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!

Testimonial #2 - Mike de Ruiter

While I haven't contacted Mr. Ruiter yet regarding his statement, here is what he wrote on his now defunct personal website - which can be viewed via Google Cache:

two more weeks well, it’s been quite a while since i’ve posted so here’s a quick update. my visa expires in two weeks, so i’m out of here by then. it’ll be good to get out of this place, although i will really miss some of korea, friends i’ve made here, and some of the students. i haven’t ruled out returning to korea ever again. i may come back in the winter depending on how shit’s going in calgary, but i do know i will be a lot choosier with my next job, and will DEFINITELY not be coming back to Guri Wonderland. f*** that place. well, mainly the head’s of the place. some of the kids are awesome.

There's a good place to start. One ex-teacher, one entirely dissatisfied individual. Good luck bringing in new teachers Wonderland!

Testimonial #1 - Andrew S.

I wrote Andrew a couple days ago and asked him what he felt about Guri Wonderland (구리 원더랜드). While he didn't tear the school apart, he actually didn't have anything good to say either. I suppose the highlight of his email was "the school definitely pays on time". While I understand some teachers have issues with that, I would suggest this is the bare minimum an individual should expect from their employer. I will speak to the fact that on several occasions I was not paid on time, and I had disputes over two of my other pay checks.

Here are the "low lights" from Andrews email:

• "i can't say it was the best school..."
• "it was my first time to teach in korea so everything was a new experience and a bit difficult."
• "...there was some confusion about the pension at the end of the contract."
• "don't expect the owner to be very friendly. she all about business."

Going point by point we have our first confirmation that if you want, you can find better in Korea. The underlying tone of this blog, be careful.

The second and forth points highlight how unwelcoming life is at this hagwon - something I will write at length about during my testimonial. As foreign teachers in Korea we are guests, in fact, the E-2 visa is set up in such a way that we have very few rights and are, in a manner of speaking, the property of the hagwon which hires us. With that being said, why does this academy feel the need to make things "difficult" and un-"friend"-ly?

Why, because at the end of the day, they truly do not care. They do not care about the quality of education for the students, nor do they care about the well-being and happiness of their teachers.

The third point is something that some, but not all hagwon teachers have to deal with. Wonderland decided to avoid paying both the health insurance AND pension, which if I am not mistaken, is actually against Korean law.