Post-115: Back to Jinju (Or, A Second Vacation in Summer 2013, to the Same Place)

Wednesday July 31st
Thursday August 1st
Friday August 2nd

Those are mandatory vacation-days for workers at educational institutes in Gyeonggi Province, which includes me.

Anyway. Taking advantage of this definite off-time, I will go tomorrow, by train, to Jinju, where I was a month ago. Jinju has a kind of bibimbap which is served with raw beef or raw fish, which I am curious to try (진주비빔밥). I was very impressed with Jinju in my last trip. It’s a nice city which lacks the pretension I see as common in the Seoul Megalopolis.

Here is a map of Jinju, which sits near the south coast in “Gyeongnam Province”, ancestral home of President Park.

I will be back to Jinju a third (and perhaps final) time in September 2013, but the circumstances will be very different. More on that later.

I’m told that this Wednesday-Thursday-Friday vacation is mandated by the provincial government. Forcing all institutes to have the same days off prevents typical Korean hyper-competition from…well, for example:

Director of Institute A: “Aha! Institute B is still going to be open next Friday! I know I promised it as a vacation day, but we cannot afford to close! The mothers may see us as being lazy and bring their children to Institute B…Cancel your plans now. It will be a normal work day!” No discussion!!

(The institute that I have the displeasure of currently working at honors neither the contracts they produce nor the law regarding [among other things] vacation days. They lie, promising days off, but refuse to give them, and threaten you if you get too “rude” in asking too much about them. When they do give them, it is strictly when it is convenient for them [a single extraneous Thursday, say]. Looking back over the two most recent foreign-teachers who have ended their time here, M.R. and J.H., both ended up without having received the vacation days the law specifies they must get. I will also not end up with all of mine.)