RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD

I work at 3 schools. One of them is inexplicably 45km away despite there being at least 150 schools closer than this one and other people much better placed to go there. Fortunately I own a car so it's not been too much hassle and I've just got on with it. The school is lovely for the record, but I also don't get any money for fuel, toll roads I am almost forced to take or any subsidies (I also got screwed on pay in other ways, but that's a tale for another day).

I have however tried to do a service to my replacement and constantly emailed everyone I have any sway with: POE, co-ordinator, POE dude I met at orientation, Principle, VP, co-teacher, etc. 'Please give this school to someone else: If the next person doesn't have a car, it'll be 3 buses and 2 hours each way. That's absurd.'

Today I got the good news: Next teacher will no longer work there.

So why am I posting this in the rant? Well instead of working at the school 45km away, they've selected one 53km away. I've looked at the boundaries of the province I'm technically in and there is literally no two schools further apart. Furthermore, I met the native teacher of a school 1.5km from my house last week: She travels 30km to get there,  using two buses.

I said it makes no sense, it's crazy and met the usual wall of "Office of Education says it's like this and so it must be" rhetoric.

TLDR; Tried to do my successor a good turn, ended up screwing them inadvertently.

Im convinced they spin a wheel or draw from a hat. Ive had ridiculous commutes before too.

Reading through these post, I'm shocked at just how crap native teachers are being treated by Korean teachers and the schools in general.

I think I am losing it. I have had to come in to deskwarm and that always put me in a godod mood. I am now faced with the Devil's choice of staying in the air conditioned teachers room and have to tolerate colleagues trying to talk to me or going to my classroom and sweating like a Korean taking a creative writing test.

This weather is just plain nasty. When will the rains arrive. I feel like I've been bukkakeed each time I walk out the door. I'm so tetchy I'm picking fights with Canadians on waygook.

All must die!

http://data3.whicdn.com/images/92790531/large.jpg
http://data3.whicdn.com/images/92790531/large.jpg

I think I am losing it. I have had to come in to deskwarm and that always put me in a godod mood. I am now faced with the Devil's choice of staying in the air conditioned teachers room and have to tolerate colleagues trying to talk to me or going to my classroom and sweating like a Korean taking a creative writing test.

This weather is just plain nasty. When will the rains arrive. I feel like I've been bukkakeed each time I walk out the door. I'm so tetchy I'm picking fights with Canadians on waygook.

All must die!

http://data3.whicdn.com/images/92790531/large.jpg
http://data3.whicdn.com/images/92790531/large.jpg

Sorry dude,

I thought I had made it obvious I was just winding you up for the fun of it. I thought you were doing the same.

Apologies if I genuinely annoyed you.

I think I am losing it. I have had to come in to deskwarm and that always put me in a godod mood. I am now faced with the Devil's choice of staying in the air conditioned teachers room and have to tolerate colleagues trying to talk to me or going to my classroom and sweating like a Korean taking a creative writing test.

This weather is just plain nasty. When will the rains arrive. I feel like I've been bukkakeed each time I walk out the door. I'm so tetchy I'm picking fights with Canadians on waygook.

All must die!

http://data3.whicdn.com/images/92790531/large.jpg
http://data3.whicdn.com/images/92790531/large.jpg

Sorry dude,

I thought I had made it obvious I was just winding you up for the fun of it. I thought you were doing the same.

Apologies if I genuinely annoyed you.

ME: I want to do (this craft: http://www.waygook.org/index.php/topic,89233.msg563090/topicseen.html#new), but I need to check Daiso first and make sure I can find the little plastic squeeze bottles.

CT: They can just bring them from home.

ME: Oh, okay. Are they common in Korea?

CT: After drinking Coke or cider, of course.

ME: Oh, no, I meant the small bottles, the "fish."

CT: THEY CAN BRING FROM HOME.


Holy jeez, fine. Control your fingers, please. Ten to one says that she forgets to mention it to the parents, anyways.

Ha, I kind of want to do that too, but I don't think I can get the big bottles in time.  I can't ask the students to buy a coke or cider- most of them have no money.  Anyway, Daiso definitely have the tiny fish bottles, and they have metal nuts and wire (the wire might be in the garden section).

I might make one at home, just for fun (I don't have a TV, so I usually just stare at the walls).

ME: I want to do (this craft: http://www.waygook.org/index.php/topic,89233.msg563090/topicseen.html#new), but I need to check Daiso first and make sure I can find the little plastic squeeze bottles.

CT: They can just bring them from home.

ME: Oh, okay. Are they common in Korea?

CT: After drinking Coke or cider, of course.

ME: Oh, no, I meant the small bottles, the "fish."

CT: THEY CAN BRING FROM HOME.


Holy jeez, fine. Control your fingers, please. Ten to one says that she forgets to mention it to the parents, anyways.

Ha, I kind of want to do that too, but I don't think I can get the big bottles in time.  I can't ask the students to buy a coke or cider- most of them have no money.  Anyway, Daiso definitely have the tiny fish bottles, and they have metal nuts and wire (the wire might be in the garden section).

I might make one at home, just for fun (I don't have a TV, so I usually just stare at the walls).

I found them! I could only find carrot-shaped ones, but they'll work well enough, I think.

And I seriously save and clean bottles and cans all year to use as materials during camp...because I know from experience that there's no point in asking the students OR my coworkers to do or bring anything!

22 years old, first job is in Korea teaching English, pay is decent. Everyone keeps saying I must be 'so excited' to be here.

Honestly though?
Despite being here for about two weeks, I feel so frustrated with myself and homesick. I didn't really care much about where I worked so much as getting it and I know I shouldn't look a gift-horse in the mouth here but damn, I wish I could just spend time with friends and family again. Sometimes I find myself wishing I heard back from a dollar store nearby my house rather than coming here to be quite honest. Ugh.

And then I get annoyed with myself for being this way as I genuinely enjoy the act of teaching, but I'm so overwhelmed by language barriers and a general lack of the familiar. I want to embrace the change and I know I will at some point (right?), but god damn do I feel like bawling my eyes out like a big baby at times.

Newcomer here and my first post is a bit of a rant. Not a great first impression, sorry!

If you have only been here for two weeks you have not actually done any teaching.

When you arrived, the students were having exams, followed by fill-in classes to pass the time until vacation.  Now they are doing fun stuff at school (instead of actually having a vacation) and then you'll get 8 days to jet off to Thailand or wherever.

Don't compare right now with your initial expectations.  It will be different at the end of August when term starts.

22 years old, first job is in Korea teaching English, pay is decent. Everyone keeps saying I must be 'so excited' to be here.

Honestly though?
Despite being here for about two weeks, I feel so frustrated with myself and homesick. I didn't really care much about where I worked so much as getting it and I know I shouldn't look a gift-horse in the mouth here but damn, I wish I could just spend time with friends and family again. Sometimes I find myself wishing I heard back from a dollar store nearby my house rather than coming here to be quite honest. Ugh.

And then I get annoyed with myself for being this way as I genuinely enjoy the act of teaching, but I'm so overwhelmed by language barriers and a general lack of the familiar. I want to embrace the change and I know I will at some point (right?), but god damn do I feel like bawling my eyes out like a big baby at times.

Newcomer here and my first post is a bit of a rant. Not a great first impression, sorry!

Don't worry this is totally normal! I've never been the type to get homesick but when I first got here at the end of April I was nearly in tears every single day. the tiniest thing could set me off and I'd feel emotional all day. It gets easier, i promise! I literally used to get home from work and cry, cry on the way to work haha...but it just gets better every day, at least it did for me, and now I don't feel homesick at all.

Hang in there!! 

22 years old, first job is in Korea teaching English, pay is decent. Everyone keeps saying I must be 'so excited' to be here.

Honestly though?
Despite being here for about two weeks, I feel so frustrated with myself and homesick. I didn't really care much about where I worked so much as getting it and I know I shouldn't look a gift-horse in the mouth here but damn, I wish I could just spend time with friends and family again. Sometimes I find myself wishing I heard back from a dollar store nearby my house rather than coming here to be quite honest. Ugh.

And then I get annoyed with myself for being this way as I genuinely enjoy the act of teaching, but I'm so overwhelmed by language barriers and a general lack of the familiar. I want to embrace the change and I know I will at some point (right?), but god damn do I feel like bawling my eyes out like a big baby at times.

Newcomer here and my first post is a bit of a rant. Not a great first impression, sorry!

Hey, man, don't worry. It gets much, much easier once you establish a routine and get to know your city a little better. I swear, in about a month you'll be in a much better place. Don't stress about it; accept that you're gonna feel like way sometimes and try to stay receptive to seeing new stuff and having fun.

Good luck!

22 years old, first job is in Korea teaching English, pay is decent. Everyone keeps saying I must be 'so excited' to be here.

Honestly though?
Despite being here for about two weeks, I feel so frustrated with myself and homesick. I didn't really care much about where I worked so much as getting it and I know I shouldn't look a gift-horse in the mouth here but damn, I wish I could just spend time with friends and family again. Sometimes I find myself wishing I heard back from a dollar store nearby my house rather than coming here to be quite honest. Ugh.

And then I get annoyed with myself for being this way as I genuinely enjoy the act of teaching, but I'm so overwhelmed by language barriers and a general lack of the familiar. I want to embrace the change and I know I will at some point (right?), but god damn do I feel like bawling my eyes out like a big baby at times.

Newcomer here and my first post is a bit of a rant. Not a great first impression, sorry!

First, do not knock yourself for how you are feeling. If this is your first time living for an extended period in a foreign country you are almost guaranteed to get some form of homesickness. (note: I said almost guaranteed so no one please respond about how you were super human and never had this happen, we get it, you are a special snowflake)

My first recommendation is to find a group of other foreigners to hangout with. Nothing helped me more than finding a group of people who could understand my struggles here and that I could vent to. I have found it really easy to meet people here through sports, weekend travel groups and other such things. Obviously you won't click with everyone, but odds are if you are a foreign teacher here you will have at least a couple thing sin common with other foreigners.

Number two, I can promise you that you will be ever so grateful you came here vs working at a dollar store back home. You will earn more money, be able to travel the world, as well as pad your resume with the really great stuff. I for one now I miss home, but you can make a new sort of home here too. Besides, the best way I found to survive here was to remember this is all temporary, and if need be you can leave whenever you want.

Oh, just be careful of reading too much into the negative Nancy's here on Waygook. Lord knows I too love to vent on here as well, which I will probably do a little later, but if you focus to  much on the negativity it will be tough not to be negative about the rest of your life. I fell into that trap at the end of my first year here.

Anywho, I hope I didn't come across as condescending or anything like that. Good luck Clever Dude, I'm sure you will end up having a great time   

It's me and two others in the office this week, one of which is the head teacher. Principal says AC is allowed to be on. I put it on 24 degrees (after complaints if it goes lower than that).

5 minutes in 'ahh choo-ah choo-ah', head teacher turns it off and opens the window to allow in the humidity again.

It's 29 degrees and 80% here.

I get to have classes in the English room.  We have a big aircon unit in there, but if it's less than about 24 degrees the students complain.  At least I have something, and I am in control of keeping the doors and windows closed (aircon works better like that, who knew?).

Next week all the teachers are away for training for two days.  Luckily, I get to stay behind so that the students can have a class.

The following week is deskwarming.  If the teachers' room is not cool enough I am going to sit in the English room.  Alone and (hopefully) shivering.

so after summer camp i have to do some type of reading program with my students. principal says it must be in the library. but the big tv screen in the library is broken, meaning i can't do any PPT based stuff like showing them comprehension questions, doing a vocab ppt, etc.

so i say, "no problem, let's just have it in the english room". principal says it must be in the library because it's a reading program. i say "it doesn't make any difference where it is, we'll just do the same stuff. what difference does it make if it's in the library or the english room?"

principal says it must be in the library because it's a reading program and reading is done in the library.

welcome to Korean 'logic' at its finest.

oh, and we also have a staff hiking trip today despite the fact that there are torrential downpours outside. and the principal is refusing to cancel the trip. fun times ahead.

I get to have classes in the English room.  We have a big aircon unit in there, but if it's less than about 24 degrees the students complain.  At least I have something, and I am in control of keeping the doors and windows closed (aircon works better like that, who knew?).

Next week all the teachers are away for training for two days.  Luckily, I get to stay behind so that the students can have a class.

The following week is deskwarming.  If the teachers' room is not cool enough I am going to sit in the English room.  Alone and (hopefully) shivering.

Or, as my students would say, 씨발링. I'm not stupid, I know that you're swearing you little shit.

Thanks to everyone who had replied, it's very warming to see such support for a fledging like myself. Especially Lee and Moop, I appreciate the sound advice!

I might've neglected to mention but my coworkers have all been incredibly friendly and receptive too, but it's not quite the same, y'know? Still, I'm very fortunate for them and, now, the people here.

If you have only been here for two weeks you have not actually done any teaching. [...]

Perhaps so! I mean, I've issued tests and enjoy teaching lesson materials to students (and thusly engaging with them in a way that makes teaching more interesting to them). I may not be the most experienced, and I'm sure there'll be more I need to learn, but so far I'm enjoying my time at work.

In any case, thanks again for the responses, everyone!

Is summer camp normally a sh*t ton of work or am i making this too hard on myself 

Bit of both. My first time around was hell. This year my ct (an angel) and I made the book, ppts and materials in three days.

My one-room building has maybe 20 tenants, so not that big. This morning a girl who was moving out, obviously a hagwon teacher as the yellow bus was helping her move. I said "Hello" and was met with the blankest face I've ever seen.

I don't know if it depends on the size of the city, but when I see a foreign face around my area, I usually just say hello to be polite. Not once has somebody reciprocated. F**k em 

Anyang, but in a quieter part where I'm sure all of the foreigners live in the same buildings.