Our Hagwon (Korean private school) has been busy the past couple weeks; naturally, since parent-teacher conferences are upcoming. This is always a hectic period, but this time our employer has been springing a number of last minute assignments on us. At last, the 9 of us foreign teachers decided to draw the line and agreed that we would mutually refuse the latest assignment (which we all felt was senseless).
We talked and agreed the best course of action would be to write up a single declaration of refusal, sign it, and give it our principal. It promptly sent shockwaves through the school and we had a meeting later that day. Apparently in Korea this is a very rude way to broach the subject - we explained that in North America this is considered a low-key and civilised method. There was nothing but awkwardness the rest of the day between the Korean and the English teachers.
Koreans certainly have a different standard when it comes to the workload they will accept/suck up. We foreign teachers hit our limit and decided to act collectively against it. This was anathema to the Koreans. My guess is they don't resort to such measures, perhaps because of its resemblance of socialist tactics. Us foreign staff eventually caved in - some of us got cold feet at the possible threat of later retributions. It was a dramatic day and I suspect that the solid relationship I had been working hard to build with my boss the past few months has now crumbled back down to square one.
On a sunnier note, this weekend is a monster hike up Seoreoksan Mountain - the toughest climb in Korea. Better yet, my Korea bestie Lindsay will be going with me. I can't say enough about this girl. She's been a godsend for me since her arrival 2+ months ago. I deeply admire her strong work ethic, which syncs up so perfectly with mine. On our Typhoon day off, while the other foreign teachers slept in, Lindsay suggested we meet up and study Korean. I tacked on the idea of a Homeplus run and off we went. She's a rock solid hiker, down-to-earth, can be politically incorrect and you can pretty much talk to her like a guy without her taking you too seriously. She's fast become my confidante and closest friend. We joke that we were separated at birth - I might be serious about that one.
Random Korea pics to come.
We talked and agreed the best course of action would be to write up a single declaration of refusal, sign it, and give it our principal. It promptly sent shockwaves through the school and we had a meeting later that day. Apparently in Korea this is a very rude way to broach the subject - we explained that in North America this is considered a low-key and civilised method. There was nothing but awkwardness the rest of the day between the Korean and the English teachers.
Koreans certainly have a different standard when it comes to the workload they will accept/suck up. We foreign teachers hit our limit and decided to act collectively against it. This was anathema to the Koreans. My guess is they don't resort to such measures, perhaps because of its resemblance of socialist tactics. Us foreign staff eventually caved in - some of us got cold feet at the possible threat of later retributions. It was a dramatic day and I suspect that the solid relationship I had been working hard to build with my boss the past few months has now crumbled back down to square one.
On a sunnier note, this weekend is a monster hike up Seoreoksan Mountain - the toughest climb in Korea. Better yet, my Korea bestie Lindsay will be going with me. I can't say enough about this girl. She's been a godsend for me since her arrival 2+ months ago. I deeply admire her strong work ethic, which syncs up so perfectly with mine. On our Typhoon day off, while the other foreign teachers slept in, Lindsay suggested we meet up and study Korean. I tacked on the idea of a Homeplus run and off we went. She's a rock solid hiker, down-to-earth, can be politically incorrect and you can pretty much talk to her like a guy without her taking you too seriously. She's fast become my confidante and closest friend. We joke that we were separated at birth - I might be serious about that one.
Random Korea pics to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment