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Revised homeward-bound thread
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smeggysmeg



Joined: 02 Jun 2009

PostPosted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My wife and I are leaving Korea tomorrow morning for a trip to China before returning home, and I feel like we won't have as much culture shock as we will have relief at being home.

I was very successful at finding a lot of job postings online in a field that I generally find enjoyable. I had a number of interviews via Skype and landed a job at a small company that I'm hoping I'll like.
My wife hasn't had it as easy, as she's trying to be a public school teacher and finalizing a teaching certification upon return. She might be in too late to get a public school teaching job, so she'll probably have to find some intermittent work until next school year.

We have enjoyed our time in Korea, for the most part, but we're looking forward to living in a more familiar environment and lifestyle.
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ABC KID



Joined: 14 Sep 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If in doubt, should you listen to your head or your heart when deciding whether or not to go home?
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That depends ABC.

You should do what is best for you but sometimes it is better to give yourself pause and make a cool and logical decision instead of going with your heart.

It tends to be wiser to avoid making bigger decisions when you are tired, unwell or frustrated.

Taking the time to reason through things will likely lead you to a better decision based on facts.
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TECO



Joined: 20 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

PatrickGHBusan wrote:
That depends ABC.

You should do what is best for you but sometimes it is better to give yourself pause and make a cool and logical decision instead of going with your heart.

It tends to be wiser to avoid making bigger decisions when you are tired, unwell or frustrated.

Taking the time to reason through things will likely lead you to a better decision based on facts.


Yes, planning well in advance for your return home is very important. I didn't really do all that much planning and found myself not too comfortable with the situation I was in. I was intending in working and living in the city and didn't plan on having to buy a car. However, the job I ended up doing lead me to a small town without much of anything - not even a transportation system! I hated it. I really started missing teaching and life overseas.

I may try it again with more planning, the right job, and in the right place, but for now my life is a lot easier and more convenient in Asia.
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ovid



Joined: 30 May 2007

PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, there are a lot of Canadians here which makes it really tough to relate to a lot of these solutions with finding jobs.

I'm an American; even worse, I'm a Californian. The market was really bad before I left last time and I've been in Korea scared that I wouldn't find a job back in the States. The last time I returned to California (2008), I couldn't find any sort of job with my experience (prior to working in Korea, I was a case manager at a youth group program) or education (psych major, ouch!). Most were caretakers or after school programs located further than worth the pay.

The idea of paying insurance, new car, high rent, and trying to maintain some sort of social life will be near impossible so my question is, where's a good place to go?

I have been accepted to a few universities in California for grad school (Masters in Education), but seeing that I'll also need a job to pay for other expenses, I need to find a school in a state where there will be jobs when I graduate.
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 4:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ovid, I am not American but from what you just said I assume you should broaden your search and look to study and work in another State.

This may not be all that useful however.

I am sure there are Americans here who could offer better advice.
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redaxe



Joined: 01 Dec 2008

PostPosted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

PatrickGHBusan wrote:
Quote:
This can happen. The longer you're away in Seoul or Japan, the harder it's going to be to go back and live in Canada again.


True but this issue depends largely on how you organise your return home and how financially sound you are.

If you go from full time ESL with a decent life style to no work when you move home then you are in for that world of blues and hurt.

Flip that coin and if you planned your move home, found a job before hand or lined up interviews your re-insertion home will be relatively painless.


Fer sure. I'm back home in the US and I had a job waiting for me, and it was relatively painless, but suddenly having to deal with a car payment, insurance, gas, rent, and a zillion other little expenses, all while trying to resuscitate my stateside social life, has been a bit challenging. And I was only in Korea for two years. I can't imagine what coming back would feel like if I had been away for eight or ten years. Reverse culture shock is no joke!

And by the way, another reason why it would suck to come back unemployed, is that it's hard to get an apartment lease and financing for a car. They make you list your place of work on those applications.
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Adventurer



Joined: 28 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 3:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ovid wrote:
So, there are a lot of Canadians here which makes it really tough to relate to a lot of these solutions with finding jobs.

I'm an American; even worse, I'm a Californian. The market was really bad before I left last time and I've been in Korea scared that I wouldn't find a job back in the States. The last time I returned to California (2008), I couldn't find any sort of job with my experience (prior to working in Korea, I was a case manager at a youth group program) or education (psych major, ouch!). Most were caretakers or after school programs located further than worth the pay.

The idea of paying insurance, new car, high rent, and trying to maintain some sort of social life will be near impossible so my question is, where's a good place to go?

I have been accepted to a few universities in California for grad school (Masters in Education), but seeing that I'll also need a job to pay for other expenses, I need to find a school in a state where there will be jobs when I graduate.



If I were you, I would have applied for teaching assistantships in
smaller cities, so that you would have a stipend. However, you are doing yours in education. People doing master's in TESOL can sometimes get
a teaching assistantship especially if they're fluent in another language besides English. For example, if you speak Spanish or French fluently, that can be helpful, or you can work for the English program at the university.
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Johnwayne



Joined: 28 Jun 2007

PostPosted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 5:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was kind of curious about other peoples' experience with applying for jobs back home from Korea, particularly non-teaching jobs.

I have read around a little bit about it and I find conflicting things. Does it just depend what kind of job you are applying for or is the attitude generally, "Hi it's great that you applied, please apply again after you return home!"?
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enchoo



Joined: 04 Jul 2004
Location: Heading to a reality show near you

PostPosted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 10:36 pm    Post subject: I have had the Indiana Jones or Jason Bourne approach to.... Reply with quote

I taught in Korea for 5 years in the early 2000s. I searched in the internet and found a "Teaching Fellows" type position in 2005 in a city university that allowed me to take my masters in Education for almost free plus get a teacher's salary at $55,000 per year.

I enjoyed as well as suffered for 5 years dealing with city kids. Fortunately I was placed in a more affluent area (not completely innercity) but still there were some kids who would present classroom management issues and not as motivated as Korean kids as a middle/high school teacher for the next 5 years. I got my teaching license plus second masters degree after those 5 years.

I decided I missed Korea (or maybe got sick of the Eastern US) a lot and went back. This time the some regional unis and high level academies were salivating over my credentials and breadth of experiences in both countries. I also decided that public schools (korean or any other for that matter) were not my cup of tea. I plan to pursue my PhD in SNU or another school here and working part-time at a super-high salary. Students are allowed to work part-time up to 20 hours per week and I am sure you can work off-the-books too.

I will concur with whoever said that planning is the WAY! Cool An ancient Native American proverb: "Chance favors the prepared mind!" Luck and timing will play some role because last time I heard many cities are cutting back on Teaching Fellows programs funding. If you can handle working and studying for your Masters' or PhD at the same time, well that's what I did for 8 years.
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AsiaESLbound



Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri

PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 10:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Despite all my attempts at planning, I can't secure a place to stay other than apartments and trailers on 1 year lease in which I don't want as to keep my options open since I'm not in Kansas and Missouri to make a career due to not understanding how to even find just any sort of job. Yes, it's a very limited market these days to expect to go work for minimum wage flipping burgers or short term payday loans. I've spent significant amounts of time researching Craigslist on where I can find affordable rooms in the US just to stay a few months or be able to establish in a new city to gain a new experience and maybe open up more options. $800 a month isn't affordable. Paying $1200 or more a month for one of those corporate rooms such as Extended Stay America is not a housing arrangement that makes sense. Finding my own place to stay is a real conundrum as we have no rooming houses nor any sort of guesthouses like common in other countries. I was planning to come back to Korea for the August public school intake, but the FBI check and apostille took much longer than expected. I'm staying with my mother and really feeling increasingly stressed I need to go to my own place and have some privacy as an independent adult. I'm tired of all her ranting about politics and Obama stuff as well as just being in my way constantly telling me to double rinse the dishes and how to do every little thing when I already know to live out of 15 years experience. She slows me down and I'm losing focus to the point I get little done. Camping isn't an option other than for a night or two. I would had burned through all my savings in the past 3 months paying for overpriced rooms had I not had this option.

Whether relocating to go back to school, find a job, or just spending a few months in the US, you really need to have a place to stay within your means and one where you have no one supervising you. Anyone know of some $400 a month or less sleeping rooms that's not in the landlords house with too many stupid rules such as no pork, no drinking, no guests, and no cooking?
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morrisonhotel



Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Location: Gyeonggi-do

PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Has anyone left Korea and gone straight in to NGO/government work back home? That's what I'm aiming to do and would like to hear how you wrote about your experience on your CV.
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

morrisonhotel wrote:
Has anyone left Korea and gone straight in to NGO/government work back home? That's what I'm aiming to do and would like to hear how you wrote about your experience on your CV.


I did.

PM me if you want details.

However, my situation was not all that common.
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RUBRUBBURNER



Joined: 04 Jul 2011

PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 9:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

AsiaESLbound wrote:
Despite all my attempts at planning, I can't secure a place to stay other than apartments and trailers on 1 year lease in which I don't want as to keep my options open since I'm not in Kansas and Missouri to make a career due to not understanding how to even find just any sort of job. Yes, it's a very limited market these days to expect to go work for minimum wage flipping burgers or short term payday loans. I've spent significant amounts of time researching Craigslist on where I can find affordable rooms in the US just to stay a few months or be able to establish in a new city to gain a new experience and maybe open up more options. $800 a month isn't affordable. Paying $1200 or more a month for one of those corporate rooms such as Extended Stay America is not a housing arrangement that makes sense. Finding my own place to stay is a real conundrum as we have no rooming houses nor any sort of guesthouses like common in other countries. I was planning to come back to Korea for the August public school intake, but the FBI check and apostille took much longer than expected. I'm staying with my mother and really feeling increasingly stressed I need to go to my own place and have some privacy as an independent adult. I'm tired of all her ranting about politics and Obama stuff as well as just being in my way constantly telling me to double rinse the dishes and how to do every little thing when I already know to live out of 15 years experience. She slows me down and I'm losing focus to the point I get little done. Camping isn't an option other than for a night or two. I would had burned through all my savings in the past 3 months paying for overpriced rooms had I not had this option.

Whether relocating to go back to school, find a job, or just spending a few months in the US, you really need to have a place to stay within your means and one where you have no one supervising you. Anyone know of some $400 a month or less sleeping rooms that's not in the landlords house with too many stupid rules such as no pork, no drinking, no guests, and no cooking?

awesome.
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mugshotz



Joined: 08 Aug 2011
Location: South Korea

PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 10:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ovid wrote:
So, there are a lot of Canadians here which makes it really tough to relate to a lot of these solutions with finding jobs.

I'm an American; even worse, I'm a Californian. The market was really bad before I left last time and I've been in Korea scared that I wouldn't find a job back in the States. The last time I returned to California (2008), I couldn't find any sort of job with my experience (prior to working in Korea, I was a case manager at a youth group program) or education (psych major, ouch!). Most were caretakers or after school programs located further than worth the pay.

The idea of paying insurance, new car, high rent, and trying to maintain some sort of social life will be near impossible so my question is, where's a good place to go?

I have been accepted to a few universities in California for grad school (Masters in Education), but seeing that I'll also need a job to pay for other expenses, I need to find a school in a state where there will be jobs when I graduate.


Assuming that you want to be a teacher due to the degree you are pursuing, the amount of job available largely depends on the field of teaching you are in. For example, if you become an English or Social Studies teaching in middle or high school, job are extremely hard to come by and the ones you do will most likely be in undesirable areas. As a teacher with a social studies endorsement, I've been told by administrators that they often recieve over 1000 applications for a single social studies opening. However, if you become a special education teacher (which is what I am currently), you will not have too difficult a time finding a good job. Even if you do not want to make a career out of special ed, you can use the job to get your foot in the door and then ask to transfer within the district after a year or two. Most union agreements state that open positions must be offered to current employees before being made public.
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