day 63

I've been learning the differences between the work cultures in Korea and America. Like Korean children who almost universally attend school six days a week, most Korean adults, from my observations, work six, if not seven, days a week. (In fact, there was recently some kind of national referendum up for vote about reducing the work week from six days to five days. I don't think it passed.) Also, when payday arrives, many employers have the nasty habit of not paying on time. Unfortunately I have to suffer through this particular idiosyncrasy at Weesing.

Mr Kim, the hagwon director, is notorious for paying his teachers late. Five to ten days late is the norm but I've even heard of him paying one teacher twenty days late. And when you consider that payday is once a month, the problem becomes even nastier. Also, everyone has their own payday, based on when they started working here; there isn't a universal payday, like the first Friday of the month, for example. And to top it all off, Koreans do not use checks, only cash and credit cards. So, when you receive your wages, you get enormous stacks of cash that you have to carry around conspicuously until you're able to deposit it all in the bank.

Why am I bemoaning this problem? Yesterday was my payday, I'm down to 2,000Won in the bank ($1.60), I have bills to pay at home, I'm out of food at home, my refrigerator died over the weekend (the hagwon will get it fixed, it's just a question of when), and I'll be surprised if I get paid before the week is over. (Wait, deja vu! It sounds like all my old problems have followed me from Provo! Curses!) I handed Mr. Kim my hours this morning and he promised to pay me tomorrow or the day after. We'll see.