(GEPIK) Sangchon Middle School: Geumgok-dong, Gyeonggi-do

I wouldn’t recommend it. When it became apparent to me that I couldn’t trust my supervisors to deal with me on an ethical and professional basis, then……my opinion of them changed 180 degree.

My problems basically come strictly from a gal known as Angelica, AKA: Mrs. Oh. I had a couple of warning signs almost from day one but, wanting to be a good trooper, I let’em slide.

The very first day I got there, they put me in a little 11′ x 11′ box, with a tiny offset kitchen and a tiny offset bathroom and a tiny, tiny porch laundry room.

Yeah, I know…..there are stories of people getting similar places. But I know people who had
much larger places even in Seoul. I had a much larger place in my prevous (first) school in Jingeon. So, I didn’t buy her story that this little crackerbox they put me in was all that their budget would allow in Suwon.

I think the reason they put me in there was because by doing so they’d avoid haveing to put down ‘key money’. That….and/or the possibility that somebody at school was getting a kickback.

But I let that slide too.

Shortly thereafter there was another incident. I forget what it was, but (thinking she was my supervisor….which she later claimed not to be) I had a situation where I needed her help. She was too busy to bother and I’ll always remember her comment as she walked out the door: “That’s your problem.”

But I let that slide too.

Things rocked along all year. The students acted like Korea kids do. I had the usual occasional problems with kids sleeping in class, not paying attention, lack of participation, etc. but, in perspective, I knew that’s part of the Korean ESL situation and I didn’t really have any problems teaching them.

Actually, of the three levels of kids that I taught, I liked the Level 1 (the youngest) kids the best because they were the most enthusiastic.

Nor did I have any teaching relationship problems with any of the Korean coteachers (there were 4)……including Angelica.

The food in the cafeteria is fair. Their kim-chi is very hot. And they do serve a lot of squid.

The incident that turned my opinion of the school around a complete 180 degrees was the way Angelica and the school handled the negotiations for the renewal of my contract.

I just in the last few days have gone back and looked at my original contract and I noted that they were supposed to have settled the issue of my renewal or non-renewal 60 days prior to my End-of-Contract (EOC) date (which happens also to coincide with my visa expiration date).

That didn’t happen.

By 3-4 weeks prior to that time, we had verbally discussed it and agreed that I wanted to stay and they (i.e. she) wanted me to stay. So, one day about 3 weeks ago Angelica finishes working up a new contract and puts it in front of me to sign.

I looked at it and noticed that my pay grade was 2.2 mil KW…..which included the extra allowances for my 2.5 years within the GEPIK system and the fact that I had a Masters (I think it included the Masters anyway). I looked at that figure and I just naturally felt it was kinda low. So I commented on it.

Angelica and I got into a discussion of that and it turns out that she hadn’t included in the computations the fact that I have an undergraduate degree in Education (Bachelor of Music Education). At that point I didn’t know exactly what the pay guidelines said but I did have an idea of what I thought was ‘right’.

So, even though that also meant that I’d been screwed out of 100,000 KW each of the previous 12 months I’d been there (i.e. because they hadn’t credited me for having an ‘education’ degree), I was willing to let that slide too. I didn’t come over here to get rich but I did resent the fact that they weren’t competant enough in their jobs to figure out my pay grade correctly.

Then I asked Angelica to check up on me getting that extra 100,000KW per month for my new contract.

A few hours later she tells me that she’d checked with somebody at GEPIK (who later turned out to be Dain Bae) and was told that my Music Education degree didn’t qualify for an ‘Education’ degree. I contested that point and told Angelica that I wasn’t going to sign the
contract…..and I thought I made it clear why.

She got all huffy. I was really totally amazed at her total change of character. And partly also because I couldn’t believe that she could be so oblivious to my side of the debate. What’s wrong with me getting paid what GEPIK guidelines say I should get paid?

And actually, I kinda wondered where she was getting her information from (at that time I didn’t know who she’d been talking to).

That evening I got an email from my recruiter on my first job here in Korea. He sent me the information he had on GEPIK pay guidlines. It clearly listed 4 factors, any one of which would qualify a teacher for 2.3 mill KW. I met 2 or 3 (I forget which) of those criteria.

So I’m thinking, “Ahhh….there’s been a misunderstanding. I’ll try to clarify it with Angelica tomorrow.

Next day, early in the morning, I approach her and tell her, “I think there’s been a misunderstanding and I know why. Can I show you this?”

She cuts me short and informs me that she had another conversation with so-and-so at GEPIK and was informed that I was beyond their maximum age requirements and they couldn’t hire me anyway. Note: nothing said about any of the other supposed reasons for my reduced pay on the proposed new contract.

Do you see a pattern here?

They keep changing their story about why they don’t want to renew my contract.

As fortune would have it, I have since secured other employment, at a 40% pay raise, but it’s very apparent to me that Sangchon hasn’t been totally honest and fair with me. They were fully ready and willing to re-hire me as long as I was willing to work for 2.2 mil. And considering that to the best of my knowledge, nobody ever had any complaints about my performance as a teacher, I don’t think that my teacher performance had anything to do with them not renewing me.

It’s either got something to do with Angelica, the principle and/or GEPIK. I don’t begrudge them
their right to have an age limit, but I do think they’re obligated to apply it with reasonable limits of propriety. To fabricate reasons to just try to push me off the boat 3 weeks before my contract expires is, I think, indicative of a total lack of regard for my rights as an individual.

I know this has been a long story but I’m providing this information because this site is supposed to help new foreign teachers make informed decisions about where to work. I think Korea can be a fun place to work and all-in-all I’ve had a good time here.

But I’ve learned that you really can’t afford to trust these people to always ‘do the right thing’. I wouldn’t work at Sangchon Middle School for any amount of money now.