Job Discussion Forums

Shonai Ben · Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 617

Are you wondering if you made the right choice?Why Japan?I had many offers to teach in Korea but I still chose Japan.I feel that I made the right choice but I still wonder;what if I had chosen Korea?
Any comments and/or regrets?

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

No regrets.

I just finished my MA last May, and me being the nervous type that I am, I really really really wanted to have a job lined up before I finished. I got two offers in Japan--Westgate & a small eikaiwa whose name I don't recall. Neither of those was really what I wanted, so I turned them down and kept looking. For a few short weeks last spring, I was wondering if I had made the right decision by turning them down, wondering how long it would take to find something that I really wanted, wondering if I'd be unemployed in the States for a while, etc, but thankfully my current job came along--it was by far the best of the three.

I had to (ooooops!) flake on another contract to take my job, though--I had a summer position in Hong Kong lined up. What with the whole SARS thing, I don't think the school was at all surprised, and I didn't feel nearly as guilty about canceling as I normally would have.

d

markosonlines · Joined: 22 May 2003 Posts: 49 Location: Ise

I'm in Japan, no regrets either, but I think Korea has a lot to offer. I lived there for 16 months a few years ago and had a ball. However there are some dodgy schools. The food is fantastic and with a standard eikaiwa job you'd save more money or do a lot more with it. Just have to be a bit more careful, go with some cash in your pocket in case you have to abandon ship.

However I wanted to see Japan and my girlfriend is from here. I'm sure there were some things about Korea I disliked too but with time they tend to slip from the memory. However I am planning to keep studying Korean and hoping to go back there in a few years when I'm done here.

Markos

ruggedtoast · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 81 Location: tokyo

No Regrets!

Ive been in Tokyo for six months. Im earning good money for easy work in a nice country where I receive no small amount of respect for doing a job which is, to be honest, fairly looked down on in many countries.

Im saving about half my salary every month and still having a nice time.

I went to Korea for Golden Week, it was a nice place to visit but I dont think Id want to live there, not as a teacher anyway.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

I've worked in both and am still in Japan. Have to say, Japan is much better and an easier place to live. Still I miss the food in Korea and there are more opportunites to make a buck there. Korea wasn't so bad, but is better to go for a holiday.