Job Discussion Forums

[eclectic]

I am trying to decide between the 2, and I need some straightforward advice from some of you experts. I am 43, male, from NYC, and I am 50% bald, Italian-American. I have just read a rather discouraging post about age discrimination in Taiwan. (also, no blond hair, blues eyes here)

I know the salary/savings is about the same, so the weather was the biggest factor for me before I read that age discrimination thing.

Is it really that rampant, should I just go to S. Korea then and avoid all that silly crap? (OK, the winters will be alot colder, I know). Also, are the people approximately equal in terms of friendliness?

[clark.w.griswald]

I have never worked in Korea so cannot comment on that from a personal perspective. However from what you can read online it seems that the money, type of teaching, and conditions are about the same. You do get the offer of return tickets and housing in Korea however that does not always mean that you get these benefits.

For me the big disadvantage of Korea over Taiwan is that it seems that westerners are not liked that much there. The rights of foreign teachers are not so well protected there either. And the fact that you cannot say anything bad about an employer - true or not - does not instill in me a confidence that you could avoid bad employers there.

The suggestion about blond hair and blue eyes is not actually referring to those actual characteristics but instead seperating western looking foreigners from Asian or black foreigners. Basically if you are causcasian the then you meet the grade.

Most schools do have a preference for those under 35 but if you meet the legal requirements and have a good personality then you shouldn't have too much trouble securing work.

[Miyazaki]

Eclectic,

You won't really be liked in Taiwan either. Racism / ageism is rampant in all of these countries. But you deal with it and move forward.

With housing and airfare being offered in Korea, you would be able to not only make more money but save more money also.

One word of caution, you don't want to be working in a rural area in any of these countries (Taiwan, Japan, Korea). Life can be very difficult for a 'newbie' who gets 'stuck' in the sticks.

My suggestion would be to look around the Seoul area for jobs. There are tons of teaching opportunities of different types (elementary school, Jr. High School, senior high school, colleges, universities, and of course hogwans).

Earnings potential would be anywhere from US $2,300 - $3,000 per-month depending on the job, and possibly more MOD EDIT

That kind of cash and not having to pay any rent means a lot of that goes right into savings. Not to mention free flights.

In sum, Korea is the better option financially speaking.

[StayingPower]

Miyazaki hit it on the head. Go for Korea. I'd met a guy there who's now long married to a Korean gal and who'd come there at the age of 43. He worked at a regular hagwon at first, then became a professor. Made good money. He's still there at the age of 54 too.

Basically, Taiwan and Korea aren't the same. Job security is much more stable in Korea. Age won't be that much of a problem, nor any of those things mentioned other than the fact-sorry to say-if you're black. But after being there for six years, I've felt more secure than I'd ever had here.

[naturegirl321]

[JZer]

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

Discussions related to living and teaching in Korea should take place on the Korean Job Forum. Separate registration is required. Please limit discussions on the Taiwan Forum to Taiwan related issues.

[pest2]

Hey OP, I live in Korea but Im making the move to Taiwan, soon. I haven't lived in Taiwan, yet, but I lived in China for a year...

In Korea, you can save alot of money. From what I can see, you can probably save 500$-1000$ more per month as compared to TW. Also, from the research I've done, you wont have to work as many hours. In TW, you must get your own apt, but in Korea, its provided by the employer... however, for Korea this could be a negative, too, because some of the employer-provided places are real craap and some places you can afford in TW are pretty nice.

However, Korea is 1) boring because its dull, drab, unexciting, inward, and conservative 2) extremely racist; moreso than China and Japan, in my experience. 3) Not only is it racist, but there is this sort of vibe of animosity toward you, if you're a foreigner, where ever you go. It makes it such that you never want to leave home unless absolutely necessary. Koreans dont like foreigners and they're not afraid to let you know it.

Other bad things about Korea: Even though you will save more money, certain things are extremely over priced ... such as vegetables, fruits, electronics, and especially: anything that was not made in Korea. Korea has a huge import tariff that adds 20% to anything you didnt buy there.

The weather sucks. Its just as rainy as Taiwan, but its cold in the winter, too.

Scenery-wise, there are some nice mountains, but Korea has no nice beaches as Taiwan does (from what I've heard).

If you are single now and you're planning on spending a year in Korea, you might as well plan to be single for another year. Koreans, in their never ending fight to maintain a pure and uniform genetic code amongst themselves, put extreme pressure on women not to date foreigners. If you try to date a Korean woman, (and you have to figure that usually K women who date a foreigner have a screw or 2 loose because they are willing to date a foreigner), you will see angry old men cussing her out and calling her a sluut for dating you, etc, in public....

In Taiwan, there seem to be plenty of foreigners dating Taiwanese women and my personal experience is that TW women are much friendlier.

Mind you, my bench mark for comparison is China and not Taiwan... but pretty much all the things I mention as being problems in Korea were NOT problems in China.

A couple of tips:

If you work in Korea, get a job with EPIK (government funded, public school job). Dont work at a Hakwon... (aka "bushiban" in Taiwan). Hakwons are private and there are too many stories to count of people getting screwed over.

I've had it with Korea forever, personally. The people who live here are among the most annoying in the world, IMHO.