Korean Job Discussion Forums

[travellinggirlseoul]

I have just stopped being a lurker here. I have been reading on Dave's for four months, and have now signed a contract, have my visa and am on a flight to Seoul to start a position in an Academy that I think will be good.

Thanks to this wonderful site I have found all the information I wanted, compared my contract to those in the contract thread, and think all is good.

See you soon xx

[DanielP]

Hey Travellinggirlseoul,

Embrace yourself for a whole new world..literaly. Just bring an open mind, expect to be disoriented with everything here, and also plan on maturing as a person.

Dan

[travellinggirlseoul]

Thanks for that It will be hard to be away from friends and family for a whole year, but it should be alright

[poet13]

Welcome!

[travellinggirlseoul]

Time for me to go to the airport

There is a bit of a wobbly feeling down below, it is a big step, but things in life have a way of working out and this will as well.

I will miss the surf though.....

See you all soon xxx

[ED209]

[Captain Courageous]

Here's hoping your flight wasn't as nightmarish as mine, and that none of your flights get canceled.

[Bondrock]

"you will be assimilated; resistance if futile...."

"we can rebuild [you]... we have the technology"

"your dreams were your ticket out"

".... don't be discouraged: the man he ain't so hard to understand"

[insert TV catchphrase here]

[trinity24651]

I haven't seen anyone else say it...but Korea stinks. And it's in a way that I don't think I'd ever be able to describe...something about the raw sewage and dead animals. Just smells that you will have to assimiliate.
Good luck!

[Canuck Teacher]

well, you've made your first mistake already. Deagu Rock City is the place to be in Korea. whoooah.

[travellinggirlseoul]

[Captain Courageous]

*beep* OR GTFO

Just kidding.

You're gonna have periodic bouts of frustration in the first few weeks as you learn the ropes. It's a serious pain in the ass to be told very little about procedure and policy, and only learning after the fact that you've broken them. This is what's really put me on edge as of late.

Discipline can be difficult - if you punish a kid too much, they'll complain to their parents, and that means trouble for you, because every kid is a perfect little brilliant angel. Your first goal in a hagwon is to keep the kids happy, their workbooks filled out, and their parents at ease. Otherwise, the chances increase that the kid will get pulled, and the director will be angry. 99 times out of a hundred, that's all the director cares about. If the kids are happy, the parents are usually happy, and if the parents are happy, the director is happy, which makes your job much easier.

That isn't of course to say you shouldn't teach and should instead just babysit and play games all day. But you always need to keep in mind that there are forty bajillion hagwons everywhere, and the parents can always pick another one.

My other advice would be to get up really early every day and take long walks all over the place, taking note of what you find everywhere. It'll be interesting, exercise, and give you the lay of the place.

At least, that's what I've learned since arriving almost a month ago. Hope it helps.

[travellinggirlseoul]

Now to find some fellow skaters... there have to be at least a couple of girl skaters here doesn't there?

[Captain Courageous]

I thought people stopped doing that when they got out of high school.

[travellinggirlseoul]