Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mistermasan]

c'mon. 'fess up. we all have one. the real reason we are in korea. on paper, we are here to teach english but everyone i talk with has an underlying ulterior motive. please share yours.

me? well i do like teaching but teaching stateside is creepy scary. my choice of korea over china and taiwan (previous places i taught) was strictly financial. if the money/ bennies overall in korea and taiwan were equal there is no way i'd pick my present locale.

[blaseblasphemener]

wow, very similar mm. lack of teaching jobs in Canada (unless you are a French teacher, or high school math/science), was set to go to Japan when a friend who had taught in korea and japan recommended a good hagwon in korea. thought i'd come for one year and save some money/pay off some debts. 4 years later, married, and uni job, no end in sight. people i graduated with back home, many are still on temporary contracts, and housing prices have doubled in 4 years. hard to make a living on a temp. salary, and banks won't even give you a mortgage without a permanent position.

I'm pretty sure I won't be teaching once I go back, not just because of money, but also because of the threat of a child making a false allegation against a teacher. Papers print the accused name before anything is proven. So much for innocent until proven guilty.

Plus, I save more money in a year than most people do in 5-10 years back home. And I work 12 hours a week, with 5 months vacation. It's just too bad it's in Korea, but things are getting better here, slowly albeit.

[Zutronius]

Saturated teaching field in Ontario. I miss travel and wanted to try something different. Wanted to make some money to both pay back loans and maybe save up to buy a kayak or two back in Canada. Oh and the kimchi.

[bassexpander]

To steal a woman from a chain-smoking Korean netizen who spits in ashtrays while playing Starcraft and further dilute the Korean race.

Well, in reality, I planned on going to Japan to teach for a year with JET, but wound up in Korea because I really like it here.

[ghost]

I was a French teacher in Ontario, teaching grades 4-8 for the Durham Catholic school board in Whitby, near Oshawa, Ontario.

High stress job, with little if any admin. support or parental support. The kids hate French, and it is the subject where they "goof off" and give the teacher hell.

I had a good salary and prospects, but the stress was killing me, and my Principal was a horrible/anal witch, who made things much worse. In my first year of teaching French, I was at the school every night till 10pm writing out creative lesson plans for all the classes I would teach the next day - only to have the kids reject all the prepartion made. Nothing I ever did was good enough for her. I was told she hated male teachers and it showed. One of the janitors tried to commit suicide because of her.

Ghost in Korea (www.gifle.go.kr)

P.S. The real reason I am here is the money. On a social level I find Koreans to be very disappointing and shallow, and imbued with a false sense of "Hankuk" superiority. It is irritating.

[Corky]

I'm here to enjoy the diverse wildlife and trend-setting architecture.

[just because]

i came here for 2 reasons...

1. A huge fan of football/soccer and wanted to watch the 2002 World Cup and as i had previously lived in japan I came to korea for something different.

2. Running away from my ex-girlfriend, trying to put some space between us. I have always been a traveler so since i had not been here it seemed like a good place to come as my accommodation was set-up and the airfare was paid for.


Note: Money was never an issue. To be honest i think the money here is pretty low(for us not straight out of uni) and if it was about money i would never have came. I can make more money staying in my home country or moving to Europe or japan.

[Chris2007]

1) The beautiful, unique architecture.

2) The open mindedness of the people.

3) Korean cuisine


It's kind of like the Paris of the East really.

shhh, I really came for the money. I'm embarrased to tell people back home where I'm at.)

[bejarano-korea]

The money - as in a hadn't a pot to piss in and couldn't be bothered to save the airfare to go to Taiwan or Japan.

I had a job in Russia for a grand (USD) a month, but when I found out that you could earn double in Korea, I decided to be proactive and sign up on this site to learn more!

When I learnt that the nice Korean lady would pay my airfare and provide a set up with zero contribution from my good self then my mind was made up!

And I do like it here, after a soujourn to mi patria de madre I will come back here to teach high school in Seoul or if I cannot... Busan!

The reason then will be because of the women! Yes sir I have caught a bad case of yellow fever!

[dimitri31]

deleted

[littlelisa]

Mix of reasons:

1. I like traveling, and wanted to travel abroad

2. It's close to China, and I figured I could still practice my Chinese a bit, and learn Korean. I like languages.

3. It has a much bigger swing dance scene than Japan or China

4. Interested in different cultures

5. I didn't know what direction I wanted to go back in NA, this seemed like something else to try in the meantime

6. To put my B. Ed in TESL to some use.

7. I like teaching

8. A friend who was here helped convince me.

[skeeterses]

Since my teaching is part time, I haven't been able to rake in as much money as the other ESL teachers but I've been able to support myself nonetheless. And even as a part time teacher in Korea, I'm better off than doing a low paying telemarketing job back in America.

In my case, I had been studying Chinese on and off for a couple years and wanted to really get the characters down. I had been thinking of teaching in China originally but the thing that scared me about that was the prospect of teaching in front of 50 kids. Eventually, a Korean English teacher called me and offered me a hagwon job. He and I didn't get along too well and needless to say I switched to a different hagwon.

Also, I gave up on Chinese after a few months in Korea and focused mostly on learning Korean. It was definately a great choice for me.

[The Perfect Cup of Coffee]

[gajackson1]

Hmmm, when I came her, money wasn't so great. But it did put me in Asia, with a salary, accommodations, and a good chance to save money & travel.

Also, compared to teaching in Texas, I have/had a lot more leeway (meaning methodology/cirriculum), and less red tape to deal with.

I also thought Asian women were pretty cute & cool (I knew that from bien in Houston so long anyways), but met & fell in love with a decidely non-Korean woman.

G.

[aarontendo]

snatch...
















Huge mistake!