RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

StillinKorea:

"Luckily, I always google every medicine prescribed by a doctor and tell the pharmacist not to dispense any inappropriate medicine."


You've had success doing this in Korea?  I've tried a couple of times telling them not to include medicine (anti-biotics) and they've told me it's all or nothing.  I even had my gf (nurse) go with me to the pharmacy on her floor of clinics and ask, and they said the same thing.  And they've known each other for years.  I had to go back to the original clinic and get them to cross it out and name chop the prescription. 

I've tried a couple of times telling them not to include medicine (anti-biotics) and they've told me it's all or nothing.  I even had my gf (nurse) go with me to the pharmacy on her floor of clinics and ask, and they said the same thing.  And they've known each other for years.  I had to go back to the original clinic and get them to cross it out and name chop the prescription.

    I've noticed that some of the pharmacies in my area include small captions with a picture of the pill and the name beside it. I generally don't wan't the painkillers and vitamins that doctors stuff in every prescription, so I go through the list (with the help of google) and pick out the pills I don't need. Check out the envelope: might be that you have the same thing on yours.

StillinKorea:

"Luckily, I always google every medicine prescribed by a doctor and tell the pharmacist not to dispense any inappropriate medicine."


You've had success doing this in Korea?  I've tried a couple of times telling them not to include medicine (anti-biotics) and they've told me it's all or nothing.  I even had my gf (nurse) go with me to the pharmacy on her floor of clinics and ask, and they said the same thing.  And they've known each other for years.  I had to go back to the original clinic and get them to cross it out and name chop the prescription.

The pharmacists usually agree, but some say the same as your pharmacist. In that case, I have them show me which drug is which and don't take the inappropriate ones. It's better to not have improper medicine prescribed in the first place though. You're paying for it (albeit not much) and the doctors are getting kickbacks from the pharmaceutical companies at the expense of their patients' health. I won't be going back to that dermatologist who tried to prescribe me an opioid for something that barely hurt.

If you argue long enough, in Korea, people will usually back down.

StillinKorea:

"Luckily, I always google every medicine prescribed by a doctor and tell the pharmacist not to dispense any inappropriate medicine."


You've had success doing this in Korea?  I've tried a couple of times telling them not to include medicine (anti-biotics) and they've told me it's all or nothing.  I even had my gf (nurse) go with me to the pharmacy on her floor of clinics and ask, and they said the same thing.  And they've known each other for years.  I had to go back to the original clinic and get them to cross it out and name chop the prescription.

The pharmacists usually agree, but some say the same as your pharmacist. In that case, I have them show me which drug is which and don't take the inappropriate ones. It's better to not have improper medicine prescribed in the first place though. You're paying for it (albeit not much) and the doctors are getting kickbacks from the pharmaceutical companies at the expense of their patients' health. I won't be going back to that dermatologist who tried to prescribe me an opioid for something that barely hurt.

If you argue long enough, in Korea, people will usually back down.

save the opioids for your next long haul flight!

Surprised they gave you Tramadol. I've never had a doctor give me much more than Tylenol or run of the mill NSAIDs, even when I had serious pain. I did however get valium thrown in with a list of prescipted drugs one day. Still don't know why the doctor thought I needed benzos.

This is probably the most lenient I've been on speaking tests since coming to Korea, and I'm still getting bitched at (BY TEACHERS) for making the grades too low. I'm not giving a student an 'A' for saying, "Nice to meeting you, favorite food ramyun, Kim Jung Un bad man, 몰라요."

Gawd, I hate speaking tests soooooooo much. I'm basically just stabbing myself in the face for a two full weeks. I'm convinced that these kids know how much it kills me inside and are doing this shit on purpose, just to make me pay for making them do that one activity that one time.

Well joke's on them, they might have this two weeks, but I have them for the rest of the semester.

This is probably the most lenient I've been on speaking tests since coming to Korea, and I'm still getting bitched at (BY TEACHERS) for making the grades too low. I'm not giving a student an 'A' for saying, "Nice to meeting you, favorite food ramyun, Kim Jung Un bad man, 몰라요."

Gawd, I hate speaking tests soooooooo much. I'm basically just stabbing myself in the face for a two full weeks. I'm convinced that these kids know how much it kills me inside and are doing this shit on purpose, just to make me pay for making them do that one activity that one time.

Well joke's on them, they might have this two weeks, but I have them for the rest of the semester.

This is how I imagine you saying that:

This is probably the most lenient I've been on speaking tests since coming to Korea, and I'm still getting bitched at (BY TEACHERS) for making the grades too low. I'm not giving a student an 'A' for saying, "Nice to meeting you, favorite food ramyun, Kim Jung Un bad man, 몰라요."

Gawd, I hate speaking tests soooooooo much. I'm basically just stabbing myself in the face for a two full weeks. I'm convinced that these kids know how much it kills me inside and are doing this shit on purpose, just to make me pay for making them do that one activity that one time.

Well joke's on them, they might have this two weeks, but I have them for the rest of the semester.

Why do you hate speaking tests so much?? The way I see it, it's a free week of not having to teach. At least at my schools, my teachers give me the rest of the period off once the testing for that class is finished.

This is probably the most lenient I've been on speaking tests since coming to Korea, and I'm still getting bitched at (BY TEACHERS) for making the grades too low. I'm not giving a student an 'A' for saying, "Nice to meeting you, favorite food ramyun, Kim Jung Un bad man, 몰라요."

Gawd, I hate speaking tests soooooooo much. I'm basically just stabbing myself in the face for a two full weeks. I'm convinced that these kids know how much it kills me inside and are doing this shit on purpose, just to make me pay for making them do that one activity that one time.

Well joke's on them, they might have this two weeks, but I have them for the rest of the semester.

Why do you hate speaking tests so much?? The way I see it, it's a free week of not having to teach. At least at my schools, my teachers give me the rest of the period off once the testing for that class is finished.

For me, it's a mix of two things.

1) The ridiculousness of the grading system here. I get bitched at for not giving full marks to every student. Even the students who just sit there and refuse to say anything. My higher level, more interested students will have full conversations with me because they finish the required set of questions in 30 seconds, but they want to talk to me about other stuff. But I also have students (mainly low to mid level) who just plain refuse to do anything for the test, even if they participate during class. I've even had a couple just not show up. And somehow even those students got full marks on their speaking tests. Like, what's the point of actually giving the test if they're just going to get full marks anyway?

2) I have to deal with my most insolent and infuriating students one-on-one without my coteacher to back me up. I once had a student come in for the test, sit in stony silence for 3 minutes, and then stare me dead in the eye while ripping up his test sheet. One was really excited to show me a picture he had drawn on the back of his sheet--a picture of me decapitated.

. One was really excited to show me a picture he had drawn on the back of his sheet--a picture of me decapitated.

And that's when you go to the 부장님 or VP and tell them that the student threatened you. You have a literal piece of physical evidence. That's super messed up, even by the lenient standards at most schools here, and would absolutely not fly.

. One was really excited to show me a picture he had drawn on the back of his sheet--a picture of me decapitated.

And that's when you go to the 부장님 or VP and tell them that the student threatened you. You have a literal piece of physical evidence. That's super messed up, even by the lenient standards at most schools here, and would absolutely not fly.

and that is when you get the response, "they are just kids, please understand them" -- at least in my experience

In the subway underground there's a foreigner (backpacker?) selling photos of himself 

In the subway underground there's a foreigner (backpacker?) selling photos of himself 

Really? lol. Has he sold any?

1) The ridiculousness of the grading system here. I get bitched at for not giving full marks to every student. Even the students who just sit there and refuse to say anything. My higher level, more interested students will have full conversations with me because they finish the required set of questions in 30 seconds, but they want to talk to me about other stuff. But I also have students (mainly low to mid level) who just plain refuse to do anything for the test, even if they participate during class. I've even had a couple just not show up. And somehow even those students got full marks on their speaking tests. Like, what's the point of actually giving the test if they're just going to get full marks anyway?

I will agree with this. Though my teachers don't get upset when I give a low score, the minimum score I'm allowed to give is usually in the 40-60% range, which totally destroys the point of an exam. Students will try to turn the test into a joke, knowing it won't affect them that much. But if everyone passes, doesn't that mean graduation isn't all that special? Just like a lot of things here, it's destroyed by the appearance culture.

. One was really excited to show me a picture he had drawn on the back of his sheet--a picture of me decapitated.

And that's when you go to the 부장님 or VP and tell them that the student threatened you. You have a literal piece of physical evidence. That's super messed up, even by the lenient standards at most schools here, and would absolutely not fly.

Yeah, I would've, except the picture wasn't labelled. It was a stick figure with no real identifying marks. The kid just pointed at it and said (in Korean, of course) "Teacher, this is you." My coteacher at that school was god awful, I honestly had no idea who the head teacher was, and the VP didn't like foreigners, so there wasn't really anyone I could go to. That school was messed up. When I left, I ended up reporting my coteacher and making various complaints about things that happened to the NET coordinator at my MOE/POE. I don't think anything was done about it though.

. One was really excited to show me a picture he had drawn on the back of his sheet--a picture of me decapitated.

And that's when you go to the 부장님 or VP and tell them that the student threatened you. You have a literal piece of physical evidence. That's super messed up, even by the lenient standards at most schools here, and would absolutely not fly.

Yeah, I would've, except the picture wasn't labelled. It was a stick figure with no real identifying marks. The kid just pointed at it and said (in Korean, of course) "Teacher, this is you." My coteacher at that school was god awful, I honestly had no idea who the head teacher was, and the VP didn't like foreigners, so there wasn't really anyone I could go to. That school was messed up. When I left, I ended up reporting my coteacher and making various complaints about things that happened to the NET coordinator at my MOE/POE. I don't think anything was done about it though.

Ugh. That's unfortunate. But still, it would've been your word against the word of a student, and it's unlikely they would've believed a student over a teacher.

. One was really excited to show me a picture he had drawn on the back of his sheet--a picture of me decapitated.

And that's when you go to the 부장님 or VP and tell them that the student threatened you. You have a literal piece of physical evidence. That's super messed up, even by the lenient standards at most schools here, and would absolutely not fly.

Yeah, I would've, except the picture wasn't labelled. It was a stick figure with no real identifying marks. The kid just pointed at it and said (in Korean, of course) "Teacher, this is you." My coteacher at that school was god awful, I honestly had no idea who the head teacher was, and the VP didn't like foreigners, so there wasn't really anyone I could go to. That school was messed up. When I left, I ended up reporting my coteacher and making various complaints about things that happened to the NET coordinator at my MOE/POE. I don't think anything was done about it though.

Ugh. That's unfortunate. But still, it would've been your word against the word of a student, and it's unlikely they would've believed a student over a teacher.

Eh, you'd think that, but this is also the school where a class went to the principal complaining that I never let them talk in class, and I got in trouble. Even after I explained that they had plenty of chances to talk, they just didn't want to speak English. They wanted to have free time with their friends.

Like I said, the school was messed up. Basically a notch below Bingsu's school/coteacher. I was never scammed out of money or anything, but they seemed to take a special joy in making my life as difficult as possible.

. One was really excited to show me a picture he had drawn on the back of his sheet--a picture of me decapitated.

And that's when you go to the 부장님 or VP and tell them that the student threatened you. You have a literal piece of physical evidence. That's super messed up, even by the lenient standards at most schools here, and would absolutely not fly.

Yeah, I would've, except the picture wasn't labelled. It was a stick figure with no real identifying marks. The kid just pointed at it and said (in Korean, of course) "Teacher, this is you." My coteacher at that school was god awful, I honestly had no idea who the head teacher was, and the VP didn't like foreigners, so there wasn't really anyone I could go to. That school was messed up. When I left, I ended up reporting my coteacher and making various complaints about things that happened to the NET coordinator at my MOE/POE. I don't think anything was done about it though.

Ugh. That's unfortunate. But still, it would've been your word against the word of a student, and it's unlikely they would've believed a student over a teacher.

Eh, you'd think that, but this is also the school where a class went to the principal complaining that I never let them talk in class, and I got in trouble. Even after I explained that they had plenty of chances to talk, they just didn't want to speak English. They wanted to have free time with their friends.

Like I said, the school was messed up. Basically a notch below Bingsu's school/coteacher. I was never scammed out of money or anything, but they seemed to take a special joy in making my life as difficult as possible.

Blah. Sorry to hear that. I worked in a miserable school for a few years myself, where a couple coteachers actively tried to get the VP and P to veto my renewal. It's not fun.

In the subway underground there's a foreigner (backpacker?) selling photos of himself 

Really? lol. Has he sold any?

No idea.  Didn't stick around to see 

This is probably the most lenient I've been on speaking tests since coming to Korea, and I'm still getting bitched at (BY TEACHERS) for making the grades too low.

I get bitched at for not giving full marks to every student. Even the students who just sit there and refuse to say anything.

I've even had a couple just not show up. And somehow even those students got full marks on their speaking tests.

Korean teachers submit speaking test scores to the office of education. If grades are low they need to write an explanation of why. Which is work they probably don't want to do. Plus it could make them look bad. Meaning a system with good intentions is inadvertently incentivizing lying, sadly.