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Hi Jon,

Yes, you may post it -- but please clearly attribute it to me.


William Bangs
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 Got a job right off the plane, but was it worth it?
                                            
                
                   My name is Ben Bangs, and I am an EFL teacher with a
visual disability. In May, 1996, after being kicked out of my TEFL training
center for arranging a job without telling them of my condition, I flew on
my own to Seoul and stayed at the Inn Daewon just one night. The very first
number I called was a kid doing some recruiting in Pusan, who had
thumb-tacked his number on a very popular corkboard in the Inn. The place
was really groty, so I didn't mind paying my own way to Pusan, where the
first two hogwon owners I interviewed told me straight out they liked me,
but my eyes would be a problem. The third guy just wanted a live body, and
didn't care. I got that job, and even a 300W advance on my first month's
salary.  But at the end of that, and every other month, the only way any of
the Western teachers ever got paid was literally to stand menacingly in
front of the guy and peer angrily down at him until he reached into his
pocket and coughed up whatever he had at the moment. One poor fellow who had
quit the previous year even came back to the hogwon, made a scene and
threatened the owner with lawsuits AND physical violence, all to no avail. 

                   I was the last Western teacher to leave, and when I came
back later the owner who wouldn't pay was living himself in the pigsty
apartment he had provided for all the staff, Korean and foreign alike. He
had no students and no more high school contracts like the one he used to
ship us foreign teachers off to two mornings a week; I was the last to walk
out of that too. The school I worked at was really nice, and photocopied a
text I asked for in the hundreds for my classes, and were suitably sad when
I explained I was leaving because I hadn't been paid. The kids were like
high schoolers anywhere -- great once you got past the bull. As for Pusan,
it was nice, and the students at the hogwon became friends. But please note:
if a "Road FLI"  or its Mr. Jong offers you a job, there is a reason his
hogwon is called that. Students and teachers always hit the road after
working there! 

                   So, though I got a job the very day after getting off the
plane, was it worth it? Despite all I went through, I'd have to say "yes". 
Even being cheated, I was paid enough to recover in Vietnam and Hawaii for
two months after quitting, and I got valuable experience and gained much
self confidence. The shifts at Road were 7-10 and 6-9, and frankly I was
impressed that I managed to wake up, let alone teach that early. There's
plenty to see in Pusan, and you can even eat at MacDonalds, buy imported
jazz and Classical CDs and visit some temples on Sundays. So, providing the
won is worth something when you read this, consider Pusan. Just don't go to
Road FLI! 

                   Ben Bangs, May 13, 1999 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
                   e-mail: WBB68@hotmail.com