RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

[yirj17]

Yesterday, I helped my CT pin up a nice large map, in our classroom. It was one of the Koreanized maps, with Korea in the center complete with  Dokdo and 'Sea of Korea' labelled in a bolder font than capital cities, but I digress.
There were a few other teachers in the class as we usually meet there, at 3, for coffee and conversation. We started playing a 'find the country' game. After giving her a few difficult and obscure ones, like Uzbekistan and Lithuania, and having her fail, I went easier:

Saudi Arabia
Sicily
Spain
Argentina
Greenland
Algeria
Iceland

... When she failed to find any of them, the other 2 teachers tried and couldn't find a single one.
I hid my shock by keeping the mood light and tried to help them save face by feigning ignorance to a few which they asked me to find (all Asian countries and ridiculously easy).
I'm no Geography whiz, but the level of Geography of fairly level-headed Koreans seems quite shocking. How can you go through life knowing so little about the outside world?

To be fair, ask your average North American where anything is, and most of them won't know, either.

While I want to disagree and call you out, there are a lot of ignorant Americans when it comes to the outside world as well. Most Americans never even leave the US for any period of time. Sporcle is a good way to learn where plcaes are. It's helped me a lot when it comes to the obscure countries.

I think it is sadly common for public schools in the US to neglect world geography.  I was always interested in learning more about other countries but instead it felt like classes always went over the same narrow scope.  Part of it was probably due to having to teach to standardized testing, I'm sure. 

But hey.  I can probably still name all 50 states and capitals from memory. 

[shostager]

Yesterday, I helped my CT pin up a nice large map, in our classroom. It was one of the Koreanized maps, with Korea in the center complete with  Dokdo and 'Sea of Korea' labelled in a bolder font than capital cities, but I digress.
There were a few other teachers in the class as we usually meet there, at 3, for coffee and conversation. We started playing a 'find the country' game. After giving her a few difficult and obscure ones, like Uzbekistan and Lithuania, and having her fail, I went easier:

Saudi Arabia
Sicily
Spain
Argentina
Greenland
Algeria
Iceland

... When she failed to find any of them, the other 2 teachers tried and couldn't find a single one.
I hid my shock by keeping the mood light and tried to help them save face by feigning ignorance to a few which they asked me to find (all Asian countries and ridiculously easy).
I'm no Geography whiz, but the level of Geography of fairly level-headed Koreans seems quite shocking. How can you go through life knowing so little about the outside world?

To be fair, ask your average North American where anything is, and most of them won't know, either.

While I want to disagree and call you out, there are a lot of ignorant Americans when it comes to the outside world as well. Most Americans never even leave the US for any period of time. Sporcle is a good way to learn where plcaes are. It's helped me a lot when it comes to the obscure countries.

I think it is sadly common for public schools in the US to neglect world geography.  I was always interested in learning more about other countries but instead it felt like classes always went over the same narrow scope.  Part of it was probably due to having to teach to standardized testing, I'm sure. 

But hey.  I can probably still name all 50 states and capitals from memory.

Your USA may vary, but in my middle school, we actually had a global history/geography class. I don't remember too much, but my favorite part was what my grumpy/joking teacher liked to call "shut up and color." Every time we covered a new continent or area, we got a blank map of it, and had to find the GDP for each country, then label the countries and their capitals, coloring them in based on a GDP scale (very rich = green, average = yellow, etc.).

During this time, we listened to whatever music someone in the class had brought in, which varied from regular pop to Swedish rap. If someone forgot to bring in music, the teacher either played "Tunak Tunak Tun" (as we knew it, "that crazy Indian power ranger song"), or "I Like Traffic Lights" from Monty Python. Students rarely forgot their music after 1 time being subjected to that.

[yirj17]

^mileage indeed varies.  I like to think I had excellent education in some areas but there were still some things that felt lacking.

Your teacher sounds awesome.

[Aristocrat]

Yesterday, I helped my CT pin up a nice large map, in our classroom. It was one of the Koreanized maps, with Korea in the center complete with  Dokdo and 'Sea of Korea' labelled in a bolder font than capital cities, but I digress.
There were a few other teachers in the class as we usually meet there, at 3, for coffee and conversation. We started playing a 'find the country' game. After giving her a few difficult and obscure ones, like Uzbekistan and Lithuania, and having her fail, I went easier:

Saudi Arabia
Sicily
Spain
Argentina
Greenland
Algeria
Iceland

... When she failed to find any of them, the other 2 teachers tried and couldn't find a single one.
I hid my shock by keeping the mood light and tried to help them save face by feigning ignorance to a few which they asked me to find (all Asian countries and ridiculously easy).
I'm no Geography whiz, but the level of Geography of fairly level-headed Koreans seems quite shocking. How can you go through life knowing so little about the outside world?

To be fair, ask your average North American where anything is, and most of them won't know, either.

While I want to disagree and call you out, there are a lot of ignorant Americans when it comes to the outside world as well. Most Americans never even leave the US for any period of time. Sporcle is a good way to learn where plcaes are. It's helped me a lot when it comes to the obscure countries.

I think it is sadly common for public schools in the US to neglect world geography.  I was always interested in learning more about other countries but instead it felt like classes always went over the same narrow scope.  Part of it was probably due to having to teach to standardized testing, I'm sure. 

But hey.  I can probably still name all 50 states and capitals from memory.

Maybe my expectations of people are a bit too high, but (and this is just my opinion) I don't think you can blame your school. I mean, knowing where Spain, Sicily and Brazil is on a map is something you learn by just being alive.

[yirj17]

Maybe my expectations of people are a bit too high, but (and this is just my opinion) I don't think you can blame your school. I mean, knowing where Spain, Sicily and Brazil is on a map is something you learn by just being alive.

You are of course welcome to have your opinion. I meant more in terms of actually learning about culture (for example, I learned about various Asian cultures via reading in my free time, learned scarcely anything about Asian cultures in school), not simply pointing out the countries on a map. It may be that my memory is foggy but I feel that my knowledge of where other countries are located can be more attributed to looking at encyclopedias as a child rather than to my schooling. I also think it would have been great if learning a second language started at a much younger level. 

My main point is that some schools just may not put much emphasis on learning about other countries and while I think that it's a shame, I'm not really going to judge those who are ignorant about geography.

There are many people who may simply not be interested in geography whether or not it's taught in school. There's a wealth of knowledge in the world and it's likely many people are more intrigued by other things. And I'm sure there are things in my knowledge bank that some would think ought to be generally known whereas others would disagree.

[Loki88]

Koreans are known for being blunt, and sometimes you do have to laugh it off, but I don't know. I think I have to draw the line at comments about my family. Usually I try to be the perfect picture of a happy-go-lucky foreigner, a "happy virus" as the Koreans call it, because I don't want to give all of us a bad name. But honestly, I also don't want to perpetuate a notion that you can say whatever you want to foreigners and get away with it. That's a separate rant in itself: how to not give people like you a bad name, while also not sacrificing your dignity/values. Have not figured that out yet.

But yeah. Went basically like this, if you wanted elaboration:

[Talking about differences in medicine culture because he's trying to tell me to go to the doctor for a simple stye... Lull in the conversation, and then]
Him: Tell me honestly, did you actually go to church in America?
Me: Yes. But it was different. We didn't go all day. We went from 10-12.
H: And did your parents live together before they were married?
M: Yes.
H: Oh, well good Christians don't do that.
M: [slipped into English because I was appalled] What?
H: Good Christians wait until after marriage to live together.
M: It doesn't say that in the Bible.
H: Huh? Bible? Ohhh-- Oh Bible... Well...
M: My parents are real Christians. Good Christians.
H: Oh...
[Awkward silence. He hits his thigh with his fist like he always does when he doesn't like the quiet.]
H: In Korea, Christians--
M: --are different. Because of the different cultures.
[More silence.]
M: Do you know Catholic?
H: Yes.
M: Do you know the Pope?
H: Pope? Pope... No, I don't know the Pope.
M: Ohhh. Okay.
[Then we had to go our separate ways anyway.]

Mind you... he had ample opportunity to tell me if I misunderstood, or if he didn't mean it in a bad way, didn't have ill intentions, etc. A simple "Wait, hold on, you're not understanding me--" would have made me write it all off as a language barrier thing. But he didn't.

Granted... I get that he's trying to "take care of" me. I really get it. But there's a line to be drawn there, too. I'm an adult. Yes, a young one, but still an adult. It'd be different if I was going out drinking to excess, ending up passed out in a bus shelter... Yeah, okay. Give me a lecture and try to change my ways, then. But plenty of people live together before getting married and are completely normal people, lead normal lives. It doesn't hurt anyone. It won't hurt me if it ever even happens. (Spoiler alert: I don't even have a boyfriend.) I'm not out here trying to change the Korean masses into co-habiting, sex-crazed fiends. (Which I've explained to him before it has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with wanting to make sure my s/o and I would be compatible living together.) It's really not his business in the first place, and disrespecting my parents in the pursuit of changing my mind makes me doubly annoyed.

Anyway. I'm probably going to act like it didn't happen, unless he decides to talk about it. (Doubt it. Saving face and all.) If he does, I'll just be honest and tell him I don't want to talk about the co-habiting topic anymore. That's reasonable enough. Avoid future issues and all, right?

I can only speak for my school but we all signed papers ackowledging that we had been informed to not discriminate either students or co-workers based on their religion.

I'd recommend just saying you don't talk about religion at work in future situations and then immediately move the convo elsewhere.

[kriztee]

Maybe my expectations of people are a bit too high, but (and this is just my opinion) I don't think you can blame your school. I mean, knowing where Spain, Sicily and Brazil is on a map is something you learn by just being alive.

You are of course welcome to have your opinion. I meant more in terms of actually learning about culture (for example, I learned about various Asian cultures via reading in my free time, learned scarcely anything about Asian cultures in school), not simply pointing out the countries on a map. It may be that my memory is foggy but I feel that my knowledge of where other countries are located can be more attributed to looking at encyclopedias as a child rather than to my schooling. I also think it would have been great if learning a second language started at a much younger level. 

My main point is that some schools just may not put much emphasis on learning about other countries and while I think that it's a shame, I'm not really going to judge those who are ignorant about geography.

There are many people who may simply not be interested in geography whether or not it's taught in school. There's a wealth of knowledge in the world and it's likely many people are more intrigued by other things. And I'm sure there are things in my knowledge bank that some would think ought to be generally known whereas others would disagree.

Yeah if someone's not interested in Geography or travelling then chances are they're not going to be able to point to a place on the map. All I remember from geography in school is that Great Bear Lake exists somewhere in Canada and it's either the biggest lake or big enough to be of note. And I know I'm awful world geography it but that's because
 A) I was a total jerkbag in school and didn't care/listen
and B) I only ever traveled to Florida from Canada before coming to Korea

Ask me about the world of Theadus and I can tell you exactly where the Tevinter Imperium is and about it's long history with blood magic. People have different interests and priorities. I'm not saying geography isn't important but chances are you don't remember it from school unless you were really interested in it.

[keldule]

Maybe my expectations of people are a bit too high, but (and this is just my opinion) I don't think you can blame your school. I mean, knowing where Spain, Sicily and Brazil is on a map is something you learn by just being alive.

You are of course welcome to have your opinion. I meant more in terms of actually learning about culture (for example, I learned about various Asian cultures via reading in my free time, learned scarcely anything about Asian cultures in school), not simply pointing out the countries on a map. It may be that my memory is foggy but I feel that my knowledge of where other countries are located can be more attributed to looking at encyclopedias as a child rather than to my schooling. I also think it would have been great if learning a second language started at a much younger level. 

My main point is that some schools just may not put much emphasis on learning about other countries and while I think that it's a shame, I'm not really going to judge those who are ignorant about geography.

There are many people who may simply not be interested in geography whether or not it's taught in school. There's a wealth of knowledge in the world and it's likely many people are more intrigued by other things. And I'm sure there are things in my knowledge bank that some would think ought to be generally known whereas others would disagree.

Yeah if someone's not interested in Geography or travelling then chances are they're not going to be able to point to a place on the map. All I remember from geography in school is that Great Bear Lake exists somewhere in Canada and it's either the biggest lake or big enough to be of note. And I know I'm awful world geography it but that's because
 A) I was a total jerkbag in school and didn't care/listen
and B) I only ever traveled to Florida from Canada before coming to Korea

Ask me about the world of Theadus and I can tell you exactly where the Tevinter Imperium is and about it's long history with blood magic. People have different interests and priorities. I'm not saying geography isn't important but chances are you don't remember it from school unless you were really interested in it.

*Thedas

FTFY

lost.

[kriztee]

Maybe my expectations of people are a bit too high, but (and this is just my opinion) I don't think you can blame your school. I mean, knowing where Spain, Sicily and Brazil is on a map is something you learn by just being alive.

You are of course welcome to have your opinion. I meant more in terms of actually learning about culture (for example, I learned about various Asian cultures via reading in my free time, learned scarcely anything about Asian cultures in school), not simply pointing out the countries on a map. It may be that my memory is foggy but I feel that my knowledge of where other countries are located can be more attributed to looking at encyclopedias as a child rather than to my schooling. I also think it would have been great if learning a second language started at a much younger level. 

My main point is that some schools just may not put much emphasis on learning about other countries and while I think that it's a shame, I'm not really going to judge those who are ignorant about geography.

There are many people who may simply not be interested in geography whether or not it's taught in school. There's a wealth of knowledge in the world and it's likely many people are more intrigued by other things. And I'm sure there are things in my knowledge bank that some would think ought to be generally known whereas others would disagree.

Yeah if someone's not interested in Geography or travelling then chances are they're not going to be able to point to a place on the map. All I remember from geography in school is that Great Bear Lake exists somewhere in Canada and it's either the biggest lake or big enough to be of note. And I know I'm awful world geography it but that's because
 A) I was a total jerkbag in school and didn't care/listen
and B) I only ever traveled to Florida from Canada before coming to Korea

Ask me about the world of Theadus and I can tell you exactly where the Tevinter Imperium is and about it's long history with blood magic. People have different interests and priorities. I'm not saying geography isn't important but chances are you don't remember it from school unless you were really interested in it.

*Thedas

FTFY

lost.

Woah there little miss "I don't wanna play Dragon Age, Mass Effect is better cuz it has space BS" is not correcting me D:

P.s. I can't spell either so.... go enjoy your braces and lack of pizza school ;)

[kriztee]

So I still haven't got my contract renewal bonus because my old school says my new school board should give it to me, the province says the old school should give it to me, and the new school board doesn't answer my messages :'(

[yirj17]

So I still haven't got my contract renewal bonus because my old school says my new school board should give it to me, the province says the old school should give it to me, and the new school board doesn't answer my messages :'(

Have you a coordinator whom you can ask for help?  Maybe start there and if nothing comes of it, "suggest" that you'll call the labor board then follow through if necessary. 

Don't let them drag it out as long as Imogen's school did!!

[kriztee]

So I still haven't got my contract renewal bonus because my old school says my new school board should give it to me, the province says the old school should give it to me, and the new school board doesn't answer my messages :'(

Have you a coordinator whom you can ask for help?  Maybe start there and if nothing comes of it, "suggest" that you'll call the labor board then follow through if necessary. 

Don't let them drag it out as long as Imogen's school did!!

I did talk to a coordinator and she said they sent the money to my old school (i worked just for the school and not the actual school board of that city). The accounting dude is really good with English and I told him that the coordinator told me to ask the school for my money because it was sent to them to give to me. He checked and said they never received that amount, it should have been sent to my new office of education. That office messaged me once to tell me my schedule and has never replied to me again after that :'(

I'm not hurting for the money but I'd like it figured out cuz the exchange rate to Canada is decent right now XD

[kyndo]

I know about several other cases where this happened, and let me tell you, it was a pain to resolve.

 I have no proof, but I suspect that it is the new school that is responsible for the contract renewal. In EPIK, the renewal bonus is paid along with the first month's salary at the new school (or at least, part of it is: EPIK now pays only 1.3 the first month, and .7 at the half year mark. )

[Imogen1991]

So I still haven't got my contract renewal bonus because my old school says my new school board should give it to me, the province says the old school should give it to me, and the new school board doesn't answer my messages :'(

Have you a coordinator whom you can ask for help?  Maybe start there and if nothing comes of it, "suggest" that you'll call the labor board then follow through if necessary. 

Don't let them drag it out as long as Imogen's school did!!

I love that I'm a cautionary tale now.

I agree with yirj though, when things get like this, the threat of the labour board is usually enough. If the threat doesn't work, then you should actually file a claim with them. I know it sounds dramatic but it's the only way to get things moving. I waited MONTHS for my housing deposit back after I left my school. I filed a claim with the labour board and the very same day it was processed my school contacted me to send me the money.

[kriztee]

I know about several other cases where this happened, and let me tell you, it was a pain to resolve.

 I have no proof, but I suspect that it is the new school that is responsible for the contract renewal. In EPIK, the renewal bonus is paid along with the first month's salary at the new school (or at least, part of it is: EPIK now pays only 1.3 the first month, and .7 at the half year mark. )

That's why I didn't bother them because I thought I'd get it with March's pay check but then my friends were talking about how they got their bonus and I was like WTF!? So I contacted the coordinator about it then. My last school assumed my new school board would have to pay it which is what I thought too.

[Imogen1991]

  I love that I'm a cautionary tale now.

I tell my students if they don't brush their teeth, that Imogen will come through their window at night and steal their teeth.  You've never seen so many beaming smiles.   

me irl

[kyndo]

That's why I didn't bother them because I thought I'd get it with March's pay check but then my friends were talking about how they got their bonus and I was like WTF!? So I contacted the coordinator about it then. My last school assumed my new school board would have to pay it which is what I thought too.

    Since EPIK teachers get paid on March 25th, I take it that you are not EPIK?
If so, your contract might be a bit different, but ours is very explicit about having our renewal bonus given to us in our first pay-cheque:

Article 10 (Renewal) Clause 3: The Employer (POE/MOE) shall provide the Employee with 1,300,00 Korean won ***which shall be paid within one month of the beginning of the new Term of Employment***...

     But if your coordinator said that they sent the moolah to your old school, then it sounds like somebody there isn't doing their job properly and that you might benefit from stopping by and waving your contract around a bit. See if you can get your coordinator to confirm that the money has been sent and get a copy of that in writing. If the school didn't receive it, have them put that down in writing, and send it to your coordinator (who will pass it along to the POE/MOE).

     I would recommend getting the POE/MOE involved before the Labour Board.

[kriztee]

That's why I didn't bother them because I thought I'd get it with March's pay check but then my friends were talking about how they got their bonus and I was like WTF!? So I contacted the coordinator about it then. My last school assumed my new school board would have to pay it which is what I thought too.

    Since EPIK teachers get paid on March 25th, I take it that you are not EPIK?
If so, your contract might be a bit different, but ours is very explicit about having our renewal bonus given to us in our first pay-cheque:

Article 10 (Renewal) Clause 3: The Employer (POE/MOE) shall provide the Employee with 1,300,00 Korean won ***which shall be paid within one month of the beginning of the new Term of Employment***...

     But if your coordinator said that they sent the moolah to your old school, then it sounds like somebody there isn't doing their job properly and that you might benefit from stopping by and waving your contract around a bit. See if you can get your coordinator to confirm that the money has been sent and get a copy of that in writing. If the school didn't receive it, have them put that down in writing, and send it to your coordinator (who will pass it along to the POE/MOE).

     I would recommend getting the POE/MOE involved before the Labour Board.

Yeah I am EPIK but everyone I know who renewed in the province got their pay with their Feb pay. They were also all staying in the same cities tho and were paid by school boards not just one school. I've been texting the accountant from my old school about it and I know it's weird for that school cuz they do all the payments for the NET whereas every other school doesn't worry about it and they have someone at the school board who knows what's going on. I think I'm being too nice about it because I still talk to the accountant and my old CT. They're super nice and helped me move to my new city and everything so I don't think it's something they'redoing purposely but I kindda want my monies XD

[grey]

I'm sorry about all your nosey coworkers. I made a lot of silly mistakes early on. After the first year I decided that they would know as little as possible.

Now no one knows my living situation, my address, my vacations, my likes and dislikes, etc, etc.

[scpru]

Please don't explain American culture to me, Mr. Same Guy that Insulted My Parents. You said you've never been. You said you've only seen it on TV. Meanwhile I've lived there for all but one year of my life (this year in Korea), and I'm in contact with real Americans, not random Facebook scammers*, every day.

It's decided. This man needs to be a less frequent presence in my life. Time to grow distant slow enough that it's not immediately obvious that I don't like him.

*He keeps telling me about how the foreign women he talks to on Facebook all end up being scammers, idk.