Help from fellow expats: A car question

Here's the question:

A day or two ago I wrote to "Ask A Korean" because I had a question about getting rid of a car in Korea.  He wrote back and said he has never owned a car in Korea, but recommended I write to you and ask.

And here's the AAK question:

I am an English teacher about to finish my third year here in Korea.  A while back, I bought a (beautiful 1992) KIA from a woman who was leaving. We went to all the correct offices and did it by the book.  I have insurance, the title, etc.  However, now my time here is ending and a couple people want to buy it but in a more under the table kind of manner.  Do you know how to get the vehicle out of my name with out putting into somebody else's?  Or, going a different direction, do you know if there is a company who buys back used cars?  This probably wouldn't be a big deal in Seoul or Busan, but I'm like in Pohang.

Like The Korean, I have never owned a car in Korea and don't know anybody who has tried to sell a car under the table. I'm a motor-scooter guy, so this is out of my league. 

Any of you guys have any ideas?

Where is Yie Eun-woong?

Recognize this?
 

 No? How about this?
 

Our favorite stalker, Yie Eun-woong, is standing right next to Pagoda Tower in Gangnam. Which means he's quite close to where many English teachers (including myself) live, work and socialize. 

So to all my fellow Gangnamers: Keep an eye out for for this cunt-bag. He's in our neighborhood and he might be stalking you, your friends or your family. I would recommend turning the tables and "following" him just like he "follows" us because not only do Korean men rape and molest children dramatically more than teachers, but he fits the demographic: 40, single and pathetic.

How to maximize your earnings on an F2 visa in South Korea

This is a question from Gary of Dagseoul on one of Paul's (Paul Ajosshi) Facebook 'status updates'.

Does F2 actually do anything for you?

A big YES! on that one, Gary. I've been on an F-2 for two years and in that time, I've seen my salary nearly quadruple. Sounds tricky at first, especially because there's an awful lot of noise surrounding the "dirty visa", but it makes sense since there's very little usable info to go on. 

First of all, the F2 allows you to work in nearly every industry in Korea. Of course, qualifications actually get you the job, but the F2 visa allows people to become more industrious and consider fields they once thought were off-limits. As we all very well know, the E2 limits you to language education and your visa sponsor, aka boss, pretty much controls your earning limit as well as a bunch of other things you once had control of in your home nation. 

Once on the F2, you can leave the education industry. That might sound very enticing to some. I've known people who have gone into writing, publishing, entertainment, video production and recruiting. Leaving the education industry might appeal to some, but unless you are producing something yourself, the income level is ultimately controlled by that industry. What I mean is that if you decide to take a job as an editor with KTO, you'd be free from teaching, but your income still hovers between 2-3 million a month. 

Before settling into what I'm currently doing, I tested a lot of different educational waters and weighed my options. I first thought that I would continue teaching at a hagwon and then pick-up advertised (and taxed) tutoring jobs. After all, if you post your resume on a website like Worknplay, you'll continually be offered positions and tutoring gigs all over the city. That sounded pretty good at first, especially since many of them paid nearly 50,000 an hour. But once you actually look at the time and numbers, you're only making an extra 1-2 million plus you've gotta be traveling all over the place with the possibility of having cancellations. That wasn't concrete enough and since marriage requires a certain level of stability, I continued searching for the right combination.

There's also the option of doing privates on the F2, but with Kang Shin-who's tabloids running in the KT and admitted stalker/pervert/cunt-bag Yie Eun-woong going through peoples garbage, it just isn't worth the hassle. Regardless of the facts (something that those two fail to understand), getting involved with the police over teaching English would be embarrassing to you and your Korean family.

After a few months of putting it all together, I decided the best way to do it was to work in two schools. You get the split-shift and add an afternoon program in the middle. One of the unwritten perks of the F2 is its persuasive power to increase salary. To a school, the F2 represents longevity, experience, interest in Korea and -this is the kicker- simplicity. Hiring an F2 takes five minutes. All they actually need is a diploma. The background checks and all the other immigration garbage is gone. Schools like that are willing to negotiate on salary. They also know that toying with you or playing games is much harder since you not only have been around, but also have a spouse and Korean family to back you up.

The afternoon school is a little trickier. Most will require you to get the same documentation (criminal, medical, transcripts etc...) as E2's, but again you can negotiate. Hiring you might be only a little easier than an F2, but longevity comes into play again and schools hate losing teachers. 

What I have right now took a little time to get, but it works well. I'm the manager at my adult language institute which means I choose the hours I work/teach without losing any wages. That's to say, it's very flexible. Secondly, I work for an afternoon program that's literally 30 SECONDS away from my other gig. On top of that, both gigs are within two minutes of my house.

How much do I work a week? 

Depending on how much energy I have, anywhere between 40-55 hours a week. 

There are tons of ways to make it work and probably lots of you who have made it work even better. Care to share?

Demo Class Tips for teachers in South Korea

Here's the question:

I just had an interview with a kids hakwon and they told me I have to give a demo class. What the hell!!! I've never taught EFL to children and am totally freaking out! The demo class is only 10 minutes, so I just need a few ideas. Can you or your readers help?

Well, since you've presumably been in the adult racket for a contract or two, you know something about the industry. I don't think I need to go over lesson plans with you. It wouldn't help in a quick demonstration anyways. There are, however, a few tips that schools look for.

Before we start, I should say that the people observing these classes usually aren't fluent so they're forced to focus not on what you say, but how you carry yourself in front of a class. They will judge you based on how they think a teacher should act.

Enthusiasm is huge and always helps. I'm not talking about smiling more than usual though it doesn't hurt, but when in front of that demo class, you need to have a little more gusto. I recommend moving around the classroom more, engaging the kids equally and responding to the answers from each kid with an overly interested facial expression and tone. Some of you might be thinking that I'm telling her to do the 'dancing monkey' routine, but when you want to get hired, it works. After you get the job, then you can employ any method you choose.

Having the kids repeat after you is a simple way to get positive feedback from a prospective school. Those of us who have taught kids before know that it gets old and question its effectiveness, but there are very specific things that these guys are looking for. A short demo class allows for very little exploration into ones teaching methods and abilities, so just hit the basics.

Controlling students can be hard. Sometimes kids will try to take advantage of the new teacher. We all did it when we were in school and Korean kids are the same. Mix that in with the fact that many young students don't take English classes seriously and you could have a toxic combination for a demo class. When they start to get wild, don't tell them to be quiet or sit down; not in a demo class. Simply isolate the problem and bring them into the lesson. It might not work, but that's not the point. The point is that the interviewers are looking for how you handle that situation.

Making yourself marketable is important to you and in this case, it's even more important to your potential employers. We all know the hagwon game and it's the mothers who run these places. They can make or break a teacher and a school. Sweet-faced women and cute-faced men tend to do the best, but hair, make-up and clothing all play a role. However, marketability extends beyond appearance. After the demo class, they'll probably ask you what you thought of the kids or if you liked the material and you need to just BS the whole thing. Be flexible and overly eager.

Demonstration classes are nothing to stress about. If you play the game and understand what the school is looking for, you'll always get the job. Once you've settled into the position, then you can take root and test out some new, less superficial methods,  but you've gotta get the gig first.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Scapegoating and being a good tenant

Here's the question:

I think I'm a good tenant. I separate my trash and recycling and don't make much noise, but my landlord constantly gives me bad looks. Is this normal? What can I do to make the remainder of my stay in Korea (8 months) better?

This is actually a more complex question than it seems. We're dealing with more than a rude landlord here. This touches on perceptions, responsibility and scapegoating as well as plenty of other issues.

I remember when I first got to Seoul, nobody had told me about the special trash-bags I had to buy, so I threw my trash out in a normal looking black trash-bag. That bag sat and sat until one day I returned from work to find the bag of trash in front of my apartment door with a note resting on top of the now opened bag of garbage. I brought the note into school and from that I learned about the special bags. Innocent enough and I never made the mistake again.

You would think that that would have been the end of my trash-related troubles, but it was in fact just beginning and one that I have dealt with many times since. Apparently, some of the Korean tenants knew about my trash-bag incident and decided to take advantage of it. So for the next few months, I was essentially framed by them. They would dump trash out improperly and make a big mess of the recycling and when confronted by the landlord, they would simply point their finger at me. And this scapegoating still continues today. I have a dog and when I walk him, I ALWAYS bag his shit. Sometimes I even bring water along with me to clean the piss. Yet, my landlord and neighbors always assume that the poop they see on the street is from my dog. 

I shared those stories with you because the bad looks you're getting from your landlord could be because someone is blaming you for something that you didn't do. The only thing you can do is make your trash-dumping process obvious and visible and continue being a good tenant. You could also mention this to your boss. They can't change much, but it gives you the chance to defend yourself.  If the landlord sees you doing everything correctly, eventually that image is going to stick rather than the image they have in their head of the lazy, dirty or confused foreigner. 

Koreans love scapegoating, so get used to it.

The tricky part of this whole thing is how are we, the foreigners, suppose to control or change this perception? It doesn't seem fair that we should constantly have to walk on eggshells so as not to give foreigners a bad image, but at the same time we should be responsible members of the society. The cards are stacked against us on this one and there's nothing that we can really do about it. Sure, we could volunteer or lead public awareness campaigns and even if we succeed in transforming the perception of foreigners in Korea, the scapegoating will continue. We're an easy target. 

The best way to combat it is to be a decent person in public. We stick out and will attract unwanted attention; sometimes that's good and other times it's not. All I do, as a manager, is tell my new teachers not to get too aggressive when drunk. That prevents a lot of problems.

That, or your landlord is just a cunt.