Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bibi1984]

Hello!

First time poster here, occasional lurker over the years. I'm in a weird spot right now, and I was hoping I could get some advice and suggestions from other people here... I hope this is the right place to post.

My boyfriend of 7 years is from South Korea, but has a Dual citizenship since his parents actually had him in the USA before moving back to Seoul. He ended up coming back to the USA for college (where I met him) and got a job here... but the one issue that never seemed to go away was his Military service. We thought his parents would let him slide and just stay here, but now he is 28 (plus the eldest son) and they are not backing down + as of this year you can apparently keep your dual citizenship after you do your time... the fact that you would have to serve and still could only pick one citizenship was our last excuse, but now that that is gone we are 100% moving to korea to get this done and please his father.

BF was lucky and is actually eligible for a 2 year service in a public office (with just 6 weeks of bootcamp) instead of the full term on a base, so he will be doing a 9-5 sort of job for the 2 years, giving me more of a reason to just go with him and make the most of this. We can just hang out after work like we do now....only in korea. lol

Now to my situation... I am not sure what to do with myself. I would love to enroll in a language program and learn korean while I am there, I looked up Seoul Uni and they have a great 4 hour, 5 day a week course for learning korean. This would please his parents very much (its the only gripe they have left about me being foreign~ the language gap I have) so its really important to me that I get some good lessons and extra points if its from a big name school like SNU or Ewha. Money is an issue though, we have just a small bit of savings to move and store everything... so tuition will be ok... but I need some sort of income to pay rent + making money while I am there will be helpful for when we get back since the military pays you squat.

I would enjoy teaching ESL in korea (pref to younger children since I have done it a bit before during visits as favors and enjoyed it) to make money, so I could go to classes for 4 hours and teach the rest (SNU has morning, afternoon, or night classes) but I dont know which visa will allow that. I know student visas only let you tutor a little, but I would like to take advantage of an English institute since they provide you with an apartment + key money.

Since we are not married I do have to live by myself (his parents dont know we have been living together for almost 3 years..) while he will sort of half live with his parents. Ideally I wanted to find something near gwannak-ku // Sillim Station so I could live around his parents, commute to SNU, and teach around the area. I dont know if my situation is just SO SPECIFIC in location that I would be better off job hunting there once I arrive... but then I would not have a visa and all that... ugh I'm so confused.

I'm not 100% on my own, boyfriend and his parents will be around to help if I need anything looked into in korea, but I'm not even sure where to start. Should I enroll with a teaching program to get my living provided and when I get there discuss the hours so I can then enroll in a language program on the side to study korean? Should I just go as a korean language student and locate a hagwon around the area to hire me and do a visa switch? Can you have two kinds of visa's at once?

Final bits of info... I have been to korea two times~ for 3 months and for 2 weeks, but just for visits. I also can read and speak a bit of korean already, but not enough to totally get by on my own just yet :/ Boyfriend will leave for korea in July to settle and do the bootcamp, I will hang tight and wait at my parents (spend the holidays and stuff with them) and join him in Jan next year...sooner if things work better that way.

I realize this is a super long and nutty posting. If anyone has any advice for what I should do I would be so grateful to hear it. I have a feeling that this may start to give me less of a headache as pieces fall into place and make sense, but I'm not even sure where to start! [/quote]

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Edit:

PLEASE
save your rude negative comments about the situation or what we are doing for another posting. my god.

[GoldMember]

Get new boyfriend. Problem solved!

Seriously, if the relationship does not work out, you are going to feel like a mega big time fool for sacrificing so much in return for sweet fa.

[Dixon]

Haha, he's going to waste 2 years of his life to please his father's irrational desire.

[bibi1984]

We have been going out for 7 years and are not married/engaged yet because his family does not know me well enough yet (I wanted to visit more so they could get to know me a bit better since they only see me every 2 years) We actually talked about tying the knot after he finished his service.

Breaking up is not something I would consider, I love him very much and am willing to do this to be with him through the experience (he is not exactly thrilled about going and quitting his job). His parents are very sweet, just old fashioned... its understandable that the language thing is an issue, I love his aunties and cousins and want to be able to communicate with the family more as well though, so this is something I am happy to do~ just confused about the best way to make the most of it.

[bibi1984]

[andrewchon]

I'd say, marry your BF and get yourself an F-2 visa. Go after all them part-time F-2 visa jobs.

[sigmundsmith]

OK. Trying to answer your question about studying the language while at the same time working you can go a couple of paths.

First, you can apply for a hagwon job. Many/most will start in the afternoon teaching children (I believe you said you wanted to teach children). So, you would have enough time to attend morning language classes (4 hours) and enough time to start work in the afternoon (average time of starting work: 2:30/3pm; finish approx 9/10 pm).

You could also do kindy if that would be your preference. Starting approx 9am and finishing in the afternoon. Thus, attending language classes in the evening.

Financially, hagwon positions will provide you with housing so the economic outlay on your part will be minimal.

You can also look at working public school positions - say elementary schools. Usually 8:40 am to 4:40pm. 22 classes of teaching a week (classes run for 40 mins each. These classes are mainly done in the morning and some early afternoon classes. But once classes are finished (and you are up to date with your lesson plans) you will have enough time to study/practice in the afternoon. You may even find that your co-teachers will help you as well. So you could attend your language classes in the evening.

Again, public schools will provide you with housing/airfare as well. But in general you get more vacation time than hagwons. SMOE recruiters are already starting to advertise for their August intake. You said your bf is coming over in July so this maybe ideal for you or you can wait until the Spring intake for Feb 2011 if that is more suitable for you.

In these situations your visa would be an E-2 visa. For any study that you do you will not need permission from your employer or immigration to do so. You can just enrol in language classes when you arrive.

The second option is getting a D-4 (student) visa. Under immigration policy you must get permission from the university to work/teach. This would only allow you to work up to 20 hours per week.

Important though. I am not sure if the university will sponsor you as a language student. You will have to contact the university directly for that.

Now, if you go along this path you most likely will not be provided with housing, have to pay your own airfare etc. But like I said above, it might be better to contact the university directly to see what they offer, in the sense of courses and if they sponsor your visa, provide some form of accommodation.

Just a final point, I would not recommend Ehwa language program.

General agreement is that Sogang University offers one of the better language program: http://klec.sogang.ac.kr/

Yonsei University (if you want the name recognition) is also another option (but I understand that they are very grammar focused compared with Sogang that focuses more on communication). http://www.yskli.com/index.asp

Hope this helps.

[KimchiExplosion]

Take Goldmember's and Dixon's advice

[wylies99]

[Lamancha]

In my experience, Korea is a lot of fun. Its very easy to get a job if you have a collage degree. Just look for a job through Dave's ESL in the same city your boyfriend is in. I'm sure that with a lil patience you will find one. They will pay for your plane ticket, and your apartment and give you a decent paycheck. Don't worry about the visa, the school that hires you will handle all that.

As for learning Korean, Its not that hard, I was there a year and picked up a pretty good amount, I'm by no way fluent but then again I was only there a year and I did all my learning on my own. Don't worry about that, just get the job close to your boy and once your there you will find a language academy near where your staying. Some jobs will actually pay for you Korean lessons but even if they don't, its not very expensive.

Its a nice little adventure you will have, you won't regret it even if, heaven forbid, you break up with you boy. Plus I'm sure that living in Korea will strengthen your relationship.

Good luck.

[Old fat expat]

He will not be allowed to marry you.

He is 28. It is time for him to get a good Korean wife and continue the bloodline of his ancestors.

Seen it before. Sorry.

[bibi1984]

[Ruthdes]

Sigmund Smith gave you great advice. I think the public school option is the best cos of the hours and the holidays. I know quite a few public school teachers who are doing a masters and study for it in the afternoon b/c they have nothing else to do (other than post on Dave's!). If you were flexible in your starting time that would work well. If you're not flexible, a hagwon would work, but I suspect combining hagwon, 4 hours at uni, plus studying would be exhausting.

As for the haters on this board. Ignore them. Why waste precious energy trying to answer their bitter comments? I'm not saying it will be easy. And before you come here it is probably worth having a very serious chat with your bf and finding out just how committed he will be to you if his parents' issues become flat out refusal to accept you being together after you learn the language. If they reject you, who will he side with? I think you have to accept that even if he says you now, it is possible this answer will change in the future.

But then again, no one can guarantee anything in relationships and you guys really love each other, so you'd be silly to give that up. The fact is that the logistics of this situation are very doable. Talk to a recruiter. Be firm in your requirements and the area you want to teach. You have lots of time.

The only other piece of advice I'd give is check and double-check the visa requirements. Rules have ways of changing here depending on who you're talking to. I don't have specific information on visa regulations, but you don't want to get here with a PS job and find out you're not allowed to study in a university. Recruiters will sometimes tell you what you want to hear to get you to agree to something. Verify everything multiple times!

Good luck

[bibi1984]

[coralreefer_1]

I am glad to see someone responded with information that was actually helpful, but I would like to make one small correction.

If you take the second route and get the D4 visa, you will not be allowed to work. The rule mentioned in the post below applies to D2 visa holders (students in regular university programs) while the D4 is issued only to those in the country to study Korean, and in the case of the D4..no type of work is allowed regardless of permission.