quit

The thousand injuries of The Academy I had borne as best I could, but when it ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.


I quit my job today. Sorta.

I've had more problems at this job than I had at my previous three jobs in Korea combined. These problems have run the gamut from inconvenient (e.g. giving me extra classes at the last minute), to mildly upsetting (e.g. the recent extra hours I've had to put in), to legitimately infuriating (e.g. lying to me about providing health insurance and pension; forcing me to move out of my apartment in less than 2 hours). But, as my introductory sentence alludes to, I endured this all.

With the school set to make its franchise change official at the start of March, my coworker and I have to sign new contracts. This is largely ceremonial, it being for immigration purposes. Not much was really meant to change, other than they really really promise that they'll come through on the insurance and pension bits of it. Of course, a contract doesn't mean jack shit to a Korean, they see it as a general outline that can be changed at their discretion. However, it does contain some vital pieces of information, namely the amount of working hours allowed, and salary. The insult which caused me to vow revenge stems from those two things.

Basically, my contract was for more hours and less pay than my coworker. Now, I like the guy, but there's no reason why he should get more money for less work. We both do the same job, and we both have the same amount of experience. I asked for equal pay, but my request was flatly denied. This was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

I spoke with my boss today, telling her that after a lot of thought, I've decided not to sign the contract. Per my prior contract, I was giving her 1 month notice to find my replacement, but would be willing to stretch that up to two months. I could tell that this kind of blind-sided her, and she asked why I had decided this. I explained the grievances that I've had, the general malaise I've had toward being an academy teacher, how I've lost my passion for it and want something more in life. Specifically, I want to get a CELTA certification and get a job at a Korean university, or somewhere in Europe.

After some further discussions, during which I came very close to being out of a job by the end of the week, we reached a compromise. I will stay for 3 more months, which is the length of one semester at this academy. This helps her out by not having to replace me in the middle of the term. I will not be getting insurance or pension during that time, however my salary will be raised to the same as the other teacher.

In the end, I somehow managed to change me quitting my job into me doing my boss a favor by staying an extra month. And I also got a raise out of it. I'll be home in June.