A Korean Language Camp with No Plan
One Camp Ran Smoothly
I taught at a few language camps in Korea over the years. One was for LG and took place at the company's employee resort. It was extremely well organized, the resort was luxurious, and everything went smoothly from start to finish.
Then there was another camp.
I found that one somehow, although I don't remember exactly how. It was a twelve-day residential camp with about five or six foreign teachers from different countries. Some of them didn't have work visas.
It was a mess from day one.
No Curriculum, No Plan
The biggest surprise came when we were told there was no curriculum or plan prepared for the camp.
None.
We were expected to create the whole twelve-day intensive course ourselves: daily lesson plans, teaching materials, and activities. Somehow, we managed to pull it together.
The students seemed quite pleased with the program. That felt like a small miracle after such a chaotic start.
Then came payday.
A Tense Payday
We were all brought into a large room. The boss sat behind his desk in a suit, looking very serious. Three very large guys in tank tops stood around the room.
It was not exactly the atmosphere you hope for when you are waiting for your paycheck.
The boss told us he did not have any money to pay us. The teachers started arguing with him, and things became increasingly heated. I mostly sat there listening and watching.
Finally, I got up. I walked over to his desk, leaned across it, and called him several very bad names in Korean. Then I told him he had three options: pay us and we would leave; try to beat me up; or I could take his new SUV, which I knew was parked outside.
Suddenly, He Had the Money
He reached underneath his desk. For a moment, I had no idea what he was going to pull out.
He came back up with a brown paper bag stuffed with cash.
Apparently, he had found some money after all. He paid everyone, and we left.
It was certainly an eventful twelve days.
Looking Back
Looking back, it was a learning experience—although not the kind you expect when you sign up to teach English at a language camp.
The teaching itself was often the easy part. Sometimes the harder part was knowing who you were dealing with before agreeing to work for them.
There are recruiters, schools, and other agents who are willing to take advantage of people who do not know what to ask. I was lucky that this particular situation ended with everyone getting paid. It could have ended very differently.
That experience made me more careful about who I agreed to work with. Before accepting a short-term camp role, it is worth getting clear answers about the plan, the pay, and the work-authorization requirements for that role.