RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

If they're Union, then they are only allowed to work 'set hours'.  Usually between 7 AM and 7 PM.  If they're not Union, then it mostly comes down to pay.  Anything after 8 hours would be considered overtime.  Once you start paying overtime, you go way over budget.  Also, if they're only working after 3 PM (usually school is out by then) they have only till sundown to work.  After that, you can't see s*it and also, you start to piss people off that want peace and quiet after work hours....  It's a lose-lose.  So,

This.

If you want people working at night, you have to bring in a ton of floodlights or else you're risking a whole slew of problems. THEN you get people complaining about the fact that they can't sleep because it's like the Kenny Rogers Roaster's sign next door+jackhammers blasting.

Same student who managed to answer my question about the importance of recycling, in English, was mopping the corridor near the English room during lunch. Just saw this same student nonchalantly throw his softdrink can and empty chips packet into the school garden as he boarded the hagwon minibus to ferry him off for more "education".

Yep, SK education system in action.

Same student who managed to answer my question about the importance of recycling, in English, was mopping the corridor near the English room during lunch. Just saw this same student nonchalantly throw his softdrink can and empty chips packet into the school garden as he boarded the hagwon minibus to ferry him off for more "education".

Yep, SK education system in action.

    Go out, grab his garbage, stuff it in a drawer.
    Next week, when you have him in your class again, pull out the garbage, put it in his hands, and ask him the same question again while maintaining very accusatory eye-contact!

Same student who managed to answer my question about the importance of recycling, in English, was mopping the corridor near the English room during lunch. Just saw this same student nonchalantly throw his softdrink can and empty chips packet into the school garden as he boarded the hagwon minibus to ferry him off for more "education".

Yep, SK education system in action.

12 year old kid ignores teacher's moralizing, pursues path of least resistance. Indictment of entire country's education system.

Seems a reasonable conclusion to draw.

Is it because Aristocrat has owned you so many times before?  That's the reason, isn't it?

Well, it was Aristocrat who taught the kid the lesson. Seems logical to blame South Korea's education system.

Wouldn't you agree?

Is it because Aristocrat has owned you so many times before?  That's the reason, isn't it?

Well, it was Aristocrat who taught the kid the lesson. Seems logical to blame South Korea's education system.

Wouldn't you agree?

He just answered a question, as I said. I sometimes start my classes with a general knowledge quiz. I didn't teach a lesson.
The point being that years of taking your shoes off inside, watching adults separate their rubbish, cleaning the classroom during lunch and picking up rubbish before school (my students do this under their HR teacher's supervision) has zero effect.

I wouldn't make this comment if I didn't see this type of casual littering on a daily basis, by children and adults who should know better. Martino, my friend, sometimes a spade is just that, a spade. The Korean education system is completely sh*t.

Is it because Aristocrat has owned you so many times before?  That's the reason, isn't it?

Well, it was Aristocrat who taught the kid the lesson. Seems logical to blame South Korea's education system.

Wouldn't you agree?

He just answered a question, as I said. I sometimes start my classes with a general knowledge quiz. I didn't teach a lesson.
The point being that years of taking your shoes off inside, watching adults separate their rubbish, cleaning the classroom during lunch and picking up rubbish before school (my students do this under their HR teacher's supervision) has zero effect.

I wouldn't make this comment if I didn't see this type of casual littering on a daily basis, by children and adults who should know better. Martino, my friend, sometimes a spade is just that, a spade. The Korean education system is completely sh*t.

If it has zero effect, then how are adults separating rubbish? Also, isn't this the type of behavior that is more reflective on the parents than the schools?

I'd think competency at math, science, and language would be more of an indicator of a school system than whether kids litter or not.

We're taught not to smoke, do drugs, fight, do our homework on time, read the whole book, and not curse. However, plenty of us and our fellow students from wherever we come from smoke, have done drugs, got in a fight, were late or didnt do our homework, read the Cliffs Notes, and swear. Some also litter.

Do you apply the same standard to the schools of your country or have you created a different, arbitrary standard for Korea?

Came into work this morning only to be told by my 4-2 kids that one of my students in my 4-1 class died over the weekend.  Apparently she hasn't been feeling well over the past week (I was told she had a pre-existing heart condition) and she died!  WHAT THE F*CK!!!!  She was 10 F*CKING YEARS OLD!  I know I'm a grow-up (sorta) and I know that everything dies, but this is the kina sh*t that pisses me the Hell off!  She didn't even start living yet.

I'm doing my best not to cry because I have to teach her class in a few hours.  The school is so incredibly quiet right now.  The running and screaming up and down the halls is and can be annoying at times, but I tell ya what, I'd love to hear it right about now. 

Came into work this morning only to be told by my 4-2 kids that one of my students in my 4-1 class died over the weekend.  Apparently she hasn't been feeling well over the past week (I was told she had a pre-existing heart condition) and she died!  WHAT THE F*CK!!!!  She was 10 F*CKING YEARS OLD!  I know I'm a grow-up (sorta) and I know that everything dies, but this is the kina sh*t that pisses me the Hell off!  She didn't even start living yet.

I'm doing my best not to cry because I have to teach her class in a few hours.  The school is so incredibly quiet right now.  The running and screaming up and down the halls is and can be annoying at times, but I tell ya what, I'd love to hear it right about now.

I'm so sorry to hear that She never should've gone so soon...

Came into work this morning only to be told by my 4-2 kids that one of my students in my 4-1 class died over the weekend.  Apparently she hasn't been feeling well over the past week (I was told she had a pre-existing heart condition) and she died!  WHAT THE F*CK!!!!  She was 10 F*CKING YEARS OLD!  I know I'm a grow-up (sorta) and I know that everything dies, but this is the kina sh*t that pisses me the Hell off!  She didn't even start living yet.

I'm doing my best not to cry because I have to teach her class in a few hours.  The school is so incredibly quiet right now.  The running and screaming up and down the halls is and can be annoying at times, but I tell ya what, I'd love to hear it right about now.

I'm really sorry to hear that as well. 
A kid at one of my elementary branch schools was killed at a crosswalk coming to school a few years ago. Not a very happy time. It's really hard to lose a student, especially when they're so young. 
Compounding that sadness is how so many of the Korean faculty will pretend that it never happened / student never existed. Seems like a very unhealthy coping mechanism to me.

Sound like me, had a terrible thing happen on Monday, and haven't been sleeping much since.
Today, my co-T needed my class, so my 1 class got cancelled, and - because of the forementioned terrible thing, she thought I wasn't going to be at work today (when it is next week I won't be there), so she had the teacher's workshop cancelled today too.
I've literally had nothing to do all day, and so I've been sleepy and close to falling asleep all day.

I'm sorry you're going through a tough time. It's especially shitty when things go wrong while you're in a foreign country.

I hope you can get some sleep this weekend.

Cheers, I didn't get much sleep on the weekend, decided to switch to my mage on WoW, so spent the weekend trying to get as much gear as I could, to try get more, better gear, from the warfronts haha.

and thanks!

Came into work this morning only to be told by my 4-2 kids that one of my students in my 4-1 class died over the weekend.  Apparently she hasn't been feeling well over the past week (I was told she had a pre-existing heart condition) and she died!  WHAT THE F*CK!!!!  She was 10 F*CKING YEARS OLD!  I know I'm a grow-up (sorta) and I know that everything dies, but this is the kina sh*t that pisses me the Hell off!  She didn't even start living yet.

I'm doing my best not to cry because I have to teach her class in a few hours.  The school is so incredibly quiet right now.  The running and screaming up and down the halls is and can be annoying at times, but I tell ya what, I'd love to hear it right about now.

I'm sorry to hear that. :'( Yeah, it really sucks when people die young. :'(
I know, I didn't know your student or anything, but reading this is almost making me cry, partly because my grandfather passed away last week. :'( And I'm still pretty upset about that.

Came into work this morning only to be told by my 4-2 kids that one of my students in my 4-1 class died over the weekend.  Apparently she hasn't been feeling well over the past week (I was told she had a pre-existing heart condition) and she died!  WHAT THE F*CK!!!!  She was 10 F*CKING YEARS OLD!  I know I'm a grow-up (sorta) and I know that everything dies, but this is the kina sh*t that pisses me the Hell off!  She didn't even start living yet.

I'm doing my best not to cry because I have to teach her class in a few hours.  The school is so incredibly quiet right now.  The running and screaming up and down the halls is and can be annoying at times, but I tell ya what, I'd love to hear it right about now.

I'm sorry to hear that. :'( Yeah, it really sucks when people die young. :'(
I know, I didn't know your student or anything, but reading this is almost making me cry, partly because my grandfather passed away last week. :'( And I'm still pretty upset about that.

Oh man, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to trigger anything.  If I did, I'm really sorry. 

 You're in my thoughts.

Came into work this morning only to be told by my 4-2 kids that one of my students in my 4-1 class died over the weekend.  Apparently she hasn't been feeling well over the past week (I was told she had a pre-existing heart condition) and she died!  WHAT THE F*CK!!!!  She was 10 F*CKING YEARS OLD!  I know I'm a grow-up (sorta) and I know that everything dies, but this is the kina sh*t that pisses me the Hell off!  She didn't even start living yet.

I'm doing my best not to cry because I have to teach her class in a few hours.  The school is so incredibly quiet right now.  The running and screaming up and down the halls is and can be annoying at times, but I tell ya what, I'd love to hear it right about now.

I'm sorry to hear that. :'( Yeah, it really sucks when people die young. :'(
I know, I didn't know your student or anything, but reading this is almost making me cry, partly because my grandfather passed away last week. :'( And I'm still pretty upset about that.

Oh man, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to trigger anything.  If I did, I'm really sorry. 

 You're in my thoughts.

Nono, it's okay.
My family has been contacting me everyday since my grandfather passed, to keep to me in the loop with the funeral plans, and even little change to them >.< While it has been nice, it's been excessive and hasn't really given me a chance to not think about it for a bit :\

You're in my thoughts as well, I know I'd be torn up over a student dying myself. :'(

Came into work this morning only to be told by my 4-2 kids that one of my students in my 4-1 class died over the weekend.  Apparently she hasn't been feeling well over the past week (I was told she had a pre-existing heart condition) and she died!  WHAT THE F*CK!!!!  She was 10 F*CKING YEARS OLD!  I know I'm a grow-up (sorta) and I know that everything dies, but this is the kina sh*t that pisses me the Hell off!  She didn't even start living yet.

I'm doing my best not to cry because I have to teach her class in a few hours.  The school is so incredibly quiet right now.  The running and screaming up and down the halls is and can be annoying at times, but I tell ya what, I'd love to hear it right about now.

That's awful. Unfortunately if you teach  for long enough you will witness some very rare (and horrible) situations just from the sheer number of students passing through the system. Maybe keep an eye out for any students that seem to have a particularly long or painful grieving period. They might need some extra help in the coming months.

Came into work this morning only to be told by my 4-2 kids that one of my students in my 4-1 class died over the weekend.  Apparently she hasn't been feeling well over the past week (I was told she had a pre-existing heart condition) and she died!  WHAT THE F*CK!!!!  She was 10 F*CKING YEARS OLD!  I know I'm a grow-up (sorta) and I know that everything dies, but this is the kina sh*t that pisses me the Hell off!  She didn't even start living yet.

I'm doing my best not to cry because I have to teach her class in a few hours.  The school is so incredibly quiet right now.  The running and screaming up and down the halls is and can be annoying at times, but I tell ya what, I'd love to hear it right about now.

I'm really sorry to hear that as well. 
A kid at one of my elementary branch schools was killed at a crosswalk coming to school a few years ago. Not a very happy time. It's really hard to lose a student, especially when they're so young. 
Compounding that sadness is how so many of the Korean faculty will pretend that it never happened / student never existed. Seems like a very unhealthy coping mechanism to me.

During my second year here, a student, her sister  and mother were killed in a home fire at a friend's house. Like you mentioned, there was very little done at the school and everyone seemed to just ignore it. There was some talk, but it was mostly from the students and they just kind of whispered it to me like we shouldn't be discussing it. Out of respect? Privacy? Fear of ghosts? It was so weird. I'm really not sure if it's a cultural thing or not. I'm from California and have been in education a long time. We addressed the issue at school and talked about death and dying and provided counseling when necessary. So the attitude here is really strange to me.

I'm sorry that you had to experience this. It definitely isn't easy, and it doesn't get any easier regardless of how long you've been working with children.

I hate my piece-of-shit washing machine. It's a cheap efficiency model, so it doesn't use enough water to adequately clean my clothes unless I have literally two items (a shirt and a pair of pants) plus maybe a pair of socks in there. And even then, I have to soak my clothes in a pre-wash solution at least once every month before washing or else they'll still come out smelling weird after a couple of weeks (of regular wearing AND washing).

I'm at a point where I'm ready to purchase a new washing machine, but I really don't know what to do with the old one since it belongs to the landlord, so I feel like I'm stuck with it. It really, really ****** pisses me off.

Came into work this morning only to be told by my 4-2 kids that one of my students in my 4-1 class died over the weekend.  Apparently she hasn't been feeling well over the past week (I was told she had a pre-existing heart condition) and she died!  WHAT THE F*CK!!!!  She was 10 F*CKING YEARS OLD!  I know I'm a grow-up (sorta) and I know that everything dies, but this is the kina sh*t that pisses me the Hell off!  She didn't even start living yet.

I'm doing my best not to cry because I have to teach her class in a few hours.  The school is so incredibly quiet right now.  The running and screaming up and down the halls is and can be annoying at times, but I tell ya what, I'd love to hear it right about now.

Oh wow, only now saw this. I know how difficult it can be dealing with a sudden loss, especially of someone so young. My thoughts are with you and the student's family.

I hate my piece-of-shit washing machine. It's a cheap efficiency model, so it doesn't use enough water to adequately clean my clothes unless I have literally two items (a shirt and a pair of pants) plus maybe a pair of socks in there. And even then, I have to soak my clothes in a pre-wash solution at least once every month before washing or else they'll still come out smelling weird after a couple of weeks (of regular wearing AND washing).

I'm at a point where I'm ready to purchase a new washing machine, but I really don't know what to do with the old one since it belongs to the landlord, so I feel like I'm stuck with it. It really, really ****** pisses me off.

I've started feeling like that towards mine. I noticed a few weeks ago, that my shirts are still coming out a tad smelly. I didn't know what to do, so I bought this de-odor type spray, that is meant to destroy what is causing the smell, but it works for a bit, but not all day :\

Just curious, what pre-wash stuff do you use? I might need to look into doing that myself.
Adulting is hard, I tell you Hwhat :o
Probably not going to replace the washing machine, as I've already had to replace a bed and refrigerator out of my own pocket. :\

I hate my piece-of-shit washing machine. It's a cheap efficiency model, so it doesn't use enough water to adequately clean my clothes unless I have literally two items (a shirt and a pair of pants) plus maybe a pair of socks in there. And even then, I have to soak my clothes in a pre-wash solution at least once every month before washing or else they'll still come out smelling weird after a couple of weeks (of regular wearing AND washing).

I'm at a point where I'm ready to purchase a new washing machine, but I really don't know what to do with the old one since it belongs to the landlord, so I feel like I'm stuck with it. It really, really ****** pisses me off.

I've started feeling like that towards mine. I noticed a few weeks ago, that my shirts are still coming out a tad smelly. I didn't know what to do, so I bought this de-odor type spray, that is meant to destroy what is causing the smell, but it works for a bit, but not all day :\

Just curious, what pre-wash stuff do you use? I might need to look into doing that myself.
Adulting is hard, I tell you Hwhat :o
Probably not going to replace the washing machine, as I've already had to replace a bed and refrigerator out of my own pocket. :\

To avoid that weird, dirty rag smell, I use an Oxyclean solution, like one or two scoops in warm water. I let my clothes soak in there all day while I'm at work, and then stick them into the wash as soon as I get home. Korea used to sell the brand Oxyclean, but stores pulled it to sell a Korean version of it instead, which works fine. The one I buy comes in a pink plastic tub, can't think of what it's called atm, though. I'll look at it when I get home.

To avoid the moldy smell, I also treat my washing machine with a mold-killing cleaning solution that's specifically meant to kill the mold that grow in the drums here. Do that at least once a month, too, during the hot and warm seasons.