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📄 Asking About My Own Contract… and Getting in Trouble for It

 

Soooooo...it is time for renewal for the February foreign teachers.

It’s that time again — contract renewal season for the February foreign teachers. We’re supposed to submit a one-page document stating whether we want to stay at our school for another year.

I spoke with my co-teacher about it — my “middleman” in all things administrative.

But here’s the thing: I don’t trust her as far as I could throw her. So, I decided to walk straight to the Vice Principal’s office and ask directly whether the school planned to renew my contract.

HA. HA. HA.

You would have thought I had just stabbed their grandmother on live TV.

Apparently, in Korean school culture, asking your own boss about your own renewal is a serious crime. I was supposed to go only through the middleman. My “evil act” of directness? Somehow, they reluctantly decided to renew my contract anyway.

In the U.S., this would be normal: a meeting with your supervisor to discuss feedback, potential raises, or contract status. But here, hierarchy and protocol reign supreme — and questioning the system is… apparently unthinkable.

This little incident confirmed a few things for me. For now, I’ll channel my inner Meryl Streep, keep my head down, and continue being a good, kind teacher.

I look forward to a future away from rigid, caste-like systems — to a place where being direct, honest, and yourself is not only acceptable but expected. A place where there’s no pretense, no hidden rules, no nonsense.

Home, in that sense, isn’t just a place. It’s a culture where straightforwardness and authenticity are valued — and for that, I am grateful.

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