TOPIA English Zone (Elementary School) – Junggye 1: Junggye-dong, Seoul

Fired my wife because she lost her voice for a week and took back the payment for her plane ticket. That Korean manager is at a different Topia now. I worked on a different floor so I didn’t quit. The Canadian foreign coordinator Manson is two faced and more concerned about pleasing his Korean masters than looking after his staff however he is leaving at the end of August 09. They don’t pay pension although they are supposed to. I fought it and they were forced to pay it by the national pension service. They have fired three more people in the three months since I left for reasons that didn’t make much sense to me. The work load is heavy but that seems to be the case everywhere. They changed the hours we worked a couple times but didn’t actually break the contract. My supervisor missed announcing stuff and could have been much more on the ball but he was laid back and not difficult to work for.

I loved the location. Nowon is in a valley between the mountains and Topia is right on the edge of the valley. The hiking was very close and accessable, so no problem to go out in the morning before you start work.

Topia has significantly more negatives than positives going for it . Treacherous management blur lines of communication and no one knows whats going on. Everything seems to be a secret. The foreign coordinators are a big Joke, disorganized and lazy (without an ounce of credibility), often giving you a message at the very last minute.

They like to scrape the bottom of the barrel with everything they provide. The accommodation was disgusting (50,000 won is taken as cleaning fee and there was not a shred of evidence of any cleaning). They will take a 500,000 won housing deposit !

The so called head manager manson is an incompetent buffoon to say the least. He screwed up with a newly arrived couple and tried to cover it up by paying them under the table to be quiet. Suddenly inspired on a power trip he decided to write them a warning letter . They were outraged of course. He eventually got them fired under the guise of Mutual agreement. (At no point had they indicated to leave). In the end the couple did not decide to pursue this illegal and unfair dismissal as they saw this as an opportunity to get out while they could. A number of teachers have been fired mysteriously .

Hagwon`s have the power to cancel your visa! Advice do not work in Korea, Its not a good place to work. Their seems to be a fair amount of stories circulating on these kinds of boards regarding mistreatment of foreign teachers by hagwon owners. My advice would be to try Japan. The power is with you!

No training is provided and you have NO orientation (confusion). They have a system that accommodates anyone to come in and do the job just fine regardless of experience. There is no dress code. The hours (2-10pm) will suck the life out of you after just three months. Would you put your Kid in a classroom on Friday night at 10pm? You should see the poor bastards !

They are an illegal moneymaking exploitative and slimy hagwon who will fire teachers at the drop of a hat. They will ONLY exploit you.

I would highly recommend NOT working at Topia. Not just the Junggye branch, but any Topia branch. Here’s why:
I worked at the Topia Junggye branch for one year in 2008-2009. The ONLY positive things were: they paid us on time, I got my severance without any hassle, and they bought me my return air ticket home without any hassle. That’s about it, though. Oh, and yes the location of the Junggye branch is great. Close to the mountains, great for hiking, etc.
Aside from those, Topia is currently in a period of mass chaos. While I was there, they fired 4 people for reasons that were both immoral and most likely illegal. Since I’ve left, I heard from friends who are still there that about 6 people have been fired. They also are switching people around to different branches around the Seoul area and have closed down two floors (8 and 9) at the Junggye branch.
Almost all of these firings were NOT the fault of the teachers, but rather due to poor business practices on the part of incompetent Korean businessmen (i.e. Hagwon owners and directors). Profits have been declining at Topia recently and rather than downsizing people in a professional way (i.e. providing a small severance package to teachers who traveled halfway around the world to work for them), the Korean management fired them with little or no reason to avoid having to pay out any sort of compensation to the foreigners. This is a very Asian thing to do (”saving face”). They don’t want to admit they screwed up, so they make up excuses and fire people to put the blame on someone else.

Topia also received an investment a few years ago the Carlyle Group (yes, the same Carlyle group involved with the Bush family). For a while, the owners were probably on cloud nine, just rolling in their $20 million investment. Due to the recent economic crisis, however, I heard rumors that the Carlyle Group has decided to either reduce their investment or just cancel it altogether. Therefore, Topia may now be in a dire financial state, having to rely strictly on income from its customers (i.e. parents). Much of the above mentioned chaos may be due to their current rocky economic situation. Just a warning.

While I was there, there were three foreign “coordinators.” They are supposed to be on your side, but their job is basically to be a subservient slave for the Korean staff. One of them was pretty good, one was lazy and apathetic, and the third (Manson–mentioned in other posts above) was a backstabbing power-monger who would most likely stab his own family members in the back if it meant any sort of benefit to him. He acts like your best friend in the world, but he is NOT on your side. He is the pet of the hagwon owners and will happily do anything they say, legal or illegal. He was involved in numerous shady dealings (firings, offers to pay money under the table, etc.) However, he is apparently gone from Topia now (back in Canada). But be warned that I believe he will return to Korea someday, as people like him are unable to function properly in a decent, Western society. He is way too “Koreanized” and will be back. If you ever have any contact with him (a greasy dude with a cigarette constantly hanging out of his mouth), move away fast and don’t get involved with him in any way.

A few other random things that come to mind: Topia does not pay pension, as required by Korean law. All of your classes are on CCTV and are recorded. Topia management discourages the Korean teachers from engaging in social activities with the foreigners.
Overall, I have no regrets about going to Korea for a year. I had some great experiences (outside of Topia, that is) traveled a lot, did a lot of hiking, and met some great people, both foreign and Korean. However, if I ever go back I will definitely pursue a public school position and stay far away from the for-profit hagwon system.

If you have any sense of self worth, respect, or integrity, you will not work for TOPIA!!! They have no problem screwing people over and they will continue to do it. I for one had my severance, plane ticket home, last paycheck, and deposit either taken away or severely reduced. I would never wish this on anyone.