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MANDRL
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Location: South Korea
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 Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:00 am Post subject: Flip-flopping with the idea of doing another year in Korea |
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My fiancee and I have been in Korea since January 6th of this year. This is our first year in Korea. At the six month mark we were feeling really burnt out and the year could not end fast enough for us to get home. However, we had a nice little vacation from work and feel somewhat rejuvenated.
Before our vacation the prospect of coming back to Korea seemed impossible. Now, we are feeling that we could do another stint in Korea after returning home for a month or two in January. Our question is, how many of you have flip-flopped with the idea of doing another year in Korea throughout your contractual year and when did you make your decision? Was it before leaving Korea, or when you got home and didn't want to dive back into 'real' life? Thanks for any insight and advice. |
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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:03 am Post subject: |
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| Well, if you are going to stay, you should try to decide before leaving. You can always get a better job in country than from back home... |
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MANDRL
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:14 am Post subject: |
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| If we talked to other schools before we left, in your opinion, would they hire us for say an end of February start date if our current contract was over in January? We would like to be home for at least a month or two. |
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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:18 am Post subject: |
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| Only if it really suited their time schedule (which it might). Otherwise, there isn't too much difference between you and someone else because they still have to pay for the ticket. It would still be better than nothing, as the school would at least know you and that you have some experience, but it might not work at some schools since many schools always leave hiring until the last minute and they need someone asap... |
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Thunndarr
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:21 am Post subject: |
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Being home for a while will really give you time to sort out your feelings and figure out how much of your anti-Korea feelings stem from hating your working environment and how much you just genuinely loathe Koea as a whole. After my first year, I was about 99% certain that I wouldn't be back, but I also knew that I was going to re-evaluate my feelings after leaving an unpleasant work situation behind me. That was 4 years ago, and I'm still here. Give yourself some time and rethink your feelings after a few weeks at home.
Last edited by Thunndarr on Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:22 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Mr Crowley
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Location: Suwon
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| Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:22 am Post subject: |
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| Try for a public school, the school year starts in March. |
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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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| Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:27 am Post subject: |
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Whats the real reason you don't want to re-sign?
If its just a feeling of exhaustion driving you out of korea, then a month or two of rest will be enough to rejuvenate you.
if you didn't enjoy your year for reasons outside your control...then its hardly likely you'll enjoy more of the same. |
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MANDRL
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:37 am Post subject: |
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| nautilus wrote: |
Whats the real reason you don't want to re-sign?
If its just a feeling of exhaustion driving you out of korea, then a month or two of rest will be enough to rejuvenate you.
if you didn't enjoy your year for reasons outside your control...then its hardly likely you'll enjoy more of the same. |
Good advice. It was not until recently we started to explore outside of Bundang (I know). This has made things a lot more interesting and we are feeling more free because of it. Being able to navigate on the subway and transfer and understanding bus routes has opened up a whole new Korea. This has helped a lot. We don't hate Korea or our jobs, I guess we are wondering if we need to get home and get on with our live as opposed to staying here. It seems as if life and time stands still while in Korea while life goes on back home. For example, my brother is having his first boy, my fiancee's close cousin is getting married, grandparents could drop at any moment. I know these are the trade-offs and am fine with it. We just wonder when we should get on with our lives. I am 27, she will be 25 in November and plan on getting our teaching credentials back in California after Korea. So it comes back to when should we jump back into reality as it seems. This might sound jumbled but its just kind of our sentiment thrown up onto this forum seeking advice from those who have been here. |
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Dev
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:27 am Post subject: |
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| If you're flip-flopping that means you're probably not completely happy about living here. |
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oneofthesarahs
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Location: Sacheon City
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| Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:58 am Post subject: |
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| Dev wrote: |
| If you're flip-flopping that means you're probably not completely happy about living here. |
Not necessarily. Overall, I would say I'm happy about living here, but I'm also flip-flopping on if I should do another year or not.
I want to go home because I miss my family and friends, and part of me thinks that maybe I should go back home to either go back to school or get a "real" job. But I want to stay because I do enjoy teaching, I'm making a big dent in my student loans, and I've met some really great people here.
I still don't know what my final decision will be. Half of the time I can't wait to go back and half of the time I never want to leave. But I don't think that the indecisiveness means that I'm not happy about living here. |
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crusher_of_heads
Joined: 23 Feb 2007
Location: kimbop and kimchi for kimberly!!!!
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| Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:36 am Post subject: |
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| Funny-I like teaching here in Ontario, but I was indecisive for months about giving it up-inertia just sucks. |
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