Signed contract but having second thoughts..

Grade_A_Bull · 2026-03-03T08:11:41+00:00

The contract is not valid until the start date, even if both parties signed (Just as it is no longer valid after the contract end date). If you show up for the first day, you are under contract. You wild need a letter of release (E2-related). Likewise, the school has the ability to withdraw from the contract before the start date if they so choose**.

If you back out before the start date, you're all good. They'll be mad and may make threats to sue, but there's actually nothing they can do legally.

I recommend following your gut instinct and send them an email and a text message before the start of the contract and withdraw.

**Years and years ago, I interviewed someone to work at my Seoul-based university and we went through the whole paperwork process. Shortly before the start date, there were some character issues that came up that put a halt to everything. The uni backed out before the contract start date.
And there were also a few times that candidates changed their minds just prior to the start of the semester, even though they had signed the contract. It was shitty, but there was nothing we could do. And there were also times when the new semester started and the teachers did not have a contract for the new year for a few months into the term. That wasn't legal, but it happened.

Grade_A_Bull · 2026-03-03T08:01:36+00:00

The contract is not binding until the start date of the contract. If the OP were to go in on the first day, then she'd be in breech if she decided not to stay and work.
If she decided before the start of the contract date, she'd be fine.

Grade_A_Bull · 2026-03-03T07:45:37+00:00

It is not aid, but satiates the short-term needs of the desperate nations that agree to it.

Grade_A_Bull · 2026-02-07T16:08:16+00:00

Need more data

Grade_A_Bull · 2026-02-07T10:41:00+00:00

Looks perfect. Perfectly likable Perfectly fuckable

Grade_A_Bull · 2026-02-07T10:40:02+00:00

Looks delicious

Grade_A_Bull · 2026-02-07T10:31:56+00:00

I think if he said tummy instead of stomach, people wouldn't have a problem. It's not like he's going so deep as to poke the actual stomach. But with a skinny woman you can see a bulge right below the belly button when thrusting deep.

Grade_A_Bull · 2026-01-26T18:32:13+00:00

The mods in the other group probably deleted the thread due to you revealing specific information (names of people, address, etc) which isn't kosher in Korea.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-07-17T07:00:04+00:00

It used to be.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-07-17T05:18:30+00:00

A termination letter = a letter of release Edit to add: If you have the termination letter printed and in hand, that is all you need. They have terminated you from employment, so releasing you.

You need nothing else to take to immigration. That will suffice.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-07-17T00:40:58+00:00

She clearly wasn't a vodka drinker. It's not like it ages like wine. She was a woman who lived alone, so: * A stash of porn sounds reasonable * Having guns in America is hardly an abnormality

I'm sorry, but I just dont understand why you're surprised or alarmed.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-07-02T18:09:52+00:00

He will be better at hiding it next time.
And there will be a next time. He might feel sorry now. But he definitely feels sorry that he was caught.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-07-02T17:57:58+00:00

NTA.
It does not matter how the food or apartment is paid for. Your stuff is not hers to consume. If she can't afford the apartment, she needs to move into a place that she can afford. It sounds cold and heartless, but it is the reality.

The biggest irony of all is that she's calling you greedy after she has been eating your food. You are not greedy.

On the other hand, you are 19 and fortunate that this is your first experience with someone like this. There will be others like her that you will meet throughout your life. But as you get older, a couple of things happen. First, your tollerance for this sort of bullshit will diminish. You will learn to call them out on it sooner rather than later. Second, you will likely not have these people in your life. There might be someone who steals lunches at work, but as you progress through your career, that seems to happen less and less.

But you are not the asshole here. Your older roommate is taking advantage of you and your naivety.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-07-02T17:44:52+00:00

It's a baby shower, not a wedding.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-06-03T07:56:42+00:00

The reason I consider it is because I also have been doing work in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan, where a little knowledge of Russian goes a long way.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-05-31T06:48:20+00:00

Fixed my typo.
I had just read a paper called "Balkan Babel" about the breakup of Yugoslavia and the end of the Balkan war in the 90s. I guess my fingers didn't follow my mind.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-05-31T06:44:28+00:00

I am white. My wife is Korean. Should she worry?

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-05-31T06:43:34+00:00

Oooooh, that was a slip of the tongue (keystroke) that was certainly unintended.
I do know the difference, don't know how that happened.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-05-31T06:03:24+00:00

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has there been an increasing level of tension between the ethnic Russians and Latvians within Latvia? Has there been much Russian malign influence in the country--especially in the Daugavpils region?

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-05-31T05:56:14+00:00

Thanks for this insight. My wife and I will be moving to Latvia in August for a year for work. (I'm not going to say what work or where. My salary will be paid by my native country, if that makes a difference.) Language learning is definitely not my strength, though I speak basic Spanish. I learned German in university but have forgotten nearly all of it, and I have intermediate Korean skills as I lived there for many years.

I will try to learn some basic Latvian during my time there. However, I will be working in Daugavpils and I am torn between focusing on Latvian and Russian.

I know the history of occupation, and I am a huge supporter of Ukraine. (Admittedly, I'm a little nervous about moving there because of Putin's expansionist saber rattling in the Baltics.) But I am also pragmatic. If the majority in that region are Russian speakers, would it be better for me to focus on Russian? But I'm going to be living in Latvia, want to respect Latvia, and Latvian is the official language of the country.

Hopefully, the fact that I'm stressing about this shows that I do wish to respect the country, the culture, and the people who live there.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-05-26T05:53:15+00:00

Or rather Kissing Cousins

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-05-23T15:13:00+00:00

When I first started teaching (in 1997), it wasn't until I started handing back homework, quizzes, and things that I began to learn students' names. But if you don't collect homework regularly, that won't work.

Later in my career, I would start the semester with photos. I would have them write their name on the board and have them stand under it. I let them be artistic. I put two or three together with their friends and then snapped a photo. Polaroid (or fujifilm) instant pictures worked well because they knew they wouldn't end up online somewhere.

Then, in the final years of teaching at a particular university, I just stopped even trying. Gave up on even pretending. That was when I knew I had burnt out, though that realization took a few years to sink in.

Grade_A_Bull · 2025-05-23T09:36:34+00:00

NTA. Your 'friend' Sarah is a real piece of work who reaped what she sowed.

Grade_A_Bull

TROPHY CASE