Misconception Rheno, Korea, China and Japan - Teachers Discussion

Rheno, misconception....I don't write ESL books. God forbid! As you say there's been nothing new since 1900, ha ha. I write books and notes about plants and natural living, sometimes foods with an Italian friend. You must have learned a lot in Thailand. I envy that. If I go to spend year in Thailand (retired with a beach) where would be the best place to park myself?

I came to China because I could not stomach another contract in Korea and wanted to look around. The schools in Korea are all the same in the short run. The conformity is deadening. Arrival in China was a February shock but I can say after 4 months that I have settled in and am really enjoying the hot weather and a new social life now that I can get out on the town. China has a lot of niches, a lot of thing to see and do (interest in archaeology and art history). When I first arrived I saw a lot of similarities with Korea. That age old Confucianism, follow-the-leader and feudal/peasant thinking.... so sick of it. No wonder the Americans brushed off Royalty. Now I understand but it took decades. China now is very much a Post-Mao culture and there is a lot of looking ahead and looking back. Many of my students seem depressed. Maybe I am wrong? I learn a lot from Chinese TV. It should be seen in the West. I can understand a lot by reading between the lines.

Rheno in Japan? I am curious about teaching in Japan but I also see it as an even more a closed society than parts of Korea. I think it can be v. lonely there. I don't speak much Japanese and got comfortable in Korean, so I stayed. My short times in Japanese bars were great. Some really friendly guys there. I think young Japanese have a lot of confidence, feel secure in who they are. They are generous and me in return. Outside Japan the Japanese are hard to get to meet and know.

P.S. Anybody interested in SE Asian (and Polynesian) historial, art and anthropological and lingusitic studies join austric@yahoogroups.com or see the big archives at austronesian@yahoogroups.com. SE Asia is the real mother culture, not China, not Egypt and not the Middle East. Agriculture goes back into the ice age at least 27,000 BC.

Rheno Rheno Rheno

You probably create some of your own Hard Knocks, being a tad bombastic. I got out of the hogwans after a year because I did have degrees. Does that chafe you? Too bad. Read some of my text books. This is a website for teachers. I went on to highschools, universities and college jobs. Rheno you will run into the same cow dung everywhere. Don't expect much honesty from admins. You are a foreigner, a way-guk, and Koreans are jealous of your good job and tend to blame many of their problems on foreigners. Now it's the Americans and foreign workers but they also blame the Chinese and Japanese. Korea let the Japanese take over their country without a single gunshot of protest (similar to take over of Manchuria). Much of the Korean army had bows and arrows, the Japanese modern rifles. The upper class, rich, feudal and Neo-Confucian had the main population in a state of poverty, ignorance, total passivity. It suited them. They had every thing they wanted. They did not want the peasants armed and trained. The poor sharecroppers had no access to foreign medicine, they wore straw sandals in winter (snow) and scratched their infected mosquito bites all summer..no screens or window glass. Japan lived under a similar feudal isolation a bit earlier and the fact that they modernized first led to their colonial asperations. They emulated Europe which was pushing into all areas of the Pacific (still occupy many islands).

Rheno the college and university jobs are better than the hogwans but they too have become hogwanized. You will have a slightly better work load but they will boot you out if you don't learn boot-licking, fast. It's the Korean way. Take your money, then leave.

Regarding your not knowing if you are barred from working a new contract in Korea: You and your new employer have to contact Immigration, nobody else. They will tell you if your last employer laid a complaint against you. Often they do not bother so there is no record. You can protest a complaint, if you want to do that, and demonstrate that your contract was violated by the employer. I recall you saying you had been deceived about teaching kid classes. Many colleges require the same kid teaching. It's a money making thing for Korean colleges. It's all about money not education.

Rheno is right: Be prepared to Leave. - Teachers Discussion

I went to Korea with the mindset that if I did not like the conditions I would leave. I came with enough $$ to do that. Most employers try to make you happy. Penalties? Barred by Immigration if you leave?? It matters not to most. Once burned few people come back to Korea.

Go there first, absolutely. - Teachers Discussion

Agreed. Go to your new school before signing any contract. This means you'll be paying for your ticket up front. No problem. Simply demand any contract you sign upon arrive stipulate you'll be getting a reimbursement, preferably in a LUMP SUM. Don't go for the "I'll reimburse you at 50 bucks a month" baloney. Get it ALL at one go.

If one can't afford to buy a ticket up front, he shouldn't be going overseas to do TESOL. NEVER go overseas to teach at these schools when you're broke. Hock your car, hock your bikes, hock whatever. Buying the ticket there may be only the first ticket you'll have to buy. If you don't like your new digs, you may have to buy a second ticket OUT. It's this or being "stuck", meaning it'd be your own damn fault and you'd have no right to invite anyone to your pity party.

True. But there's a catch, as always. - Teachers Discussion

I agree with Robin Day. Asking for a plane ticket is the way to go. Or is it?

In China, sure. In South Korea, you may have a problem. It's been nearly a year since I hotfooted it out of South Korea after a one-week stint, and I'm STILL under contract with my 'wan. Time creeps by, doesn't it? "Why are you STILL under contract with a school you haven't worked for in over 50 weeks?" you ask. Simple. I had the director of that school pay for my flight to Gimhae. You see, I got a commitment out of him, but I too had to commit. I had to sign a year-long before I got the ticket to go up there. And this is South Korea, we're talking about here. From what I understand, I had to be formally released from that commitment if I wanted to get another teaching job in SK.

Well, when I discovered my new boss was a big ol' liar, I flew off into the moonlight. I never bothered to get the release. Why didn't I bother? Because that dumbass expected me to pay him back for the flight to Gimhae. He had me by the 'nads, or so he thought. In a way, he did, and even still does. However, Come July 6, I will FINALLY be released from his clutches and will be able to get another teaching job in SK. This time, I'll pay for the ticket up front and get a reimbursement later. I'll demand any school provide me with that reimbursement before signing any contracts. This dog learned that lesson.

At least I THINK I'll be able to get another job in SK. Who knows. Being as I didn't get that formal release, I may be barred from SK forever. If so, I wouldn't care one iota. From what my colleague here is telling me about SK, I wonder if I ever want to go back there.

If you're going to SK, get a reimbursement. Don't get the ticket up front, unless you can get it without signing a contract first.

Re: flights - Teachers Discussion

My advice runs contrary to Robin's. If an employer pays for your flight, you will be commited, either by your own sense of honor and/or duty, or by a contract. I've read here the advice of others who agree with Robin about this, but from my own experience and that of others I feel much more comfortable about paying my own way and checking out the whole scene thoroughly before making a commitment. If I don't like it, I can move on and with my tourist visa in hand I can seek out a suitable position.
Now having said that, I would agree that if the employer sends you pictures and well documented proof of the schools willingness to hire you and care for you properly - visas and etc., then go for it. But the pictures should clearly show you the apartment you will live in (inside and out), the computer you will be given to use, the school and if possible one of the classrooms.It wouldn't hurt to request some recent photos of the neighborhood and city you will be living in.
Remember though, if they attempt to lure you by glowing descriptions of the city you will work in and how great the school is and they refuse to provide you with documentation and pictures, you are probably being scammed. Many teachers have ended up in garbage heap cities and rat infested apartments while counting the days until their contract expires while teaching unappreciative, non-motivated students in non-heated or air conditioned classrooms. And oh yes, there may be up to 70 students in those classrooms and you'll be lucky if 10% are attentive or interested enough to make you feel like your efforts are at least partially appreciated.
I've been here for three years now and I'm happy to say that I enjoy it. I enjoy my students generally and I've learned to find the right schools or universities to teach at. But I've had to pay my dues. Thus my advice to others here in this forum. Just because I suffered through it, doesn't mean I want others to.
Take the time to do your RESEARCH!

Agreed. And some of us already know we have spines going in. - Teachers Discussion

Nice post, Slayer. I agree completely. Some of us know up front going in we have spines, so it doesn't take long before we're back on planes if we're getting ripped off/lied to/cheated.

I personally equate myself with a 150-lb police doberman today. A doberman who'll lay a mushroom cloud today and maybe, maybe ask questions tomorrow if he runs into liars or thieves.

Flora Xu is a slave driver - Teachers Discussion

Flora never pays anyone what she says she'll pay them not even americans...the americans she does lure into her trap get whored out for her avertising needs and then she doesnt pay them...

Beware of Capital Language School in Zhongshan! - Teachers discussion

Hi, Taurus, you are not alone. This happened to me, too. One in Zhongshan, Guangdong, named Capital Language School emailed me with all the promising words to go over. Once I was there, in less than a month, other than teaching, they also wanted me to take over some administrative duties to which I refused,(Because I was emigrated from China and capable in handling). They paid me only a fraction of the regular rate to foreigners, (46 rmb per class, totally a little more than 9 hundred). The principal was Flora Xu, her husband Damon. So, next time, don't trust any of the private schools!

Beware of Han Bao Electronics (Sandy)--Job in Quanzhou - Teachers discussion

Dear teachers,

Please beware of the following ad posted on tefl.net: http://www.tefl.net/esl-jobs/esl-jobs.pl?noframes;read=3999

They have also placed ads elsewhere on the net, asking for a couple preferrably.

This ad is placed by a very rich lady named Sandy, who is trying to hire private English teachers for herself, her kids and family. My boyfriend and I had already made arrangements with her to work for her in Quanzhou before we came to China. The reason why we bought our plane tickets to come to Fujian province was because she had already agreed to hire us. She was very eager to meet us, and even urged us to come as soon as possible. This was back in October 2005, and at the time she used a Canadian (who was also her employee) to recruit teachers for her. They promised us a nice salary and free housing, including an end-of-year bonus.

I had already arrived in Xiamen, where she said she would meet us, and then take us to Quanzhou. I arrived a couple days earlier, and was waiting for my boyfriend to fly over when she suddenly decided that she no longer wanted to hire foreign teachers. Just like that. When my boyfriend arrived in Xiamen, we had to stay in hotels and spend a lot of money. We would not have even come to China if we knew she would do this to us. How can someone do this to foreigners and just shrug it off, expecting to get away with it? She caused us to spend so much money we didn't have, and we have been struggling to get by ever since. Jobs in Xiamen are few and far between, and none of them can grant you working visas except for a few universities that are already saturated with foreign teachers.

I wish there was some way to "repay" her for her thoughtlessness.
We hope none of this ever happens to anyone else, and at the same time, I would like to warn everyone about this Sandy lady and the company she works for (Han Bao Electronics).

Happy Spring Festival.