Ivy English School - YongAm-Dong Cheongju Part 7

Lessons Learned.

I did learn some valuable lessons from the Ivy School meltdown and the fuckery that ensued.

1) 90-95% of Hagwon owners rip you off one way or another. It may be something minor like not paying into the pension plan (by law they have to). It may be cheating you by charging double the income tax rate and pocketing the extra.

My 1^st boss was a pretty good one BUT she was charging me 6% income. My first 2 years with Ivy school I was charged that. The 3^rd year Mr. Kim made a big show of lowering it to 5%. Based on my wages and that there was no Pension or Hational Health Plan deducted it should have been 3-3.3%.

I can't count the number of people I met who praised their Hagwon by saying "They pay me on time!" That is pathetic. If that is the best thing you can say about your job something is wrong. It should go without saying that you are paid on time.

2) Contracts mean jack shit in Korea. Directors will change the terms at a whim. At one point, even though we were supposed to get 5 vacation days summer and 5 winter, around a weekend, the Kim’s were going to give ONE. THAT caused all the foreign teachers to threaten to quit. As it stood we never got the 5 and a weekend. After the 1st year they would give us 3 and a weekend and promise to make up the other days.

That was reinforced at the seminar that all Hagwon teachers had to attend in 2010. The seminar was put on for the Korean government and one of the things they said was that “The contract inKorea is a starting part not an ending one.” Which means they are not worth the paper they are printed on and subject to the whim of your Director.

3) No matter how good things are if/when they get bad the Hagwon will turn on you QUICKLY if they see it as being good for them. The fact you have been loyal for years and work hard means nothing if they can bring someone in who knows little about the system and works for less.

4) If you give in to their demands ONCE, even out of kindness because it isn’t a big deal, they will ALWAYS expect you to do what they want when they want. As soon as you say no you are a bad teacher. They will either make an example of you, get rid of you, or both.

5) No matter how much you have right on your side if it comes down to your word vs a Koreans most Koreans will NOT believe you. Even if they know you well and trust you. You just don’t count as much as a Korean.

6) You can’t always count on your foreign co-workers in times of trouble. Most of the time they will be more worried about themselves and how things will affect them. I have been prepared to quit in the past when co-workers were being treated like shit for no good reason. When the shit hit the fan at Ivy school the 4 out of 6 foreign teachers who weren’t being screwed over wouldn’t even tell the Kim’s they were wrong to treat us the way they were. I didn’t expect them to quit … but they just gave lip service and hoped they wouldn’t be fucked over when it came time for them to leave.

Some people actually delude themselves that the Hagwon owners won’t turn on them. One of my ex-Ivy co-workers would go on about how the Kim’s liked her so she had nothing to worry about. Until they didn’t like her because she said no. And that ended up happening to her.

I remember one idiot who worked illegally at a Hagwon. 1 teacher had finished his contract and was never coming back because of the assholes in charge screwing them over. Another one pulled a runner. The third one pulled a runner. The fourth one, working illegally, convinced himself that he was safe working there because they needed him and would have to treat him well. Of course they ended up screwing him over too.

It boggles the mind how these people can see the bullshit going on but still convince themselves that it won’t happen to them.

This lack of backing each other up is one reason why Hagwons get away with the bull shit they pull.

7) As your final month wraps up many hagwon owners make what I call “The Big Cash Grab!”Ivy School did it to MOST of their foreign teachers and not ONE of them told those left behind.

Basically, they don’t finish paying you until your last day. For most foreign teachers that means they are leaving Korea in a day or two. Then you find out at the end of the day that there are aLOT of dodgy deductions from your pay leaving them with a lot less money than they expected. Surprise bill charges. Not getting the deposit money back. Little things like that. Since they are leaving they have no real recourse.

As I said, this happened to just about EVERY Ivy School foreign teacher. Some of who stayed in touch with their old co-workers yet NEVER told them what happened. In one case, it was a couple, they BOTH had the FULL cost of the bills deducted from their last pay even though they shared an apartment. I had actually recruited them and it wasn’t until I told them of my problems leaving Ivy that they told me how they were screwed over.

8) Pay your own bills! Get a pay stub! Document EVERYTHING!

My first school deducted my bills from my pay. I figured it was standard practice in Korea. So when my 2^nd school did it I just accepted it. That was stupid! It just opens the door for you to be screwed over. As I ended up being.

Make them give you a pay stub showing deductions. No matter how honest you think they are or how much you trust them you HAVE TO get this and keep it in case you need it. I trusted the Kims the first 2 years .. and there were some signs I was being screwed around with … so I didn’t care. In the 3^rd year they REFUSED to give me a pay stub. They refused it to almost all the teachers.

One of the Irish teachers went and demanded a pay stub. After a lot of complaining they agreed to give ONLY her a pay stub as long as she didn’t tell any of the other teachers. And she didn’t. It was until my BS with Ivy came out that she mentioned it. Like I said, no wonder they KNOW they can screw us around, we don’t help each other.

When it came down to deciding what I could do about Ivy School screwing me over I had NO paperwork. Which meant I couldn’t prove a lot, just what my bank statements showed. It would be my word against a Koreans and I already covered that in #5

9) If you get screwed over and stay or come back be careful of the chip on your shoulder. I came back with a big one on mine. I was working for a good boss but kept expecting him to screw me over. While it is good to be wary I was ready for a fight over anything. That isn’t healthy. Luckily, I got over it. For the most part, it still colours my view of hagwon owners.

I would apologize for the length of this tale but it could easily have been longer. ;)

Ivy English School - YongAm-Dong Cheongju Part 6

Even after all of that the Kim’s were still trying to screw me over.

As soon as they found out I was looking for work in Cheongju they basically blacklisted me through the Hagwon Association. Before that I was looking in Daejeon and they actually gave me a good recommendation. However, as one recruiter told me, Mr. Kim did not want me “working in HIS city.” They would tell other Hagwon owners I was a bad teacher and a horrible person. Of course they took the Kim’s word for it and I was having no luck finding work. Which just made me want to go back to cheongju even more.

Then I found out my 1^st boss was now recruiting. I contacted her and told her the problem I was having finding work in Cheongju. She said she would look into it. What this meant is that she would call Mr. Kim and talk with him. They met, he told her a bunch of lies. She then talked to me and I told her my side. I also told her that Park had been involved and could tell her how much of what Mr. Kim said was BS. Park had worked for her when I did. He backed up what I said. Now she knew, because a Korean confirmed what I said, that Mr. Kim lied to her. She wanted to get me a job in cheongju, and did, to piss him off. She found me one of those rare honest Hagwon owners. Best boss I ever had.

That summer I had to renew my passport. I talked to the pharmacist in YongAm-dong and asked him to be a reference. He knew me for 3+ years. I used to work beside his pharmacy. He had no problem doing it.

Unfortunately, he signed his name too big to be accepted by the passport people. A couple of the letters went just outside the box. Two weeks later I had to go back and get him to sign it again. It should have been no problem.

Yet it was a problem. All of a sudden he had no English. This is a guy you could have conversations with. He went on in Korean, the gyst of it being he had mentioned to Mr. Kim that he was a reference for me. Mr. kim told him he shouldn’t, I am a bad person. So he wasn’t interested in being a reference anymore. I asked him if he was serious. In perfect English he said “This is not my problem.” And ripped up the paper. I vented some language at him and left.

It took a lot for me not to go up to Ivy School and throw Mr. Kim out the window. It is bad enough the piece of shit tried to prevent me from getting work. The asshole was now trying to fuck with renewing my passport.

I found out that they had opened a second school, an SLP franchise. Which was kind of strange/stupid because they were then competing with themselves and the other schools in the area.

An old co-worker texted me one day to let me know Ivy School was closing. They were bleeding students. Which was no surprise considering how the Kim’s ran the school. They tried re-opening as “Ivy School Reborn.” That didn’t work and it closed for good. Couldn’t happen to more deserving assholes. They still have the SLP franchise in YongAm-Dong though.

So, if you are looking for work and see an ad for SLP in YongAm-Dong, Choengju, or a recruiter mentions it, run do not walk away. They are scum of the Nth degree.

Ivy English School - YongAm-Dong Cheongju Part 5

Monday came and went with no money being put in my account. After calling Mr. Kim he said he would put it in Tuesday. On Tuesday he did put it in, minus 610,000 won. Of the 1,100,000 Won he still owed me he tried to claim my final months bills amounted to 610,000 Won. That was so much BS.

Every month he deducted between 200,000 to 300,000 Won for taxes and bills. I was making 2,100,000 Won a month, and he was putting between 1,800,000 and 1,900,000 in the bank after deductions. Said deductions were to include my monthly bills. There is no way they jumped from that to 610,000 Won in the span of 30 days.

(IF you are considering working in Korea, or already work here, PAY YOUR OWN BILLS. This is one way the Hagwon owners WILL screw you over!)

When I called him about this he acted shocked that I would challenge his credibility. He actually tried to tell me that I owed 100,000 won for my phone bill. I used a calling card so no international calls should ever appear on my phone, only local. And I always used my cell phone for local calls.

Then he said the 100,000 was for the last 10 months, 10,000 won a month. At which point I brought up the monthly deductions. He played dumb and kept trying to say I owed for the yearly amount. He said the same thing about the gas bill, electric bill, cable bill (although cable was supposed to be provided by the school in my contract), any bill he could think of. He was telling me I owed the YEARLY amount and not the monthly.

I told him I wanted to see copies of the bills and to have a breakdown of the costs emailed to me the next day. He said the school was closed for vacation so he couldn't see me until August 1st. Coincidentally, I was in YongamDong on Wednesday July 27th. Not only had I seen 2 Ivy School buses with students in them. While eating at the MacDonald's beside the school I saw several students coming and going back into Ivy School. So much for the school being closed.

I also found out from another teacher that the income tax rate is 3.3% not the 5% the Kim’s had been deducting for the last 10 months, or the 6% they were deducting for 2 years. That means for the last 10 months he has taken out 105000 Won a month when it should only have been 69300. 35700 Won a month MORE than he should have. 357000 Won over the last 10 months. For the 2 years prioer to that he was taking out 120000 when he should have taken 66000. 54000 a month more than he should have, 1296000 more than he should have over 2 years. If this is right he stole 1653000 Won from me over 2 years 10 months.

On Thursday July 29th a Korean friend, Park, called Mr. Kim on my behalf, but without my knowledge. According to him, Mr. Kim said the reason I was fired is that I didn't prepare for my classes. Interesting considering what he told me about no one wanting to work with me, kids not wanting to be my students, etc etc. Now it is because I didn't prepare for classes. It was just another line of BS in a long line that he has spewed out. Park went on to say he thought Mr. Kim would give me airfare home now. I doubted it.

On August 1st I went in to talk to Mr. Kim. As expected, Park's phone call only made him angry. He made a big show of telling me he is a busy man, and he had to take a lot of time this morning to get copies of my utility bills. Mind you I asked him the day he fired me, about 2 weeks BEFORE I was due to be paid, to have all of these so EVERYTHING could be taken care of on the last day. Which he didn't do.

He STILL didn't understand that I wasn't disputing the yearly costs. My problem was that he was charging me for the FULL year instead of the last month when, because of what I was told when I started working at IVY school, that the bills would be taken out of my monthly pay. I have no doubt my telephone bill was 100,000 for 10 months. 10,000 a month. I have a problem with him telling me I never paid any all year when it looks like money was taken.

So, he had these bills, and a document HE wrote up showing their totals, and how much he took off for income tax (105,000) a month plus maintenance fee of 20,000 a month plus another water/electrical fee from the apt of 15,000 a month. Which meant he was taking 135,000 a month off but most months show 200-300,000 was held back.

He still didn't understand what I was saying, and had NO copies of the deposits he had made to my account. Which means I was going by what was in my bank book and memory. I asked if I could have copies of the bills and the paper he wrote and he said no because I might show them to someone.

What makes this whole stupid notion of the teachers paying their bills in bulk when they leave is that I HAVEN'T left for almost 3 years. When I re-signed in 2003 there was no lump sum taken off for bills. When I re-signed last year there was no lump sum taken off for bills. Which would mean I haven't paid utilities UNTIL then. Mr. Kim is too much of a "businessman" to have let that happen. Especially with the gouging they had been doing with people the last year.

It was a waste of time to even go and talk to him. I left him with a hearty go fuck yourself.

The summer camp was GREAT. It helped improve my mood a bit. At least until I found out we should have been paid 800,000 Won more but the President of the English department decided to pad his own pockets. Hagwons, Public Schools, Universities. The thieves are everywhere in Korea.

And the Kim's weren't done with me yet.

Ivy English School - YongAm-Dong Cheongju Part 4

So, I was now head teacher and things were getting beyond pear shaped faster than you would believe. I was at the 6th month mark of the contract and trying to decide what to do. Should I say fuck it and quit or go for the bonus. As far as I knew the Kim's still paid the bonus. As far as I knew.

I decided to stick it out to the end of the contract. Hindsight is 20/20 and I feel stupid for doing that now. At the time it seemed like a safe move to make. It was the wrong decision.

They were making big schedule changes. The school would be open until 10PM instead of 8:30. They needed a teacher to do the late classes. If you did the late classes you wouldn't have kindergarten. No one wanted it. In the end I was given it, the life of the head teacher. Of course the Kim`s soon showed how good their word was. They gave me kindergarten classes on top of it. This was the start of why I would be a bad teacher. I started saying no.

The Kim`s wanted Saturday classes with a foreign teacher. None of us wanted to work Saturday. Our contracts said we worked Monday to Friday. No weekends. I ended up agreeing to do it until the new teacher arrived (1 month) and they agreed to pay me extra money for it. Everyone seemed happy with the arrangement.

About a week after Spock was called in and told he was a bad teacher I was called in. It was a Saturday, just after I finished my classes. I was told that .... I was a bad teacher. Three Korean teachers complained about me. I had better become a good teacher or else. Mrs. Kim couldn`t tell me any details of what made me a bad teacher. I was just a bad teacher. This was 2 months after the 6 month mark.

As Spock did, I talked to the Korean teachers. They all said they never complained about me. Which is about what I expected anyway. A couple of weeks later one of the Koreans and I were talking over coffee. She told me that Mrs. Kim was talking to her, bragging about how she told me none of the Korean teachers wanted to work with me even though none complained. The Kim`s wanted me to quit. You know, if the stupid fuckers had asked me to leave at the 6 month mark I would have. Instead they waited. Now I was determined to try and finish my contract to spite them. Yeah, being stubborn can be stupid.

On the night of Wednesday July 6th 2005 I was told the Director's husband wanted to see me after my last class. He started off by telling me that I am a bad teacher. Due to me being a bad teacher he wanted me to quit, or I would be fired. I was TOLD my last day would be July 25th, which is not even 30 days notice. He cited the fact that I am not a good teacher and that NO Korean teacher wants to work with me, and now added that most kids do not want me as their teacher. This was news to me.

I asked him to explain what he meant. Why did no Korean teacher want to work with me? None had complained to me. Why did students not want me as their teacher? There had been no complaints before. All he would say is that I must know why. My reply was that I didn't know why, so please tell me. He made the same strange statement and followed up by saying that if I don't know why there is a big problem.

Also, I complain too much. I did figure out where that came from. Late Wednesday morning we had a staff meeting and they introduced a new lesson plan scheme. All of the foreign teachers thought it was a bad idea. After the meeting they all told me that quite strongly. I talked to the person in charge of it, a Korean teacher, Kevin. 4 hours later I was told to quit or be fired. As head teacher I am supposed to bring the concerns and complaints of other foreign teachers to the Kim's attention. Because I do that, I complain too much.

I asked if I would get a ticket home at least. He told me no, all I would get is my final pay. No severance (I was only 10 weeks away from completing my contract.) and no ticket home. Because I am a bad teacher they have to go through the expense of getting someone here early. So I don't deserve a ticket home. I wouldn't even get the 30 days notice required by law.

I told him I wasn't going to quit, so he could fire me. He told me to think about it and talk to him the next day. The next day he was either not around, or too busy to talk.

I was also informed that Spock was being fired. As I mentioned in Part 3 they had to backtrack on that one. The morons only had one teacher coming not two and couldn't handle losing two at the same time.

The next day, through a backchannel warning, we were told that if there was any sort of cooperation by the foreign teachers to show support for us both of the teachers being fired would be immediately let go with no pay at all. I say backchannel because it went from office manager to Spock's wife to him to us. They needn't have bothered, the people I worked with would never have done that. They were quick to pay lip service but were more worried about how they would be treated than standing up for their co-workers.

On July 8th I finally got Mr. Kim to sit down and talk with me. I told him I was not quiting, so I understand he is firing me and not giving me 30 days notice. He acknowledged that, and also reconfirmed that I would not be given a ticket home, or severance. Then he told me that he wanted me to be done the 21st not the 25th.

I told him I wanted my firing in writing. Also, I gave him the blank Letter of Release forms I obtained and told him that I wanted it as soon as possible. He seemed puzzled by it and asked what it was and what it was for. I explained again that it was a letter of release and that I cannot get another job in Korea while I have a signed contract with him unless I have one. Further, since the only money I will have because he is refusing to pay my ticket home or severance is my final pay I may not have enough money to get home. So, I may have to find a job that starts ASAP. Or I may come back in September after some time home.

At this point he asked me if I wanted to stay until August 25th. I pointed out that he was firing me because no one wanted to work with me and I am a bad teacher. Add to that the way I have been treated in the last few weeks. With that cloud hanging over it would be hard to stay, PLUS the fact he would STILL be firing me then with no ticket home or severance, this time a month away from the completion date of my contract. It would be better to just be fired now.

On the afternoon of July 18th 2005 I had to talk with Mr. Kim again. Since I was being fired with no ticket home or severance pay I had been trying to get a summer camp job with a local University. If I got the job I would have to do a VISA run on the 21st, and have a training session on the 23rd. I still didn't have the Letter of Release I requested, which complicated matters.

Now Mr. Kim tells me that I HAVE to work the Thursday and Friday. Nothing else is acceptable to him. It doesn't matter what the new job will need. He has once again arbitrarily changed the end date. I told him that is too bad ... for him. I needed the job to be able to get home and if I had to leave on the 21st too bad for him.

I told him that IF I could get the camp put on my E2 VISA and he didn't cancel it, I would be able to work until the date he wanted. He agreed and everything went through Immigration. I had to keep my mouth shut though or he could fuck it up before I started. Knowing what a slimey prick Mr. James Kim is I thought the odds were good he would try and fuck it up anyway.

The last day came and I checked my bank account before the end of the day. He had only put half my pay in. When i confronted him he promised the other money would be put in Monday. Since it was late I didn't have much choice. As with most dealings with hagwon owners, you weren't left with much choice if you wanted to see any of your money.

Even though I was finished with Ivy School and the assholes who ran it this wouldn't be the end of their trying to screw me over.

Ivy English School - YongAm-Dong Cheongju Part 3

As the third contract started the Kim's attitude towards the head teacher started changing too. The head teacher, let's call him Spock, had been with Ivy school for years. If memory serves me well 5 years at that point. He enjoyed working there and did a good job as head teacher. Considering the job mainly consisted of telling us what the Kim's felt we needed to know it wasn't THAT hard.

I think the change really started when Mr. Kim got me to talk with Jack. Since it is something the head teacher should be doing I talked with Spock about it. He was a little put off because it was something he felt he should have done as head teacher. He let the Kim's know this. That was probably his first mistake as head teacher.

When I was re-signing Mr. Kim let me know that they (the Kim's) wanted me to be head teacher. I told them we had one and he was doing a good job. Then the standard trash talk started. "He looks too tired. " which became "We don't think he wants it anymore."

Of course, I told Spock all about it. He is a friend and I felt he should know. He was surprised because he hadn't said anything to the Kim's about not liking the position. as we talked I found out why THEY didn't want him as head teacher anymore. first was his displeasure when the Kim's bypassed him. Then there was him saying No when they asked him to work Saturdays. Our contracts actually said we did not work weekends.

Saying "No" means one thing to most Hagwon owners. YOU are a bad teacher. If you don't do everything they say without question you are a bad teacher. If you have the temerity to say no then you are a REALLY bad teacher. Their view of Spock changed after he said no once. It was probably the ONLY time in 5 years working for them he said no. But it only takes once with assholes like them. Now the fix was in on the part of the Kim's to get rid of Spock.

They started to undermine him as head teacher every chance they had. Whether it was trash talking about him as HT to the foreign teachers or ignoring him as HT all the while trying to convince me to take the position. Like I said, he is my friend, so I always kept him apprised of what was going on. He said if they wanted me as HT he didn't care. It isn't like he could force them to keep him. (The position brought an extra 100K won.)

I didn't want the job. I have seen what happens to HT's. They become the whipping boy for the Director when things go wrong with the teachers.

It came to the point where they let him go as HT and told me either I take it or we have no HT. I talked with him and the other foreigners. They said take it. Better to have someone in the position than no one. I warned the Kim's that if they gave me the position I was not going to just be a rubber stamp for them. I would be representing the foreign teachers to them. They said they had no problem with that. In fact they wanted me to bring the concerns of the FT's to them. This would come back to haunt me. (What can I say, they lie like we breath.)

Spock's sister-in-law was our office manager. even though she knew what was going on she never once warned him. Instead she took the opportunity to start trashing me. When Spock was let go as HT she told him I campaigned to get his job. Keep in mind up until now I the Grace incident I considered her a friend. This shit happened a couple of month's after the BS with Grace. I didn't consider Ronnie an enemy, but I did think she was a mouthy bitch. She was a great teacher but not a good person. I kept my opinions to myself until I started to find out that she was trashing me like this with my friend AND his family. The stupid cunt didn't realize that, unlike her, I let him know EVERYTHING that was going on with the Kim's. But I digress.

A few months later Spock signed a new contract with the Kim's. Mr. Kim told him that he should try finding a new job for next year. Strange thing to say when re-signing someone.

Spock's wife was pregnant and having the baby. As head teacher I made sure everything was in place so Spock could have the day off. His classes were covered. It was not an easy birth and his wife could have died. She required some surgery to survive. So, I made sure he would have the next day off to be with her.

I was on my way home when Mr. Kim called me. He was angry because Spock would not be at work the next day. I explained what happened with his wife and that he needed to be with her. I also explained that none of the teachers minded and his classes were covered. He was still irate. He was in Libya when his wife gave birth and couldn't be there. well Spock's situation was different. He gave in, in the end. Or so I thought. Spock ended up coming to work the afternoon of the next day. Mr. Kim had called him and told him he should. God only knows what he said to Ronnie that was relayed. It isn't like the pig eyed sack of shit would back up her brother-in-law.

A couple of months later, on a Friday night, I had a call from Spock. He wanted to meet and talk. As he was leaving work for the night he was called into the Director's office. Mr. Kim informed him that he was a bad teacher. The Korean teachers didn't want to work with him anymore. The students didn't like him. He had better start being a good teacher or else. Spock was flabbergasted. He said what teachers? Mr. Kim then said 3 of them, not the initial all, complained about him and didn't want to work with him. Spock managed to get their names. One of them he had NEVER co-teachered with! It was just more bull shit.

On the following Tuesday I was called into the office. Spock doesn't look happy! Tell him he needs to look happy or else he will be fired. What the kimchi? I said of course he isn't happy after what you told him Saturday. That doesn't matter. If he doesn't look happy we will get rid of him.

Now think of his situation, would YOU look happy? In the teachers room he was quiet and didn't really smile. But he is also a professional, unlike most Hagwon owners. When he was outside of the teachers room he forced himself to smile and pretend to be happy.

Basically all of this bull shit from the Kim's was aimed at getting him to quit. He had been with them the longest and was making the most money. The school was doing well, but had lost some students and the competition had increased in the area. They wanted to get rid of him, and me, in order to get new teachers. Ones with no experience that they could pay less money and cheat more easily.

They ended up firing me and Spock at the same time, for no real reason. Then they realized they had shot themselves in the foot. They only had one replacement teacher coming. So they told Spock they would "let" him stay until mid August. THEN he was fired. Spock had a job with EPIK lined up that started late august, so he stayed. Considering he had a wife and newborn to support I don't blame him.

For over five years he worked there and did a great job. They paid back that loyalty by trying to drive him to quit and then firing him when he wouldn't.

As an aside, the Kim's later opened up an SLP franchise in YongAm-Dong. Ivy School started bleeding students. They closed it and re-opened it as |Ivy School reborn." It ended up closing for good but they STILL run the SLP in YongAm-Dong.

Ivy English School - YongAm-Dong Cheongju Part 2

So, the tone for the next year was set before the year even began. Some more fuckery would happen before I had to renew my VISA. It didn't affect me per se but it helped increase the bad taste in my mouth.

After the way they treated my friend and some of the smaller things I saw I couldn't in good conscience recruit anyone to work at the school. The Kim's used a recruiter in Ireland and hired an Irish woman (well, another Irish woman) named, let's say, Grace. (Our school was mainly a mix of Canadians and Irish with a token American thrown in. 3 male 3 female foreign teachers.) The head teacher and I went to the bus terminal with the Kim's to meet her.

As soon as she opened her mouth and said hello we (head teacher and I) looked at each other. We knew there was going to be trouble with the Kim's and Grace. She had a strong Irish accent. I always felt that it is good for the kids to be exposed to different English accents. It will help their listening and understanding in the long run. Especially considering that British English is the world standard not american English. But I digress.

I didn't learn this until months later but Grace did not have a good introduction to the Kim's. She came in early the next day to meet with them. I would later learn that they berated her a bit for her accent. Basically making it seem like she hid it from them. What happened is Mr. Kim, whose English is not that good, was the one to talk to "interview" her on the phone. The interview consisted of "When can you come? and knowing Mr. Kim maybe "You are pretty." because he saw her photo and is a bit of a perv. Mr. Kim was never know for his listening ability either. but of course, they blamed Grace.

Grace was ordered to take a tape machine home along with some phonics tapes. She was ordered to practice the phonics to "improve" her accent. She did as ordered.

This wouldn't be Grace's last problem. There would be problems with the high level kindergarten class, or to use their pretentious title the Honours Class. Basically it was kindy kids who had lived abroad or who had good English. Of course the Kim's would throw some students who didn't belong in the class in to please the parents. (The Kim's were all about pleasing the parents to get the money and not as concerned with actually teaching the kids. Which isn't how they were the first year plus I worked there. Over time greed set in.)

There was one girl in the class who just wouldn't shut up. Whether it was English or Korean, her turn to talk or someone else's, she just couldn't keep her mouth shut. In frustration one class during her second week Grace said "What do I have to do to keep you quiet take out your tongue?" The fuckery began that night.

The kid thought it was funny. She repeated it to her mother. Her mother didn't think it was funny. She called the school and told the Kim's that the teacher threatened to cut her daughter's tongue out. (The parents are just as good at exaggeration and hyperbole as the Hagwon owners.) The Kim's freaked. They started yelling at the office manager Ronnie to get Grace into their office. Grace had already finished for the day though. She had actually, as she always did up until then, said good bye to the boss when she left.

Now they are running around like chickens with their heads cut off nattering in Korean. Finally, after about 15 minutes of this, they asked me if I knew where Grace was. I told them she finished and went home. Don't you remember her saying good bye? (Like I said ... not a good listener.) They went back into the office with Ronnie and were still there when I left.

You would think the story would continue the next day wouldn't you? Or at Grace's apartment? You would be wrong. They just aren't that professional.

There was a good bye party that night for the teacher Grace was replacing. At 11PM super bitch, I mean Ronnie, showed up at the party. She went right to Grace and started in on her. (Ronnie's English was pretty good.) Right in front of everyone, at a good bye party for a friend, she starts yelling and screaming at Grace. No fucking class. No fucking professionalism. Grace tried to explain herself and what happened but of course it didn't matter. Whatever the parent said was true and whatever Grace said was lies. After ruining the party Ronnie left, as did Grace.

The next day she was called right into the Director's office where both Kim's and Ronnie were waiting. They once again raked her over the coals. She was to apologize to the student in front of the class and the parents. (Once they realized the parents wouldn't understand the apology they forgot about it. Mind you that took a while.) They took away all of her high level classes and had her teaching the lowest ability students, and the worst classes.

This is what the Kim's were like. Pander to the parents. If there is a problem never get the foreign teachers side of it. It is automatically the foreign teachers fault. Oh, and blow things out of proportion. The office manager wasn't much better.

Grace finished out her year. But she never forgot how shitty she was treated from the start. Nor did I. She was GREAT with the kids. Even the problem ones.

The way it was handled did affect my thinking on renewing my VISA. I had given my word and I would do it. however, I wasn't going to remind them of when it was up for renewal. If it lapsed because of them that would be their fault and problem. If it lapsed I would not renew it.

3 days before it would have expired Mr. Kim remembered it was running out. So, I stupidly renewed it and started my 3rd contract and what would be a hellish 10 months.

Ivy English School - YongAm-Dong Cheongju Part 1

I started working for a school called Ivy English school. It was in Yong-Am Dong, Cheongju and run by a couple James and Victory (Yes, not Victoria) Kim. He had some people skills and bad English. She had better English and no people skills.

At first it was a great place to work. They were very good to their foreign teachers. mind you they had a HORRIBLE reputation for the way they treated their Korean teachers. At one point before I started they fired them all and hired new ones.

I liked the place and trusted them enough that I actually did recruiting for them. Everything was fine until the start of my 3rd contract. There were signs things were starting to go pear shaped and I even noticed some of them. But I gave my word I would re-sign for a 3rd year (I can hear you laughing at that) so even though I had misgivings I re-signed. I should have resigned.

My started opening wide with the way they treated a friend of mine they hired. Let's call him Jack. They hired him after having seen him. They knew he had a beard. They knew he had a Korean girlfriend who lived in Jonju and would move to Cheongju. There were no problems.

At least there were no problems until it came time for him to start. The night before I am leaving for a month home Mr. Kim calls me and tells me I need to get my friend to shave off his beard. All the teachers are afraid of him. (At this point ONE teacher had seen him and didn't care. This is a tactic most of the bad Hagwon owners use. They get one complaint and bump the number up. Or have no complaint but just want something changed or to make you feel bad. most Hagwon owners are greedy assholes.) I told him he needed to talk to Jack and not me.

I had picked my ticket home up at the airport as I was on my way home. For some reason, even though there was time to get it in advance, that is how Mr. Kim set it up. Then I found out that instead of a month home I was returning after 3 weeks. I called Mr. Kim when I got home and asked him what the hell was going on. He gave me a line of BS and went on about misunderstanding. (In Korea misunderstanding is usually a code word for "Oh I lied to you and you caught me!") He said the date couldn't be changed. The airline said it could be for $200. I decided to suck it up and just go home when the ticket was set for.

After getting back lots of shit started hitting the fan.

First, I found out the REAL reason for my return date. The start of a new semester. The Kim's wanted all the teachers there when it started. If they had told me that I could have gone home earlier.

Then there was Jack. I was back a day before I had to start working. I popped in to find out what was new and say hi to jack. He looked like he was dieing. Pale as a ghost. Shaking. Sweating. This in the teachers room surrounded by 4 other foreigners and 6 Korean teachers. None of whom told him there was a DOCTOR ON THE FIRST FLOOR! The Kim's actually refused to let him go home sick!

I told him to go to the doctor and go home. I would talk to the Kim's and teach his schedule for the day. Mr. Kim actually started giving me grief because I will be too tired. Well Jack was too fucking sick to teach. All of the Korean teachers had good English. The office manager, a right loud mouthed bitch of a Korean named Ronnie, not only knew about the doctor below she knew of another one with excellent English.

The next day, as I was leaving, Mr. Kim asked to talk to me. He wanted me to talk with Jack about a list of things he is doing wrong. I started off by telling Mr. Kim that I am not the head teacher and THAT is who should be talking to Jack about that stuff not me. He insisted I should because I am Jack's friend. It is the Korean way according to Mr. Kim.

Then he went over the list of "problems". For the most part they were a pile of chicken shit. Jack has started sitting down too much in class. (He is fucking sick. Hell MOST of the teachers sat down while teaching.) He takes his cell phone to class. (So did most teachers because we have no clocks. He wasn't using it for anything but a clock.) He is chewing gum. (Jack figured nicotine gum was better than smoking around the students.) He is slouching and it scares the kids. He actually had the balls to say Jack shouldn't visit his girlfriend in Jeonju because he may be too tired on Mondays. There were about 30 stupid things he listed. Then he ended with the REAL reason for this bull shit. he wanted Jack to shave his beard.

I told him that if I told Jack 10% of what he said Jack would quit. Hell, I would if it was me. Plus I had known Jack back home for YEARS, and know his temper. Mr. Kim deluded himself that nothing bad would come of it.

In the morning, it was a Friday, before class Jack and I met for coffee. I told him about 10% of the BS. Didn't mention the girlfriend. Jack was understanding, that is he knew this wasn't coming from me. He went up and told Mr. Kim he was giving his months notice of quiting. Mr. Kim told him he couldn't quit. So he told Mr. Kim to fuck off and said that because of that this was his last day. Before the afternoon classes he went to immigration for a chat and got the papers to lodge a complaint with the labour office. Mr. Kim stupidly tried to confront him again and then quickly backed off. Which is goo0d for him because the last Director that got in Jack's face got smacked into a wall several times.

My gut told me to quit or at least not renew when my VISA expired in a month. But I had given my word. I still hadn't realized that meant so little to many Koreans.

More bull shit was yet to come.