Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dexter]

Any comments or information about this place?

[Teelo]

Don't know about that school specifically, but from what I've read on this board, Avalon seems like a fairly decent place.

[hagwonnewbie]

I don't know anything about the job but I can comment on the location of the school because I work and live very close to there. It's located at a big intersection near Kaywon Art and Design College. There are a few "mountains" near by as well as a Lotte Mart at the same intersection. The closest subway stations are Pyeongchon and Indeogwon which are both at least 5 minutes by bus. Personally, I think it's a little farther from Seoul than I prefer. I go to Gwacheon frequently, and Anyang is also pretty close. Itaewon is about 40 minutes on the subway.

[seethetraffic]

If it's the one hagwonnewbie mentioned by Lotte Mart, then
it's a very popular school and has lots of teachers and students.
The school is in a modern building and they have a boatload
of buses shuttling kids in an' outta there daily.

[dexter]

Well those comments are all good. Nothing horrible spoken of yet so...*fingers crossed*

[Tathen]

I worked very near it, and talked to a lot of the teachers that worked there.

All of them were very content. I didn't hear of any problems from that place.

The only thing I heard, was that the intensives (during summer and winter vacations they have extra classes for a month) really sucked. As in, they had REALLY long days for 1month, twice a year. Normally you just work afternoons - evenings, but with the intensives, you worked morning to late evening I believe. That's not too out of the normal however, as I was doing similar intensive shifts (though not quite as bad)at the hagwon I worked at nearby.

Otherwise, from what I have heard, it's a very good starter hagwon for a newbie. I lived in the same apartment as many of the teachers there. The apartment itself was quite good compared to what I've had before here, but the location was kind of shitty due to the highway being right above the whole area there. Lottemart and Avalon will likely only be a 3minute walk for you though, which is nice.

~Tathen

[aznguy]

hey dexter,

I got offered the same position and was wondering if you asked for any other postings nearer to the core of Seoul. I am a bit afraid to ask this myself because if I reject this offer they may just look for someone else.

[DCJames]

They're paying horrible wages.

NEVER trust a school with a pretensious name like "Avalon". It's a freaking kiddy hogwon for God's sake.

There will be ALOT of bullsh%t involved.

[dexter]

[Donald Frost]

The Incheon Regional Office informed a Korean contact that anybody with more than two years of experience in country is automatically ignored for a postion. In fact, the Mapo owner told me the same thing in October.

Nokjiwon classes are for the kids who can speak English fairly well. Avalon usually has a few of these classes in each branch.

PM me for more info.

[hagwonnewbie]

I just walked past there at almost 11 pm on a Friday night. Half a dozen of those giant tour busses were parked out front. I guess they were about to finish.

I can't imagine working at such a mega academy.

I'm glad I work for a smaller hagwon even if it is unorganized.

[Xuanzang]

[dexter]

[dexter]

[Poemer]

Unless things have changed drastically, there are NOT a few Nokjiwon classes at each location. Nokjiwon is an individual entity within Avalon that is totally separate from the rest of the middle school campus. Only a few Avalon locations have Nokjiwon/IVY (IVY is washout ground for kids that have been kicking around the regular middle school for too long, but are not good enough for Nokjiwon) campuses attached. If you are considering working at Avalon, the only place that might be worth while is Nokjiwon. Nokjiwon teachers have much lighter class loads (used to anyway) than regular middle school teachers, but you will have to do a crapload of essay grading and online speaking HW grading. Avalon is a chain and even the corporate locations vary as far as conditions go. The unofficial motto of the corporate goons that make the decisions that will affect your life while you work for them is "screw the foreigner" so, caveat emptor.

BTW, "Nokjiwon" is just a word the school made up. It means "green fields" and by some form of twisted logic is supposed to represent something meaningful related to academics.