Day 75: Plan B

So with all the upcoming changes at REI I've been busy in my free moments sorting out in my head what options may lay ahead, how I may approach both the good and the bad that will come about with the new education plan, and what to do if the worst-case scenarios do come about.

Basically one of two things could happen with this new education plan. It either ends up saving the school and I don't lose my job (but I may have to work shitty hours or have really long days) or it fails, and the school ends up closing and I lose my job. I've been thinking a lot about what would happen if the school closed and I lost my job, or if things became so bad at work that I had to quit. I really don't want to quit, but if I feel the new plan screws me over I'm prepared to walk away from this job. I don't want to do that, and will consider that a last-resort option, but it *is* a possibility. I can only be patient and reasonable to a degree, and after that I'm just not willing to budge. I'd feel guilty for walking away and leaving Steven high and dry, but hey it's not really my fault. We agreed to certain conditions in the contract, and so technically he's breaking the contract FIRST by bringing about all these changes. Again, as mentioned before, I know he's only trying to do what's best for the school and is not intentionally trying to screw me over, but there just might not be a future for me here at REI. This potential has meant that I have to come up with a good solid Plan B in case this proves true.

If I had to quit, or lost my job, there's a few options out there. The most obvious one is to just get a new teaching job here in Korea. That should not prove to be difficult at all, as there's SO MANY jobs here that I could find something easily. And plus I'm already in Korea, so that would save a future employer from having to pay to fly me over. And I also have experience now (as brief as it is) which would look attractive on a resume. However...there's a major catch to getting a new job in Korea. Actually there's several...

Firstly, I'd lose my current work visa and would have to get a new one. This is not a huge deal in terms of paperwork, but the thing is, you can only get a work visa from OUTSIDE of Korea. I'd have to do what many other teachers have done before when they switch employers, which is to fly to Japan for the day and get a new work visa. This is actually more regular and routine than one would imagine, but it's still something I'd like to avoid. Some employers will pay for your day trip to Japan and others will not. That could be a major cost to me, one I really can't afford.

Secondly, pretty much every single employer in Korea only wants to hire teachers for a minimum of a one-year contract. Anything less is, from what I've gathered, almost unheard of here. This would mean that I'd be starting back at Day 1 again. It's not that I don't like Korea (I really am having a blast here and love the country) but I came here with the idea that I'd only be here for one year. I've already formulated plans for what I want to do after next February when my current contract is up. I was hoping to spend a few months backpacking in Asia, and then return home to Canada for a brief visit before, ideally, moving to Europe to teach English there. Any extension of my time in Korea affects all my plans after. And I really don't want that!

There's two things that I could do to get around this time restriction. One, is to sign on for a one-year contract, and then just leave mid-contract, like 8 or 9 months into it. Many teachers have done this before so I wouldn't be the first one, but I hate the idea of being dishonest or screwing over an employer. And plus, if you leave your contract early you don't get the plane ticket home (not a big deal, as since I'm going travelling in Asia I'm effectively throwing it away anyways) and you don't get the bonus (equivalent to one month's pay - a huge incentive to finish your contract.) It is the loss of that bonus that makes me reconsider doing this...

Or, I could look at teaching in another country until February or March of next year. Some other countries are much more flexible with your contract length (China being a prime example) and so this is an option I'm seriously considering if I have to quit/the school closes. I don't know if Taiwan, Japan, or Thailand have less than one-year contracts but I'm going to try and find out as I would certainly consider moving to one of those countries to teach for a few months. The only downside to this is that most other countries don't pay as well as Korean schools do, so switching to another school in another country would probably (but not definitely) mean less income generated in the long run (even if you consider the loss of a bonus here in Korea.)

It's all so very complicated! I haven't hit the automatic eject button yet, and am trying to remain positive and level-headed, but am prepared to do just that if need be. Really, I just want to make sure that I have options if indeed the shit does hit the fan. No matter what it won't be an easy or simple decision, so I really have to be careful with what I choose in the end. But I mean hey maybe these new changes will actually make things *better* at work and I may end up liking them. And then all of this uncertainty and stress will just be a distant memory. I just want to make sure that I'm prepared for whatever comes my way.

Any suggestions? I'd love to hear any advice you may have...