Sounds like a nightmare.

For what you stated here. It's well known that the director of this school is so nasty and bad. My question: Do you speak to other esl teachers before signing a contract with him?

Kim
PS This not related to you, I am tired of people here correcting English when they can't give a straight answer.

> TO ALL AGENTS
> TO ALL JOBSEEKERS

> Agents dealing with TOPIA will be tracked down and blacklisted. Any
> agent who sends teachers to TOPIA, changwon, has definitely NOT
> CHECKED the school out in the least, nor has any qualms about getting
> you to sign a contract that violates korean labour laws.

> I want to warn jobseekers about Topia English Zone, Changwon city,
> palyrong dong. The owner, Mr Kim, misleads prospective teachers about
> the conditions at his hakwon, then tells them once they start
> working.
> First off, despite living 2 minutes away, you CANNOT LEAVE the hakwon
> for an 8 hour block. On days when you finish classes early, you must
> stay in the hakwon- NO USING THE INTERNET, NO READING THE PAPER- the
> director insists you do extra work, he calls 'preparation'.
> They will offer the min- 1.9 or 2 million- and no overtime for any
> extra work. Anything extra that is not classtime is not considered
> overtime.
> The owner is a nasty man who berates his Korean staff for taking too
> much time to eat food they ordered! We are talking taking 15 minutes
> to eat when he expects them to wolf it down in 10 and get back to
> 'work'.

> The owner will REFUSE to release you from your contract- even if you
> give him ample time, i.e., a month, to find someone else. Recently, a
> disgruntled employee picketed the hakwon. Mr Kim called the police.

> Since when is standing on a sidewalk holding a sign in protest an
> offence? Mr Kim made efforts to have the guy deported. After
> picketing the institute and informing them he was going to call the
> police about them changing the locks on his apartment door, and
> calling parents, the hakwon finally signed the release letter out of
> fear. So folks, DONT TAKE CRAP. PICKET, conduct an internet campaign
> against the school, call students' parents...embarass and destroy the
> hakwon, then do the same to the agents that deal with the school.

> As for the internet campaign, the teacher in question hasnt sent a
> single email nor posted anything negative related to TOPIA.

> But I have...

> TOPIA is a ROTTEN place to work. Topia contracts stipulate that YOU
> have to pay back the agents fee if you quit, they withold money from
> your pay illegally as a 'security' deposit. Since they figure most
> teachers want to leave, their contract is really a scheme to make it
> as damaging as possible to the teacher if they quit.