so i know i keep complaining about my dork of a co-teacher, but i just have to... it gets worse every week. let me begin with monday morning.
i arrived at school at ten past eight (ten minutes early, like i do every day). i still didn't have my schedule for the week - i'm the only teacher i know whose schedule changes every week - but waited, as usual, for him to give it to me. i probably should have gone and asked him for it after first period started, but i wanted to see how long it would take him. at 10:04:45 AM he came to and dropped the schedule on my desk. surprise, surprise, i had a class at 10:05.
he didn't even say anything to me and walked away. i said "this is unacceptable" and he turned back. "oh, sorry. it was done on friday i just didn't have time to give it to you." didn't have time? between friday and monday at 10am he didn't have time? had i not been sitting there for almost two hours? had he not been in the room? what does it take to just hit print and leave it on my desk???
"you'd better get to class," he said to me. "excuse me?"
"you heard me, get to class."
"i don't even know what i'm supposed to be teaching these kids, i saw them two days ago. i'm only supposed to see them every two weeks."
"well, just go"
i stayed at my desk trying to figure out what to bring to class and two minutes later he brought me a different schedule and repeated "you'd better get to class." it was already ten minutes into the period, i looked at the schedule, cross-referenced with my excel worksheet of classes and what i've done with them already - thank god i'm so organized... though i have to be with the kind of schedule he gives me all the time... it never makes sense - there are some classes that i haven't seen for weeks and others that i am seeing two times in one week, two weeks in a row... i've offered to make my own schedule but he refuses saying it's his job.... but then when i say it's unacceptable for him to give it to me so late, he says that it's my responsibility to ASK him for it. WTF? i digress.
i asked him if the teacher in this class knows that i'm coming and he says yes. i look on my map of the school to figure out where i'm going (i usually leave with a teacher who takes me - with 38 classes i still haven't figured it out). as i'm walking to class, he comes running down the hall after me - he hasn't given the schedule to the korean english teacher that i'm working with.
as he catches up, i turn around and say "this is unacceptable, you are going to call the office of education right now and get me transferred to a co-teacher who can do his job!" what is his answer? "it doesn't matter, in a month you're going to a different school anyway."
EXCUSE ME????????? he wouldn't elaborate. of course not, i'm not privy to that kind of information until the last possibe moment. everything must be kept secret from the foreigner. i've asked Jo to ask him and he said he would get more information, i don't believe him.
anyway, monday goes by, i stopped talking to him and haven't even said as much as hello to him since then, nor he to me. but TODAY i had a "business trip". a meeting at the office of education (on the other side of the city - 45 minutes on the bus, there and then back)... well, as it turns out, i wasn't supposed to go to this meeting, it was for the Korean english teachers of the winter camp that i'm working at, and not the foreign teachers.
so i wasted all afternoon to go to a meeting that i didn't even need to be at, all thanks to the dumbass that we all know as my co-teacher. this guy is giving teaching in Korea a bad name. i feel like going home and making it clear that it is ALL because of him. i hope i DO get transferred, it may just be the blessing in disguise that i need. thank god it's mini weekend and i can get out with the ex-pats tonight.
i arrived at school at ten past eight (ten minutes early, like i do every day). i still didn't have my schedule for the week - i'm the only teacher i know whose schedule changes every week - but waited, as usual, for him to give it to me. i probably should have gone and asked him for it after first period started, but i wanted to see how long it would take him. at 10:04:45 AM he came to and dropped the schedule on my desk. surprise, surprise, i had a class at 10:05.
he didn't even say anything to me and walked away. i said "this is unacceptable" and he turned back. "oh, sorry. it was done on friday i just didn't have time to give it to you." didn't have time? between friday and monday at 10am he didn't have time? had i not been sitting there for almost two hours? had he not been in the room? what does it take to just hit print and leave it on my desk???
"you'd better get to class," he said to me. "excuse me?"
"you heard me, get to class."
"i don't even know what i'm supposed to be teaching these kids, i saw them two days ago. i'm only supposed to see them every two weeks."
"well, just go"
i stayed at my desk trying to figure out what to bring to class and two minutes later he brought me a different schedule and repeated "you'd better get to class." it was already ten minutes into the period, i looked at the schedule, cross-referenced with my excel worksheet of classes and what i've done with them already - thank god i'm so organized... though i have to be with the kind of schedule he gives me all the time... it never makes sense - there are some classes that i haven't seen for weeks and others that i am seeing two times in one week, two weeks in a row... i've offered to make my own schedule but he refuses saying it's his job.... but then when i say it's unacceptable for him to give it to me so late, he says that it's my responsibility to ASK him for it. WTF? i digress.
i asked him if the teacher in this class knows that i'm coming and he says yes. i look on my map of the school to figure out where i'm going (i usually leave with a teacher who takes me - with 38 classes i still haven't figured it out). as i'm walking to class, he comes running down the hall after me - he hasn't given the schedule to the korean english teacher that i'm working with.
as he catches up, i turn around and say "this is unacceptable, you are going to call the office of education right now and get me transferred to a co-teacher who can do his job!" what is his answer? "it doesn't matter, in a month you're going to a different school anyway."
EXCUSE ME????????? he wouldn't elaborate. of course not, i'm not privy to that kind of information until the last possibe moment. everything must be kept secret from the foreigner. i've asked Jo to ask him and he said he would get more information, i don't believe him.
anyway, monday goes by, i stopped talking to him and haven't even said as much as hello to him since then, nor he to me. but TODAY i had a "business trip". a meeting at the office of education (on the other side of the city - 45 minutes on the bus, there and then back)... well, as it turns out, i wasn't supposed to go to this meeting, it was for the Korean english teachers of the winter camp that i'm working at, and not the foreign teachers.
so i wasted all afternoon to go to a meeting that i didn't even need to be at, all thanks to the dumbass that we all know as my co-teacher. this guy is giving teaching in Korea a bad name. i feel like going home and making it clear that it is ALL because of him. i hope i DO get transferred, it may just be the blessing in disguise that i need. thank god it's mini weekend and i can get out with the ex-pats tonight.
4 comments:
Reading about your co-teacher I'm glad I never went abroad to teach English. Safeblad seems to have had similar (but not as intense) problems to you. However the more of the backlog of your blog I read, the more I enjoy the thorough experience of Korea that you bring to life, and refrain from Westernisms most of the time.
Hatred of Starbucks aside (more to do with them ruining business at my friends cafe than any socialist edge) I think I can feel for your coffee craving. As a Brit, I couldn't imagine not a nice cuppa tea, although I doubt there's much of a problem getting tea in Korea.
Sorry for rambling on a bit, but in regards to your section on Bush, I read a great article in today's Telegraph about the Democrats in the US making the same mistakes as Republicans. This guy Silvestre Reyes is head of congressiona intelligence and didn't know who Hizbollah are and thought Al-Qaeda were Shia! Ha. For more US gaffes, read here
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2501237.html
I fear for the world. Keep the blog up.
Oh dear Liz. I'm so sorry you have to deal with such shit. I can totally relate to not knowing about things until the last possible moment...although the things I don't know about aren't quite as drastic as being transferred. I did however learn that I was the last person at my hogwan to find out about my head teacher quitting b/c of the Director...she's the one who hired me and told me how wonderful he is to work with! What a crock. Anyway, it's quite frustrating to say the least. Please don't think about going home. We have a nice weekend to look forward to...we might be able to head back to the Muse this weekend!!!
hiya olly,
thanks for the long comment... it's rare, and i love it. you have to understand that the position i'm in is not necessarily the norm. i know lots of people who have great co-teachers, like i said in a previous post, i just got the short stick... maybe it's karma for all the great people that i've worked with in the past... *you know who you are, especially if you're reading this*
thanks for the link, i'll get on it in my spare time tomorrow...
and ya, tea is widely available, just not the kind you like... i also enjoy a nice cuppa once in a while and it's a good thing i brought some with me, black tea doesn't really exist here. i have a friend who gets her mom to send it to her... green tea on the other hand... well, you know.
thanks for reading. keep coming back!
and kimikazi, you know that you're one of the reasons that it's all worth it!!! love you babes!
Liz bud that sucks!! MORE THAN THE FACT THAT I'M STILL A HOBALONG. Really, it does. As foreigners, I think we try really hard to understand korean culture - and I know you try hard to fit into it all as well - but there has to be some give and take. He seems to have such arrogance like anything you say or have to contribute is not worthy. We're lucky we weren't brought up in a culture like that but I think it also makes it harder for us to understand or adjust to it.
but as for using it as a reason not to come abroad to teach? I'd have to disagree..the kiddies make it all worth it...
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