So, uh, I guess we are back in employment limbo. We had our meeting with Jane today. She was being very conciliatory and everything went fairly smoothly, although there was a bit of a bumpy ending. She started out the meeting by asking us what we expected when we got back from Thailand. We told her that we didn't know exactly what to expect, but we knew there was a possibility that we would be fired and that we were willing to take this chance when we left. She also asked us (essentially) why we did not respect her authority when she asked us not to go. She was confused with why we asked her for a day off, which seems to suggest we respect her authority, but then didn't listen to her order that we not go to Thailand. I tried to tell her (without losing my temper) that I don't just do things because people tell me to. There are legitimate requests and illegitimate requests. If I told Jane where she could go on vacation, she would obviously not listen to me, because I don't have the authority to do that. I said that although she is my boss, she does not have ultimate authority over me. I don't believe she can legitimately tell me where I cannot go on vacation. Even if I did believe she had this authority, I would still not believe it would be legitimate for her to tell me the day I was leaving. I would also not believe it was legitimate for her to tell me not to go somewhere for arbitrary reasons, like we were told with Thailand. She didn't say much, and I don't think it added much to her understanding. The whole idea that someone would question their employer's authority just seems completely foreign to Koreans. They don't seem to think that the fact that the anti-Thailand policy is ridiculous and illegitimate should factor in to it at all. Your boss says "jump" and you should say "how high?" not "why?" Oh well, the conversation got better after that.

Like I said, Jane was much more amicable than she had been on the phone. She stated that she wanted us to all put our emotions to the side for the conversation and talk reasonably. Coming from hysterical Jane this was welcome news. She said she wanted to rethink what she said yesterday about firing us and work towards a solution that would be best for everyone - us, her, the company, and our students. She said that perhaps that meant us finishing the semester (end of May), or maybe even finishing our contracts. She wants to find a solution that ensures no one regrets the relationships we have developed. She said that Mr. Lee (Jo's boss) still does not know the details of the situation, and he will be the one to make the final decision. She said she will talk to him about her idea and let us know what happens tomorrow. It's hard to believe that Mr. Lee actually doesn't know what's been going on

We weren't really sure what to expect with the meeting. One of the scenarios we ran through was being offered to finish the semester. We weren't sure exactly how to feel about it. It's a bigger deal for Barb than me. She has to work in the same office as Jo and Mr. Lee. I'm in a completely different plant altogether, and there's really no awkwardness for me going back. The thing is, if we are offered our jobs back, we can't really say no, because then it would be us breaking the contract and we'd have to give 30 days notice anyway. So if we do get offered our jobs back, we will probably take them.

There are substitute teachers at the plant right now teaching our group classes we're not sure who they are, but Gumi is pretty small so maybe we'll find out. Jane said that it was Jo's decision to get the teachers to fill in. Jane said that Jo has been in a very bad situation since we left for Thailand. Jane claimed that she had to miss her vacation with her husband to work on this problem and has been working on it ever since. I feel bad for causing Jane all this trouble. Jane didn't make up the stupid rule and was basically forced into trying to enforce it. I don't have any remorse for Jo however. If the English program is such a big part of her job, why the hell doesn't she do anything with it? For our five months here all she has really done is make a schedule for us. We have received no training and no resources. And she missed her vacation and has been spending all her time working on this? Doing what? All she seems to have done is not want to talk to us, not come up with any solutions, and seemingly not even talk to Jane. So she cancelled her vacation, went to the company, and sat on her ass going, "woe is me, the teachers went to Thailand, how could they?" for two weeks? Sorry, not much sympathy from me.

So, Jane is supposed to go and talk to Jo at the plant tomorrow. She is going to suggest that we be allowed back, even if it is just for the rest of the semester. She is going to call us at 14:00 and let us know what's going on. Once we had all that settled the more troubling aspect of the conversation started. We have still not been paid for April, and our cheque was due on May 10th. We worked a full month in April (and I had 37 hours of overtime), and none of this kurfufle occurred until the end of that pay period. There is no reason that we should not have been paid on May 10. We had already expressed to Jane that we needed to be paid. Barb and I discussed our different demands (in the event that we were to be fired) before we met with Jane, and getting our April pay was obviously at the top. If Jane doesn't give us that pay, we can take her to the Labour Board, which is something she obviously would not want.

At the meeting today Jane said she wanted to pay us half of our April pay, and give us the rest at the end of the month. When asked why she wanted to do that she told us it was to prevent us from running (fleeing the country). She said her business would be ruined if she asked Jo to let us back and then we bailed. We were obviously flabbergasted by this. First of all, we have completed the April pay period and we are owed that money. We were owed that money on May 10th. Secondly, you can't hold someone's pay to prevent them from doing something. Thirdly, why would we tell her we would go back to work and then bail? If we wanted to bail we'd just say "no" when she asked us if we'd go back, collect our money and then go.

Personally, even if I wanted to, I can't afford to be without my full paycheque. I have loan payments to make every month, and I needed that paycheque on May 10th. I told Jane this, and we also told her that in our minds (and in the eyes of the law) our April pay was non-negotiable. She said she understood and agreed but that she needed some assurance. We talked about it for a while and we were pretty deadlocked. We were very close to saying "Sorry Jane, you have to give us our pay, and if you don't it's off to the Labour Board." Eventually, however we (very begrudgingly on my part) agreed that she could pay me all my paycheque and Barb one million won from hers. Barb is to receive the rest of her pay at the end of next week. I didn't like giving in, but I guess we'll deal with it. Hopefully things start looking better now!