Well, it's my third Saturday in Korea and I have started to settle in. When I signed a contact back in Canada to come and work for this school I agreed to the fact that there would be 4 Saturday workshops throughout the year that are mandatory. I hadn't realized at the time how tired I would be and how much I would be looking forward to my weekends for "down time". I am required to be at the school at 8:15 a.m.
I arrived at about 8:10 a.m. only to find out that not everyone had arrived and it was a case of "hurry up and wait". So, I grabbed a cup of coffee from the vending machine and sat down to wait. Our supervisor who I'll call "Julie" is running around trying to get us organized. The first problem is that for the Korean, Japanese and Chinese Teachers it is a weekend workshop and they are required to spend the night at the camp and attend the workshop tomorrow, too. The "Native Speakers" were told the workshop was only on the Saturday and that is what is in our contracts. A huge debate results with the other teachers resenting the Western Teachers. I am so new I just sit there drinking my coffee and trying to stay below the radar. Eventually, it is decided that the Westerners only have to attend for the day. And, we all climb into the vans and drive 30 minutes to the location the workshop will be held at somewhere near Waegwan towards Daegu of Gumi.
The day drags on and on and ALL of the meetings are in Korean and nothing is translated into English. The English Teachers start to get restless [me included] why are me required to be here? We can't understand anything of what is going on and we sure can't contribute. Then we break for lunch and Tony is given a digital camera and told to take pictures of us. I hear one of the other English Teachers mumble that this is why we are here. It's all a "photo opportunity" to promote the school. I think that is very cynical but as the day drags on and I learn absolutely nothing and understand even less of what is going on I begin to concur.
After supper [the evening meal at around 6:00 p.m.] "Jamie" our recruiter showed up. All the Canadian English Teachers have the same recruiter. He had told me he would be coming to Korea to visit the school within my first couple of weeks. My starting at the school just happened to coincide with his annual visit to the school. I had never met "Jamie" before. I had talked to him on the phone a lot in Canada prior to coming and he was the recruiter my friend "Mary" had used.
It was really nice to meet him. Even more so since he brought sheets from Canada [my Mom - at my request - had shipped some to him for him to bring me]. After 3 weeks in Korea I finally have the bedding I want and need. Yippee! Moreover, he is able to get me an advance of about 150,000 won [or a bit over $ 150.00 CDN] on my salary. I didn't have a lot of money when I left Canada and I was worried when I learned I would only be paid once a month. I wondered how I would survive for over a month with only $ 200.00 CDN. But, "Jamie" had reassured me and told me he himself had been in a similar situation when he first went to Korea to teach and so had many of the other teachers he had recruited. He had told me it wouldn't be a problem to get an advance. However, although I had tried several times I had been unable to get an advance. But when he showed up and I told him my problem and within 5 minutes I had cash in my hand. It was amazing how he made things happen.
The other English Teachers seemed glad to see him, too. However, some of them just wanted to give him a piece of their mind cause they are not pleased with the disorganization at the school.
Then a new crisis arose. It became apparent that the "Native Speakers" were expected to spend the entire weekend at the workshop. When "Julie" had told us just that morning that we could go home that evening she had neglected to tell or clear this with our boss [Mr. X - the owner of the school]. Moreover, we learned that there had been no preparation made to get us back home. No one had been scheduled to drive us the 30 minutes back to Gumi. Had this been made clear to us the day before or even that morning we could have prepared and packed some clean clothes, snacks, etc. But we weren't prepared to spend the night. We didn't even have our toothbrushes. Added to that fact was that not only were there no beds there weren't even separate rooms for the male and female teachers. The Korean Teachers got some blankets and start to spread them on the floor of the room next door to the conference room. Some of the more senior Canadian teachers start to freak out. They didn't want to stay under these conditions and especially not after being told we could go home that evening.
To this day I'm not sure what would have happened if "Jamie" hadn't been there but luckily he was. Sensing a revolt he took the boss aside and showing him his Korean Driver's Licence he asked if he could borrow one of the vans and drive us back to Gumi. Eventually, our boss agreed if somewhat reluctantly.
"Jamie" became a hero to the Canadian English Teachers and I learned a couple of valuable lessons:
- No doesn't always mean "NO". It might merely mean you need to get someone with more influence to ask for what you want/need on your behalf. I had been told I couldn't have an advance but "Jamie" was able to get one for me in a matter of minutes.
- There is usually a reason for things even if it isn't logical to you. It might be that your presence is required for photographic or publicity purposes. For example, the cynical comment of one of my fellow English Teachers proved true. The "Native Speakers" were needed at the Saturday Workshop so we could have our photos taken. I know this is at least partly true because I later saw the photos that Tony was told to take on the school's website.
- Korean people [and actually most people in general] don't like to lose face and therefore they don't always handle conflict directly. As a result don't believe everything you're told [either by a boss or a recruiter]. When we got upset and were causing a delay debating about having to spend the weekend at the workshop "Julie" simply took the path of least resistance and told us what we wanted to hear - namely that we only had to attend the workshop for the day and could go home that night.
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I know this might seem like I am being very negative and harsh and perhaps I am at least in this instance. But, remembering these three points have always stood me in good stead in Korea and elsewhere. If I "expect the worst but hope for the best" than I am not so frustrated and disappointed when things don't go as I planned or was promised. And, often I am pleasantly surprised. Not such a bad lesson to learn in life.
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