Told by School That I can Sleep in the Sauna

[This Is Sparta]

The school is telling me that since they lost their funding, they have to remove the furniture including my bed on the last day of my contract, so I will have no bed to sleep on.  However I was under the impression that I would have a furnished apartment for the length of my contract.

The reason why they are doing this is because they can't have someone remove the furniture on March 1st, and they are trying to avoid having to pay a months rent. 

Why is the school so cheap to not offer me anything for having to deal with this contract violation?

Looks like I will have to leave this country with a bad taste in my mouth.

Update: Here's a nice twist.  I received a call on the day the school was going to remove the furniture, and my co-teacher told me that since the apartment is still on the market, they came to an agreement with the landlady which will allow me to stay in the apartment with all the furnishings until the school tells me to move out. So I get a little bit of extra time to enjoy the place.

[DWAEDGIMORIGUKBAP]

March 1 is a holiday, ask them to put you you up in a motel, it's only 1 night isn't it?

Yeah avoid that bad taste by asking for a cheap motel.  Or if they wont, a cheap motel is only 30k a night so no need to feel bad about it, just see it as the begining for your trip towherever you are moving on too.  Nothing to get too upset about really.  It's all up to you whether you make it into a big deal or not.  Not a major thing really.

[This Is Sparta]

I was thinking about that.  I am a little bit upset because they didn't offer to put me up in a motel.

[plchron]

a motel is only 10,000-15,000 more than the sauna overnight price.

[jurassic82]

I would take all my bags and belongings and camp out in the front of the school. Make a little tent like you did in boy scouts. Seriously, that is crazy. You should demand a motel. As crazy as it sounds motels in Korea are actually really nice. Big beds, large plasma tv and sometimes a jacuzzi for just a little extra cost. Housing is stituplated in your contract. It is definitley worth throwing a big fuss over.

[jrwhite82]

I'm not sure about something.  You said that they are removing the furniture on the last day of your contract.  But then you expect them to give you an apartment until you complete your contract.  Well isn't the last day of your contract when it is completed?  Am I missing something here? 

I assume you wanted to stay in your place until the next day when you fly out?  Is that correct?  If so, your school isn't technically responsible for you anymore.  (Still it would be nice of them to not leave  you hanging like that especially if you did a good job.)  Furthermore, before your contract started, did they allow you to live in the apartment for a day or two before the job started?

Still, I would tell them, "You know I worked really hard this year.  I enjoyed working at this school.  But now as I complete the contract I feel strange.  I think taking everything out of my apartment as the clock strikes midnight and abandoning me makes me feel like I was never part of the team here.  I understand that the GPOE has cut the funding, but at the same time, I did everything I was asked to (maybe more) and now I feel like it wasn't appreciated.  Please reconsider taking all my furniture before I leave.  Otherwise I am going to be very upset."

[lotte world]

What date does your contract end?  The contract (EPIK 12.6) says you must leave the Employer-provided housing on the day after the end of the contract.  You might have to compromise, but you should be able to insist on what is in the contract.  First, be sure that you are right.

[Merryone]

What date does your contract end?  The contract (EPIK 12.6) says you must leave the Employer-provided housing on the day after the end of the contract.  You might have to compromise, but you should be able to insist on what is in the contract.  First, be sure that you are right.

I agree. but failing all that, I suggest negotiating with your landlord for one more day and pay for it yourself. if you have the extra day, maybe the school will allow you to keep your furniture on that day? I look at it this way, I can either grumble and complain about everything or check what can be changed and change it. be proactive. I would suggest that you don't leave disgruntled, but accept the learning experience and remember not the last day but the great things about a year away.  Surely you'll be taking something precious home with you? Something that made this year worth it? do you want to overshadow 364 days with one last day experience?

[raziel]

Its just one night, just go to a love motel. Not a big deal!

[Merryone]

Sparta: will you let us know how things turn out for you? I'm curious about how you'll handle this. Did you check your contract to see what the rules are?  I hope all goes well. Good luck! 

[erufiku]

Step 1: One day before the end of your contract call in sick and use the day to move out of your place, send stuff back home, etc.
Step 2: Go to work on your last day.
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit.

That's what I would do /shrug.

[This Is Sparta]

There is an update in the original post.  I am crossing my fingers to see how much extra time I get.

[Jeff619]

Glad it worked it out but I'll disagree with the folks saying it's no big deal.  That would definitely leave a bad taste in my mouth.  The OP would deserve a little more respect after working for them for a year than to be offered a night in the sauna.  That's ridiculous.  Something similar was supposed to happen to me.  The apartment contract ended nine days before my contract so I was told (at the beginning of my contract) that they'd have to find me other accommodations for those nine days.  They offered to put me in a motel as well as give me a reimbursement for meals (since I couldn't cook) and transportation.

I ended up getting married so my wife and I just took the apartment off the school's hands and it all worked out great.  But I think this is an example of how a school should handle this situation.

[Marina]

I have a lot of sympathy with you. I have worked for my school for 2 and a half years. After my second renewal, I renewed for a third time and asked for a 6 month contract, which they told me wasn't possible. They then asked if I would be willing to re-sign for a year and resign after 6 months, which I did. I even wrote a nice resignation letter, stating my last day of work as today, 29 Feb. This morning, I got a REALLY shitty call from my co-teacher, telling me that the new foreigner has arrived and needs to move into my house, so she will either bring him over and he can stay with me, or I have to pay for him to stay at a motel for a night. I went to school and asked what on earth was going on, as I have had a great relationship with all my teachers for the past two and a half years. I was then told the same thing. The one teacher even suggested that my contract ends tonight at 12 o'clock, so I have to be out of the house by midnight for the new guy to move in. I phoned the Office of Education to ask whether this was above board and and was told that the contract states that you have to leave the day after the contract ends, meaning tomorrow. The Office of Education then had to phone the school to explain that I was well within my rights.  Just sooooo terrible to leave Korea with a bad taste in the mouth. I loved my stay here, but now I feel horrible.

[Mountain Crocodile]

I have a lot of sympathy with you. I have worked for my school for 2 and a half years. After my second renewal, I renewed for a third time and asked for a 6 month contract, which they told me wasn't possible. They then asked if I would be willing to re-sign for a year and resign after 6 months, which I did. I even wrote a nice resignation letter, stating my last day of work as today, 29 Feb. This morning, I got a REALLY shitty call from my co-teacher, telling me that the new foreigner has arrived and needs to move into my house, so she will either bring him over and he can stay with me, or I have to pay for him to stay at a motel for a night. I went to school and asked what on earth was going on, as I have had a great relationship with all my teachers for the past two and a half years. I was then told the same thing. The one teacher even suggested that my contract ends tonight at 12 o'clock, so I have to be out of the house by midnight for the new guy to move in. I phoned the Office of Education to ask whether this was above board and and was told that the contract states that you have to leave the day after the contract ends, meaning tomorrow. The Office of Education then had to phone the school to explain that I was well within my rights.  Just sooooo terrible to leave Korea with a bad taste in the mouth. I loved my stay here, but now I feel horrible.

I'm sorry you experienced this, but you just made the realization of your worth to them which was regardless of all the effort or work you contributed to the school, once your time was up and you are leaving you were tossed out like a used paper towel.  I've read so many posts like this in the past where people did what was asked of them up and beyond the call of duty, to be tossed aside when their usefulness was over.  All effort seemingly forgotten.  It's not just you, it's the culture of Korea.  Due to the past confucist thinking of slave/master (aka  boss/employee mentality), employees are expected to be 100% committed to their boss, employer and purpose of the organization to the degree that it is even more important than their own families.  This is why so many people here work 60+ working hours a week and spend little to no meaningful time with their families.  They are expected to capitulate their lives for their employer and recieve a paycheck as gratitude in return.

Schools are also like this.  With you leaving, you have opted to quit the team and have demonstrated your unwillingness to 'sacrifice for the students'.  You are labelled as no longer part of the team, essentially ostracized and to be rid of asap.  All relationships with your coworkers count for very little when challenged in importance with their relationship with their boss.  Their boss can give them a promotion, you can give them nothing.  Hence, while being polite to you may have been considered a 'good relationship', it was probably more on the grounds of mere superficial politeness than anything meanil.

When your 'time' was up, they wanted you out and never really considered the contract.  It was only when a person of higher position than them told them to do nothing that they relented.  Again, the slave/master mentality raises its head.  By forcing you out early, they can be penalized or reprimanded.  By forcing you out w/o anyone else knowing, they recieve no penalty.  That's their line of thinking and is very normal here.

I'm sorry you're leaving with a sad taste in your mouth, but Korea is very much like a carnival.  It looks good from a distance, but when you get up close and really 'see' what is here, it's very much a different life than presented to the rest of the world.  Your coping and adapting skills are what make or break your experience here.  What does get a lot of people though is the fact that they actually feel they are truly valued and respected.  That is a HUGE mistake in this culture, because you are as valued as much as  the difficulty of being replaced.  With 'teachers' being so easily replaceable here, your leaving is nothing more than a mere inconvenience of finding a newer or better teacher in their eyes.  Being valued means not easily replaceable, and if you're working in Korea, the type of work you do can be easily done by nearly anyone.

I'll add one anecdote with my univeristy.  We had one person who spoke excellent Korean (was pretty scary), helped organize exracurricular activities, camps and conducted classes with a lot of effort and sincerity.  He had awesome reviews and was given a new dept contract of 12 hours with 6 months holidays (we also get a free round-trip ticket since it's the employer's responsibility for you being able to enter and leave Korea) that we simply hand in a receipt and we're credited.  We have a plum job and life is very stress free and enjoyable.  We ALL enjoyed coming to work and enjoyed being alive.  However, he wanted a change and got another position at another university.  When he told my dept. head he was leaving, the dept. head simply said 'OK...can you please edit these papers for me later this afternoon?'.  No emotion of regret or loss, no asking him to stay or even any real sense of caring.  My coworker was really upset about that feeling he had real value and contributed, but his work was not recognized.  It left a sour taste in his mouth, but he later realized his worth is not what he thought it would be.  Will he succeed at his next adventure?  I would say yes, as long as he understands where he reallly stands.  99.9% of the people here on this forum have NO clue of where they really stand in the eyes of their coworkers or employers.

What you just experienced was the shock of where you really stand and how much they truly value and respect you...which is little to none by their treatment.


MC