RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD

When your "peers" are having a conversation right next in Korean regarding America, Foreigners etc... with words like urinara thrown in etc... without mentioning to you at all what they are talking about.... not knowing you understand more than you they think you do...

Also, since they ALL can speak English at some level.... (all English staff.)

I had to re-read as I was sure that wasn't an English word. 우리나라 just means Korea ultimately.

Anyway,

Personally, I do not mind it when Koreans speak in Korean in front of me. Most are not proficient enough to hold an in-depth conversations in English fluently. Speaking English can be really taxing.

What I cannot abide is when Afrikaners do it. You're here to teach, bru. You should be able to hold a conversation about most things without reverting back to your mother-tongue. So stop it. 

When your "peers" are having a conversation right next in Korean regarding America, Foreigners etc... with words like urinara thrown in etc... without mentioning to you at all what they are talking about.... not knowing you understand more than you they think you do...

Also, since they ALL can speak English at some level.... (all English staff.)

I had to re-read as I was sure that wasn't an English word. 우리나라 just means Korea ultimately.

Anyway,

Personally, I do not mind it when Koreans speak in Korean in front of me. Most are not proficient enough to hold an in-depth conversations in English fluently. Speaking English can be really taxing.

What I cannot abide is when Afrikaners do it. You're here to teach, bru. You should be able to hold a conversation about most things without reverting back to your mother-tongue. So stop it.

It isn't an English word, I just didn't type in Hangul, but good for you. It's more like "our country," not Korea.

You're right, most, but these are my 4 CT's who have good English speaking ability. If it's too taxing for them to even tell me what they are talking about (when it's obvious they are talking about things regarding foreigners, and my home country), then why are they teaching English?

When your "peers" are having a conversation right next in Korean regarding America, Foreigners etc... with words like urinara thrown in etc... without mentioning to you at all what they are talking about.... not knowing you understand more than you they think you do...

Also, since they ALL can speak English at some level.... (all English staff.)

I had to re-read as I was sure that wasn't an English word. 우리나라 just means Korea ultimately.

Anyway,

Personally, I do not mind it when Koreans speak in Korean in front of me. Most are not proficient enough to hold an in-depth conversations in English fluently. Speaking English can be really taxing.

What I cannot abide is when Afrikaners do it. You're here to teach, bru. You should be able to hold a conversation about most things without reverting back to your mother-tongue. So stop it.

It isn't an English word, I just didn't type in Hangul, but good for you. It's more like "our country," not Korea.

You're right, most, but these are my 4 CT's who have good English speaking ability. If it's too taxing for them to even tell me what they are talking about (when it's obvious they are talking about things regarding foreigners, and my home country), then why are they teaching English?

Not sure why I'm detecting an unnecessary shitty attitude. Was just saying I actually thought it was something about urine at first. My error, not yours.  I'm not shitting on you.

Also, notice the word 'ultimately' What does it mean in the sentence I made? I said ultimately as technically speaking, the word can only ever mean 'Korea' and not other countries.

Also, good is not the same as fluent. Sure, they should include you. Maybe translate after? Maybe you can ask them to? I don't like feeling left out either. Hence my anger at ignorant exclusive Saffers sometimes. However, I do try for some compassion with Koreans. I barely know any with superb English.

I've pretty much come to expect nobody around me to speak English, even when everyone is fluent and perfectly capable. It used to really bother me, but now it's just old hat.

I went out for a meet-and-greet lunch with the English department the other day, and apart from asking me if I can eat what we were having, not a word of English was spoken. I know they can all speak English well. I've had conversations with each of them.

Like I said, though, it's just kind of a given at this point. I just whip out my phone and play Threes, or gaze off into space and get lost in La-La land. No skin off my back. If there's something important that I need to know, they'll (probably) tell me in English. Otherwise, I just assume I neither need to know nor care about anything they're saying.

The building friction between my CT and I...

She wanted me to make lesson plans for her, regarding the classes we have together. I asked why, she stated because we need it in case the BoE comes for inspection..? Yet not of the other teachers mention this at all. I sorta figured she was just trying to get me to do lesson plans for her. Whatever, takes like 5 min to just change some things on the template I wrote the week before.
Now, "I want the plans to be more detailed." How? I write the process for everything we do... "I want you to write what the teacher should be saying." So you want me to write you a script? Are this for you? I thought these were just for archive purposes in case BoE comes...
She sorta starts to stumble on her words.... well you don't have too etc.....
Yeah that's what I thought, you just want me to be writing Scripted lesson plans for you, so you don't have to write them. Maybe it's Monday and I am just a little bit more on edge or something.....

Also, the constant spying over my shoulder. EVERY TIME she walks by she starts reading over my shoulder, or investigating what I am doing on the computer... Sometimes it's so blatant, she had no reason to walk by, but only to glance at my screen.

It's come to the point of; I just swivel in my chair and stare and say "yes......"

And she continues to just watch, and I just stare at her, and she just stands there waiting for me to continue whatever it is I am doing...

I'm not doing anything wrong, so it's not like I should really care, but it's just intrusive, obviously more of a cultural thing. I actually wish I HAD a cubicle.

Then the constant little outburst of urinara-isms....

It's all sorta snowballing.

Most of the CTs I've had do this. My main CT does this, but she's always willing help me in turn, and she never asks for outrageous demands. She learnt the expression 'You scratch my back I scratch yours from this'.
I've also come across my fair share of leeches like this woman. I'm at the point where I'll tell them straight

"I'm sorry, I'm not doing your work for you"
                              or
"If you want me to plan your lessons, you'll have to pay me"

They either get really shocked and never bother me again or hold some kind of little grudge. I really couldn't care less, since the MOE in my city transfers us to new school once or twice a year, plus I never teach at a school more than once a week.

I'm sure you've worked it out too, but I never do 'favours' for Koreans anymore, unless I know they'll help me out in turn. It seems selfish, but from my experience, the way things work is they'll ask you a 'favour'. If they figure out you can pushed around they'll unload all their crap on you.

Regarding her busybody nature, I've encountered this too. Again, being blunt has saved me more stress than it sometimes gives;
"Teacher, stop looking over my shoulder, it's not appropriate behaviour"
Again, same response, either shock and shame or a grudge which, if you stand your ground, will escalate into nothing.

I'm not sure if their aware of what they're doing is wrong or not, either way I don't care.

Just want to vent this here, since I don't take out my anger on the road.

Driving into work today -- in no hurry because I'm just going to work -- and I need to make a right turn at a green light, problem is there is a taxi parked in the right lane/blocking the intersection, so I decide to pull around him into the left lane (after all, turning into the wrong lane is as commonplace as kimchi in Korea).

He chooses this moment to begin pulling away from the curb, so I give him a little friendly beep, just to let him know I'm there/be safe.

Well, apparently he didn't like being beeped at, because about a block later, we came to a stop (me in the left lane, him in the right, slightly behind) and he blasts his horn at me. There were no left turns at that intersection, so I was in no way blocking any move he wanted to make, he was clear to turn right, and we both had to wait to go straight. he had no signal on either way.

20 meters down the road, he comes up behind a parked van, begins turning towards me and blasts his horn at me again, as if I put the van there, or he wants me to drive into oncoming traffic just to let him squeeze by.

Just...FFS. The irony of this whole ridiculously childish display was that he was driving one of those taxis with the "Best Driver" thing on top.

When your "peers" are having a conversation right next in Korean regarding America, Foreigners etc... with words like urinara thrown in etc... without mentioning to you at all what they are talking about.... not knowing you understand more than you they think you do...

Also, since they ALL can speak English at some level.... (all English staff.)

I had to re-read as I was sure that wasn't an English word. 우리나라 just means Korea ultimately.

Anyway,

Personally, I do not mind it when Koreans speak in Korean in front of me. Most are not proficient enough to hold an in-depth conversations in English fluently. Speaking English can be really taxing.

What I cannot abide is when Afrikaners do it. You're here to teach, bru. You should be able to hold a conversation about most things without reverting back to your mother-tongue. So stop it.

OP is annoyed that they're blatantly talking about his country in front of him, and assuming he can't understand.  I don't think any of us expect our CTs to speak in English all the time as, I agree, it can be very taxing using your non-native tongue. 

But imagine how well it would go over if you spoke fluent Korean and worked in the Korean department of a university in an English-speaking country, and then proceeded to blatantly talk about Korea in English in front of your Korean colleagues.  They'd probably wonder what the hell you were talking about, and would find it pretty rude that you're discussing their homeland and culture in front of them without including them.

Just want to vent this here, since I don't take out my anger on the road.

Driving into work today -- in no hurry because I'm just going to work -- and I need to make a right turn at a green light, problem is there is a taxi parked in the right lane/blocking the intersection, so I decide to pull around him into the left lane (after all, turning into the wrong lane is as commonplace as kimchi in Korea).

He chooses this moment to begin pulling away from the curb, so I give him a little friendly beep, just to let him know I'm there/be safe.

Well, apparently he didn't like being beeped at, because about a block later, we came to a stop (me in the left lane, him in the right, slightly behind) and he blasts his horn at me. There were no left turns at that intersection, so I was in no way blocking any move he wanted to make, he was clear to turn right, and we both had to wait to go straight. he had no signal on either way.

20 meters down the road, he comes up behind a parked van, begins turning towards me and blasts his horn at me again, as if I put the van there, or he wants me to drive into oncoming traffic just to let him squeeze by.

Just...FFS. The irony of this whole ridiculously childish display was that he was driving one of those taxis with the "Best Driver" thing on top.

The test to get your license here is a joke.  I'm shocked I don't see more accidents.  People have zero regard for any traffic or pedestrians around them and everyone drives with a me-me-me mentality.  I'm glad I've had 10 years of driving experience in big cities before I came here and can be aggressive when necessary, because I can't imagine how people cope otherwise.

PRINCIPAL!!

PRINCIPAL!!

PRIN-CI-PAL!!!!!!!

How should I respond to this post regarding pedantic, petty and irritating individuals? I'll think about it later, first I'll just point out a grammar error.

*Spelling error*

A spelling error would be if I said "princippal." In that instance I chose the correct word but didn't spell it correctly.

When you're dealing with homophones and you use the incorrect of the two that would be a grammar error; the language usage was incorrect, not its construction.

YAY BEING A SNARK ON THE INTERNET

Just want to vent this here, since I don't take out my anger on the road.

Driving into work today -- in no hurry because I'm just going to work -- and I need to make a right turn at a green light, problem is there is a taxi parked in the right lane/blocking the intersection, so I decide to pull around him into the left lane (after all, turning into the wrong lane is as commonplace as kimchi in Korea).

He chooses this moment to begin pulling away from the curb, so I give him a little friendly beep, just to let him know I'm there/be safe.

Well, apparently he didn't like being beeped at, because about a block later, we came to a stop (me in the left lane, him in the right, slightly behind) and he blasts his horn at me. There were no left turns at that intersection, so I was in no way blocking any move he wanted to make, he was clear to turn right, and we both had to wait to go straight. he had no signal on either way.

20 meters down the road, he comes up behind a parked van, begins turning towards me and blasts his horn at me again, as if I put the van there, or he wants me to drive into oncoming traffic just to let him squeeze by.

Just...FFS. The irony of this whole ridiculously childish display was that he was driving one of those taxis with the "Best Driver" thing on top.

Brake checked a taxi who was staying way to close behind and flashing his lights at me. I was already going above the speed limit and he wanted me to go faster on a one lane road. He then continued to follow me for the next ~5 kilometers. He was honking through out the first couple kilometers but then gave up I guess. I know he was following because we were going to a specific place in a rural mountain area. We pull in, he pulls up to the front of the entrance of the parking lot stares me down and drives off. I was definitely flustered but got over it quickly because that guy has some serious problems in his life and I was about to go swimming and have a nice picnic.

For all the crazy drivers here who think they own the roads and get super enraged when you do something that they perceive as an injustice I just blow it off. Worrying about them just brings me down to their level. If you let the driving get to you in Korea you will never survive.

*Spelling error*

A spelling error would be if I said "princippal." In that instance I chose the correct word but didn't spell it correctly.
YAY BEING A SNARK ON THE INTERNET

You assume that I assume that you were aware of the difference!

And yes, snarks have all the fun. Much more so than the regular, run-of-the-mill grammatical fascists. 

PRINCIPAL!!

PRINCIPAL!!

PRIN-CI-PAL!!!!!!!

How should I respond to this post regarding pedantic, petty and irritating individuals? I'll think about it later, first I'll just point out a grammar error.

*Spelling error*

A spelling error would be if I said "princippal." In that instance I chose the correct word but didn't spell it correctly.

When you're dealing with homophones and you use the incorrect of the two that would be a grammar error; the language usage was incorrect, not its construction.

YAY BEING A SNARK ON THE INTERNET

You're right. It's not about spelling.

But this is still not an error related to grammar.

Haha, this thread.

Like I get that its Monday but if I can't sleep, neither can they. Only one class at my afternoon class today and they just did nothing! Just one obnoxious kid yelling all the answers....there's only 7 or 8 in the class. Low level 2nd grade mixed boys and girls and when they do nothing my new co-teacher is just like "ohh they are so tired"....yeah? me too! so what?!...so happy classes  are done today. On the plus side, my morning 6 grade classes that are usually hell were pretty decent.... beside the technology fail the morning was decent.

I have to bow and greet my principle and vice principle every day, and any time I see them in the hall, as I hear a lot of other teachers have to do. I end up seeing my principle six or seven times a day just around the school and bow/greet every time. Every single time he just dead-pans straight ahead and doesn't even acknowledge that I exist.

One time I walked through a busy area of the school and missed him, totally by accident. He called my co-teacher the next day and complained that I did not bow. I'd bowed to him about six times that day already.

Students also wave and shout hello at me in the halls. I wave and say hello back. He called to complain that he has seen me waving and I should be bowing. Waving is not korean.

Another time I bowed to him, the vice principle and another teacher who were all stood talking together. He called my co-teacher and complained that I bowed to the three of them collectively and should have bowed to him individually.

Today he called my co-teacher to complain that I bowed to him too deeply while he was standing next to parents and I made it look as if he is a difficult man who demands deep bows from his teachers.

BOWING POLITICS

PRINCIPAL!!

PRINCIPAL!!

PRIN-CI-PAL!!!!!!!

How should I respond to this post regarding pedantic, petty and irritating individuals? I'll think about it later, first I'll just point out a grammar error.

Not a grammar error.

Haha, pedant joke.

I don't bow to anybody. I never have and I never will. In my opinion it has nothing to do with respect and everything to do with subservience and this post proves it.

If bowing was all about, and only about, respecy, everyone would bow to everyone else in the exact same way. But, we all know, that isn't they way it works. Not even close.

I shake hands. Like a Westerner, a short and firm shake. I shake hands the same way I have shaken hands with a homeless person and the CEO of a company or the Premier of the province I lived in. That shows respect, not subservience.

Bowing??? Fuhgeddaboutit

How's everyone's lunch today? Is it famous? Delicious? Famous AND Delicious? NOT famous? NOT delicious? Neither famous nor delicious? These are your only options.

We were walking to the bar after dinner on Saturday with a friend who teaches at the local university. We passed one of his higher level students and they struck up a conversation. "Hi *name* what's good to eat around here? (future reference/small talk)" and the answer to my friend's question was verbatim: "This is not good place for foreigners because foreigners can't eat spicy or salty food." much laughter from the three of us. The student then nods toward a nearby place and says "This place is famous for delicious!" We all fell down and died. We are dead now. This post coming from the Korean grave. After this, my friend explained how often he has spoken to this student about food and foreigners and stuff.

My lunch was so famous, you guys!

i had the very famous delicious whole crab claw in a bowl of water
hooray


*runs to mcdonalds*

Im so happy today as my one school left with squat toilets are getting them replaced with normal ones! Whoop!

Since I've been in Korea I've become pretty obsessive about germs, especially in bathrooms. The bathrooms at my school are absolutely filthy.

Whenever I use the toilet at school, I always pre-flush; that is, I always flush it BEFORE I go as well as after because there is always, ALWAYS pee/poop in there from whoever used it before. Seriously, no one at my school flushes or uses toilet paper (they don't wash their hands either but that's pretty much a given). I know this because I routinely see even teachers going in there sans tissue and they just walk out without washing after. Well, one day last week I pre-flushed and the nasty water immediately overflowed and splashed onto the floor and a little on my legs. I didn't notice that it was going to overflow right away because I always close the seat first to prevent splash-back. So I had to awkwardly maneuver my way out of that tiny, cramped stall to avoid stepping in more pee water as best I could, while also avoiding touching the walls and pretty much anything else in the stall. The walls, doors, everything is covered in poo smears that haven't been cleaned once in the year I've been at this school.

Anyway, after that toilet flooded, all the water seeped into the middle of the bathroom toward the drain, so of course I went downstairs to use the other bathroom. The exact same thing happened. Apparently the plumbing in the entire building is messed up. So now I have to make the trek to a completely different building that still has flushing toilets every time I have to go and it's annoying AF as I'm walking throughout the buildings carrying a giant handful of TP which I need extra of to cover the toilet seats first and/or wipe them down because they're covered in pee drops. The rage I feel...

Since I've been in Korea I've become pretty obsessive about germs, especially in bathrooms. The bathrooms at my school are absolutely filthy.

Whenever I use the toilet at school, I always pre-flush; that is, I always flush it BEFORE I go as well as after because there is always, ALWAYS pee/poop in there from whoever used it before. Seriously, no one at my school flushes or uses toilet paper (they don't wash their hands either but that's pretty much a given). I know this because I routinely see even teachers going in there sans tissue and they just walk out without washing after. Well, one day last week I pre-flushed and the nasty water immediately overflowed and splashed onto the floor and a little on my legs. I didn't notice that it was going to overflow right away because I always close the seat first to prevent splash-back. So I had to awkwardly maneuver my way out of that tiny, cramped stall to avoid stepping in more pee water as best I could, while also avoiding touching the walls and pretty much anything else in the stall. The walls, doors, everything is covered in poo smears that haven't been cleaned once in the year I've been at this school.

Anyway, after that toilet flooded, all the water seeped into the middle of the bathroom toward the drain, so of course I went downstairs to use the other bathroom. The exact same thing happened. Apparently the plumbing in the entire building is messed up. So now I have to make the trek to a completely different building that still has flushing toilets every time I have to go and it's annoying AF as I'm walking throughout the buildings carrying a giant handful of TP which I need extra of to cover the toilet seats first and/or wipe them down because they're covered in pee drops. The rage I feel...

I didn't think women had to worry about stained seats/rims.

Seriously...how does one stain the seat if you're sitting down??? That has to be some awkward trajectory angle 

Since I've been in Korea I've become pretty obsessive about germs, especially in be they're covered in pee drops. The rage I feel...

I didn't think women had to worry about stained seats/rims.

Seriously...how does one stain the seat if you're sitting down??? That has to be some awkward trajectory angle 

Apparently, some ladies hover over the toilet.  That's where the angle comes from.