Hey Melody, I work in a totally different industry but had an almost identical experience. These challenges make us stronger. Remember God didn't give you that negative situation but he is able to turn it around and let the foolish plans of the enemy work in your favour. To strengthen you, to move you in the right direction.

Loving your look. Your hair and eyeliner look really great. Eyeliner tutorial!? I hope that this 1 bad co-teacher was not the reason you left S. Korea.

girrrrl ur natural hair is poppin!!!! edit: but the co-teacher u had for 2 years sounds srsly horrible!! you are rly strong Mel.. I don't know how u were able to handle that co-teacher for two years bc the Situation that she put u in sounds mentally torturing.. my best friend was in a similar Situation to yours ( not in Korea) and I know that it was a very hard time. So I can only imagine how hard it must have been for u in a different country

I have told two young ladies about your page. They are thinking of teaching overseas. Your stories should help them acclimate better. Keep doing what you are doing and inspire young African Americans girls to explore.

your hair looks SO GOOD!!! I love this cut and style!

She was jealous and probably upset that you are the main teacher

Your experience has become commonplace in corporate America. When you have people from different races and cultures there to achieve a common goal the dominant group has a fear of taking their job, status or something. It's very unfortunate but that seems to be the new norm and you have to pick and choose your battles.

Beautiful inside & out...

Heyy!!! I luckily haven't had any lazy co-teachers but I did have a pretty miserable one last year!! She was very similar to your mean co-teacher except she was on and off! Some days she would be cool with me and other days I felt as if I was nuisance! I'm so sorry that you had to deal with such a mean person, especially since you have such a kind personality! But girl you're freeee now!! Great video :)

omg your hair looks sooo good girl 😍❤

God blessed you when people mock and persecute you and lie and say all sorts of evil things against you because we are His followers. We should rejoice in those moments!

One of the beautiful thing about this vid is that your trying see what God is doing , Alot of the time we react to the person but not the spirit they come in. Stay being a Blessing.

Love your hair so much

I just came for the hair. Amazingly beautiful. Girl, I could play with that for hours. Sorry if that was inappropriate but this is beauty at its finest.

Omg I could go on and on with the co-teacher stories! Your hair looks amazing, btw!

love your hair styled like this, i wish my hair was long enough to do this! 📚

I haven't taught abroad, but I do have my Education degree (and would like to teach abroad). However, my first practicum, I really had a bad mentor teacher. And it was so subtle, that I didn't realize how bad she was until my new practicum with a new mentor teacher who was ABSOLUTELY fantastic. My first mentor teacher treated me like a TA, doing copies and helping the students with disabilities instead of teaching the group and letting me find ways to individualize the lessons for certain students. And I barely made the required level of teaching per day, because she was such a control freak and altered my stuff then told me I couldn't teach something even though it was in the curriculum and she was just.... not the best mentor teacher someone could have. That's for sure.

it seems you handled it all really well! glad you at least had one colleague to rely on

I had a co-teacher like that last semester here in Korea. I'm glad that I'm not the only one. Makes me feel better.

Wowwww~ Your hair is so beautiful~ Haha I enjoyed hearing about your experiences in Korea~ :3

You can still say goodbye in Korean :) it was nice!

Your videos are amazing! Love that you always keep it real. I can't wait to see where life will take you next!

I'm so sorry that you had a difficult experience with your main co--teacher, Melody ♥️🥺. I trust that the LORD will somehow work it out for your good!

Thanks for the info Mel. I also love how you said "if you decide to come to Korea" like you're still there, so adorable.

The thing that struck me was when she said "you weren't interested in getting To know her/hurts her feelings." As though she's mirroring your feelings about her. I'm a lot sleepy, hope that was articulated well. Maybe God wanted to bring a theme to your attention? Otherwise, thanks for your videos I enjoy them!

Your hair is gorgeous 😘😘😘

Crazy. Here I was thinking you had a super ideal situation and you had it just like me with a terrible co teacher. It was so bad for me and I was so depressed about it that I ended up switching schools. Definitely luck of the draw with the co-teachers.

Love your natural hair!

Oh gosh! what a story! In China, my co-teachers were non-existent. They would should up once in a while, make an appearance and then leave. If I was teaching little kids say 5 years and under, they would be there to take them to the restroom, but not much else. It helps to be able to understand the language a little to communicate with your students even though it was supposed to be an English only environment. I was grateful that my co-teachers didn't show up because whenever they did I felt like they were spying on me. They weren't helping me nor the students, so what were they doing, spying! There was nothing ever to report but it still didn't feel nice.

Look at that hair! Curls are always popin❤😩👌👌

Mel, your hairstyle is so cute! You're looking so happy and fresh too!

OMG!!! Your hair 😍yass 👍🏽

Notification Squad! heyyyy everyone! how are ya'll?

📚 yeah your co teacher definitely put you through and a lot of time we don't understand why God puts us in certain situations; but one thing for sure we know He won't put more on us than we can bare. He got you through it and that's all that matters! This was very helpful for those of us who are planning to teach in korea! thank you!

You are great!! 😘

I had 3 of them in a row! One of them even telling me giving me a message gives her a headache (because she was afraid of misinterpreting a message for me). Those also acted like I was their handyman in the class - insisting on being the main teacher, and reducing me to handing out papers or sticking things on the board. When forced to stand back so that I could teach they were reluctant about translating when I needed it. I had only one good co-teacher - the 4th one. We got on like a house on fire. I think the situation that you are describing is very common. Most of these 'bad' co-teachers find their job of being a co-teacher a huge burden - especially the 'helping' part. I've been at an elementary school for 4 consecutive years, and after that I moved on to hagwons. I had some bad experiences at hagwons, but is now in my 3rd consecutive year at a hagwon. I prefer gambling on hagwons than gambling on co-teachers. At least you're 'co-teacher free' at a hagwon.

Great video.....i had a co-teacher that was lazy and rude...so i understand how you felt.....i came to work on time to teach my students ...according to the lesson plans......she just decided to take over my class room and teach her own lessons.....so i sat down and allowed her to do so...because in my mind she seemed foolish...not only that she was teaching the students an old lesson.....from months before...any way..the students ignored her and the day was wasted.....any way after that...she never tried to take over my class room from that lesson ......she lerned......great video...be blessed..

How did you manage the classroom (when it got a bit wild) without your co-teacher presence? I plan to one day teach in Korea and I just want to know how to deal with worst case scenarios like that...

Love your personality and you are absolutely beautiful keep up the videos Mel!!

the outro though 😂 I'm so used to you saying goodbye in Korean that I heard it in my head 😂

Main co-teacher = head teacher also. Many people here also say head teacher to differentiate from co-teacher. Though your head teacher can also be one of your co-teachers. Just more information if your reading into teaching in Korea.

This was a great video. Thanks for sharing. Your main co-teacher sounds soooo horrible. I can't imagine putting up with that for 2 years. Just the Idea of having to ask people to do their job pisses me off so bad. I have 3 co-teachers right now and they have been so great. The only complaint is i'm the support/game/activity teacher and i have nothing to do during desk warming. I would love to eventually lead a class and be the main teacher.

So pretty! I was looking at your hair the whole time lol!

aww that sucks I honestly never had a coteacher until now...and let's just say that we keep our boundaries...

I really like your videos. Very informational and all becauae after I get my BA I would like to teach in korea. Someday! It is awesome to see what my life could be like and what coteacher i might get stuck with. Thank u! :)

Outstanding editing brah thanks for the upload

Hey Mel! Looking Awesome! I was living in Tokyo for some years....though I wasn't teaching (working as a freelance musician), I was also faced with communication issues ie. having to read minds!!! lol! Seems that Korea and Japan are alike in the sense that, the thought that is often being conveyed is done through giving you a false-choice (your co-teacher) or through 'implication' (not giving you a direct answer, more like dropping hints and expecting you to figure it out). That's completely cultural and not all your fault. Here in the states we are alot more direct with what we want to say. All Asian cultures are not the same but in this case, I can totally relate! It also took a second for me to figure out that in Japan much of their communication is non-verbal, but that's a whole other conversation lol! In that regard, is Korea similar?

I've had similar experiences in China. Depends on their personalities and basically how interested they are in their jobs. Some of them just hate their jobs so just need to ignore those types!

Your hair looks so good... Your eyeliner❤️

You are so pretty! Just wanted to tell you that! Love your hair!

OMG so sorry this happened😢.

belive me bad things happen so we learn from it and be a better person, and not do the same mistakes that others do. and you don't know maybe in the future you will be the main teacher and aother teacher needs you or you will be the others boss, and from your experinces you goig to be the anomaly bright side in thire life.

I'm Loving your hair!!! 😍

#YouAlreadyKnow Gotta love that intro =P I didn't know this time though lol Bless.xXx.!!!

I know what you were dealing with. I'm in the same boat, two years in, some co-teacher attitude. Will be nice to move on.

LOL When I tell you I felt the frustration you felt on a SPIRITUAL level! Whoo! "What kind of alternate universe am I living on when yes really means no and no really means yes?!" INCOMPETENCE! Having to work with an incompetent, confusing, frustrating co-worker is THE WORST.

Why do you always say I know? I don't know.

I had the lazy useless co teacher as my main co teacher for 2.5 yrs. I feel your pain!

I'm so sorry you had that truly miserable experience with that co-teacher. It sounds like you handled it to the best of your ability. She was Madame Extra. I was an early childhood special education teacher for 7 years and during that time I had a few miserable incidents with people in power or in co-positions who not only did not want to do their jobs, but felt it necessary to attack anyone who "made them look bad". Apparently asking them to perform their job or objecting to being treated like a lesser being caused them to attack because they experienced objections as " akin them look bad". As for why does God let these things happen? I hate conflict too. The situations I mentioned pushed me to stand up for myself. It was less painful to have the confrontations then to feel I had let myself down by not standing up for myself. I bet the next time someone behaved the way that co-teacher did with you, you were able to handle it more easily. Thanks for all your great teaching and travel videos.

Very informative. Love it

Thanks for the heads up

she probably was just jealous because the class liked you more. who knows?

Love you ! 💕📚

Great video.👍🏾

I have an amazing co, I just wish we were more CO teaching rather than she teach, I teach, but I'm not complaining, she's the sweetest woman and seriously the most helpful person. Sorry you had to deal with a difficult co, it's never easy when they're your lifeline

*long and heavy sigh* tbh this wasn't even on my radar when going down my list of pros and cons of teaching in Korea when I was thinking about whether or not I should. I knew this was part of the program but now I'm a little fearful of what the working environment will be like, especially since I have little to no experience in teaching, especially kids. I guess I'll just have to roll with it and take the good and the bad as a lesson learned.

You look SO good in this video! How long have you been in Korea?

All I can say is wow

You're so pretty!! 😃

Do you wish that you would have gone through a different company/ organization. And if you did which would it be?

I love your intro for some reason lol.

Wow that really sucks, I can only imagine the frustration, and stress having to deal with that on an almost daily basis. Did you ever attempt to obtain a replacement for this individual? What about a 3rd party to serve as a mediator to help work thru situations, including limitations due to the language barrier?

I work in Korea, in a KIndergarten and don't have any co-teachers :( :( :(

I'm going to Korea in exactly one week and this is my biggest fear, I'm brand new to teaching so if I get someone who isn't helpful. I've developed bad anxiety when I'm in situations I feel out of control in or I'm just not used to and I'm not looking forward to experiencing any of that

Hey, Mel...were you able to do an evaluation form on the teachers after you completed?

This might be a stupid question, but how do you not have to know any Korean? Do the children know English? xx

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I was so interested in hearing your reason why God gave you that evil CT then you said "I'm still working on the why" and I literally laughed out loud! Got me all hooked and then BAM! Disappointment. lol Btw I love the color of your room! I use to think God gave me that CT, the one who asked me how to pronounce those gospel words, to teach me patience, but it honestly made me more irritable. lol

omg i've been following you since 5ever and i'm gonna graduate soon i wanna be an EPIK teacher ! i've been dreaming to go to korea and watching your vids inspired me to be in the EPIK program ! but what's the requirements/classes needed in college for it? x

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Good ;)

simple..Mel why didn't you complain this to your principal beforehand.

She has her own issues. Lol. It's hard not to take it personally but u just can't cuz clearly she has something going on n took it out on u. U r strong n handled it well.

How you got your hair like that. I like it.

Wow, I'm so sorry what you went through with your Co-teachers. But isn't there some kind of hotline or the school that hired you, where you can give your grievance to? I mean those Co-teachers are being paid to do a job, and they are not doing it, or being hostile. Their boss needs to know what's going on. BTW, love your hair, you look beautiful.

Hey Melody I was thinking of visiting South Korea after my high school graduation with my parents. would this be a good experience or not.

Or couldn't you just learn Korean before you go? Then you wouldn't have to bother with that.

Mi waan fight da teacher deh fi u😠😠, seriously, I just dicovered your channel, and this video is so upsetting. Anyway, know you're way past that now❤

is this why you really left Korea? If I were you I would have confronted her before things got that bad. If you don't address a problem, then you can't expect things to get better.

I'm sorry to say this but I hope it wasn't race related. Sadly some people still have their prejudice. I'm so sure it wasn't you and you were an one heck of a teacher

Thanks for the heads up

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Why do you always say I know? I don't know.