Testimonial #4 - Nardus

Another foreign teacher, another failing grade for Guri Wonderland (구리 원더랜드). When posed him with the question, "I'm wondering if you could tell me about the experience you had at this academy" here's what Nardus had to say:

Yes. My time in Wonderland started out well. However after a few months things got a bit sour. The manager forced the foreign teachers to travel on the morning bus to pick up kids-which entailed a real early start with no extra pay. This was not in the contract.
After I had worked there for 11 months, another co-worker informed me that that was my last day...
Luckilly I was not kicked out of my flat that night, but allowed to stay there for a few days.
I found another job, but the manager was a bit difficult about allowing me to go to someone else-she actually wanted a 'finder's fee'!
Wonderland also didn't give me the money for the return ticket-according to them a time limit had expired.

Dodgy people man.

You'll find it common that the school will add "duties" to your job description while at Wonderland. This occurred while I was at the school as well where the foreign teachers were expected to meet the students off the bus in the morning while receiving no compensation for it. This meant the working hours were extended to 9AM rather then 9:30AM. Not a big deal, but just an added task that was unnecessary. What made my situation all the more humorous was the fact that this was implemented after a student hurt himself in his classroom in the morning. The claim was that the foreign teachers couldn't control the students in the morning. Funny thing is, this student was hurt in a Korean teachers classroom.

The lack of professionalism that Nardus felt at Guri Wonderland during his time was not uncommon during my time at the academy.

Again, Korea is an amazing place to live and to teach. Guri Wonderland, however, can diminish that experience and make you not only regret teaching, but coming to the country altogether. Stay away and you won't feel this "dodgy"-ness.

Testimonial #3 - Art Cormode

As will be the underlying theme in most of these posts, I'm beginning to wonder why I failed to do my homework prior to setting off for Korea on July 1st, 2009. I sent an email to an individual that I found to be an ex-employee of Guri Wonderland (구리 원더랜드) and it took under 12 hours for a response and a vehemently negative response.

Here's what Art (artcormode@hotmail.com - feel free to write him yourself) had to say:

Hello, I cannot say this strongly enough. Don't work there. The owner is incompetent, greedy and a thief. I speak for about 10 other teachers that has the dishonour of working in that s***hole. In fact, don't work at any Wonderland school. There may be a few honest ones out there but it isn't worth the risk. I feel it is my moral duty to forewarn people. Don't say I didn't warn you if you choose to work there.

Wow, "moral duty"? Keep in mind, I wasn't at all fishing for negative comments. In my email to Art I didn't pose as a prospective teacher, nor an ex, I simply asked for his opinion on the academy and this is how he responded.

I suppose the tone of this email speaks for itself and should add to the legitimate reasons not to teach at this specific Wonderland.

Watch out for more of Art's stories in the coming days!