I went into work this afternoon and had to leave in the middle of my last class because I felt like I literally couldn’t stand up. It was pretty embarrassing. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s missing work because of illness. I always feel like no one will believe me that I’m actually sick.

Especially since the day before I told my boss I’d like less work hours. My contract is for 25-35 hours per week, and for the past month I’ve had just about 35.  I know that doesn’t sound like much, but in Vietnam, 35 hours of teaching is considered a lot a lot, especially given the fact that I’m only getting $1000 USD per month. Yesterday I had five classes for a total of eight and a half hours, spanning from 7:30AM to 8:30PM.  So it’s possible that my long work hours have caused me to fall ill, and not infected food or mosquito bites!

I’ve recently been in contact with a former teacher, let’s call him Patty, from my language school.  I found him on Facebook. He essentially told me my language center is the worst place to work in Quinhon, with the most hours for the least pay.  I’m not surprised.  There’ve been some fishy things about this place from the start. To begin with, my boss wanted to hire me just based off my resume and photograph.  (Of course I asked to skype with him first before accepting the position!) Then, after arriving here my co-workers pulled a midnight run.  And after talking with a few people and reading old teacher handbooks, I found out the turnover rate of this particular language school is extremely high.  In the past four months alone the center has been through four different teachers!!!

If that’s not enough, my boss tried to underpay me for the month of July.  I started work on July 13th, so I worked just over half a month.  He told me I’d get $500 for the month and I agreed.  My salary is supposed to be $1000/month and last month I worked just over two weeks.  So he was being a little stingy but I didn’t want to nitpick.  When I finally got my paycheck (it was late), the envelope said $500 USD on the outside, but only contained 10,000,000 VND, which is about $460. I should have received 10,907,500.  Of course I said something and he ended up paying me in full eventually. But still.  Shady.

Ultimately, I have to make up my own mind about my boss and the work at the language center. I’m not going to let the judgements of others like Patty ruin my opinion of my boss. But I’m going to keep my eyes open, that’s for damn sure.  As a solo traveler, I’m constantly walking the line between being overly suspicious and being too trusting.  I don’t want to be cheated or taken advantage of, but I also don’t want to walk around with my guard up all the time, expecting the worst from people.

Does anyone else feel similarly about their bosses abroad?