Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bosintang]

[wylde]

[Eazy_E]

Being the only foreign teacher at my school, the isolation caused by the language barrier can be tough. Yeah my Korean counterpart can speak English, but everyone is talking at light speed in Korean while I'm sitting at my desk twiddling my thumbs.

I have some foreign friends whom I see, mostly just on weekends. Without that I don't know how I would have lasted this long (I've been here for six months). People back in Canada who know about my situation think I must go crazy in the evenings when I come home, but I'm not someone who needs to socialize all the time.

That said, being the only foreigner in my neighbourhood has definitely helped me master survival Korean and now I'm working on becoming conversational in the language. If I always had another foreigner around to shelter me I don't know how I would have learned as much as I have.

So you need the other foreigners for your English conversation fix, but make sure find a balance that makes you happy.

[shawner88]

There's no overwhelming side to take here. It depends on you.

Being the only teacher, you are definitely special. This can be good and bad. Your boss may overdo it by constantly checking on you, taking you out to dinner, making you drink soju, etc etc out of concern. The kids may jump all over you and not leave you alone for a moment. Then again,
everyone might just ignore you and leave you on your own. Depends on the school/location.

I think going it alone is best because you get to look, feel, see everything in your own eyes, original perspective for the first time. Hanging around other teachers can really mold your thinking. For example, one teacher I hung around with when I first came convinced me all Korean food is dirty and will make me sick, so it took me a long time to even try it. I shelled out money on expensive western restaurants/pizza/fast food for a month.
When she quit and ran home to mommy, I started eating the food and realized I love it and it's not dirty (at least not usually ).

If those other teachers are like her, whiners, complainers who can't wait to get back home, then that will weigh heavily on you.

[Eazy_E]

[shawner88]

She was a liberal, strong minded feminist and self proclaimed independent. Yet at night, after a few tall bottles of beer, I'd hear her crying to mother on the phone.

I remember she spent her entire paycheck on sweaters and then had her Dad send her a credit card.

Anyway, I could write a chapter about her.

[justagirl]

I've done both, and I really think working with other foreign teachers is better. If you are the only teacher, the school is likely pretty small. This can mean financial difficulty, which you might end up feeling the effects of, even though you shouldn't have to worry about it.

When I was the only foreign teacher, my boss would let me know that he was having to borrow money to pay me (yikes!). I didn't want to have to worry about his money problems becoming mine as well! I just wanted my money on payday each month.

Also, being the only teacher meant a lot closer contact with the boss and his family. That isn't bad, but it was hard to know where the line of "I'm an employee" and "we're part of the hakwon family so we all share in everything together" mentality was. I felt like his marketing and business skills were poor, and so I'd try to help because if he did something really wrong, then it would affect me. Instead of being able to focus only on my teaching and my life, I was constantly pulled into worrying about HIS life. I don't want to sound selfish, but I didn't want to feel like it was my responsibilty to help him run his business. (ouside of being the best teacher I could be)

All that said, I enjoy the atmosphere of working with many teachers a lot more. My current school has 3 wae-gooks and 4 Korean teachers. All of the Korean teachers speak English fluently. I like all my co-workers and the atmosphere in the office is great. We joke, talk about students and classes, we occasionally all go out for a drink or dinner and it's great.

Working with other Westerners is nice. Maybe I'm just lucky, though. No one has a bad attitude at our school. I've gotten to meet some great people and it makes working and living away from home a bit easier.

Good luck in your decision!
justagirl

[bosintang]

[bosintang]

[Zyzyfer]

I've done both, and I had a better experience when I had coworkers, simply because a couple of them were cool to hang out with. This year that I just wrapped up wasn't full of foreigners, nor Korean friends really, just not the right setup to do anything other than eat and drink alone, so I stayed home a lot during the week and did all the cool stuff on the weekends. I like staying home during the week, but I don't like travelling 3 hours every weekend just to see such and such a person.

Good coworkers, no matter the skin color, rock.
Bad coworkers, no matter the skin color, suck.

It's a pretty simple formula.

[kangnamdragon]

[ryleeys]

What other teacher?

After they fire my friend, I'll be the only Enlish teacher at the school, Korean or English. Other than me, there'll be two math teachers and my director, who teaches some social studies. They may be picking up another Korean teacher, but not for English.

[kangnamdragon]

I've done that. It can be very lonely. Stay strong and be glad you have the internet...

[ryleeys]

I can't say I overly miss other foreigners... there's alot of nutjobs out there. Anyone ever met maxx? Whew...

Actually, being so alone has forced me to get out even more than I was. So I started visiting one restaurant 4 times a week and now some people there may not speak to me (language and all), but they smile when they see me. And I actually had one regular say "hi" to me on the street one time.

[kangnamdragon]

I seriously suggest finding some guys your age at a bar, and try some basic Korean on them.. Eventually you will learn more and friendships will develop.