Had that talk with Hetty-teacher today. Though first, some of you/many of you think me and my fellow teaching compatriots are pretty gutsy for coming here. Which is true enough, BUT! Did YOU know that you don't get training!? I literally had 30 minutes of, "here's this, here's that," then was shown to my classroom & was told, ok, go to it! Sara's replacement, Nathalie, has had a royal queen's treatment comparatively, but was screwed over a bit in that our daily busy work lesson plans for every day this week were due last Friday, Sara's last day. She didn't bother to do them. Which none of us knew, until Nathalie, who was in that all-too-familiar, WTF is going on!!? What class am I teaching, what BOOK am I teaching? Is this my schedule or that one? What are their names? How do I do this? phase, mentioned that she had to do those stupid daily lesson plans for this week. I mean, COME ON. Give the girl a fucking BREAK! She doesn't know what's going on, never mind what or precisely how to do those, what the kids are reading, etc. Give her this week off! But no, she's taking the giant teacher edition books home to work on it, apparently because she has to.
So anyway. I asked Hetty if it'd be possible for us to move up my end date. I lied & said I had a job offer for June 1. She said she just couldn't give me an end date yet. The first recruiter told her they couldn't guarantee a replacement, and the second told her this isn't hiring season. I offered to post on facebook, while questioning where they're posting the job. Dave's ESL Cafe, for example, the one place everyone looks first, even if it is an overwhelming mess?!
She couldn't give me anything. I said that like her and the recruiters, I'm facing a deadline too, because most schools want you to start the 1st. I then asked her, what would she do if the recruiters couldn't find anyone by June 17th? She actually counted from March to make sure that would be 3 months. She had no answer, and I think no idea.
But she did have ONE idea: to start deducting the flight from my paycheck now. So I have to hunt down the paperwork on that and hope the price is on there, because I remembered it being around $700, but she's going ahead with $1000 until she sees different.
At that point, with none of her usual flattery/desperation/sadness/confusion coming into play when my leaving was the topic on the table, I figured I'm not getting that Letter of Release. Even if I stay until June 17th & help train a new teacher & work ahead so they don't fall behind (which I'd do anyway), I no longer believe she'll give it to me at all. Tausha agrees, and sagely said she thought that once June 17th rolled around Hetty'd start begging me to stay, and hold that LOR over my head to try to get me to. I'm not sure if it's just that she doesn't want to look for a new teacher or not.
I posted to one facebook page, and got 2 responses. Of course, the tricky thing with this job is, most people who've been here aren't going to settle for the bare bones I've got. One girl wanted the schedule and benefits, and oddly I haven't heard back from her! Lol. The other, however, loved teaching kindergarten, taught in Japan, but only wants a 6 month contract, and can start in 4 weeks. I mean to me, WHY NOT, that's about when mine would've ended anyway. She wants to talk to Hetty herself, so I'm going to let Hetty know. But also make clear that nothing's moving forward unless I know I am getting, for sure, that LOR.
In the meantime, though, I just feel like it won't be coming. I wrote my cover letter for the school in Taiwan that Mercedes is attending and has researched on my behalf, and polished up the resume. Tomorrow I'll renew the search abroad. Provided she continues to do as she does, I'm going to do the most UN-JEN thing EVER: I'm going to leave her ass high & dry. No notice, just one day I won't show up, my shit will be out of the apartment, my money in my US bank account, & I'll be on a plane elsewhere. It has come to this. I will not be the rule-following good girl. She'll be supremely fucked, and I will give absolutely no fucks about it. Except maybe some gleeful ones.
It sucks to leave my friends. And even my boring but consistent boyfriend, lol. It's such an experience to finally have what is so common and easy for everyone else, and it's so terribly uninteresting. Lol. It sucks to leave all this money. It sucks this has to be done. But that's the way it's looking, and that's the direction I'm headed. Namely: OUT OF KOREA.
As someone who's ALWAYS followed the rules and gone out of my way for others - including employers; I say go ahead and "supremely fuck" her over! If the only fucks you give are gleeful for leaving a shitty situation? Then you know you can't stay there a moment longer than you absolutely have to.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I am totally a rule follower, but in this situation you have to look out for your own well-being. Good luck with the job search!
ReplyDeleteThanks girls. Really appreciate hearing from you 2 who know exactly how hard this is for rule follower.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, today I ALMOST walked out after my last kindergarten class. I told the 2 Americans to talk me out of walking out, going home, packing, and booking a plane ticket back to the US. I just couldn't deal with them anymore, lol.