Asian Cunning

So, those sneaky little asians have pulled a fast one on me -- though not really a fast one since I pretty much expected them to reneg on our contract.

I go to the head office of Education for Jeju Island with Bill -- a co-worker at the Hallim Center -- because they need our help verifying other peoples' degrees. I get there and Ria Kim tells me that they "have to downgrade me to a Level II" pay because:

1. I don't have a letter from the university in China I taught at with the dates of employment on it -- (apparently 2 work visas -- with name of school and dates -- a letter of reference, which indicates that I worked "at least one year" --- are NOT sufficient. Hm. Nice that no one told me this until -- conviently? -- they LAST DAY to have all documents in to secure pay scale. And they've had my documents since...late August at least. And I'd written on them "proof of employment." Nice if they'd have told me sooner that wasn't good enough...

2. My Record of employment from Jungchul is not sufficient because it says: July 3 -- July 1st. Shy 3 days. I try explaing to her, "IT WAS 12 CALENDAR MONTHS!!" -- very calmly, of course. She wants me to call the school in Busan and get another one. I refuse and in the end make her do it. Bitch.

3. My TEFL Certificate -- which apparently they'd lost at EPIK and neither EPIK nor my recruiter knew where it was happened to be sitting in my file on Ria's desk. Nice. Doesn't say one it 100 hours. I have to get a personal letter sent to me saying the program was 100hours or more. I imform her -- oh, so calmly -- that this is the VERY first time I've EVER heard about this. That if she wanted to see how long the prograw was all she has to do is CHECK THEIR WEBSITE or CALL THEM!!! MOOOOOORONS! Nope, not good enough. Need a LETTER. As if it's more difficult to fabricate a letter than invent a website. Logical.

All this, remember they tell me THE LAST DAY. So as to ensure that I am screwed. I argue with Ria for at least an hour, tell her I'm not teaching, go out for a smoke, think about quitting right then and there and remember that payday is just 10 days away and if I quit, I'll wait until then. 'Manda can play cunning too.

So, I go back in and we "compromise" -- meaning she gets what she wants: I have to get the letter from China, she calls for the "revised (3 day)" Busan work record, and I show her online my TEFL is 100hrs (though I'll probably still need the letter for that later). AND, I get level 2 pay this month. But next month, they assure me they'll bump me back up to Level 1 -- assuming my documents are alll in. However, the other teachers shake their heads when I tell them this, smile knowingly and say: "no they won't".

My boss here got the Chinese teacher to call Chanzhi uni asking for my work record but got the runaround. She had quit that day (chinese teacher) so don't think she tried too hard and don't think the school is in any hurry to help me out. So, who knows if I'll ever get it. Am seriously thinking of faking one though...

Needless to say, yesterday was an extremely frustrating day.

Now, about my weekend....

That was a bit nicer. Went to Hamdeok beach by taxi -- 20 min and 10,000 Won -- and it was all sand and emerald green water. Past "beach season" so not crowded at all, but still warm enough for a smim. I did dive in, lay in the sand, nap with the sun on my face. Mmmm...calms me just thinking about it.

The Saturday Storybook class went fine, read them a childrens' version of King Arthur. Then the beach. Then got invited out with Ms. Kang with Lucy (co-worker) to her friends house for supper -- an American guy married to a Korean woman. Didn't really want to go but it turned out to be a lot of fun actually. He made grilled chicken and pork, with wraps and salsa and all the toppings. We drank and talked. A friend of Ms. Kang's was there too -- I'd met her before but couldn't really remember who she was or what she did, having met so many people this past month. Anyway, we left around 11pm.

Sunday, I decided to treat myself out to a coffee out, at the paris Baguette and enjoy the people passing by on a Luxurious Sunday morning. A few sips into my superb Americano, I see Ann Marie -- who lives in my building. I'd met her at the foreiger's dinner Friday night. French Canadian girl -- she and I go shopping all day for our apartments.

And then yesterday happened. And you know all about that. Except we did interview the kids for two hours to determine what level of ESL classes they'll be taking. Was happy for something to do to pass the time but was very, very tired when I came home. Lucy was nice enough to ask details about my day and let me rant. Took me out for Dapoki (thick rice noodles with a red, spicy sauce), and then to Baskin Robins for a double scoop of ice cream -- even though I insisted one was plenty she did insist and I couldn't eat it all though.

How are you all doing? Email soon!