Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mayorgc]

Fond memories? Share them

I remember sitting in my airport waiting for the flight to Incheon. There were tons of Koreans everywhere. I was using my laptop waiting to board the plane and I could see a handful of whiteys, so I assumed they were also English teachers headed to Korea. I talked to a 19yr old Korean dude who said he didn't want to return to Korea, he was having too much fun away from home.

On the plane, I sat beside a Korean gentleman who lived in L.A and he helped me out with a few things like phrases/expressions and he gave me the phone number of his son who still lived in Korea. Also on the flight, I remember watching almost all the movies provided by the IFE. There was Wall-E, Dark Knight and a bunch of other films/games/tv shows.

When the plane landed in Incheon, I remember it was still light out. I met up with the 19yr old dude and he helped me get my bags at the baggage claim. He told me that his parents might be surprised to see their son talking to a foreigner, which was sorta odd since I look Korean.

After I got my bag, I saw a guy holding up a sign with my name. I followed him and he drove me to my apartment, due to traffic, the drive ended up 2 hours instead of 1. I was sorta expecting Korea to be a wacky and weird land with crazy crap everywhere, but it was pretty normal.

At my apartment, my co-teacher met me and she showed me the apartment. She then explained to me how to get to the school using the bus. She told me to get on the bus and get off at the school, about 15-20 minutes away. I asked her how I would know which stop to get off at. She said that there would be office building nearby the school, so get off when you see an office building. That description was next to useless, but since she was really tired, I just told her it was okay and that I'd figure it out.

That night, I went to homeplus trying to buy a bottle of water but couldn't figure anything out. All I saw was a lotteria and an electronics department, no food/groceries. After searching around, I realized that everything was on the bottom floor, accessible by escalator.

I headed to the busy pedestrian district/Subway station and tried to find a pay phone to call home. I saw a giant mcdonalds golden arches sign and that sorta made me feel better, sorta.

I couldn't find a phone and started freakin out. I asked a 7-11 clerk if she could point me to a phone and she pointed me to the subway. I found the phone but couldn't figure out how to use it. It wouldn't take my 500 won coin. I tried my 100w coin and they worked, but I kept calling the wrong number. I think it turned out that I was forgetting a zero or something. I ended up giving up on the phone and just used my laptop in public trying to find an access point. I found a hot spot and just sent a message to my friend to contact my family.

Afterwards, I went to the McD and looked at the menu and ended up choosing the cheeseburger meal. The price was 3900 but I wasn't sure what I was buying. The clerk handed me the cheeseburger and drink. I thought it was sort of odd that fries weren't included, but I guess that's what made Asians (like me) thinner than the rest of the western world. I sat down and started eating and minutes later, the clerk handed me my fries. Apparently, he told me that the fries would take a few minutes but I obviously had no idea what he was saying.

The next day, due to time differences, I woke up at 5 am for my first day at school. I got ready for work, got dressed and headed out the door. I needed to pack a lunch, since I didn't want to starve all day. I found a family mart and bought a pre-packaged sandwich. I jumped on the bus and it was packed with MS or HS students. I asked the driver in English how to get to my school and I think he sorta understood me. At my stop, he motioned for me to get off and I did. But I got off the bus using the front door, which basically made me look retarded.

At the school, I was almost 2 hours too early. I was worried about getting lost so I headed out extra early looking for the school. I asked the custodian if I was at the right place, in English and he sorta said yes. I headed to the teacher's room and saw one lady there. I told her I was the new English teacher but she just looked at me like I was a hobo or something.

I left the school and just walked around the neighborhood for about 1 hour. I returned to the school and found my co worker there. She was sorta surprised that I showed up 2 hours early and I told her that I didn't want to get lost. The lady who met me ended up being very embarrased that she treated me like a criminal (her words) but I said it was ok.

The first day of classes was a blur. I was introduced to the kids and they were jacked up to meet me and I just answered questions most of the day. It was so weird that day but still enjoyable at the same time. It was the beginning of a very enjoyable experience in Korea.

After the morning classes, it was time for lunch and I was surprised to find out that lunches were provided. The food looked incredibly un-appealing and I barely ate anything, but I wasn't really hungry anyways.

I went home after my first day at school (friday) and I was tired and psyched at the same time. So far so good. headed

[mm]

For my first week in Korea my school made me stay in a koshiwon. The bed didn't have any sheets or pillows. I didn't know where I could buy one, so I slept for a full week using a towel to cover up and a package of unopened sanitary pads I found in the communal bathroom as a pillow.

[Globutron]

[Louis VI]

I had brought nice dress clothes including tie on my long flight overseas and put them on at the airport in Gimhae immediately upon arrival, ready to make an awesome first impression, knowing from my background research how much appearances matter to Koreans. I then waited at the airport for two very long hours to be picked up, then called the recruiter's cell to find out he forgot to come and bali bali was there in twenty minutes with two assistants alongside, driving me in a minivan to my small city, arguing all the way with his assistants about the presidential election which was that fine December day. We were met by the director of my hagwon, not his English speaking wife, as it was late at night, and told someone would come get me to go to work, I clueless where that was. I took it all in stride because even though it was back in '02 there were plenty of stories on the 'net about Koreans rushing last minute to get things done, not sharing information ahead of time, etc. I just went with the flow, shrugged it off with a smile (though my family back home found it unfathomable that the guy who had bought my airfare could totally forget to pick me up). Slept like a baby that night.

[Underwaterbob]

The person who picked me up at the airport misunderstood the bus driver in Seoul and we missed it on its way out. So everything I brought, cash and passport included, made its way to Chungju while we sat drinking terrible coffee and talking about Korea in the Dong Seoul terminal. When we finally got here-after being upgraded for free to the last luxury bus out-my luggage was waiting for me.

It was a Friday night and I went to a bar to eat bland cereal anju and get liquored up on crap Korean draught with a bunch of strangers-who eventually became good friends-after 36 hours of transit time including multiple stopovers and three hour drives to and from beginning and finishing airports. Very tiring, slightly harrowing and entirely memorable: the way travel should be.

[Pa Jan Jo A Hamnida]

- Stuck in a love motel because the teacher I replaced hadn't vacated the apartment yet.

- Wandering around Choryong-Dong, Texas Street, Busan Station then walking to Nampo Dong. Eventually, I would take the subway but enjoyed the walk.

- Being spotted by a persistent co-worker on Saturday and firmly escorted to the Someyeon stop. Despite my protests of not wanting to go back at 5:00 pm (still stuck in the love motel). It cost something like 800 won just to ditch her, ride one stop and then walk back. I understood she was just being nice but I found it strange nonetheless. Guess she thought I was lost and wanted to help. No biggie.

- Reading old Frank Herbert non-Dune paperbacks (Santaroga Barrier etc).

- Singing in a Norae Bang with a dead microphone.

[cdninkorea]

My flight landed really early in the morning- something like 3 am. The airport bus I took later pulled in front of the Galleria Dept. Store in Apgu, and I thought to myself that Korea must be a very rich country (it was only later I realized I had ended up in the richest part).

After being shown my apartment, I took a notebook and pen, and decided to walk around and map out the area. I wrote down street names and drew a crude map. I found a Baskin Robbins near my apartment, and even though I'm not crazy for their ice cream, I thought "if they have a Baskin Robbins, I can make it here." I finally went to a kimchi jjigae restaurant for lunch, pointing at someone's food to order and not knowing how to cook the soup (it was a portable gas-range on the table).

I went to my school later and got to meet my bosses, then went home to wander aimlessly again. I don't remember how the day ended, but my uncertainties, I remember being optimistic about the future.

[schwa]

This topic comes around periodically & I think its a good one. Theres always a contingent of soon-to-be newbies scouring daves anxious as can be. Everyone's story is different but they generally add up to some reassurance.

I still remember my first day vividly (friday, aug 27/99). Landed in Kimpo (as it was then known) in the afternoon, stepped outside for a smoke & got slammed by the muggy heat & the smell. Korea has a unique smell. Funky but not bad & in fact something that says "welcome home" whenever I've been away now.

I had to find a different terminal for my ongoing flight to Gangneung & it was simple & largely intuitive. Korean airport people were & continue to be disarmingly pleasant & helpful.

I had wondered on the phone to my contact how my pickup would recognize me in Gangneung airport & he laughed. I was the only foreigner among 100 on the flight. The director however was busy that evening & she'd sent a taxi driver to pick me up & drive me the hour to Sokcho. He was great. Didnt speak a word of english but wanted to practice a printed list of taxi english with me as he drove -- my first english lesson! Bought me a coffee at a beachside reststop. I was taken by how green & modern everything looked.

We pulled into town & up to the hagwon about 9pm, just as the staff (5 foreigners) were calling it a week. They were curious to meet me & vice versa. There was a nice bar right there across the street (Amadeus) & the pitchers of beer kept coming. Couldnt have imagined a happier landing.

Nice weekend, nice two years at that hagwon, & a fascinating eversince in Sokcho with EPIK. One man's tale. Best luck to others in your new endeavors.

[PatrickGHBusan]

It was over 12 years ago but it is still fresh in my mind.

I landed at good ole Gimpo airport (no Incheon back then) after a wonky flight from Toronto that stopped in Anchorage (Alaska) where we had to deplane and reboard.

Gimpo was something else, even if I had travelled and lived abroad before.

When I arrived in the domestic terminal for Gimpo the flights to Busan were cancelled, all but one KAL flight. After talkign with a KAL representative I was told Busan was being battered by rain and that the airport there was nearly closed. One flight still showed as going so I asked and was ticketed on it.

The plane was half empty and this is where I started to get a tad worried.

We took off and all was well until we started our approach to Busan, then all hell broke loose and from the window you could now even see the wings or running lights. Massive turbulence. Two seats from me was this Australian dude, big guy (well over 6'3"), he was balling like a child "don't wanna die" as the plane slipped and shook.

Finally we landed with a thud. When we left the plane we had to board a bus to go to the terminal and man alive it was raining sideways.

The airport itself was deserted. When I went through the doors to the terminal, there were 4 people waiting, one of which was the person from my school (I assumed no one would be there in this weather).

He grabbbed my luggage cart and off we went to his car. This was my first drive in Korea and what a ride it was in a typhoon or sorts. The guy did not slow down at all.

Finally he dropped me off at my appartment and my roomate was there.

I was not scheduled to work for a week so my first week was spent discovering my area.

My first weekend there was a going away party for a few teachers (the first of many).

I remember being surprised at the level of pollution of my area in Busan.

The more amazing thing I find is the contrast between Busan 1997 and Busan 2010! How thinsg changed and keep changing. Looking at what we had available to us as foreigners back then and at what foreigners have available to them now in the way of public transit, western goods and so on, it is an amazing change. But that is for another thread!

[Tigerstyleone]

I took the red eye from Bankgok International. I landed around 9am and the director was late picking me up. I was surprised he could speak English so well. He asked me generic questions about food and if I like spicy food. Could I speak Korean and why I wanted to come here.

Then he pointed out the hagwon, Yikes, Oh My God, its ECC !!!
One of the five schools I specifically asked my recruited not to send me too.
My contract had Sisa language institute, hell if I knew what that was back then.
Next he took me to my apartment where two other guys were living. WTF is this? I was promised single housing. This was a nightmare.

I was very exhausted from my final night in BKK that I crashed while everyone went to work.
When I finally woke up I checked the fridge and there was all this generic western food that I loathed. Sliced cheese, ham, lots of small packages of pickles.
I went outside to a small restaurant that had pictures of Ton Katsu all over the walls, great I can go for Ton Katsu. Wrong, they were just pictures, this place only sold fried chicken. I couldn't remember the last time I ate fried food. I bought a box and took it home. It made me sick and I went back to bed pretty depressed thinking I left California for this. What was I thinking?

[Globutron]

[seonsengnimble]

My flight over was great although it was the longest flight I had ever been on. Personal screen, plenty of room, great food etc..

When I arrived, I didn't see anyone with a sign with my name on it(I sort of jumped blindly into teaching in Korea. I had recently graduated from my University and was living with my mother working a phone job for tech support and did almost no planning other than calling a recruiter a friend of mine had used and signing a wonderland contract. Fortunately, the year worked out decently, although it was quite difficult at times.)

I didn't see anyone, so I milled around the gate for a while and then dug out the piece of paper with the recruiter's phone number and proceeded to the nearest pay phone. All of the pay phones I could find didn't accept cash and required cards, so I was getting a little bit confused and worried. In my experience I had only come across coin operated pay phones, and I was quite sleep deprived. After a while trying various pay phones, an ajeoshi in a shiny suit approached me and offered me his cell phone.

I called the recruiter, and as it turns out, he was waiting at another gate. I hung up and handed the phone to the ajeoshi. He then asked to be reimbursed for the cost of the call. I was a bit wary at that point, but I thought I'd give him 1,000 won so as to avert any more stress upon my arrival. I pulled out my wallet and opened it. The ajeoshi immediately reached out and grabbed a 10,000 won bill and went on his way.

After meeting the recruiter and another teacher who had just arrived, we made our way into Seoul. We were dropped off in front of a hotel to meet our boss, and he picked us up. It was around eight pm at this time, but we were both exhausted. The boss, who I still like, would not take us to our apartments though. He wanted to keep us up for a while so that we went to bed late enough to offset jetlag. So, we grabbed some dinner. We had budae jjigae, which was an odd way to introduce people to Korean food, IMO. After dinner, the boss gave us both 200k advances and took us to Lotte Mart to get groceries. He then took us to our apartments.

The next day, we had our orientation which was a bit odd. I was going to be teaching elementary and middle school students, so I wasn't listening very carefully when they went over the kindergarten program. Then the elementary/middle school supervisor started speaking and it was an odd introduction to the program. The first half of her talk was about how we were all bad teachers and many students were quitting. This was odd because everyone but one teacher who had been there for a month were brand new. After telling us how terrible we were, she then explained the program, what we needed to do and gave us our schedules/syllabi.

My first class the next day was at 2:00pm, so I thought it would be ok to go out for a few drinks with my good friend from back home and my new friends at work. My friend from back home came down to my neighborhood and we had a great time out at the bars. It would have been foolish enough to stay out as late as I did if I were working at 2, but when I came home at 4am, I saw a note on my door which made it much worse.

"The other kindergarten teacher backed out at the last minute, and never got on the plane to Korea. We found a replacement teacher, but he won't teach Kindergarten. You need to teach at 9:30."

[curiousaboutkorea]

After 24 hours of flying, I landed on a Saturday night. I couldn't find the person with my name on a board. I looked around, and saw nothing. I hunted down a payphone and called my recruiter. She then complained about "where are you?" and such. She told me that my pickup guy had been waiting for me at gate G of whatever (the wrong one). I shrug it off, say 'ok', and walk to meet my pickup. We meet about halfway, he asks if I am the person he's looking for (I am). He then bitches at me about how he had to wait 2 hours for me (I had only landed about 45 minutes earlier). I figure out later that they were probably at the wrong place because my recruiter and their travel agent had changed my flight a few days before I left(they had been waiting for the other flight, which arrived earlier).

As I'm walking out to the car, the driver/pickup guy tells me that I need to talk to the recruiter, as she has important information for me. He puts me on his cellphone. My recruiter tells me that my apartment isn't ready, and I have to stay with the director's parents, who live near the school. i'm also told I start work on Monday, not Wednesday as I had previously been told. I'm frustrated, jet-lagged, exhausted. I'm brought to the apartment of this ancient couple who don't speak any English (other than the man being able to ask if I'm American, I am, and he likes that). They give me a little guestroom.

It's after 10 at this point. The woman gestures that she can feed me (my recruiter on the phone had earlier asked if I had wanted food, which I refused as I didn't want to bother this innocent couple). I politely refuse, she must be tired, and indicate I will go outside. I stumble around on a cold night, looking for food. I can only find bbq restaurants and the like, set up for groups of people. I finally come across a little restaurant, with those heat fans to keep it warm. Everything in this restaurant seems to be made of stainless steel. There's just a couple working there, and no customers. They're asking but I want, but I have no clue what to say. i really just want any food, doesn't matter. I keep shrugging my shoulders until they man says "ramyeon?" I recognize the name and nod. I eat my noodles and kimchi and pickled radish. I go back to the apartment and pass out.

I wake up the next morning (Sunday). I wash up in the bathroom and greet the couple who I'm staying with. it's apparent it's breakfast time. The woman is hard at work in the little kitchen (same room as living room/dining room). She's setting all the dishes on the little table that fits in a space on the floor under the counter. She slides it out into the middle of the room and we all sit on cushions. I have no idea what to do. i don't know how to eat the food, and don't want to offend them. I stumble through the meal; it's all delicious.

I'm invited to watch tv on the couch, they put on AFN for me. It's Sunday morning, so all the programming is religious services (not my thing). Bishop TD Jakes is on, running around on stage, screaming and yelling and sweating up a storm. The old man is laughing hysterically at the scene.

The couple indicate we're going outside (it had been snowing a little and was pretty cold). In the elevator the woman is fussing over me, picking lint of my jacket and the like. When we get outside, the woman heads off to do errands, and the old man takes me to the kindergarten. He opens the empty school and shows me around. We go to get lunch at a 'Chinese' restaurant, and once again, they're asking what I want, but I don't know what to say. I wind up with a big bowl of fried rice.

I spend the rest of the day in their apartment, doing nothing, snacking on the fruit and nacho cheese chips they make me eat, and playing on my laptop. Dinner comes around, and it's another lavish meal with tons of different dishes and tastes delicious.

Wake up Monday morning. Another huge meal like the previous ones. They bring me to the school. I have no idea where to go, and people aren't to helpful. Director doesn't doesn't even introduce himself. I find another foreign teacher, just starting also (he did have an apartment). We sit in the upstairs lobby. A teacher who had been working there for a few months comes in and finds us and gives us the low-down. Korean teachers come tome and the new foreigner and say they have to make a schedule. While classes go on all morning, we sit in the lobby, waiting for our schedule. Eventually, we're told it's lunch time and wind up eating some white soup with organ meat in it. My new co-worker is a bit put off by it.

We return and get our schedules. of course there's no orientation like we'd been promised. I also told my apartment still wasn't ready (my recruiter said it would have been). I'm told it's being cleaned and would be ready the next day (tuesday). After work I eat my first bbq with the new coworkers. I go back to the old couple's apartment and sleep. Next morning I find out I'm getting moved to my new apartment finally. I'm picked up and move to my new place and start work later that day.

I'll never forget that time.

[Tigerstyleone]

[/quote]

I'm interested to know how this story turns out[/quote]

ECC was a night mare. I had to teach 8 classes a day 3 days a week and 7 classes a day the other two. One guy pulled a runner and another guy got fired. We were always short on staff. Korean teachers quit every month.
Endless paperwork and meetings and rules and more rules and more rules. And the students were devils.

I would have quit but it was the time when the new E2 visa rules were changing so I didn't know what my options were so I stuck it out.

I got my single apartment after 3 months and survived that hell hole.

My second year was awesome. A mom and pop place just down the street.
15 classes a week. No paperwork. Everything was up to me. They had complete trust and confidence in me and didn't bother me at all. Not to mention good housing and nice students.

[Globutron]