Friend's Facebook Update Reminded Me of Something
I have an American Facebook friend who is fortunate to be teaching English on a beautiful Korean island. I hope to visit that island sometime. This past weekend we had a three-day weekend because of Buddha's Birthday on Friday. Today she wrote on her Facebook page that she can't believe there won't be more vacation for the next two months. I'm not sure about her vacation schedule. Two months from now is July so she must be getting some vacation time then.
Reading this made me think back the summer of my first year in Korea which was spent working for a hagwon, a foreign language institute. In early May there was Buddha's Birthday and at the end of September there was Chusok, Korean thanksgiving. There was almost a five month period with no holidays on the calendar. I wouldn't have known but a teacher friend took a calendar one day and looked at the months remaining that year. There were few holidays.
One of the most important things at that time was I was looking for a good time to have a vacation. One of the main reasons teachers choose to work in Korea is to have a chance to travel to other countries. We had seven days so most teachers wanted to take their vacation during a week when there was a holiday so they wouldn't have to use five days at once, but three or four of their vacation days. However there weren't many weeks like this. We had a camp scheduled in August. The hagwon decided to cancel it but didn't tell us it was cancelled until a short time before. Luckily we were given two days off which then gave us a four-day weekend. Had teachers known in advance some of them may have tried to take a week's vacation at that time including me. Because I learned about the break about a week before we got it I don't think I considered using it for a trip to someplace like Thailand. There wasn't much time to plan a trip. Also it was high season. Had we known about it earlier most likely I or another teacher would've tried to take our vacation during that time.
Writing this reminds me of something else. We were given a week's vacation at Christmas but even though the boss knew about it a month or so earlier, he told us not long before. There was enough time for the teachers to plan our vacations, but I wonder about something. Why does the boss not tell us about the vacation until a short time befre? I never understood this. The only thing I can think of now is that they are afraid the teachers will talk about it and the students and parents will hear. This would result in calls to the hagwon asking about it. Next question would be why not tell the students and parents earlier? The only thing I can think of is complaints. Maybe shorter notice gives them less time to complain?
To top it off after we all came back from our vacations to our Monday morning meeting we found out five days had been taken out of all of our vacation times! So teachers who had begun working not much earlier had lost five of their seven days, and those like me who had gone over seven with those five added had to lose some of our pay. One older teacher came to the rescue and talked to the boss about taking three days rather than five and somehow he was talked into that. (That year Christmas and New Year's were on weekends so there were five working days that week.)
I've said many times and I'll say it again here that it's so much better for teachers working in public schools. They get more vacation, guaranteed vacation in their contracts which schools have to give them. They probably have a lot fewer battles with their bosses over vacations and everything else.
Reading this made me think back the summer of my first year in Korea which was spent working for a hagwon, a foreign language institute. In early May there was Buddha's Birthday and at the end of September there was Chusok, Korean thanksgiving. There was almost a five month period with no holidays on the calendar. I wouldn't have known but a teacher friend took a calendar one day and looked at the months remaining that year. There were few holidays.
One of the most important things at that time was I was looking for a good time to have a vacation. One of the main reasons teachers choose to work in Korea is to have a chance to travel to other countries. We had seven days so most teachers wanted to take their vacation during a week when there was a holiday so they wouldn't have to use five days at once, but three or four of their vacation days. However there weren't many weeks like this. We had a camp scheduled in August. The hagwon decided to cancel it but didn't tell us it was cancelled until a short time before. Luckily we were given two days off which then gave us a four-day weekend. Had teachers known in advance some of them may have tried to take a week's vacation at that time including me. Because I learned about the break about a week before we got it I don't think I considered using it for a trip to someplace like Thailand. There wasn't much time to plan a trip. Also it was high season. Had we known about it earlier most likely I or another teacher would've tried to take our vacation during that time.
Writing this reminds me of something else. We were given a week's vacation at Christmas but even though the boss knew about it a month or so earlier, he told us not long before. There was enough time for the teachers to plan our vacations, but I wonder about something. Why does the boss not tell us about the vacation until a short time befre? I never understood this. The only thing I can think of now is that they are afraid the teachers will talk about it and the students and parents will hear. This would result in calls to the hagwon asking about it. Next question would be why not tell the students and parents earlier? The only thing I can think of is complaints. Maybe shorter notice gives them less time to complain?
To top it off after we all came back from our vacations to our Monday morning meeting we found out five days had been taken out of all of our vacation times! So teachers who had begun working not much earlier had lost five of their seven days, and those like me who had gone over seven with those five added had to lose some of our pay. One older teacher came to the rescue and talked to the boss about taking three days rather than five and somehow he was talked into that. (That year Christmas and New Year's were on weekends so there were five working days that week.)
I've said many times and I'll say it again here that it's so much better for teachers working in public schools. They get more vacation, guaranteed vacation in their contracts which schools have to give them. They probably have a lot fewer battles with their bosses over vacations and everything else.
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