Korean Job Discussion Forums

[OttawaScott]

My wife and I are looking to travel and teach with our 2 children. One will be 3 and the other will be 1. Does anyone have recommendations for:
The best places to look for positions for a family?(safe areas, things to do, clean) or any suggestions about traveling with kids. We have taught in Korea for a year and my wife has taught in the public board in Canada for 5 years.

Any advice, suggestions or shared experiences would be of help.

Thanks
Scott

[Yesterday]

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[bdbarnett1]

When I get to Korea I'll have a 1 yr old, so I'm interested, too.

[OttawaScott]

[Unposter]

From the sounds of the ages of your children, you are going to need daycare. Just like back home, good daycare can be hard to find. In Seoul, you can find English-speaking nannies. Most dong-offices have their own daycare facilities. They can be quite reasonable but the quality probably varies greatly.

I would strongly recommend looking at a public school as I think Hakwon hours and commitment might be hard on young children. Also, most daycare centers opperate on standard work hours not hakwon hours which often have night classes.

If you plan on taking care of the babies yourself this may be hard unless one of you does not work. Schedules can change a lot and it may not be possible for one of you not to work at any one time.

I think just about anywhere in Korea is safe. You may want to consider city/country distinctions. Both have advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of city life is access to generally better health care. You should consider this too before coming to Korea.

I would suspect that your 3 year old, being an English speaker, may be in demand as a playmate depending on the interests and education of the people in your community.

If you have taught in Korea before, you should know most of this. Good luck!

[Pak Yu Man]

One fo you could get a public school job, and the other get a hakwon job. You'll be finished pretty early with the public school and the hakwon job will be afternoon/evening. You won't see that much of each other but it'll be better for your kids.
I'll probably be doing something similar next year. I'll have to get rid of the day off and try to get all my classes in the morning. the my wife can work afternoons/evenings if she wants to.

[bosintang]

Another person with children expressed interest in coming to Korea with their family...

...curious indeed. You've been here, so you know the drill. It still baffles me and it will no doubt baffle whoever will hire you. This is an industry that still far and away appeals to young career-less college grads.


Saying that, if you have credentials, international schools are definitely the way to go and *in my opinion*, the only decent option that someone with a family would ever consider. After that, public school positions. You and your wife will clear a decent salary between the two of you, and despite duties & job descriptions varying from school to school, it's a pretty safe 9-5 style job, good hours for raising kids. You could either take a housing allowance from your respective schools, or have the schools communicate with each other and set you up with a single apartment.

I'd also suggest somewhere urban (Seoul!) for reasons of finding good daycare, playmates for your 3-yr old, etc. Good luck.

[bdbarnett1]

[OttawaScott]

How can I find an International school that would still be hiring? Is there a list of Korean International schools out there?

The reason I fought against Soeul was because of the pollution but I agree that the ammenities are much better.

In terms of it seeming like a crazy idea, children are very adaptable and you have limited time to travel as a family until you are interferring with their social lives at home.

Thank you to everyone for their advice and suggestions.

[jewelz]

Well I am a living example of living in Korea with a child. Obviously, you have to be an organised person in general to be a good parent no matter what country you are in, weather it is Korea or Canada. There are four families here with english speaking children. Most attend the kindergarten in our apartment complex which is walking distance. Less travel time then I did in Canada to the damn daycare every morning and night after work. Furthermore, each kindergarten has their own van to do pick up and drop off's. International schools are not in my region, and I hear many only offer high school levels. Furhtermore, the last quote I received was 1million won a month in school fees. That may have been misinformation, but I think it is rather too much on a moderate salary as a teacher here. I chose an area that is less polluted and a smaller city, which is better for children. After a while your kids can branch out and make friends with the other Korean families, ; it works out fine for me. Back home it seems that everyone in Canada is so worried about 'damaging' their children that kids can not be kids anymore. Or parents for that matter. Their is always so much worrying... kidnappers, drug users, etc. Whereas in Korea the streets are relativily safer then the streets of my neighbourhood in Victoria; i.e. there is less iv users here and all the rest. So by and large it is not that bad. Or it could be my perception of parenting in Canada is wrong, but I am not 'overconcerned' as I was back home. Where every institution and framework around parenting is extremely 'fear based", rather then fact based. Maybe I just can not understand Korean, so I can ignore it more here. Good luck and that sounds great you are moving here with your family, they will have a greater perception of the world and get to experience another culture.

[Pak Yu Man]

Wow Jewelz...your apt complex sounds just like mine

OP...don't worry about the language thing. Your kids will be fluent/semi-fluent in no time. You do have to worry about spending time with them so they also have a chance to use English.

This is risky but you or your wife could work at a school and the other could work out of your home teaching privates.