In Korea, getting other people to do something is never easy, especially when you’re a foreigner -- you often don't have any leverage. For example, take our recent rental issue.
Background: In the U.S., landlords usually ask for a month’s deposit, sometimes two. However, in Korea landlords require a much larger one, called a jeonsae (전세, 傳貰). Sometimes it’s as low as $5,000, though normally it’s about $10,000 for a typical small apartment. The smaller the jeonsae, however, the larger the monthly payment, or wolsae (월세, 月貰). Also, both renters and landlords each pay a $200 commission to the real estate agent that draws up the contract.
Setup: As part of CDI’s typical compensation package, the school provides about $5,000 for a jeonsae. We contributed another $5,000 and pay $400 monthly. We found out later that the property was assessed as being worth $48,000. Given this, and assuming our landlady invests the deposit money at 6%, her total rate of return for the property is almost 11% annually. Our apartment is about 5 pyeong (평, 坪), about 16.5m2 or 180 ft2.
According to the terms of my teaching contract, my last day was supposed to be May 7, but because CDI would rather have teachers come and go at end of their quarterly terms, I stayed until the end of the spring 2008 term. This worked well not only for the school, but also for me, since I knew I would be shipping out July 1, and didn’t want to be sitting around for two months. (One is enough.)
So when CDI and I decided to extend our contract in March, SY and I informed our landlady that we would be staying until the end of June. She said that was fine, but that we should reimburse her the $200 for the next tenant’s fee. We bargained her down to $100.
Problem: SY spoke with the real estate agent during the last week of May, we found out that if the landlady wanted to, she could is legally entitled to continue charging us monthly rent as an “extension” of our current contract. In talking with another real estate agent – one who was familiar with our apartment – it turns out that’s what she did with the previous tenant.
When we asked if we could get our deposit back when we move out, the landlady said she "didn’t have the money," but that she could give us the money when another tenant moves in.
Then we found out she’s also raising the wolsae by 38% to $550 per month. At that point, it looked extremely likely that we would end up paying rent on our apartment even after we’d moved out. Real estate agents familiar with our apartment said getting someone to move in at that rate would be hard – our apartment doesn’t get much sunlight during the day, it has a mold problem, and there’s no air conditioning.
But then again, what would the landlady have to lose? If someone takes it, she gets a 15% rate of return; if no one moves in, she can continue to milk us even after we’re long gone. It was a pretty frightening scenario for us.
Solution: I spoke with the faculty manager (교수부장) at CDI about our situation on Thursday, May 29, and asked for help. She couldn't believe that the landlady would do that -- in her opinion, she had to give our money back. Not that I wanted to argue with her, but I explained what the real estate agent said about the legality of it and the other agent's opinion about getting someone to move in.
I also said that although I’d agreed to replace the school’s money with our own after my last paycheck, I couldn’t do that until the landlady agreed to give us our money back when we move out.
Though she sent my last paycheck (and airplane ticket compensation) the next day, she apparently didn’t understand my position because I received a phone call on Monday, June 2, asking why I hadn’t sent the school’s $5000. I explained again what I’d said on the previous Thursday, that I couldn’t give the money until the landlady agreed to give our deposit money when we move out. This started a flurry of phone calls.
We spoke with the landlady on the morning of Tuesday, June 3, and she adjusted her position: if someone moves in, she can give the deposit, but if no one moves in, she will only charge us July rent, and we can get our deposit at the end of July at the latest. We said "we’ll think about it." ("생각 해볼거에요.")
Later that day, I visited CDI again and repeated what the landlady said to us. Mira relayed what I said to Mr. Gi, the branch manager and co-signor on the contract. Mr. Gi spoke with the landlady, and the landlady said that we had agreed to getting the money in July. She got angry because she perceived him as butting in when the tenants were apparently fine with the situation. She interpreted “we’ll think about it” as meaning we were fine with the situation.
Finally, I suggested that we all sit down at the real estate agent’s office to discuss everything and make sure everyone understood each other. Mr. Gi was fine with that, but the landlady didn’t want to do that. She finally agreed to give us our deposit when we moved out.
I’m not sure whether she only agreed to that because she didn’t want to deal with the added hassle, or because she didn't want to come face to face with someone who "wouldn't take her nonsense," but we got what we wanted.
Mr. Gi also got what he wanted -- the return of the school's $5000 deposit. I wired the money from our account, making us the sole recipient of the $10,000 deposit on our apartment.
Having succeeded in mollifying one co-signor (Mr. Gi) I hope she doesn't change her mind later and mess us over. In the meantime, however, I'm happy about another thing:
I successfully leveraged our position as the weakest of the three parties into getting at least a verbal agreement to do things our way.
Showing posts with label 04-Teaching English2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 04-Teaching English2. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Last Days
Though the concept of a "last day" at work is a little fuzzy when you teach different students on different days, my last day at CDI was Saturday, May 24. Today was my last morning tutoring class.
The summer terms starts May 26, but I won't be there! HA! HA! HA!
So now I'm FREE! Well, at least for a month, I guess....
The summer terms starts May 26, but I won't be there! HA! HA! HA!
So now I'm FREE! Well, at least for a month, I guess....
Sunday, May 18, 2008
May holidays
I like May. Here in Korea, there are a bunch of holidays, including Children's Day (어린이날) on the 5th, Parents' Day (어버이날) on the 8th, Buddha's Birthday (석가탄신일) on the 12th, and Teacher's Day (스승이날) on the 15th.
This year's Teacher's Day, however, was a bit rough for me. Though I had given all 60 something students flavored suckers, only about 5 percent returned the favor. You can guess who made me this:
*sigh*
This year's Teacher's Day, however, was a bit rough for me. Though I had given all 60 something students flavored suckers, only about 5 percent returned the favor. You can guess who made me this:
*sigh*
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Bring on $200 a barrel
According to the terms of my contract, my hagwon is supposed to pay for my ticket back to the U.S. after my year is finished. However, because the Army will flying me to basic training, I won’t really need it.
So instead of getting a ticket I won't be able to use, I’ve asked the school for the value of the plane ticket in cash, and the school has agreed.
These days, a barrel of oil is running about $125, roughly twice what it was a year ago. That means higher prices on airline tickets, and therefore, a greater reimbursement from my school. So bring on the high oil prices!
I love it when things work out that.
So instead of getting a ticket I won't be able to use, I’ve asked the school for the value of the plane ticket in cash, and the school has agreed.
These days, a barrel of oil is running about $125, roughly twice what it was a year ago. That means higher prices on airline tickets, and therefore, a greater reimbursement from my school. So bring on the high oil prices!I love it when things work out that.
Back to the Beginning
When I started at my hagwon in May 2007, I had one class that was in the middle of a book called“The Roots of Rock and Roll.” I really liked the book -- not just for the English, but also for the American culture and history. It's good for students to see those as well.
At my hagwon, we turn in our books at the end of each term, so I never thought I'd see the book that I used back then. However, by sheer coincidence, I ended up with a class of the same exact level this term, and I just happened to get the same exact book that I used one year ago.
It’s kind of nostalgic for me to see how diligently I filled in all the answers back then. I can’t say I work quite as hard these days.
At my hagwon, we turn in our books at the end of each term, so I never thought I'd see the book that I used back then. However, by sheer coincidence, I ended up with a class of the same exact level this term, and I just happened to get the same exact book that I used one year ago.
It’s kind of nostalgic for me to see how diligently I filled in all the answers back then. I can’t say I work quite as hard these days.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Morning classes
In addition to my hagwon job, I also tutor business executives in the mornings. These guys are an interesting lot from an EFL perspective -- even though they don't really need English for their jobs, and it's a bit difficult to improve your English when you only meet for two hours a week, they still pay for classes anyway.
This week was particularly interesting because one gentleman wanted to meet for his class, even though his office was closed for a company holiday. For a location, he chose the Grand Intercontinental Hotel lobby. It was a nice place to say the least.
And because it's considered polite to order something if you're going to sit down someplace (you know, to sort of "pay the rent"), he got me a drink.
I got the cheapest thing on the menu -- an $8.50 Coca-Cola.
Yeah, "Whew!" is what I said. But I guess he's got money to blow -- he had just gotten back from a visit to his son's boarding school in Maine.
That wasn't the only class that went atypically. On Tuesdays I meet with a faith-based non-profit (I don't want to get too specific) in sort of a group class. We mostly go over the English Café pages in the Korea Herald, and talk a lot. This week, however, no one showed up for class.
In fact, no one was even in the office when I showed up. I wondered if my clock was wrong or if I came on the wrong day, but no - everything was normal.
It just turned out that everyone had gone out drinking the night before in a "dinner meeting" (회식, 會食), and everyone was still hung over. One of the two people who came in later -- a mid-level manager in the organization -- expressed some dismay that so few people were there and apologized to me.
In Korea, the problem isn't in drinking too much that it affects you on the job. It's that absenteeism for being hammered makes you a sissy in the eyes of your coworkers. Last year, I posted the figures from an article in the Korea Herald, but I thought that was just regular companies. Several times I've had my morning students fail to show up because they overslept after drinking with clients the night before.
But apparently, overdrinking is common even in religious non-profits.
This week was particularly interesting because one gentleman wanted to meet for his class, even though his office was closed for a company holiday. For a location, he chose the Grand Intercontinental Hotel lobby. It was a nice place to say the least.
And because it's considered polite to order something if you're going to sit down someplace (you know, to sort of "pay the rent"), he got me a drink.
I got the cheapest thing on the menu -- an $8.50 Coca-Cola.
Yeah, "Whew!" is what I said. But I guess he's got money to blow -- he had just gotten back from a visit to his son's boarding school in Maine.
That wasn't the only class that went atypically. On Tuesdays I meet with a faith-based non-profit (I don't want to get too specific) in sort of a group class. We mostly go over the English Café pages in the Korea Herald, and talk a lot. This week, however, no one showed up for class.
In fact, no one was even in the office when I showed up. I wondered if my clock was wrong or if I came on the wrong day, but no - everything was normal.
It just turned out that everyone had gone out drinking the night before in a "dinner meeting" (회식, 會食), and everyone was still hung over. One of the two people who came in later -- a mid-level manager in the organization -- expressed some dismay that so few people were there and apologized to me.
In Korea, the problem isn't in drinking too much that it affects you on the job. It's that absenteeism for being hammered makes you a sissy in the eyes of your coworkers. Last year, I posted the figures from an article in the Korea Herald, but I thought that was just regular companies. Several times I've had my morning students fail to show up because they overslept after drinking with clients the night before.
But apparently, overdrinking is common even in religious non-profits.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Albert and Alberto
I have this one kid named Albert in one of my classes. He’s a great student – he always does his homework, he’s pretty smart, and he’s really funny. He can sometimes be a bit of a punk, but to me this is not really a bad thing.
From time to time he’ll come up with some funny idea, like the time when he tried to memorize pi to 100 places, or another time when he made a full page list of impossibly silly Korean names (for example 꽦쀍쿜). When he showed it to me, he and I just about laughed ours heads off.
Albert is a regular grade school boy at heart -- he remains fixated on this one book we did a while back – Gross Body Facts. His favorite subject was, and remains, chunky vomit. What I say about that, though? I remember some of the stuff I came up with in grade school, and it’s really not much different.
Out of all the students at CDI, I've had him a surprising number of times. I had him in my Spring 2007 English Chip 4 class (my first term at CDI), then again in Fall 2007 in Memory English Giga. Now it’s Spring 2008 and he’s in my Memory English Tera class.
One day I was telling him about former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. That day we had a few minutes of free time at the end of class, so I pulled up a YouTube montage of his "I don't recall" Senate testimony. The video shows his 70+ repetitions of the phrase.
Of course, the students didn't know what the whole thing was about, but they did understand the idea of a 모르쇠 (mo-reu-swe) -- a guy who who pretends to not know anything so as to avoid trouble (typically in a corruption case). [Source]
When the kids saw the video, they thought it was absolutely hilarious. Of course, now I have the problem of kids writing in "I don't recall" on their vocabulary tests, but it was worth it.
Albert, on the other hand, had this to say about the guy who ruined his name:
So to Mr. Gonzales, who may be lameting his demise in Washington, I have this comfort:
From time to time he’ll come up with some funny idea, like the time when he tried to memorize pi to 100 places, or another time when he made a full page list of impossibly silly Korean names (for example 꽦쀍쿜). When he showed it to me, he and I just about laughed ours heads off.
Albert is a regular grade school boy at heart -- he remains fixated on this one book we did a while back – Gross Body Facts. His favorite subject was, and remains, chunky vomit. What I say about that, though? I remember some of the stuff I came up with in grade school, and it’s really not much different.
Out of all the students at CDI, I've had him a surprising number of times. I had him in my Spring 2007 English Chip 4 class (my first term at CDI), then again in Fall 2007 in Memory English Giga. Now it’s Spring 2008 and he’s in my Memory English Tera class.
One day I was telling him about former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. That day we had a few minutes of free time at the end of class, so I pulled up a YouTube montage of his "I don't recall" Senate testimony. The video shows his 70+ repetitions of the phrase.
Of course, the students didn't know what the whole thing was about, but they did understand the idea of a 모르쇠 (mo-reu-swe) -- a guy who who pretends to not know anything so as to avoid trouble (typically in a corruption case). [Source]
When the kids saw the video, they thought it was absolutely hilarious. Of course, now I have the problem of kids writing in "I don't recall" on their vocabulary tests, but it was worth it.
Albert, on the other hand, had this to say about the guy who ruined his name:
So to Mr. Gonzales, who may be lameting his demise in Washington, I have this comfort:
Worry not, for your name and deeds will forever be etched onto the minds and memories of my English students here in Korea. My student Albert, of course, will always recall you.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Working myself buttless
Korea’s public school started winter vacation in December, bringing about another round of “intensive classes.” Of course, there’s really nothing intensive about them – they’re just designed to keep kids busy. It’s not bad, though. Parents don’t pressure the school to work the kids harder, and the management is more lenient about the length of the hourly breaks.
While the Scrooge, our school’s director, had in mind to start the classes on December 24 and make work at 10:00 Christmas morning, our manager (bless her soul) persuaded him to delay the start of these classes to December 27.
I was grateful for a moment, but then learned that it was only possible because he was able to reschedule all the classes we would have had that day. And I still had to come in at 10:00am on New Year’s Day.
There really are no holidays at CDI.
So with these intensive classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 1pm, in addition to my nomal schedule (M,T,Th, F 4-10; W 4-7, S 2:30-5:30), I get to stand on my feet 36 hours a week.
That’s in addition to my other job and a proofreading project I worked on. I still tutor executives at PWC, so I wake up at 5am Monday through Friday for seven one-hour classes per week. It’s not easy, but the per-hour rate is higher and the work is a bit more stimulating than teaching kids. Plus, when I get home I can take a nap if I’m so inclined. [ha! a pun!]
Depending on what the PWC students want to do, I’ll proofread their writing, listen to Voice of America news tracks (www.voanews.com), or cover the language materials provided in the English language daily newspapers. Sometimes we just talk about culture and major news stories.
As for the afore-mentioned project, in the first week of January I proofread a Korean friend’s 100+ page dissertation. Given my schedule, which was already packed, that was rough. It requred an ocean of red ink on every page and about 20 total manhours of work – literally all my free time that week. I was so glad when I finished it.
So my butt has pretty much been completely worked off. The good news is that my efforts have been far from futile. From the three jobs and the intensive classes, I’ll take home more than $6,000 in one month for the first time.
The fruits of survival through January shall be sweet indeed.
While the Scrooge, our school’s director, had in mind to start the classes on December 24 and make work at 10:00 Christmas morning, our manager (bless her soul) persuaded him to delay the start of these classes to December 27.
I was grateful for a moment, but then learned that it was only possible because he was able to reschedule all the classes we would have had that day. And I still had to come in at 10:00am on New Year’s Day.
There really are no holidays at CDI.
So with these intensive classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 1pm, in addition to my nomal schedule (M,T,Th, F 4-10; W 4-7, S 2:30-5:30), I get to stand on my feet 36 hours a week.
That’s in addition to my other job and a proofreading project I worked on. I still tutor executives at PWC, so I wake up at 5am Monday through Friday for seven one-hour classes per week. It’s not easy, but the per-hour rate is higher and the work is a bit more stimulating than teaching kids. Plus, when I get home I can take a nap if I’m so inclined. [ha! a pun!]
Depending on what the PWC students want to do, I’ll proofread their writing, listen to Voice of America news tracks (www.voanews.com), or cover the language materials provided in the English language daily newspapers. Sometimes we just talk about culture and major news stories.
As for the afore-mentioned project, in the first week of January I proofread a Korean friend’s 100+ page dissertation. Given my schedule, which was already packed, that was rough. It requred an ocean of red ink on every page and about 20 total manhours of work – literally all my free time that week. I was so glad when I finished it.
So my butt has pretty much been completely worked off. The good news is that my efforts have been far from futile. From the three jobs and the intensive classes, I’ll take home more than $6,000 in one month for the first time.
The fruits of survival through January shall be sweet indeed.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
A busy week
This week has had its ups and downs.
First, SY and I started the process to get her an immigrant visa. I had to email the U.S. Embassy to request an appointment to submit a petition. We got a response a few days later that our appointment will be on Monday.
At that point, we submit the petition and some other documents and pay $355. Then we wait for our petition to be approved.
When (if) we find out it’s been approved, we set up another appointment to submit more documents, and it gets kind of tricky. Among other things, I have to show that I can support my wife so that she won’t end up “a public charge” (meaning she won’t end up on welfare).
This seems like a bit of a catch-22, since I’m not likely to get a job in the U.S. until I’m there. I suppose I could fly there for an interview, but then – why not just fly there to move? Yet, I don’t want to move there until I’m sure I have a job. And so it just goes around and around. In part as a way to bypass this problem, I’ve been seriously considering a career as an officer in the U.S. Army.
Second, my Korean class is over. For the past two months, I’ve been taking a Korean class at the YBM building in Jongno-Samga. It’s been good for getting me to focus (I’m so lazy when I study by myself), but it used up just about all my free time outside of work. The class wasn’t that well designed, either – there was no listening component, few exercises, and the book was nearly useless. I can only say that about $7 per hour, it was a pretty good deal.
Now I’m free to catch up on sleep, the blog, and do all the other things little projects I’ve been wanting to finish.
Finally, CDI’s winter term just started. I went to training (again) last week, but it wasn’t as inane as it was last time. I still hold that the teachers who get the most out of training are those who have already taught the course (rather than those who are new), but since I was one of those people this time, it was more interesting.
Though I was originally scheduled for 10 classes a week (yay! lot’s of money), one of my twice-weekly classes closed because there were only two students in it. Unfortunately, that puts me, so I’m down to the contract minimum 8 per week, so I’m a bit bummed.
On top of that, both this week and next week some of my 7:00 classes are cancelled so middle school students can study for their public school finals. In one sense, it’s bad because it’s about $400 that I don’t get to earn. On the other hand, it’s great– I get this Friday, next week Monday, and next week Friday completely off.
In the span of a week, I’ve gone from a schedule with just about every hour of everyday filled up to being virtually at a loss about how to fill up my day. This week will be nice, but when January and February come around I’m sure I’ll have had enough.
First, SY and I started the process to get her an immigrant visa. I had to email the U.S. Embassy to request an appointment to submit a petition. We got a response a few days later that our appointment will be on Monday.At that point, we submit the petition and some other documents and pay $355. Then we wait for our petition to be approved.
When (if) we find out it’s been approved, we set up another appointment to submit more documents, and it gets kind of tricky. Among other things, I have to show that I can support my wife so that she won’t end up “a public charge” (meaning she won’t end up on welfare).
This seems like a bit of a catch-22, since I’m not likely to get a job in the U.S. until I’m there. I suppose I could fly there for an interview, but then – why not just fly there to move? Yet, I don’t want to move there until I’m sure I have a job. And so it just goes around and around. In part as a way to bypass this problem, I’ve been seriously considering a career as an officer in the U.S. Army.
Second, my Korean class is over. For the past two months, I’ve been taking a Korean class at the YBM building in Jongno-Samga. It’s been good for getting me to focus (I’m so lazy when I study by myself), but it used up just about all my free time outside of work. The class wasn’t that well designed, either – there was no listening component, few exercises, and the book was nearly useless. I can only say that about $7 per hour, it was a pretty good deal.
Now I’m free to catch up on sleep, the blog, and do all the other things little projects I’ve been wanting to finish.
Finally, CDI’s winter term just started. I went to training (again) last week, but it wasn’t as inane as it was last time. I still hold that the teachers who get the most out of training are those who have already taught the course (rather than those who are new), but since I was one of those people this time, it was more interesting.
Though I was originally scheduled for 10 classes a week (yay! lot’s of money), one of my twice-weekly classes closed because there were only two students in it. Unfortunately, that puts me, so I’m down to the contract minimum 8 per week, so I’m a bit bummed.On top of that, both this week and next week some of my 7:00 classes are cancelled so middle school students can study for their public school finals. In one sense, it’s bad because it’s about $400 that I don’t get to earn. On the other hand, it’s great– I get this Friday, next week Monday, and next week Friday completely off.
In the span of a week, I’ve gone from a schedule with just about every hour of everyday filled up to being virtually at a loss about how to fill up my day. This week will be nice, but when January and February come around I’m sure I’ll have had enough.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Nova goes supernova
Japan's largest English teaching school, Nova Corp., went out of business last month, costing about 5,000 foreign English teachers and 2,000 Japanese support staff their jobs.1Down from a high last year of about two-thirds, Nova held a 50% market share of the $1.7 billion foreign language-teaching industry.2
Of their 670 schools across the country, only 200 will be taken over by GEOS and some other schools, affecting some 3,000 students. Over 300,000 other students are out of luck completely.3 (The picture at right shows Nova's slogan: "Study abroad right in front of the station")
Nova's troubles stemmed from their tuition and refund policies. Before March of this year, students were encouraged to buy "class tickets" in huge blocks. Rather than getting a spot in a classroom for a term, they would buy the right to attend a English class that they could schedule later.
The problem was that there was never any space, and when they tried to get a refund on their "tickets," it was at a lower rate. The dissatisfied students sued, and Japan's Supreme Court ruled in April that the refund policy was illegal.
In June, The Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry forbade the school from selling long-term contracts -- effectively killing off their only source of revenue. The company could only hemorrage money from that point, and now has about $440 million in debt.
Japanese staff stopped getting paid in July, and the foriegners never got their October paycheck. The CEO, Sahashi Nozomu, borrowed a page from Enron and disappeared just before the stuff hit the fan, and has been in hiding since.4
On October 31, the Japanese press broadcast a video of Nozomu's palacial suite. (Click on the box to the left, or follow the link to the source page at Japan Probe.)
For me, Nova's crash came as a total surprise, but it also relieved me of a psychological burden I'd been feeling since the beginning of this year. Before decided to teach English in Korea again, I'd thought of going to Japan through Nova. When they rejected me, I felt really despondent.
But through this, I can see that it was for the best that I had been rejected. Though life isn't exactly glorious, I'm doing just fine. And that's more than anyone can say about those 5,000 teacher Nova just let go.
Here's a picture of a page from the Nova brochure I kept:
I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering.
Friday, September 14, 2007
CDI head teacher mess
Well, CDI screwed me over today. On Saturday, they offered me the head instructor position; after talking it over with SY, I told them on Monday that I would take it. It meant several more hours per week doing this and that, but for an extra $500 per month I figured it’d be worth it.
I therefore called KEB and said that I wouldn’t be accepting their position – the money was clearly better for me to stay with CDI as head instructor and continue to tutor at PWC.
Well, yesterday the faculty manager said the manager (the same manager that recommended me) was concerned about the fact that I didn’t have as much experience teaching higher level classes as another teacher. By choosing me over the more experienced teacher, there was likely to be some conflict among the staff.
They were second-guessing their decision.
I told them they should spell out the requirements of the position to the other teacher, and if he wanted to do it, they should select him. Today, I asked the faculty manager what the results were – they said he took the position.
So essentially, I got offered a raise and a promotion, I accepted, and then they went with someone else. Two thumbs way down.
I therefore called KEB and said that I wouldn’t be accepting their position – the money was clearly better for me to stay with CDI as head instructor and continue to tutor at PWC.
Well, yesterday the faculty manager said the manager (the same manager that recommended me) was concerned about the fact that I didn’t have as much experience teaching higher level classes as another teacher. By choosing me over the more experienced teacher, there was likely to be some conflict among the staff.
They were second-guessing their decision.
I told them they should spell out the requirements of the position to the other teacher, and if he wanted to do it, they should select him. Today, I asked the faculty manager what the results were – they said he took the position.
So essentially, I got offered a raise and a promotion, I accepted, and then they went with someone else. Two thumbs way down.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Job Question
As you can see in my profile, teaching English wasn't my first job choice. Well, now I face an important decision: where do I go from here?
A couple months ago, my friend Bobby recommended something I hadn't thought of before: joining in the Army. With all the monetary bonuses, I must admit enlisting was pretty appealing. $20,000 for a quick-ship bonus1, $8000 and E-4 rank because of my college degree, and another $12,000 for a five-year commitment. In addition, they would repay all $55,000 of my Stafford loan student debt.
With the MOS that I'd wanted (cryptologic linguist), I'd get a top secret clearance and a year's worth of language training. And after three years, I could apply to become an officer. It sounded really good.
But that required a six year commitment, and I didn't want to do that. Within three years, I'd hoped to become a Foreign Service Officer. And with SY being pregnant, there are too many issues, including immigration stuff.
So I'd decided to go with an offer by Korea Exchange Bank (외환은행) to work with their external relations group. In spite of questions about a buyout by HSBC (Source), the chance to work with a Korean business seemed like a great experience. They were offering a $5000 signing bonus, $45000 annual salary, plus all the regular benefits that go to normal employees.
However, there's a problem with that idea -- according to my contract I have to provide 45 days notice to CDI if I'm going to quit. The only way to make that shorter is to proverbially "burn a bridge" -- and out of fear for a future security clearance I'm not willing to do that.
Though I'd warned KEB about that during my interview process, I told them in my final negotiation that I could be available after two weeks. That was August 30. Then, after receiving notice that KEB's human resources department had gotten final approval, I spoke to CDI on Wednesday September 5.
Unfortunately, the head instructor at my school just put in her own notice recently, so there's no way I can get out of the 45 days clause. I told CDI that I'd get back to them on Monday whether my notice would be official or if I would just stick out my contract.
Then, on Saturday, a new development unfolded: CDI offered me the head instructor position. It means more money and greater responsibility (which is nice), plus a chance to stay in the same apartment.
Together with my morning job tutoring PWC partners, I'd make way more money staying where I'm at right now, and I'd still be working less than 40 hours a week. I figured it out the other day -- it would take about $80,000 a year in the U.S. to equal what I'd be making as tutor and head instructor.
Big decisions to be made..... And it all gets decided this week
A couple months ago, my friend Bobby recommended something I hadn't thought of before: joining in the Army. With all the monetary bonuses, I must admit enlisting was pretty appealing. $20,000 for a quick-ship bonus1, $8000 and E-4 rank because of my college degree, and another $12,000 for a five-year commitment. In addition, they would repay all $55,000 of my Stafford loan student debt.
With the MOS that I'd wanted (cryptologic linguist), I'd get a top secret clearance and a year's worth of language training. And after three years, I could apply to become an officer. It sounded really good.
But that required a six year commitment, and I didn't want to do that. Within three years, I'd hoped to become a Foreign Service Officer. And with SY being pregnant, there are too many issues, including immigration stuff.
So I'd decided to go with an offer by Korea Exchange Bank (외환은행) to work with their external relations group. In spite of questions about a buyout by HSBC (Source), the chance to work with a Korean business seemed like a great experience. They were offering a $5000 signing bonus, $45000 annual salary, plus all the regular benefits that go to normal employees.
However, there's a problem with that idea -- according to my contract I have to provide 45 days notice to CDI if I'm going to quit. The only way to make that shorter is to proverbially "burn a bridge" -- and out of fear for a future security clearance I'm not willing to do that.
Though I'd warned KEB about that during my interview process, I told them in my final negotiation that I could be available after two weeks. That was August 30. Then, after receiving notice that KEB's human resources department had gotten final approval, I spoke to CDI on Wednesday September 5.
Unfortunately, the head instructor at my school just put in her own notice recently, so there's no way I can get out of the 45 days clause. I told CDI that I'd get back to them on Monday whether my notice would be official or if I would just stick out my contract.
Then, on Saturday, a new development unfolded: CDI offered me the head instructor position. It means more money and greater responsibility (which is nice), plus a chance to stay in the same apartment.
Together with my morning job tutoring PWC partners, I'd make way more money staying where I'm at right now, and I'd still be working less than 40 hours a week. I figured it out the other day -- it would take about $80,000 a year in the U.S. to equal what I'd be making as tutor and head instructor.
Big decisions to be made..... And it all gets decided this week
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Fall term training
The summer intensive schedule ended this week on Tuesday. Today and tomorrow I have training for the new classes I’ll be teaching in the fall term. (Specifically, these are “Bridge” reading and “Bridge” listening.)
That CDI does central training sessions for its staff is a good thing – it creates a more-or-less unified way of teaching based on best practices and teaching theory. And while the teaching theories of “internalization, externalization,” or whatever are beyond my concern, I can apprecitate that there’s some sort of rationale behind things.
That said, getting trained is not an easy process. Inevitably, there are two kinds of people who attend training: the people who had some experience from the old term, and the people who will be teaching the subject for the first time in the new term.
The first group tends to get more out of the training, yet probably needs it less. They already know the basics behind what’s going on, so they can focus on refining their teaching methods.
I, however, was in the second group this time, and it sucked. We typically didn’t know what to hand out, what to check for homework, how many books there are or even what they look like. The most basic things are beyond us at the time when we walk into the training room.
For that matter, sometimes we don’t even know where to show up. (There’s no saying what room is for what, and the attendence sheets the trainers have are notoriously unreliable.)
As for content, everyone I talked to said the two hours we spent in training was completely fruitless. When everything ended, most of us still didn’t know what we needed to know, and even worse, we couldn’t ask because most didn’t know that we didn’t know it.
In reality, the best resource for learning how to teach a class is to talk to the person who taught it last term. Training is pretty much a joke.
That CDI does central training sessions for its staff is a good thing – it creates a more-or-less unified way of teaching based on best practices and teaching theory. And while the teaching theories of “internalization, externalization,” or whatever are beyond my concern, I can apprecitate that there’s some sort of rationale behind things.
That said, getting trained is not an easy process. Inevitably, there are two kinds of people who attend training: the people who had some experience from the old term, and the people who will be teaching the subject for the first time in the new term.
The first group tends to get more out of the training, yet probably needs it less. They already know the basics behind what’s going on, so they can focus on refining their teaching methods.
I, however, was in the second group this time, and it sucked. We typically didn’t know what to hand out, what to check for homework, how many books there are or even what they look like. The most basic things are beyond us at the time when we walk into the training room.
For that matter, sometimes we don’t even know where to show up. (There’s no saying what room is for what, and the attendence sheets the trainers have are notoriously unreliable.)
As for content, everyone I talked to said the two hours we spent in training was completely fruitless. When everything ended, most of us still didn’t know what we needed to know, and even worse, we couldn’t ask because most didn’t know that we didn’t know it.
In reality, the best resource for learning how to teach a class is to talk to the person who taught it last term. Training is pretty much a joke.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
iBT test prep week
The standards for learning English have increased dramatically in the past few years. Rather than just being tested on their reading, students must have the whole range of skills: writing, reading, speaking, and listening.
So the second half of this week we’re doing Internet-Based Test Training. (I think CDI does this every three months.) It’s pretty easy stuff: give the directions and proctor the tests.
I wish every week was like this.
From playing around with those fill-in-the-bubbles name slots, I came up with a new, nonsensical Korean name for myself: 콒쮑쐟. It's about the most intricate name I could think of with about 40 pen strokes. By comparison, 이이 is the simplest, with only four. My students thought it was hilarious.
So the second half of this week we’re doing Internet-Based Test Training. (I think CDI does this every three months.) It’s pretty easy stuff: give the directions and proctor the tests.
I wish every week was like this.
From playing around with those fill-in-the-bubbles name slots, I came up with a new, nonsensical Korean name for myself: 콒쮑쐟. It's about the most intricate name I could think of with about 40 pen strokes. By comparison, 이이 is the simplest, with only four. My students thought it was hilarious.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Summer Intensive Month
Students’ summer vacation (방학, 放學) started on July 23, and therefore, so did our “summer school.” All things considered – the weather, the pay, and the fact SuYoung’s also working – I’m pretty happy about about that.
My Tuesday/Thursday class is Grammar. It’s a pretty brain-free class to teach (I remember a lot from grade school) but the book is a little strange. It seems to have been designed for British first graders who are also learning French. The characters are silly (there’s a bird who drink’s “Fizzy Ink” and is afraid of verbs because they EAT things), and the conjugations are overly intricate.
My Saturday class is the opposite. In fact, it’s not so much a “class” as it is a series of workshops. There are no tests, there is no homework – just a lot of talking about movie clips. And I have to try and get a half-dozen shy middle schoolers to open up and talk with each other on days when they’d be *much* happier doing something else.
One week’s finished. Three more weeks left.
My Tuesday/Thursday class is Grammar. It’s a pretty brain-free class to teach (I remember a lot from grade school) but the book is a little strange. It seems to have been designed for British first graders who are also learning French. The characters are silly (there’s a bird who drink’s “Fizzy Ink” and is afraid of verbs because they EAT things), and the conjugations are overly intricate.
My Saturday class is the opposite. In fact, it’s not so much a “class” as it is a series of workshops. There are no tests, there is no homework – just a lot of talking about movie clips. And I have to try and get a half-dozen shy middle schoolers to open up and talk with each other on days when they’d be *much* happier doing something else.
One week’s finished. Three more weeks left.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Intensive month
During students' five week summer break, parents often look for ways to keep their kids busy. And just like in the U.S., many parents would rather see their kids in school than at home playing video games.
So hagwons offer what's called the "summer intensive session." Contrary to its name, it's not at all intensive, but it is a way for kids to move ahead a bit faster via a supplemental grammar class. Therefore, for the next four and a half weeks, I have an extra three hours of class on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 10am to 1pm.
As a teacher, it's a mixed blessing. The pay for the extra nine class hours of virtually brain-free teaching is great, but it's hard on my throat to have to talk so much.
Still, it’s not all that bad, and the money is certainly welcome. I just have to be more careful about getting the rest I need.
So hagwons offer what's called the "summer intensive session." Contrary to its name, it's not at all intensive, but it is a way for kids to move ahead a bit faster via a supplemental grammar class. Therefore, for the next four and a half weeks, I have an extra three hours of class on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 10am to 1pm.
As a teacher, it's a mixed blessing. The pay for the extra nine class hours of virtually brain-free teaching is great, but it's hard on my throat to have to talk so much.
Still, it’s not all that bad, and the money is certainly welcome. I just have to be more careful about getting the rest I need.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
CDI structure
Back when I was considering a position with CDI, I spoke to two different recruiters. The first offered me a few positions outside Seoul, which SY didn’t like. We declined them.
After that, I saw an advertisement by the second recruiter for a CDI position within Seoul, so I contacted that person. It seemed strange that the recruiters would be working separately, but when I asked about it I didn’t really understand the answer. It didn’t seem important at the time, so I didn’t try to clarify.
When I notified the first recruiter that I had found a position that I liked, he offered me a position at a different place in Seoul. SY liked the second recruiter’s location better, so we went with that school.
I think I understand better now. CDI schools are classified into three groups: branches, “branchises,” and franchises.
Branches are corporate-owned and corporate-managed. The oldest and biggest ones are located in Kangnam – a famously wealthy area. Since they have a larger number of students at the higher levels, they generally recruit the best teachers.
(That’s why the first recruiter tried to get me into the other school – because of my MBA, that corporate school’s reputation would have benefited.)
Franchises are independently owned and managed. They meet CDI standards (or at least, are supposed to) and benefit from CDI’s reputation, but are generally smaller.
“Branchises” are a cross between the two. They are independently owned, but managed by the CDI corporation. This is often because their owners failed to adhere to CDI standards on their own, and had to be reorganized. I’m not sure if that’s the case with my school, but it is a branchise.
So, mystery solved. A lot of the internal communication errors between the schools and headquarters are caused by the fact they’re not really internal. The three types of schools compete for highly qualified teachers, and the non-corporate schools often chafe under the somewhat capricious rules forced on them by CDI HQ.
Hm. I’d bet these rules include “new teachers can only get training for one new class at a time.”
After that, I saw an advertisement by the second recruiter for a CDI position within Seoul, so I contacted that person. It seemed strange that the recruiters would be working separately, but when I asked about it I didn’t really understand the answer. It didn’t seem important at the time, so I didn’t try to clarify.
When I notified the first recruiter that I had found a position that I liked, he offered me a position at a different place in Seoul. SY liked the second recruiter’s location better, so we went with that school.
I think I understand better now. CDI schools are classified into three groups: branches, “branchises,” and franchises.
Branches are corporate-owned and corporate-managed. The oldest and biggest ones are located in Kangnam – a famously wealthy area. Since they have a larger number of students at the higher levels, they generally recruit the best teachers.
(That’s why the first recruiter tried to get me into the other school – because of my MBA, that corporate school’s reputation would have benefited.)
Franchises are independently owned and managed. They meet CDI standards (or at least, are supposed to) and benefit from CDI’s reputation, but are generally smaller.
“Branchises” are a cross between the two. They are independently owned, but managed by the CDI corporation. This is often because their owners failed to adhere to CDI standards on their own, and had to be reorganized. I’m not sure if that’s the case with my school, but it is a branchise.
So, mystery solved. A lot of the internal communication errors between the schools and headquarters are caused by the fact they’re not really internal. The three types of schools compete for highly qualified teachers, and the non-corporate schools often chafe under the somewhat capricious rules forced on them by CDI HQ.
Hm. I’d bet these rules include “new teachers can only get training for one new class at a time.”
Saturday, May 26, 2007
More training at CDI
Because of my MBA, CDI considers me a “third tier” teacher, so they scheduled me for a couple of higher level classes in the summer term. Consequently, I had to go in for more training this week.
It didn’t go well.
On Monday they told me I should go to the CDI main branch in Chongdahm on Tuesday and Wednesday. When I got there the following morning, I realized I didn’t know what room I belonged in, so I asked one of the trainers. He said to go to the class on the third floor.
I did as he said, and sat in on an “Albatross” training session. My name wasn’t on the attendance list, but the teacher said to just put down my name anyway. (Their attendance lists often differ from reality, she said.) From what I saw, it seemed a bit too high for what my school, so I spoke to the trainer afterward.
It turns out that I wasn’t even supposed to be in that class. The first guy that I spoke to – the one who taught the class I was supposed to be in – had told me to go to the third floor because I wasn’t on his list either.
Typical headquarters-field office miscommunication. What I should have done was call my head teacher, but I didn’t think to check my phone for her number.
The next frustration came when headquarters said that because I was a relatively new teacher, I wasn’t able to teach more than one new class. That would have been fine at a larger branch, where I could have gotten two of the same class.
But at my school the schedule wouldn’t have permitted that. There would be one teacher who would fall below their contract minimum number of hours (but compensated at the minimum), and another who would have too many. A cost overrun would result.
So all my efforts to attend training were for naught – I’ll still be teaching the lowest two groups in the summer term.
Oh well. If that’s how CDI wants to allocate its resources, that’s how it goes. I get paid the same no matter what class it is.
It didn’t go well.
On Monday they told me I should go to the CDI main branch in Chongdahm on Tuesday and Wednesday. When I got there the following morning, I realized I didn’t know what room I belonged in, so I asked one of the trainers. He said to go to the class on the third floor.
I did as he said, and sat in on an “Albatross” training session. My name wasn’t on the attendance list, but the teacher said to just put down my name anyway. (Their attendance lists often differ from reality, she said.) From what I saw, it seemed a bit too high for what my school, so I spoke to the trainer afterward.
It turns out that I wasn’t even supposed to be in that class. The first guy that I spoke to – the one who taught the class I was supposed to be in – had told me to go to the third floor because I wasn’t on his list either.
Typical headquarters-field office miscommunication. What I should have done was call my head teacher, but I didn’t think to check my phone for her number.
The next frustration came when headquarters said that because I was a relatively new teacher, I wasn’t able to teach more than one new class. That would have been fine at a larger branch, where I could have gotten two of the same class.
But at my school the schedule wouldn’t have permitted that. There would be one teacher who would fall below their contract minimum number of hours (but compensated at the minimum), and another who would have too many. A cost overrun would result.
So all my efforts to attend training were for naught – I’ll still be teaching the lowest two groups in the summer term.
Oh well. If that’s how CDI wants to allocate its resources, that’s how it goes. I get paid the same no matter what class it is.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Finishing Training at CDI
Well, on my training at CDI is finished; I am officially a CDI qualified instructor. Yay.
Yesterday SY and I moved into our new apartment. We would have done it today, but the Children’s Day holiday would have made it nigh on impossible to get someone to help. (A bit like “Hey, how about helping me move on your kid’s birthday?!”)
CDI seems like a cool place to work so far, but I can see they have some problems with internal communication. It seems to be the typical kind of problems that occur between the decision makers and the implementers.
For example, we were told today that there was one girl in our training cohort “wouldn’t be joining us today.” Having been in training together for a full week, we all understood both what that meant and why that decision was made.
But later, our trainer backtracked and said she’d not been told – we found out that she just hadn’t shown up. Embarrassingly, we’d been told before her that she wouldn’t be hired after all. That’s not a great impression to have about a company that you’re about to work at, and privately I conveyed that to the trainer afterward.
My schedule starting Monday is pretty sweet: on MTRF I teach from 4 until 10. I’ll have to go in a few hours early to go over the materials, but with three days off per week the extra few hours of prep time doesn’t faze me. I doubt that will last when the new term starts next month, but for now I’m happy.
Yesterday SY and I moved into our new apartment. We would have done it today, but the Children’s Day holiday would have made it nigh on impossible to get someone to help. (A bit like “Hey, how about helping me move on your kid’s birthday?!”)
CDI seems like a cool place to work so far, but I can see they have some problems with internal communication. It seems to be the typical kind of problems that occur between the decision makers and the implementers.
For example, we were told today that there was one girl in our training cohort “wouldn’t be joining us today.” Having been in training together for a full week, we all understood both what that meant and why that decision was made.
But later, our trainer backtracked and said she’d not been told – we found out that she just hadn’t shown up. Embarrassingly, we’d been told before her that she wouldn’t be hired after all. That’s not a great impression to have about a company that you’re about to work at, and privately I conveyed that to the trainer afterward.
My schedule starting Monday is pretty sweet: on MTRF I teach from 4 until 10. I’ll have to go in a few hours early to go over the materials, but with three days off per week the extra few hours of prep time doesn’t faze me. I doubt that will last when the new term starts next month, but for now I’m happy.
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