Just got word, right before I sign my new contract, that due to the "no-more school on Saturdays" thing that there will be changes next year. Basically they are going to start the Fall semester (in August) 2 weeks earlier. This means my summer vacation won't be a full two weeks, and instead is going to end up split between camp. They might consider changing the camp dates to give us a full two weeks, but as things are likely in cement already...I doubt it.

I asked about winter vacation (for next year) and got this response, "One week off for Christmas, then camp, then 2 weeks off for vacation." Whether that means our vacation extends into a third week, I don't know. At my school you can opt out of doing camp, but the only hitch is you don't get paid for those weeks. They did say they are dropping camp from 3 weeks to just 2 weeks. Now this makes me wonder what they will cut out of the camp programs, as we just spent this semester redesigning a lot of the camp. Obviously there are going to be some major differences next year due to this "no-more-Saturday" stuff.

I kind of like that camp will be just 2 weeks, as 3 weeks with the same group of kids does get old very fast.

I've inquired whether these changes mean there will be more class time altogether with the students. After thinking about it, I guess it means we have 2 extra weeks...right? Well I suppose I'll have enough work for next year if we extend everything, seeing as I am already a month behind in my book due to the recent drama festival.

I'm just bummed that they are going to split my summer vacation, as that is really a headache.Also they are mentioning now with no time to think about not resigning and looking for a school with better vacation. But I think this is a Seoul-wide problem and likely other schools are dealing with it too. I am signing the new contract today and really hope to get a raise, if not I want to hear a decent reason why.