Korean Job Discussion Forums

[True Samurai]

I have a wife and three children under twelve to support. Suppose I have a 'hagwon' job in the mid-two-million won range. Suppose further that the wife did not work or could only do part-time as a Bahasa Indonesia language teacher, could the children attend a regular Korean school? What would it cost per child (elementary/junior high)? Would I make enough for us to live comfortably? To save a little? Would I be better off to take my family to a major city, a smaller town? How much for an apartment for five or six people? Could I even make enough money to live? Could we get permanent residence? (We are all American citizens)

I am not concerned with the social issue. I get along well with the Koreans and think them a fine people. I know some isolated cases may treat us ignorantly, but I can deal with that.

[butlerian]

I think it would be more sensible to go for a public school job for reasons of stability.

[bosintang]

Just curious, but why would you do this? You can get by, but that's all you'll be doing. You'll scrap enough to get by, but don't expect to be living the high life. You'll *always* be contractual and be making significantly less money than you can on a career path in America. Your wife will not be getting much work as an Indonesian. Factory workers start at around 300K/month for six-day 60+ hour working weeks.

More importantly, your kids will be treated like little freakazoid mutts in the public school by other students and teachers alike. There are no resources to deal with non-Korean students and the issues they will face because it's just about basically unheard of. Even Korean students who go abroad and come back often have difficulties readjusting.

If you have a family, quality of life is significantly worse all-around than it is in the States. Inferior education, high pollution, overcrowding, lack of recreational outlets....I can't count how many Koreans I have met who have said they would never raise children in Korea, and this seems to be backed by the fact that Korea has one of the lowest birthrates in the world. I just cannot fathom someone doing this voluntarily.

[True Samurai]

[butlerian]

[True Samurai]

So where's Chungchongnam-do? Nice place? Why would they pay more than elsewhere?

[pkang0202]

Public school will start at 2,000,000 per month. That is with just a bachelor's degree, no experience, no masters, no TEFL/TESOL.

The problem with being a native teacher is that you will top out your salary REAL fast. Meaning in 4-5 years, you'd better do something on the side because you aren't going to get past that salary cap.

[True Samurai]

[butlerian]

[Cheonmunka]

Pls find websites and pertinent info for you below. First, my explanation.

When my son entered public school here his teacher was concerned that he knew Korean. Well, he was born here and attended Korean kindergarten two years and had private teacher come to our house etc. So, he is fine at school.
Classes are in Korean language, of course.
How will your children adjust?
Your oldest is twelve. I think that nears on middle school here. That means taking time out of school and using an immigrant language acquisition program ... That defines your geographical placement of your employment but it won't be hard to find work. For me, I'd think about work/home near southern Incheon in Kyongi Do, close to most immigration and worker (노동자) services.

Private international schools cost from USD 15.000 (at least) per year at the low end. You would have to pay that times three. There's no way a hakwon teacher (or 90% of the population) can cover that cost. Forget it.

Looking at basic costs: My family of four costs about 2.2-2.4 million month for living costs, not including mortgage payments or savings plans. But, we eat well and have affordability with that expenditure.

Here are some websites to look at. They are mostly in Korean, but search around. There are specific Indonesian expat sites. Make some calls or email. Find out how others do it.

http://www.migrantworkers.net/

http://www.migrant.or.kr/new/

http://asm.nodong.net/

http://www.geocities.com/wonkansan/ (Indonesian)

Good luck.

[john]

Your biggest problem will be getting an apartment with enough space for your family. Most apartments that are supplied by the employers are in the 8 � 12 pyong range and you would need at least 20 � 25 pyong (30-35 pyong would be best). Korean employers are not usually flexible when it comes to things like supplying a bigger apartment even if you are willing to pay the extra cost. The cost for a big apartment depends on the location. Your wife cannot work legally in Korea on an F3 visa. Your kids can go to Korean school but the classes are in Korean. You can make enough to live on but your startup expenses would be high because of your family. For example, you will need a car, which will cost maybe 1,000,000 won for something decent and 500,000 insurance, air fair will cost 2,000,000ish, the visa will cost 30,000 per person plus 10,000 per alien registration card and the hits just keep rolling on. The good things are that health insurance is cheap for a family and once you get things set up you will be able to save around 1,000,000 a month.

[Cheonmunka]

You make some good points, John, but I think there are possibilities for people in his situation.

[tzechuk]

I beg to differ on the not being able to work legally on an F3 statement.

A friend is here on an F3 and he works legally - immigration has expressly told him that he can work as long as he pays his taxes. He files his own taxes every year.

[rawiri]

I don't understand why you would want to bring a wife and three kids here considering the money you will be earning. As someone else said, you will only be scraping by supporting 5 people on 2.0-2.5. Go home and do whats best for you and your family.

[VirginIslander]

Do you have teacher certification from the states? If so, seek employment at an international school here.