Korean Job Discussion Forums

[johnsom827]

Here's some background: I was adopted from Korea at the age of two and have recently reconnected with my birth father and brother in Seoul. My husband and I would like to move to Korea for a year to better understand my background and of course, to get to know my family better.

Could anyone offer me any guidance or advice about the possibility of my teaching English? Though I look like a native Korean, English is my native tongue and I don't speak with any accent or impediment (I actually don't know a word of Korean).

Would I have a difficult time being hired as an English teacher because of how I look? Are there any stereotypes?

[faster]

If you have a BA or better from an accredited university you can teach English.

[bassexpander]

Hey, I am in a big hurry this morning, but I just read a few entries in your blog.

You sound really, really excited to come here and meet your family. That's great, but I want to warn you that culturally, you might face a let-down as far as meeting your family in Korea. I want to stress "might." I have no way of knowing for sure, but judging from the two entries I've read so far, I just feel the need to warn you that there's a chance they may not be as excited about meeting you as you are about meeting them. I don't know enough information yet to truly give you an honest comment.... I wanted to say something for now, and will get back to you in the next day or so (Thursday is just nuts busy for me, as I'm giving oral mid-terms).

Like Americans/Canadians, some Koreans can be happy to meet their children. Others may not. I don't know anything about your background as to why you were put up for adoption, but there are a host of issues, on the Korean side, which can be complicated in ways different from western families. For example, a parent might not want their new spouse to know they had a baby -- he/she may never have told the new spouse or family. It might cause serious waves -- it might not. Current children might view your enthusiasm as "she wants to get money from us" or even, "maybe we can get money from them." There are really a host of cultural differences to talk about, then again, I'm no expert. I've just lived her a while.

Then again, they could just be cautious and not know how to handle it. They might be very happy to meet you.

The point is, you just don't know, and it would be wise to take a deep breath before you sell your house, drop everything quickly and just come live here. It could be one heck of a culture shock and let-down. I think you should at least visit here first.

Again, I'll try to write more later.

By the way, did you send that package to Korea using Chinese?

Good luck.

[johnsom827]

I really appreciate your feedback. And to address your advice: Yes, my husband and I both have BA's. My concern was that I read *somewhere* that places are reluctant to hire people who look Korean because parents of the students may not believe they are true native English speakers.

As for the other post, (yay! you read my blog!)... Fortunately, I had an extremely positive experience meeting my birth father for the first time (but thanks for the heads up, I'm sure there would still be a huge culture shock) --- he attended our wedding! He and my brother have expressed a strong interest in making me a part of their lives (while never replacing my adoptive parents). He had actually extended the offer to visit Korea, and that's when my husband and I thought of the idea of living there for a year and teaching English.

I'd would love to hear from any Asians or those who worked with/know any who taught English in Korea. Were there any biases? Were parents/students/directors any more or less accepting? Thank you so much for any information you can share.

[johnsom827]

Oh and bassexpander - I haven't tried to send the package yet. I didn't really explain right - my brother actually has a shop in Beijing and wanted me to mail it there, so that explains the Chinese address. I'm just really nervous about where the line breaks, etc. should be. I want to make sure he receives it!

Oh AND good luck with your oral mid-terms! Yikes!

[mindmetoo]

[ED209]

Just start looking, some places will turn you down but just keep trying. I know plenty of Korean American who come here with little or no Korean and get jobs working in hogwans. Public schools will hire anyone even ugly people (although the best time to apply is before winter and summer break there are still some vacancies but if they're any good? I dunno). Also why not put your husband to work and just become a student studying Korean, much more fun

[bassexpander]

Oh, you met.. that's cool.

It's a bit of a corny movie, but if you can download it or rent it somehow back home (doubtful) there is a Korean movie called, "Teach Me English" which might be good for you to see. There is a sideline story in there about a Korean American who goes to see her mom. It's about a 4 year-old movie.

Your husband is OK with you guys selling the house and everything and leaving for a year? What type of work do you guys do back home? It would be an adventure, I'll tell you. I came here years ago to "take a year off" and am still here!

If you come here without a job and want to take your time, I recommend you stay at the Hotel Ibis in Myongdong for a week while you look around. Only if you get a fair package deal, though -- don't pay full price. This is what the Kangnam location site looks like. They myongdong one is brand new... for some reason, I can't find an updated photo site... the pics they put up on the other sites for myongdong's location are all wrong. The new place is a big, tall office-looking building, and is clean and new. Just saw it yesterday:

http://www.ambatel.com/ibis/english/indexmsie.php

It was renovated two years ago, and is smack dab in the center of a lot of things to do. You can get a package deal to stay in that place with one of the airlines (United or American? Can't remember which). It's a budget place, but is clean, new, and located directly across from Lotte in Myongdong.

[Tiger Beer]

[SeoulShakin]

You may want to look into public schools as well, because they definitely don't descriminate about who they hire. In the group I was hired with, there were at least 4 Koreans (Gyopos) and one girl was a Korean adoptee like you are.

So long as you are qualified, you won't have a problem in a public school at all.

[MANDRL]

You really should have zero problems finding a job. At my hakwon there is a Korean-Australian guy who has been teaching in Korea for five years. At our main campus, there was a young woman who was also Korean-American living and teaching here with her fiance. (Her fiance was American and also a teacher at same hakwon, they have since completed their contract and returned home to Chicago) If you want any contact info for the hakwon, I can pm you a good email contact.

My fiancee and I have been living in Korea since January 2007. She is Filipino-American and the school never batted an eye that she was not your "typical looking" native English speaker. She has never had a problem with parents complaining about here looks either. Hope this helps, good luck!

[yetanotherSarah]

At the school where I currently work, my predecessor, a young Korean-American woman was in exactly your position. Adopted and wanting to get to know her heritage, she came to Korea to teach English, so its definitely possible.

[johnsom827]

Wow - thanks everyone for the encouraging words and your experiences. So cool that there are people (gyopos) in the same situation as me.

Mindmetoo: That's really interesting about the returnee visa, I wasn't aware of that but I'll definitely look into it. I'm actually a US citizen so I'm not sure if that would change anything. (My adoptive parents didn't want me to get a call to enlist in boot camp from the Korean army when I turned 18. )

bassexpander: I'll check out that movie. I'm a sap for corny movies, especially about adoptees. Thanks for the hotel recommendation. And to answer your questions, my husband is 100% supportive and at times even pushing me (in a nice way) to really dive headfirst into this. (I have always had a tendency to play it safe, so this is actually very out of character for me.) As for the house --- after further discussions we've decided to keep it. It'll give me a much better sense of stability to have something to return to. Also, I have to admit, the planner in me would never be able to just up and move without any type of job lined up. I know it's possible, but for my own sanity, ideally I'd like to set something up from home. Finally, my husband and I are both business majors - he is a financial analyst for a bank and I am a market researcher for a PR agency. So, teaching will also be kind of a culture/job shock for us. Fortunately, we've both been in situations where we've volunteered/worked in school settings, so I hope that would help... My company actually has an office in Seoul, but my not speaking Korean would make it pretty impossible to function in a PR setting. That's why I am exploring teaching instead!

[johnsom827]

I was trying to PM you to find out about your hakwon and I'd also love to hear about your experiences... but since I'm new here, apparently I can't PM you until I post at least 25 times.

I'll keep at these forums and PM you for information as soon as I'm able! Thanks!

[mindmetoo]