kutogi
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Re: looking for business partner and friend
First of all, keep in mind that in a sense if you're working for a hagwon your director "owns" you. Taking a job outside the hagwon, even a non-teaching one, may be a violation of your contract. Since that contract is the basis of your visa, you can (theoretically) be deported for working for someone else in your free time. Whether this actually becomes a problem for you depends in part on how discreet you are. The safe way to handle such work is to channel it through your hagwon director. (Who no doubt will take a cut. Who am I kidding? ;-)
Enough of that. On to the matter raised by Frogmouth (love that name).
Let's face it, Korea is not really that much different from other aggressively capitalist countries - making money is the prime directive. Thus it's pretty much normal for business owners to exploit their workers. That's kind of what capitalism is about, and there aren't a lot of nations more capitalistic than Korea! I've read that some of the worst sweatshops in China are run not by Chinese, but by Koreans. (I think that's germane to the discussion, though I'm not sure why.)
But, but, but. (There's always a "but.") I really don't think it's fair to paint all Korean business people with the same broad brush, any more than it's right for them to characterize all westerners as lazy. Good Korean bosses do take care of their employees. They do so partly because the employees are business assets. In this way they're like their western counterparts. (Or like their western counterparts *used* to be, but that's another matter entirely.)
Good Korean bosses also take care of their employees because it's the Korean way, based on Confucian traditions. They have something of a parental attitude toward their employees. And if you're a "good kid," you'll usually get better treatment than a "bad kid."
So business relationships with Koreans work on different rules. Call them "good dad, good kid" rules. As you may have (should have) noticed, gift-giving and reciprocity are a big part of the culture. There's a similar give and take in the employer - employee relationship.
I know that some westerners say you should hold tight to your hagwon contracts and don't budge an inch. I don't think that's a good strategy. If you use the same kinds of controntational tactics you might use with western employers, you're apt to damage the relationship. If you keep the parental-ish relationship in mind, you'll be able to work the situation better. For their part, successful Korean employers will understand the differences in working culture and make an effort to meet their western employees halfway.
I think this give and take / meet you halfway attitude - on both sides - is a good chunk of the difference between a great hagwon job and a year in hell. It also explains why some westerners find that they are actually treated *better* than their Korean colleagues in the hagwon. (If you're sufficiently outwardly directed to do your part in the relationship, you're probably also sufficiently outwardly directed to notice this and understand why. ;-)
So I'd say that if you get on well with your hagwon director, or whatever current Korean boss you have, you probably have the tools you need to recognize a good employer and maintain a decent business relationship with him or her. You also probably have the kind of situation where you can clear the outside gig with your director.
And if you *don't* get on with your director ... well, I guess it'll either be a second chance or a second disaster. ;-)
Kutogi
http://www.atesk.org/
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