More Good News!!!!!

I don't know why, but for some reason the date of February 5th was stuck in my brain as being my starting date last year at Avalon. Well, as usual, I was wrong. It was in fact February 2nd, which is music to my ears, as that means that I don't have to go in on the Monday, which would have been the 5th. I looked at a calendar of last year and realized that the 5th was a Sunday last year, so there was no way I could have started then last year.



The only shitty thing about the whole thing is that Avalon, the gracious hosts that they are, told me that I have to be out of my apartment by noon on Saturday, February 3rd. Nice eh? I work until 10pm, the night before, Friday, February 2nd and they want me out by noon the next day!!!!! This is the first time that I have ever heard of that happening in Korea. Even the shittiest schools will allow you some time to get packed and ready to leave. Screw Avalon anyway!!!

They are doing the same thing to Jason who is done on the same day as me too. They also came up with some stupid reason for holding 800 dollars from Jason on his last paycheck.... something about security deposit or damage insurance. Funny how they never mentioned it before to him, just on the last paycheck of him being at Avalon.


Most of the other teachers at Avalon, including myself, had to put a security deposit down of 600 dollars. They took 200 dollars each paycheck, for the first 3 months. You get it back when you leave, which is cool of course, but they totally surprised Jason on the back end of his finishing at Avalon. They said that he would get the money back too, after they had done an inspection for damage.

Why couldn't they have done an inspection before he leaves or on the very last day? He wasn't going anywhere..... I guess they don't trust anyone. Especially seeing that this is the third time that Jason has worked for Avalon.

This just puts the icing on the cake about Avalon for me. The biggest private school in Bundang with over 8000 students, give or take and also the cheapest. I guess that is how they have made their money.... give me a break..... get a life....... If they want teachers to re-sign, which I figure 99 percent don't, they should try and be less stingy and more understanding of what the teachers do for them.



The intensive period is a prime example. All the teachers get either one or two extra classes in the morning, at a time that is never worked under normal hours and they give them absolutely nothing. I am working 3 extra classes a week at 12.10 until 1.25 and I get 5 dollars a day for each day that I teach. That means that I get 15 dollars a week ( 3 times 5 dollars because I teach Mon, Wed, Fri one class on each day), which is awesome, don't you think? It is actually an insult and has been the vein of a lot of jokes over the last week or so.


By the way, my one class has 2 students in it. It doesn't matter though because they pay the Korean and Foreign teachers no extra for doing the classes (except the 5 dollars a day!!!!), so every student that they get at every campus is extra money in Avalon's pocket. The tuition is not cheap either for the 4 week intensive period. The average is anywhere from 200-400 dollars a student.

You figure out the money that Avalon can make..... by not paying the teachers anything extra. Screw them once again.... I am not even angry when I say that too. I just realize where it is at and I can't do anything to change it, except not re-sign with them, which I am not doing anyway.



So, I will be staying with Dave until I fly out of Korea, which I think is February 6th.... not totally sure on that either yet. Avalon are paying my ticket back to Canada of course, so I have to wait to see what the earliest date is. I have been told that the 6th is okay, but with my mistake on my finishing date, I want an earlier flight if possible. We shall see what happens, anyway.

I finished my last day today with the fitness club that I used to go to, close to Dave's house. I am going to join with the old fitness club by me, across from my apartment, for one month before I leave. It is more convenient and also the old gym is cheaper than the one that I went to in Jangan Town. They bumped the price up now to 90 dollars a month!!!!!!


So going to the sauna everyday is gone for now. I will just go on the weekends to the sauna by me. I joined the gym in Jongan Town for 3 months on October 10th and paid about 240 dollars. I know that sounds expensive, but for both the fitness club and the public bath, it is quite cheap.

Anyway, I went there today and they tried to tell me that I had to pay for another month on January 1st. I asked the lady what about the 9 days short that they would be. She would have none of it and she was pissing me off before I was going to workout. I told her to just give me my workout pass and we would talk about it when I left. We talked about it alright.... I just handed in my membership card when I left..... see yer!!!! I don't care about the 7 days extra that they owe me. They wouldn't have given me it anyway.



They do things that piss you off in Korea sometimes like that. The old gym that I go to goes from the exact date that you pay. So if I pay tomorrow, January 4th, then my membership for one month expires on February 4th. Isn't that the way it should be? Dumb bastards in that old place, anyway....grahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.