Journey to the Republic of Taeyoung: Chapter 3
Flee to the Republic of Yi Sun-sin -- Korea
Speculative Fiction on a Dystopian Not-so-distant Future
Michael
"We are looking for a friendly team-player with strong classroom management, clear communication skills, and a creative touch to join our staff!
We take pride in taking care of our staff. We are all about quality over quantity. We do our best to schedule enough breaks and not overwork teachers.
Most importantly, WE RESPECT THE CONTRACT!”
Online Job Listing
***
I had been reading about how to get a job at a Korean hagwon--a private English school--and what to be wary of as I conducted my job search. I’d read about common scams. I’d browsed the Hagwon Blacklist. I’d read about everything from forced labor and denied pay...
Hollywood English, Daejeon
BEWARE the contract doesn’t mean anything! They denied me severance pay even though I completed two years. It was guaranteed in my contract. I filed a complaint, but the Labor Department sided with the school.
...to breaching public health standards...
Good Start, Busan
I was working here during the coronavirus pandemic. We had a breakout occur at school. They tried to keep the school running with just two teachers. They told us not to get tested and consolidated the remaining students of all levels into one class. They had me and the one Korean teacher taking care of everything, trying to teach a class of fifty. The boss didn’t even come in because she said, “I don’t want to get sick.” Then a couple of days before summer break, she announced that our vacation was canceled because we had to teach makeup classes that week. Guess she’d rather keep all the tuition money than give a small refund.
...to general poor management.
Strive Higher, Cheonan
The husband and wife who run this school do a terrible job hiring. It’s always understaffed (intentionally, it seems?), so we have very few breaks. They don’t communicate anything. It’s always a surprise when a new rule or schedule change is announced. The textbooks are full of basic spelling mistakes.
Strive Higher and many of the other schools had negative reviews across many of its branches nationwide. But I didn’t see anything about Perfectum. So when I got an interview with the principal of the school, Hyuna, I was excited.
“I am impressed by your passion for learning and your interest in Korea. I’m so fortunate to have found you,” Hyuna said.
“Likewise,” I said. “I’ve heard good things about your school.”
I hadn’t--but I really needed this job. My interview was going much better than the one I had with Rick.
“We’ve been operating for five years, and we’ve received many awards for our excellence. Our philosophy is based on the best Ivy League education research and the idea that we can cultivate excellence in the mind, body, and soul of the child through the mastering of English.”
“That sounds impressive.”
“We would put you in charge of teaching our English Habitat class. You will be teaching the children how to read and write creative essays and stories in fluent, grammatically correct English. Oh, it will be wonderful to have a published writer teaching the kids! I was telling my sister about your work. Where can we read it again?”
“Uh, I thought I had attached some clips with my application. Maybe I can email them again.”
Rick had removed all of my articles from the Center’s website, and I wasn’t sure if I should email it. The government would see everything coming in and out of my inbox.
“I’m prepared to offer you the job. I’ll confirm it with my sister.”
Apparently, I displayed a look of confusion.
“My sister is the president. This is a family business. Everyone at Perfectum Academy is family.”
I nodded.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll love you as much as I love you. It’s important that we fill this vacancy quickly. We need you to start next week.”
Ordinarily, I would have taken it as a red flag that they were trying to rush me, but given the situation, I, too, would be happy to get it settled quickly.
“Would you accept the job?”
Would I? Would I really do what I had pledged to never have to do and become an English teacher? A “white face with no skills,” as my Korean friend from way back, Seong, had described them? I didn’t have much choice, did I?
“I would be happy to join the school’s family,” I said, sealing my fate.
Hyuna flashed a Grinch-like grin. Her tone suddenly changed.
“Just to clarify, you know our school is not in Seoul.”
“Didn’t the advertisement said Seoul?”
“Yes, it’s in the Seoul Metro Area! It’s on Line 1 of the metro. Easy to get downtown. But it’s peaceful out here in Cheonan. You’re okay with that?”
“Yes. Yu Gwan-sun’s hometown!”
“You’re already an expert on Korea!” Hyuna beamed.
Korea had been annexed by Japan in 1910, and Koreans had been abused under the heavy hand of the imperial Japanese in the run up to World War II. On March 1, 1919, the country rose up in protest. Yu Gwan-sun was just a high school student, but she began attending and organizing protests. While she was distributing Taegukgi flags at the protest at the Aunae Marketplace on the outskirts of Cheonan, Japanese military police opened fire. The idealistic girl saw her mother and father gunned down in front of her very eyes. Despite suffering brutal torture, Yu Gwan-sun never admitted guilt. She rallied fellow prisoners to protest inside the prison until she died at 17 from the beatings.
“I actually studied Korean history in grad school,” I said.
“You will make a great teacher for us!”
I knew that nothing was guaranteed until it was written in ink (or pixels), but I was pretty confident she would hire me.
I had taken it as a positive sign that there was no negative information about Perfectum Cheonan online. Thinking back, maybe I should have been concerned that there were no favorable reviews, either. But I just happy I wasn’t going to be working at any of the schools listed on the Blacklist.
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