Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Update 5

Getting to Korea the 2nd time has been a challenge. It seems that the signs are telling me that I shouldn't go back, but I am finding a way to get there. I'm already on plan C. Plan A didn't work. Plan B didn't work. Now I'm hoping that plan C will be the last.

While I was away there were new regulations put in place. The changes were brand new when I started getting all my documents together so there wasn't a lot of information to be found. I missed a critical step in the process-getting the signature and seal. I didn't know I needed it. That costed me a ton of money to get it corrected.

This week I sent in all my documents to Pagoda. I also asked them about my flight. Then I found out some bad news. I asked if they could make sure I had an aisle seat when they booked my flight. Then I found out:

And flight thing, you have to purchase one way air ticket there, then when you come here, we will pay here for your ticket. This is the our company rule. So please understand this issue.
I think this issue should have been discussed with me before I applied. If I would have known I wouldn't have applied. The contract states:

The employer will provide payment to the employee of a one way ticket to Seoul from any city designated by the employee.
 
So I read that as 'we provide a ticket.' Where does it say that I am responsible for booking that ticket and being reimbursed? To be clearer I would have written it this way: The employee is responsible for booking a one way ticket to Seoul. The ticket will be reimbursed upon arrival.

I told him that I couldn't afford the ticket. So he talked to his boss. His boss said that it wouldn't be fair to the other native teachers. (I could have kept it quiet and not told anyone)..Anyway-They let me go.

I immediately contacted my recruiter and got a fast response. My recruiter called me the next day. He told me he didn't have positions like what I wanted. I would like to teach elementary students at a hagwon in Seoul. He said he had some positions in kindergarten and public school.

He forwarded my resume to a kindergarten job. He's waiting to hear from them.

So I'm waiting........

I could possibly be in Korea within the next 2 weeks. Its really getting close.

1 comment:

Traveling Hawk said...

Only a suggestion:
From the point of view of communication only, it is ever better to put questions yourself till every aspect is very clear. This is true especially for different cultures and languages if you want to avoid misunderstandings like this one. It is far more useful to exasperate your discussion partner with the multitude of questions than to face such a problem.
I wish you luck!