The Internet Ramblings of the QiRanger

It’s coming up on 04:45 on Saturday morning and the issues for the past six months are finally coming to a close. I wish I could say that there were no fireworks this past week and that my exit was smooth, but that would be a lie.

The issues really started Wednesday, 24th December. While in the Conference Room, I was told by the Head Teacher that apparently he was leaving two weeks early. His contract was up and had previously negotiated a vacation date of 9th January through the end of February. Without his knowledge or consent, the school management booked him a ticket for Monday, 29th December. In fact, they didn’t even tell him about the change in plans and proceeded to let another teacher know so she could move into his apartment during his vacation. Nothing was really said about where he would live after his return.

But today took the cake. The Head Teacher was shorted over W1,000,000 without notice and given a flimsy excuse. At last discussion, he wasn’t sure if he wasn’t going to return to the school in February. I can’t blame him. But I took the full force of the beating last night.

Despite repeated requests for documentation and attempts to be paid, they put things off until 8:30pm. I knew they were going to pull something shady, since when I walked into the school in the morning and they had nothing ready for me.

The owner handed me sheet detailing my last month’s earnings and charges. The final payment they were going to offer me: W3,440. That’s right US$2.65 for a month’s worth of work.

They tacked on a ton of charges to my salary. Some of the charges were most likely valid (gas, electric, Internet, phone, etc.), although they could provide no bills to substantiate their claim amount. The figures weren’t too far out of what I pay on a monthly basis, but seeing as how I never saw many of the bills I was being charged for, I was a little suspicious. But where they went overboard was with the airefare and recruiter’s fee.

In my contract there was stipulation that if I was terminated before 8 months of employment, I had to repay the airfare to Korea immediately. In the same line-item, it also said that if I worked for six months and then left, I would not have to do so. I pointed out the wording of his contract, that I signed, was two-fold and indicated two things. He was adamant that I had to repay, and I was equally opposed. Due to my departure time, I could not file a complaint with the Immigration board or start arbitration. I also pointed out to him the area of the contract that states should there be confusion or aspects of “unenforceability,” that the item should be ignored.

The other item that were charging me for was my recruiter’s fee. First, they were refusing even to pay first and discuss the notion later. Second, they fully acknowledged that no where in my contract did it state that at any point would I be financially responsible for repayment of the fee. It was just something they wanted. During our conversation on this point, they even thought about calling the recruiter to get her to refund her fee (despite the fact that the all the recruiter guarantees is three months).

It took some time, but they acquiesced on that point, but by the end of the night they wound up cheating me out of W1,300,000. In addition, since the banks are closed tomorrow, I’m not able to obtain a check from the ATM. This is needed because the largest bank note in Korea is W10,000. While I can certainly carry the W600,000 I have with me, it would have been a little nicer to carry one piece of paper worth that much and exchange it… and get my last W8,409 out of my account.

I am very happy to be getting out of this school. My experience is very reminiscent of the teacher who was fired six days before her contract was up, so they wouldn’t have to pay her the month’s severance at the end. However, even with all that’s happened, this has been a very positive experience being abroad. Not a bad way to see the world and have most of your expenses covered.

Here’s to a great new 2009 with better prospects around the corner!

Merry Christmas

As I prepare to leave the Land of the Morning Calm, I wanted to share a warm wish with all my friends. I hope that this season is a little extra special for you. That you have the opportunity to reach out and share the memories with your a long lost friend or that some extra time is spent with your family.

May the day be joyous and the coming year be prosperous!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Earth as taken from Apollo 8, 1968. NASA IMAGE

This week marks the 40th anniversary of Apollo 8’s historic Christmas mission around the moon. Next year marks the same anniversary of the landing. When you think about the advances in technology gained in less than a decade during the Space Race compared to where we are today… we’ve fallen short and gotten lazy.

Here’s to the men and women around the world that truly made humans take flight.

Old and New

It’s hard to believe, but I am approaching my last week here in Korea. My time in the Land of the Morning Calm is coming to a close. While I am sad to leave this wondrous country, I am not sad to be leaving my job or the people who run the business. While they state they are interested in helping young people learn, their actions show otherwise. Their unethical business dealings as it pertains to myself and other teachers is also to be lamented.

But even though this experience has been very negative, from a teaching perspective, my overall experience in Korea was positive. I enjoyed the opportunity to meet people and explore a culture and environment that was completely different from where I came from. It has solidified my desire to travel and try to make the globe a bit smaller for those who cannot.

Probably the thing that stands out the most for me is how quickly Korea has grow. How you can walk into a major city and instantly be transported back in time by the palaces, temples, and fortresses.

While there will be no more Korea photos or films, I have plans for some amazing things in 2009. I hope you’ll stick around. Blog posts will be less frequent as I enter the holiday season, but I hope you and your family are able to share this joyous time together.

Street Food Video

I usually don’t really push my videos on anyone. Sure I like to receive comments and views, because I try to share some interesting things with the world and enjoy the feedback and discussion it starts. But this video is different.

It’s the last major project for me in Korea and is very special. Not because of the topic (Korean Street Food), but because how it was made. You see, in my “Newspaper” class, I routinely have my students research a topic and then produce an in-class news show similar to the QiRanger Report. For the month of December, we’ve been discussing Lifestyle news and what it means to report on things from a more personal perspective.

So my video on Street Food is being shot with my 4th Grade Honor Students. The video covers two classic Korean Street Foods and two modern additions. They put a lot of work into this project, knowing that it would be posted on YouTube… which is why I’m writing this.

Please click on the video and watch the show (in HD no less) and leave a comment. I’ll be showing them the video for the first time on Monday during class and I’d love to be able to give them all sorts of comments from my friends from around the world.

Thanks!

First up… the Video of Chandeokgung. Some additional information gleened from Wikipedia:

The Video

Changdeokgung (Changdeok Palace) is a palace set within a large park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the “Five Grand Palaces” built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty and because of its location east of Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeokgung is also referred to as the East Palace. The literal meaning of Changdeokgung(昌德宮) is “Palace of Prospering Virtue”.

Changdeokgung was the favored palace of many kings of the Joseon Dynasty and retained many Korean elements dating from the Three Kingdoms of Korea period that were not incorporated in the more formalistic Gyeongbokgung. One such element is the fact that the buildings of Changdeokgung blend with the topography of the site instead of imposing upon nature.

And second… a little snow.

Out and about...

It was Saturday. It was sunny. It was cold. In fact, it was the coldest day on record for the season, coming in at a whopping 16F (-9C) today. But I decided to do something foolish and head into Seoul. Not because I was going crazy in the one-room, but because I wanted to take a glimpse at something special and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to see it while the weather was nice (you see, the next week is being forecast for wet weather).

Changdeokgung

So I decided to “cowboy up” and take the bus into Seoul. What is normally a 45 minute ride took nearly 2 hours due to traffic and construction. I wasn’t exactly happy about it… but there was nothing I could do. My destination today was Changdeokgung. It was a palace build in 1405, in the fifth year of King Taejong’s rule as a back-up for Gyeongbukgung (the main Imperial Palace). Changdeokgung saw little use until the 1590s, when Gyeongbokgun was burned down during the Japanese occupation. The Royal Family ruled Korea here for some 300 years and lived in the palace until 1988.

As with all palaces constructed during the Joseon Dynasty, feng shui played a major part in its layout. A mountain is in the rear and a stream runs through it. The Palace also is home to the King’s Secret Garden. A special area where only he and those he designated were allowed to visit. It’s a remarkable place to go and see. Unfortunately, most of the year you must travel the grounds with a tour guide, limiting your visit to 90 minutes. However, in the warmer months, on Thursdays, there is a self-guided touring option.

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden is something special, and on this cold winter day, with the pond frozen over, something even more noteworthy. In fact, everything in the Garden had its place: the square pond symbolizing Earth; the round island symbolizing Heaven; the gates, the library, etc. It was a magical excursion. Feel free to see more photos here.

Flying away

Well things just got to a point at work where I could not continue there. Rather than complete my contract with an employer that habitually lies and cheats, in addition to failing to uphold certain terms of the agreement, I opted to sever ties.

At this point, the owners haven’t even spoken to me about my exit, which is either a good thing or could mean more drama as the end of the month approaches. I will be speaking to them today about exiting the apartment and see if they have anything to say.

Luckily, I was able to find a very cheap flight home and will be stateside on 28th December. It also looks like I’ll be in Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve. Beyond that, there are some details to be worked out and some things that need to be addressed stateside. But with a little luck, I’ll be back in Korea before too long. While I am home, I have three places lined up to stay, seeing some friends I haven’t caught up with in a long time.

It seems I am destined to live out of a suitcase for a while.

I kind of like it.