years and going into my third now.  I understand the culture.  This guy has been in Korea for less than a year.  I always got a weird vibe from him but i try to help out whereever i can.

So i see the guy on the street we start talking.  I ask him if he is renewing his contract this year he said yes.  He continued a five minute conversation with me verifying that as bad as his school was he was going to sign back on.  Of course he also said during summer vacation he stayed at the school from 9 to 5 (when all the other teachers including me left at 1230 with school’s permission).  So a week later I introduce a friend of mine to him, and say he is renewing and he says he’s not. So i am surprised.  here the idiot had no intention of coming back.  I understand sarcasm, i get it as I am a very sarcastic person.  But clearly I had no idea he was being sarcastic and he could have let me in on it before I embarassed myself in front of my friend.

So my friend is new here and she wanted to go for dinner with the foreigners in her area so i went with her for support.  He was there.  I told my friend at the beginning I wasn’t sure I wanted to eat with them because those things people always get ripped off.  Plus I don’t eat much Korean.  So I bite the bullet for my friend.  So I eat the samgipsal but I dont’ like rice so I don’t order rice or cider.

On top of ordering multiple bottles of cider and an egg dish and eatign off of two plates of samgipsal, and I have to leave, he tells everyone to pay 7000 won.  Now I speak up and say well not all of us ate every thing, meaning he should pay more.  His comments were again humiliating ‘well if some of you feel you didn’t eat as much rich or drink as much cider you don’t have to pay as much’.  I am sorry but that is such a douchebag comment to make.  I clearly did not have as much as him nor did my friend.  Nor did anyone really at the table.  But I paid for a plate and half of meat, though i didn’t eat as much.

ANd as for his environmentalist facade, a guy that claims to be an environmentalist, is sitting on a park bench eating everything that is prepackaged.

He is truly a douchebag and i am sure a lousy teacher.

Jinju lantern festival is cancelled. September 21, 2009

as of September 16, 2009, the Jinju lantern festival has been cancelled due to Swine flu. I apologize for the misinformation but it was just posted recently.  It is my favorite festival and I am so sad that I won’t be able to go this year.  It is starting to look like none of the festivals are a go.

Jinju lantern festival is cancelled. September 21, 2009

as of September 16, 2009, the Jinju lantern festival has been cancelled due to Swine flu. I apologize for the misinformation but it was just posted recently.  It is my favorite festival and I am so sad that I won’t be able to go this year.  It is starting to look like none of the festivals are a go.

And for 22 years of teaching, this is how the Korean teacher handled Grade 6 class today. September 11, 2009

I will be the first to admit that there has been a power struggle since my coteachers changed in March.  For some reason, she was angry that I was in the classroom.  As she put it, she has been teachiing 21 years and she must do her duties.  However, she can’t speak english so why did she choose to teach English class is beyond me.

After seeing her treat my class materials with disrespect, I gave up giving her ideas and preparing materials for class. She clearly did not want my help.  So I have had plenty of opportunity to observe her teaching methods.

I notice that she talks over the students. Almost like when she teaches she is giving a speech rather than teaching a class.  The students have their back to her and are engaged in their own conversations.  They are not following the class. i am the one that gets their attention.  But I only teach the first 10 minutes of class and she doesn’t help control the class when I am teaching.

Today, she must have been in a bad mood or just fed up.  When people are chatting, i separate them boy girl boy girl, this worked for several months.  But since summer vacation has been over, they have gone back to sitting with their friends and the coteacher has not corrected this situation.  So of course, in an non airconditioned classroom on the fourth floor, they are sitting with their friends and chatting and not paying attention to the class.

So then the event of the day occurred.  Leading up to the event, she was teaching from her desk, sitting down, talking at them not with them.  The kids had their back to her and she just kept on talking.  Then it happened.  All of a sudden, with no warnings, she threw 3/4 of the class out in the hall.  They had their own party in the hallway while the 10 students left were subjected to her teaching.  Her solution was to yell at them at the end of the class.

This is how a senior teacher controls a class?     I am astounded…well it was more humourous to me than anything else.

The Bible gives Christians a hand up when we fall down in error. September 10, 2009

So in my first year in korea, one of my coteachers picked me to be her pet project.  I am older than her and quite happy bein on my own. But for some reason she decided I needed a friend.  She is very cheerful person, at least on the outside.  So i was like okay.  But her desire for friendship was shallow at best and at the end she had lied about so many things to me i couldn’t stomach being in the room with her.  I hate fake people and I knkow in Korea many of the foreigners are just that.

SO I acknowledge that, while I don’t believe my anger was unreasonable considering everything she lied about, my behaviour could have been more mature.  I tried to address this in an email, tried to reach out to her for i felt she at least deserved an explanation.

Her response…..you so called Christians.  She thought I had reached out to her because of my conscience.  Truthfully I wasn’t apologizing to her I was trying to show her some respect though I had received little from her.

And I got to thinking tonight, isnn’t this why God created the Bible.c If we were perfect, there would be no need for it.  God knows we are going to fail, and so he has given  us his word to help us get us back on our feet again.  Had I been allowed to respond to her viciousness, I would have told her that being a Christian doesn’t make me perfect,  it just gives me a hand up when I mess up.

Ok Canadians nows the time to voice your opinion…get Harper out.ho September 9, 2009

In the coming weeks, all Canadians will be able to vote out the man and I do mean the man who is responsible for spending the accumulated surplus of the 13 plus years the Liberals were in government and taking Canada into a 50 + billion deficit.  In the two recessions that the Liberals governed, not once were we put into such a deficit.  This man Harper, who emphatically denied on several occasions and you can view my blog entries of last year as evidence that there was a recession, cannot manage the economy and should not be in charge of governing the country.  He has shown no leadership on the world stage.  He has to wait to see what the US does before he can form an opinion.  Trudeau nor Chretien would have acted as cowardly.  We are a country not a 51st state.  Let’s elect a leader that has world experience to bring to the table and get this country back to where it was pre Harper era, in a surplus with a thriving economy.  A vote for Harper is a vote saying I really want to be jobless and bankrupt for the next few years.

Jinju Lantern festival 0ct 1st to 12th, 2009 cancelled September 9, 2009

1. sorry it has been cancelled
2. This will be my third year attending.  Definitely do not miss out on this festival.  I love all the pretty lights and Jinju is a pretty city as well to be explored.  The festival goes on till 2 am in the morning.  The earliest bus back to Busan leaves at 530.  I know because I took it last year and it was the most comfortable, even had leg rests. 

For some history about the festival, check out http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=697197

Now entering my third year in Korea September 8, 2009

So now I am entering my third year.  Most everything I said in my first year has turned out to be true. People here are flaky..friendships superficial at best.  That being said I did meet the love of my life here which is against what I said was going to happen and so there is some positive changes that have happeneid to me in Korea.

I love working in the public school though it did require some adjustments.  Here is my advice to public school workers, don’t compare yourselves to each other.  Some of you may get more vacation than others..  Some will have more classes, or more overtime.  In the end, its up to the individual schools. You will drive yourself crazy.

Another piece of advice if you aren’t into drinking, don’t get into drinking just because you think thats the only way to meet other foreigners.  If more foreigners would stop thinking like this, you’d see more of them on the hiking trails and at some pretty nice Busan spots like taejongdae.  There are many things to do without alcohol that are social activities.

Enjoy your time here and see it for what it really is a nice detour on the road of life.

Driving in Korea, a newfound respect. July 24, 2009

So I broke down and bought a car.  Even in Canada, i hated owning a car.  To me, a car is just another useless expense.  For the past two years I have been walking everywhere, and busing or subwaying (yes i know its not a word, i made itup) it.  And doing that I saw a lot of Korea i would have missed out on in a car and met a lot of interesting people both foreign and domestic.

I had long forgotten the freedom a car brings.  My mom encouraged me to get a car.  She always said it would bring about independence.  You can go anywhere and do anything you want.

But besides the expense factor, there was something else holding me back. FEAR.  If you have read some f my previous blogs you will be familiar with my fear over so many things.   I was afraid to drive in Korea.  As a pedestrian, I have witnessed some notorious driving.  But the again, i have witnessed the same driving in Canada.  Bad driving is not just reserved to one country alone.  It can be found anywhere. I think sometimes we forget that.

So I have been driving in Korea now for five days.  It has been an adventure.  And despite what people told me, my long walks have helped me with directions when I have gotten lost.  I do enjoy the freedom I now have, though not so envious of the expense gas will cause.  I have rediscovered talents i admit i rarely used in Canada. I have perfected the art of backing up, in order that I may never hit a car (again).  I still refuse to parallel park, though I have been honing that skill as well.

What I have forgotten about driving that I truly enjoy…is the commentary that flows from my mouth.  It is so ingrained in me that I don’t know when I am doing it.  Unfortunately, my significant other has now discovered this talent of mine.  Luckily, he thinks its cute.  It’s cute until its annoying.

Back to fear.  Walt from the Seaman’s Club told me this sage piece of wisdom ‘Only use the tools that are in front of you, do not look back. If you drive like a Canadian, you will get into an accident. ‘  I have learned that to be true.  if you are going to drive, avoid hesitation.  if you pull out, keep going or you are going to get into an accident.  This change in driving habits will be a hard lesson to learn. But learning not to hesitate can definitely be used in other areas of my life and for this I respect Korea for teaching me.

So I’m back in Korea from a short stint in Canada and punished (or rewarded) for my time off. July 23, 2009

So this could be a good or bad thing.  I went back to Canada to do some personal business.  I took the time off without pay for they wouldn’t give me the vacation then.  But would give me the vacation two weeks later.  Before I left, i was told to call my coteacher when I landed back in South Korea.  Obviously, what happened next was already planned.

My time in Canada was great but short, and I could have used some extra time.  Little did I know it would be given to me, after I got back.

So I called my coteacher up and said I am back.  She told me not to come to school.  I asked why.  She said you have the flu.  I said no i don’t, I have been cleared by the airport and I wasn’t exposed to it in Canada.  She said this week, stay home. I’m like..Ok.

So there you have it.  Always planned to give me this week off.  Just didn’t want me to stay in Canada.

I just find it hilarious that my coteacher feels that she is medically qualified to say I have the flu.  More miraculous is that she didn’t see me in person to judge that.  Just because I was in Canada doesn’t mean I have the flu.

This is not a complaint.  Its just something funny I thought I’d share.