Monthly Archives: July 2007

So I went back to the contract to add in that missing article 9, section 4, and guess what? It was already there.

Then I thought I must be nuts. So I checked my printed copies, and yup, it’s there too. I looked over the whole contract again, and there’s nothing missing. But I swear I checked several times and that clause was missing in both languages.

I swear I must be insane. My eyes are playing tricks on me. Maybe I should head to the old folks’ home or something instead of Korea. Sigh.

They say that it was a mistake, and that I should add it in before I send it.

I got sent a final version of the contract, where they had added their address, and filled in the blanks in Korean (eg, starting date, etc).

I printed out three copies, cause I had to go catch the bus and get to the Korean consulate (to certify my copies of my diploma), but compared the last version to an older one to be sure that they didn’t change anything that they weren’t supposed to.

Guess what?

Before:

Article 9 (Renewal)

① The Term of Employment stated in Article 4 hereof may be renewed by the mutual written agreement between Employer and Employee, provided that each renewed employment term does not exceed one (1) year.

② In the case of renewal of this Contract pursuant to the foregoing ①, Employee shall be given two weeks for a home leave which shall take place 2 calendar weeks prior to the contract end date specified in Article 4 hereof until the day immediately preceding the commencement of the renewed term. But, if his/her home leave interferes with the regular work operations, employer alternate his/her home leave. This two week home leave will be counted as part of the contract term, and accordingly salary will be paid.

③ In the event that the employee travels to his/her home country pursuant to the foregoing ②, Employee’s round trip airfare shall be reimbursed by Employer after Employee’s return to Korea. The round trip airfare for Employee’s flight shall be based on rate provided for in Article 10 ① hereafter.

④ In the event that the employee travels to another country pursuant to the foregoing ②, Employee’s round trip airfare shall be reimbursed by Employer after Employee’s return to Korea. The round trip airfare for Employee’s flight shall be paid within an economy class airfare of the most direct flight available from his/her home country for in Article 10 ① hereafter.

After:

Article 9 (Renewal)

① The Term of Employment stated in Article 4 hereof may be renewed by the mutual written agreement between Employer and Employee, provided that each renewed employment term does not exceed one (1) year.

② In the case of renewal of this Contract pursuant to the foregoing ①, Employee shall be given two weeks for a home leave which shall take place 2 calendar weeks prior to the contract end date specified in Article 4 hereof until the day immediately preceding the commencement of the renewed term. But, if his/her home leave interferes with the regular work operations, employer alternate his/her home leave. This two week home leave will be counted as part of the contract term, and accordingly salary will be paid.

③ In the event that the employee travels to his/her home country pursuant to the foregoing ②, Employee’s round trip airfare shall be reimbursed by Employer after Employee’s return to Korea. The round trip airfare for Employee’s flight shall be based on rate provided for in Article 10 ① hereafter.

Right. I guess they figured I wouldn’t look over it very carefully again? I don’t see how it could have accidentally been removed. Then again, I don’t see how it would be something they’d want to remove. If I want to travel elsewhere, and it costs the same as a trip home or less, why would they care?

Despite my doubt that this could have happened accidentally (it was removed in both English and Korean!), I wrote an email to them and asked if maybe they had made a mistake and this clause got deleted somehow. I said that it had been in all the older versions, and was not mentioned to me, and so I assumed it was an accident. Actually, the way I said things, they’ll know right away, probably, that I realize that it’s not a mistake at all, but that I’m being polite about it and letting them save face. I offered to add the clause back in in both languages.

But I’m so confused. It’s not like they changed something that might have saved them any money! Not that I know whether I’ll renew the contract or not, and if so, whether I’ll prefer to return home or travel around somewhere else, but seriously!

In other news, I have all the documents ready, and assuming I hear back from them tonight, I can send the thing tomorrow.

Hopefully they learned something about not being able to pull any wool over my eyes. Sigh.

AiCorea.

At least the decision is made now. Time to start preparing to go.

I certainly hope that everyone comes and dances with me at MTLX, I’ll be leaving the week after!

AiCorea changed everything I asked them to in their contract. Which is good, but it also makes my decision harder. I’m leaning towards AiCorea. SMOE is the safer option, though. I did my research, so I’ll probably be alright either way. I’ll have to decide tomorrow.

Btw, today was a National holiday in Korea. They actually worked on the contract on a National holiday!

I think I’ll probably go with AiCorea, actually. Decision tomorrow, though. I think it’s bedtime for me.

Wow. Two weeks ago, I would not have expected an end to the job search so soon!
But something that royally sucks: I’ll have to miss SONH this year.

AiCorea has things that need fixing. A couple of major objections, a bunch of smaller ones. If they’re fixed, though, it’s my first choice for contract, with SMOE second and GKI third.

The good news is that right now I am the only teacher qualified enough to make it past their high standards (info from the recruiter), and am therefore in a really good bargaining position because it makes them want me more. My guess is that I ask for changes and they’ll happen, especially as they’re all reasonable.

Also, they upped the offered salary from 2.5 to 2.6.

If they can’t make the changes in two days, I’ll sign with SMOE.

Considering SMOE’s long application process that’s much more demanding than a hagwon’s, I expected them to have more of a ‘professional’ interview. Nope. They win for silliest question in an interview: “Can you type in Chinese?” when I mentioned (unasked) about teaching at Chinese school in Montreal.

Anyway, they offered me a job. When I looked at it, I noticed that it was the wrong pay level. I should be at the level above. I emailed them, and seems like they’ll change it.

Here’s the kicker. I have 2 days to decide. Oy.

Here’s the info:

2.2 million won a month (assuming they fix their error)
30-40 students per class
Teach with a co-teacher
plane fare, housing, yadda yadda
21 days paid leave
15 paid sick days
Max 22 teaching hours a week
8 hours/day in the school
300,000 won settlement payment (I don’t have to repay it)

So I really want to hear back from AiCorea so that I can make a decision between SMOE, AiCorea and GKI.

Opinions are welcome. I am off to consult my (now colour coded) graph of potential schools to help me decide!