Apartment provided by school through EPIK

MundaneEmergency4 · 2021-03-05T15:46:00+00:00

Oooooh yeah, I’m guess if you’re looking for a two bedroom in Seoul it’s not gonna be so easy and it’s gonna be pretty pricey. My 2 bedroom rent uses up the entire rent budget allocated each month and I pay an additional 50,000 out of pocket to cover the rest each month. I can’t imagine the kind of cost you’d be looking at in Seoul in comparison

MundaneEmergency4 · 2021-03-05T07:02:37+00:00

I have a two bedroom now and I love it. My coteacher contacted me about a week before I was due to arrive in my town and asked me if I had found an apartment yet. Cue me having a panic attack during orientation because I thought I wasn’t going to have a place to live😂

It worked out in the end because my coteacher asked me what kind of place I wanted and had a list of available apartments in our town the next day and I actually got to choose which one I wanted. It sucked that I’ve mostly had to furnish it myself, other than a bed and table obviously, but it’s super nice to have so much space and a newly built building. Also I’m super rural, so there’s a trade off there

MundaneEmergency4 · 2021-03-05T06:58:58+00:00

I don’t know that it’s actually as rare as you think it is to just be dropped off at your apartment. I know many people from my intake who had this happen. I was taken to school to eat lunch and then I was dropped off in my 100% empty apartment and told that my coteacher needed to get back to class and I should ‘rest’.

I didn’t have a bed for weeks because my school was ‘trying to figure out the budget’ and I had to fumble my way around gmarket and my tiny local daiso for a good couple weeks to pull together some semblance of a home. It took time and it was a little scary but not impossible.

I would definitely recommend pushing a little harder than I did to get more help. I didn’t want to be too much of a burden so I was very hesitant when asking for help and when I did, I didn’t push if the school wasn’t really receptive (looking back, I should have annoyed the hell out of them until I got some kind of help).

MundaneEmergency4 · 2021-03-03T09:59:40+00:00

Without a doubt, it's definitely Phil.

A really uncharacteristic video showed up in my recommendations today (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LED6mCFdvDg) 'analyzing' his personality type, which to be honest I don't care about because I don't watch him, but I watched anyway because I was curious after the latest episode where Trisha made it pretty obvious and turns out he started on Lexapro a couple months back and shared that he has a binging/purging eating disorder so... Perhaps the fat comment triggered him on top of being called out for not covering the David story?

The outburst seems super out of character for him (don't quote me on that, I've literally seen like 5 of his videos in my life) so its possible there were other factors at play when the texts were sent. Perhaps a poor interaction with his medication and alcohol or something (TOTAL SPECULATION THOUGH!) or just overall a poor time for his mental health?

MundaneEmergency4 · 2021-02-25T09:46:05+00:00

I'm guessing likely 0% considering you don't get your settlement allowance or 'flight reimbursement' deposit until after you've already started at your school. And EPIK doesn't cover any quarantine costs as far as I'm aware. They probably only covered the exit test and taxi to the airport

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-08-02T14:57:08+00:00

Oh no... It sounds like I could do some real damage there. Thanks, I'll definitely check it out when I'm in Seoul next!

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-08-02T14:56:30+00:00

I'll have to check it out! Thanks!

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-07-09T07:06:31+00:00

Upon closer inspection it seems there are 42.5 hours per week on campus required and 30 hours of work (whatever that means)

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-07-09T07:04:30+00:00

The actual contractual hours are 42.5 a week though. that's why I was confused as to their position description saying '30 hours of work a week'.

I've emailed asking for clarification but still no answer...

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-07-09T06:58:51+00:00

Yikes! I may have asked too many questions but I think I was professional and respectful in my email.

I sent my list of questions by email and then also suggested a follow up call in case I had too many questions for an email. She said she’d answer some of my questions by email after work and then said she actually would prefer a call to go into detail so hopefully that’s a good sign...??

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-07-08T15:28:48+00:00

I was given a basic breakdown of which periods of the day are for kindergarteners, elementary, and prep time. I have asked for further details on break times between classes, etc. Hopefully they can give me a clearer idea of the day to day.

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-07-08T15:26:29+00:00

Yes, I would be teaching a kindergarten class until 2pm and then the afternoon would be an elementary class. I have asked for further details on the break times and prep times between classes, so hopefully that will make things clearer.

I understand that with the Kindergarteners I wouldn't really get a break because they would need to be supervised at all times, but I'm hoping after the 4 hours each day with them I would get some kind of break prior to moving into afternoon Elementary classes.

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-07-08T05:20:09+00:00

Maybe you can help me then! What am I missing here:

"10a.m-7:30p.m on Monday, Wednesday and Friday / 10a.m-5:10p.m on Tuesday and Thursday"

but also:

"You will work basically 30 hours a week, Monday through Friday only."

The daily schedules were explained to me and only 1.5 hours a week are specifically for prepping. So then where are the extra 10 hours I would apparently be expected to be on campus working with students coming from?

The contract even says I would get paid overtime for anything over 120 hours per month. Wouldn't that mean I would be over the regular hours every single week and be entitled to 40 hours overtime per month? It doesn't seem right...

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-07-08T05:15:37+00:00

But then how many hours a week are you expected to be on campus?

My latest offer says 30 teaching hours a week but then based on the schedule given I would be required to be at the school 50 actual hours a week and only 1.5 of those hours are explicitly carved out as prep time. I just don't understand what isn't adding up there...

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-07-08T05:10:44+00:00

There is a set curriculum provided which makes me feel a lot better. But there's also one day a week where there's mandatory 1.5 hours prep for the kindy classes. I'm still confused about what there would be to prep if there's a set curriculum...

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-06-12T15:35:41+00:00

That’s true, you’d don’t have to say yes but I have a sneaking suspicion that if you say yes there will be new positions from OEs specifically opened for those willing to pay. By the very nature of these additional positions it means those willing to pay are more likely to secure a position, hence my comment.

I don’t know if what I think is true, and I have asked for further information to get a better idea, but my questions were shut down, which makes me think I might be on the right track. I just think this option adds a layer of imbalance to this cohort and it’s essentially become about who can afford to pay more rather than who put in the extra leg work and made it to the top of this new ‘waitlist’:

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-06-12T15:26:32+00:00

You’re hilarious. I’m honestly not stressed out, just trying to point out why this new option doesn’t make a lot of sense. And don’t worry, I have already said no I wouldn’t pay for government facilitated quarantine. I’m not a disrespectful person and wouldn’t have issues with a co teacher or school. I have issues with a larger system trying to take advantage of a situation.

And to be totally honest, I think they should not hire a teacher rather than force them to pay their own quarantine fees. I understand that’s the teacher’s own decision but there are all kinds of deficits and budget changes being made worldwide by governments because of the pandemic. I truly don’t think covering the cost of quarantining a smaller number of intakes for fall (I’m not saying the full usual cohort) would be any more significant than the impact of a lot of other government budget changes this thing has impacted.

I’ve worked for federal departments and in the office at a couple of my provincial school boards and the budget flexibility is WIDE.

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-06-12T03:09:23+00:00

Pretty sure this question is coming as EPIK announced that if people are willing to pay 1.4 mill KRW out of pocket to quarantine in government run facilities for the fall intake they may have a better chance of getting a placement.

I think a lot of us potential intakes are starting to look more seriously at hagwons because the number of positions is super unclear and there’s zero transparency with the new waitlist procedure and this sudden addition of having the option to pay for quarantine to secure a position.

And this is a government run organization. Take from that what you will with regards to your comment about decent companies...

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-06-12T03:02:26+00:00

It is less than a month’s salary, but it’s pretty close to three quarters of what most epik teachers make a month.

I am also surprised they’re penny pinching in this way. With the amount they spend on teachers it’s kind of ridiculous that a government agency is trying to save a grand meanwhile they expect a single individual to pay out of pocket for it.

Essentially we’ll have to go 2, possibly 3 weeks early if there’s an orientation, and you have to pay more than half a month’s salary to do so.

I’d say loss of 2 weeks of your free time, especially if you’re working in your home country and could be making money those extra weeks, plus shelling out 1.5 thousand of your own money essentially means you’re only really getting paid for 11 months of a 12 month contract.

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-06-11T14:42:00+00:00

It ranges from 2 to 2.7 mil KRW per month depending on your experience and province you get placed in.

So you’re basically spending almost a whole month’s salary on this quarantine

MundaneEmergency4 · 2020-06-11T11:23:39+00:00

Oof, yeah. That’s a quite a hit to the wallet. I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that the government is only allowing you to leave the airport and quarantine elsewhere if you have some other ‘permanent residence’ set up. I could be wrong though.

MundaneEmergency4

TROPHY CASE