How I lost $800 dollar doing absolutely nothing.

I know, I know it has been a while.

Well the last two months have been a rollercoaster to say the least. I have developed a deeper respect and appreciation for what it is like being an immigrant in another country. I have realized exactly how few rights I have. I'll try and make it quick:

My school is a private "institute" and was purchased by another owner. That owner came in an made radical changes to schedules, and curriculum with out consulting anyone. Not even the parents who spend 800 bucks a month to send their kids here. Needless to say, many teachers have quit and we have lost tons of students. The school had 200 kids when I started and now we have about 100. That's alot of dinero.

I started here teaching kindergarten, but due to all the changes parents were really upset and having troubles with the new owner. So the owner decided to get rid of the kindergarten and ship all the kids to a new school. So now I have no kids to teach. Since my visa is directly tied to my school, I am stuck. I cannot not quit and find a new job, I cannot pass go, and I cannot collect 200 dollars. They changed my schedule and now I spend half my time editing an english teaching curriculum, something I did not sign on for. The other half I spend teaching elementary kids. All of this was set up without my consent and I just have to do as I am told, or go home.

The only reason I stick it out is because, after I complete my year they MUST pay for my plane ticket home and give me a $2,300 bonus, or what used to be $2,300 .....

Now to how I lost $800 (so far)....Well due to this wonderful global economy the Korean won has plummeted in the last few months. When I arrived it was roughly 1000 won per dollar. Now it is about 1,400 won per dollar. So 6 months ago if I sent 3,000,000 won home, I had $3,000. Now it would be rougly $2,142. I have never concerned myself much with the economy, but I am hella concerned now that it involves my money. Hopefully the plung will slow.. hopefully.

My hope is that these last few months, my school doensn't completely tank, because then I would be out a plane ticket and bonus. I am limiting my travels and saving cash just in case. Traveling is definitely fun, and I wouldn't change it for the world, but it isn't always fun and games. I hope you guys are all great back at home. I'll try and post sooner so these don't get soo dang long.

-LR