I'm still utterly miserable with work. On top of feeling overworked, now that the new month has turned over, we (all of us teachers) are getting blamed for a sharp drop-off in enrollment at the highest levels. Which is to say, someone (parents? kids?) is unhappy with the new team make-up and/or changes to the curriculum. But the signals are mixed: too much homework? yes; not enough homework, still? yes; mismanagement of homework and/or of missed assignments by students? yes. All of the above. What's the solution? Bitch at the teachers for messing things up. And maybe it's legitimate. I'm more than 2 weeks behind on some of my grading and scoring, and I'm sure that kind of delay gets noticed by students and parents and compares unfavorably with my predecesor. What can I do? I'm already working more hours than I can bear. I'm not into this kind of stress – if I were, I'd still be working with computers for corporate America.
I'm trapped. If I resign, I get a black mark on my resume and I'll have to leave Korea – it's impossible for a teacher who has failed to complete a contract to get a visa renewal or another job in the country. That might not matter so much, if I hated Korea. But I don't. I really like it here. But additionally, if I resign, I'll have to carry around the sense of failure that will bring. I don't wanna go there. I don't see what to do, except buckle under and push on.
And?