|
DontAskKant posted:Did you miss the part where I couldn't really do any interviews until after my contract was finished? Yeah all the jobs are gone by then. Instead of moving up in ESL I'm trying to move out. By taking a job that doesn't actually give you the free pass to get out when your contract expires?
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 08:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 15:27 |
|
|
Brimmy posted:By taking a job that doesn't actually give you the free pass to get out when your contract expires? They don't tell you how they'll gently caress you at the start. Whole school was nonstandard. My last place was tiny and it's really hard to cook with 6"x12" counterspace and one burner. Yes it's possible but miserable. Stayed out of my apartment as much as possible. Which is expensive. School said I could make a special contract with the realtor for the key money so I'll need to scramble together 5 million if I have it before I get paid from the last school. That traps me here for 12 months though. The extra 100k a month around hanyang is probably best.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 08:41
|
|
|
Gildiss posted:Yeah, we can do that. There isn't a huge swath of unemployed people with degrees looking for jobs we are competing against or something. Maybe Kant's situation isn't the perfect example because he is trying to get hired, but I definitely think people with public school contracts shouldn't be afraid to stand up for themselves. They won't fire you. It's so frustrating when people post on our local Facebook group looking for advice about all the stuff their schools are "making" them do, and the replies basically tell them to bend over and take it. I worked for EPIK once in a city with maybe 20 NETs total. Pay for working camps at other schools (which is how they always ran, with multiple NETs for each camp) was always 30k an hour. One elementary coteacher decided once that her camp would only pay 20k, which led to the teachers who had already agreed backing out. As much as we asked nobody to take the camp (except the teacher who worked at that school, obviously), a few people still agreed to do it. Not a single elementary school ever paid more than 20k after that. I guess the moral of this is that people being pushovers really can screw things up for other people. That's kind of what I meant by my original comment. Now I'll go look back through the old thread to get the backstory on Kant's issues.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 11:48
|
|
|
Are there any sex shops in Busan? Asking for a friend. My friend is my dick.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 12:42
|
|
|
I'm back with a dumb question: are there any well-known pirate sites for Koreans that are decent to use (ie: not getting caught)? I heard, "you should learn Korean by using it as a hobby" about a million times and now I'm playing games in Korean. I've got a ridiculously-sized spreadsheet, lots of translation tools/dictionaries, and so on and I've probably increased my vocabulary quite a bit in a very short time period playing RPG's. Doing that and using a flash card program on my phone frequently (Anki).
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 12:54
|
|
|
joedevola posted:Are there any sex shops in Busan? Yes, probably many. You can buy many more plastic friends at them.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 15:13
|
|
|
Super helpful answer bro!
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 15:23
|
|
|
joedevola posted:Super helpful answer bro! I can't believe I'm answering this question. Look for 성인 용품. Not sure I really have a story for why I know that. It means adult merchandise/goods. Something like that. I've even some marked as something like, 택배됩니다 (can deliver) for those that are embarrassed to go in one.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 15:28
|
|
|
erobadapazzi posted:Maybe Kant's situation isn't the perfect example because he is trying to get hired, but I definitely think people with public school contracts shouldn't be afraid to stand up for themselves. They won't fire you. It's so frustrating when people post on our local Facebook group looking for advice about all the stuff their schools are "making" them do, and the replies basically tell them to bend over and take it. Meanwhile, in GEPIK, we don't get paid to do camps. As the atmosphere gets more competitive, the pay and benefits go down. This is not necessarily being a pushover as it is trying to get a job and maintain it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 18:13
|
|
|
joedevola posted:Are there any sex shops in Busan? Gmarket. Also, for those who know anything about gambling, the Baccarat tables at Walkerhill casino are no commission. I'm running the math on this right now, but I think it might actually favor people who bet solely on banker to win more than they lose. I haven't seen a no commission Baccarat table for a long time, but here in Korea, it's a money printing machine. I've walked out with more than 300,000 each of the last three times I've gone by just betting on banker every single hand. Just a heads up for people who like money. Gonna take a money shower right now.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 19:16
|
|
|
Kant, I thought you were moving to glorious China?
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2013 19:54
|
|
|
Arctic Baldwin posted:Meanwhile, in GEPIK, we don't get paid to do camps. As the atmosphere gets more competitive, the pay and benefits go down. This is not necessarily being a pushover as it is trying to get a job and maintain it. I guess it's probably more cutthroat in Daejeon but I think you might be surprised how much pull you have, especially if you're a decent teacher and willing to be pleasantly social in that Korean way. Despite being a constant unintelligible thorn in my boss' side I was able to negotiate a really excellent after-school program contract for myself, up from "you'll work these hours at standard overtime pay and thank me for it". GEPIK seems to be increasing its English budget (but this might be for rural schools only, I'm not sure yet) and don't really give a lot of guidance. Also, hiring a new foreigner and getting them up to speed on working and living in Korea is a huge rear end ache, and most Koreans hold no delusions about how lovely and weird most NETs are. I don't even think you actually need to be a good teacher, just friendly at work and willing to help. If you bathe occasionally you basically hold all the cards. If you work a public position (I mean not YOU you, Arctic, I'm sure you know what's up) you should be willing to fight for yourself, if not for your sake then for everyone else. I doubt we'll ever be paid for camps now that it's calcified in the contracts, but you absolutely have bargaining power when it comes to new poo poo, especially if you're a decent employee that's been here a little while. I know this is kind of a pipe dream, though. Despite the competition I can't really see EPIK/GEPIK not being comprised of one-year Camp Korea hires who will agree to anything because its The Rules and then blog about how unfair it is until they go home. Which is basically how I was my first year too~ 
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 01:33
|
|
|
I was in Seoul over the long weekend and was able to meet with some old friends. Things seem rather depressed in the job market. I've been in Gangwon working on a community outreach program and I wasn't filled with enthusiasm in returning to the city. Or are my friends just miserable people?
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 01:41
|
|
|
Meanwhile, there are people like this (stolen from ESL Cafe):quote:English tutoring for 15,000won/hr (Seoul)
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 01:49
|
|
|
oldman posted:Or are my
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 01:51
|
|
|
Any larger person ever bought a road bike here? Seems like everyone on the bike paths has a mountain bike. My local bike shop sells mostly cyclocross stuff or mountain bikes. Only a couple road bikes, and they're all small. I'm really only interested in riding the river trails and roads and stuff so I don't need a MTB. Seen a few used bikes on various sites, but they were XS-M at best. Not going to work for me as I'm about 189cm. Was just wondering if anyone has any experience in this stuff? Looking to upgrade from a hybrid right now. I just wanna go fast! ㅠㅠ
cryptoclastic fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Mar 8, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 02:06
|
|
|
slacjs posted:This sounds about right. In my little bubble out in the boonies I tend to meet happier folk. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 02:06
|
|
|
The Koreans I know tend to be a lot more miserable. No surprise considering what they have to put up with. But in general people are happy enough.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 02:23
|
|
|
oldman posted:In my little bubble out in the boonies I tend to meet happier folk. I think what you're experiencing is that the people who are willing to adapt to living in the countryside are willing to persevere regardless the circumstance. Not every person can withstand living in near-isolation for year[s], and not every person can manage to find the positive in otherwise rough situations every time. However, I think these two groups overlap a lot. cryptoclastic posted:Bike words I don't understand I know nothing about bikes, but a friend of mine who's about 185cm or so purchased a bike in Cheongju for around 250,000w that had a frame able to handle his size comfortably. I think you'll have to check around in the shops, but there should be bikes in your size. Shameful Question Time How does trash work in Seoul? My building has the 4-5 recycle bins outside the door, and there's a large cardboard receptacle across the street. But what about just random trash? I bought these blue bags from Homeplus; can't I just cram things into those, and throw them in a big dumpster somewhere? I've been in the city for 6 days now, and I need to seriously take out my trash, but I'm completely lost on this matter, and too weirded out to go to the security guard and vigorously point at pictures on my phone while parsing some Korean together. Will I need to sort everything single piece? AmbientParadox fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Mar 8, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 02:24
|
|
|
I will say that hiring out in the countryside is more difficult, my work is trying to fill a camp teaching position that pays 2.7 minimum and we are having a devil of a time getting people to actually show up. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 03:01
|
|
|
I just put all my trash in the blue bags. Shove the stuff that probably shouldn't be there in 711 bags or near the bottom so it looks like it's all misc trash. Whatever, not my problem. And about people working for cheap, I don't blame them. Some people are married here or have bills to pay, I'm sure some of you have been in a position where you're willing to take any work just to live. Screw everyone else if you need the money you need the money.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 04:18
|
|
|
BrainDance posted:I just put all my trash in the blue bags. Shove the stuff that probably shouldn't be there in 711 bags or near the bottom so it looks like it's all misc trash. Alright, so i probably should just pantomime and ask, 'Hwuajangshil-un odiayo?' to the security guy for the best place?
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 04:27
|
|
|
AmbientParadox posted:
Each building, unfortunately, is a wonderful, unique snowflake.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 04:43
|
|
|
AmbientParadox posted:Alright, so i probably should just pantomime and ask, 'Hwuajangshil-un odiayo?' to the security guy for the best place? I didn't even do that, because then if I ever got in trouble for it I couldn't do the ignorant foreigner thing. My buildings trash area is all the way down in basement 4, so maybe check the basement. I just go around 11pm because the security guard is always asleep around then. Then I throw my bags haphazardly into the trash area (it stinks so I dont wanna actually go in there.) No one's said anything yet. I think everyone else just does the same thing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:07
|
|
|
Each dong should have a trash bag that you buy at the CU or E-mart or wherever. Generally there will be bins for cans, plastic, glass, and paper. There's usually also a big dumpster for trash bags. Just sort everything and throw it in the respective bin. If you're not sure, just put it in the trash bag and you'll be fine. The idea is to get it more or less in the right spot. At my apartment, there's just a street light behind the building where everyone makes a giant trash bag mountain and it magically disappears every Tuesday morning. News last night said the yellow dust/pollution index was the all-time worst for Seoul. I did notice it seemed extra smoggy/foggy yesterday, but nope! It's actually just horrible poo poo that will kill you.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:09
|
|
|
Cameron posted:I'm still surprised that after you've been here just as long as I have that you're still working with public schools and hagwons. You gotta move up in the world, bro! Could you elaborate on this? I'm coming back to Korea for my second year, was just offered a contract for 2.3 which I'm happy with. Especially since it seems a lot more difficult to find well paying positions than it was when I was last in Korea (2010). I frequently see posts (usually on Dave's  ) from people saying that they won't work for less than 2.8, or that they haven't made under 2.6 since their first year, etc.Is this mostly bullshit, or is there something I'm missing here? Other than university jobs and privates, where are these ESL positions that are pushing 3.0?
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:20
|
|
|
Cameron posted:News last night said the yellow dust/pollution index was the all-time worst for Seoul. I did notice it seemed extra smoggy/foggy yesterday, but nope! It's actually just horrible poo poo that will kill you. North Korean first-strike. Codephrases: Dingo, salamander, voxxel, lightningbolt. Report to your designated norebangs and await further orders.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:32
|
|
|
When said that, I was talking about job conditions, as well as pay. As far as I see it, in this economy and job market, it's more valuable to be picky and a good job seeker than go for the highest possible salaries. Hagwons and Public School seem like a stepping stone. There are adult hagwons, part-time jobs and after school positions which are better than almost any hagwon or public job. The pay might be the same or slightly less, but the conditions are where you win. After you've been in the country for a year and have a year of experience under your belt, you've got carte blanche to snap up the juicier jobs that people still living in other countries can't get. I make as much money as a newbie here, but instead of working 40-45 hours a week, I work 12-16. I also don't have to ever deal with children, which is another bonus for me. That's what I'm talking about. The idea of finding another job with the same kinds of conditions and just a little bit more money seems kind of pointless to me. Your quality of life is still lovely. Imagine being back home and doing the same thing: having a sorta-lovely job, working it for a year, being unsatisfied enough to leave it - only to find a job that's nearly identical for just another $100 a month. Hagwons are notorious and a bit of a gamble, why risk another year of your sanity putting up with that poo poo? Now that I have free time, I can choose to go to school or get another job if I want to, but I don't have to. That's what matters to me, and I think most people would agree.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:34
|
|
|
It must truly be a blessing to have little/no debt and not have to worry so much about your income, but not all of us are in such a position. Taking a job with lower pay is completely unacceptable for me, especially with cost of living skyrocketing so fast and eating up what little extra I did have. Fortunately, I've been able to get more with each job.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:38
|
|
|
nullscan posted:Report to your designated norebangs and await further orders.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:45
|
|
|
Spiderjelly posted:Kant, I thought you were moving to glorious China? I think that might have been the root cause of all of his problems.  iKant.jpg
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:53
|
|
|
I still have $23,000 in debt as well, but I pay for my own apartment (780,000 a month) in central Seoul and yet I'm still getting by just fine and making my loan payments and still saving. Not sure how anyone who makes a lot more (net) money than me can be having a hard time here.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:55
|
|
|
oldman posted:I will say that hiring out in the countryside is more difficult, my work is trying to fill a camp teaching position that pays 2.7 minimum and we are having a devil of a time getting people to actually show up. Can you try and get your school to hire you for that position? They'll have to swing some stuff and you might have to keep your mouth shut about a few things but that's what I did with a vacant afterschool program they wanted a foreigner for. The hours are long but I'm basically earning two paychecks now and it is fantastic. Often they can't pay housing and stuff for additional positions so it's a dealbreaker for new people.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 05:58
|
|
|
I hear tomorrow might be even worse on the Yellow Dust scale. Thanks, China!
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 06:03
|
|
|
Onion Knight posted:Can you try and get your school to hire you for that position? They'll have to swing some stuff and you might have to keep your mouth shut about a few things but that's what I did with a vacant afterschool program they wanted a foreigner for. The hours are long but I'm basically earning two paychecks now and it is fantastic. Sadly no, its for a camp position where an actual warm bodied person is needed. I teach in the community outreach program.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 06:30
|
|
|
Cameron posted:I still have $23,000 in debt as well, but I pay for my own apartment (780,000 a month) in central Seoul and yet I'm still getting by just fine and making my loan payments and still saving. Not sure how anyone who makes a lot more (net) money than me can be having a hard time here. I would happy murder an entire box of kittens to have a student loan load that small. My dream at the moment is to get the outstanding below six figures.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 06:35
|
|
|
I was lucky in that my school never asked me to do anything extra and they liked me because I never threw my contract in their faces. I was lucky.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 06:43
|
|
|
So this contract is for a school in Junggye-dong, Nowon-gu in Seoul. Is anyone familiar with the area? Other than Itaewon, I've never really spent any time in Seoul.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 06:56
|
|
|
Tirius posted:So this contract is for a school in Junggye-dong, Nowon-gu in Seoul. Is anyone familiar with the area? Other than Itaewon, I've never really spent any time in Seoul. Nowon is Northern Seoul, like the very north of it. That's all I got.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 07:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 15:27 |
|
|
Friend of mine used to work in Nowon. It's very built up, has a few foreigner bars that tend to get busy enough (supposedly), but also quite out of the way. 30k or so from Hongdae in a taxi if I remember from the one time I crashed there.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2013 07:32
|
|