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Has Anyone Else Received Epik Placement Info?
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Ceel22



Joined: 11 Nov 2010

PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 3:33 am    Post subject: Has Anyone Else Received Epik Placement Info? Reply with quote

Greetings All,

Just wondering if anyone else has heard from Epik/recruiter where they're to be placed. Have had word back from my recruiters but didn't get 1st choice, which was Jeju, got 3rd Daegu(Taegu) instead.... don't ask me what happened to 2nd choice!

Anyway, not complaining just wanted to know if anyone can tell me anything about this city and also, does it come under metropolitan or provincial state education?

All responses much appreciated!


Thanks!


C Wink
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toniyellow



Joined: 30 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Its Metropolitan, but I'm not sure what difference that makes. The Office of Education are pretty good for things like buffet dinners, free Korean lessons, free tickets to events or coupons for Spa Valley.

Its a good place to live in terms of facilities and transport, nice subway and buses with English screens inside. Ugly and bad weather though. If you aren't too far from the train or one of the bus stations, its a great place to travel the rest of Korea. In the center of the country so you can get to pretty much any event in under 4 hours.

Look on facebook for Daegu Friendship Club, Daegu Language Exchange Daegu English Teachers, Daegu Ski Club, Daegu Film Posse. Daegu *insert interest* and it's there. Easy place to live.

http://www.koreanbloglist.com/ also has a lot of people in Daegu blogging away about how adjummas push them in the subway.
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meagan8477



Joined: 11 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Which recruiter are you with? The only people I know that have heard back applied through ESL Starter.
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Ceel22



Joined: 11 Nov 2010

PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 4:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="toniyellow"]Its Metropolitan, but I'm not sure what difference that makes. The Office of Education are pretty good for things like buffet dinners, free Korean lessons, free tickets to events or coupons for Spa Valley.


I thought Daegu came under the Provincial Office of Education and as such I would get an extra allowance for working outside the city. It would've been a nice bonus but no worries.

Thanks for info. Just one final thing: is the weather really that bad?
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Ceel22



Joined: 11 Nov 2010

PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 4:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

meagan8477 wrote:
Which recruiter are you with? The only people I know that have heard back applied through ESL Starter.


Yeah, that's who I'm with.
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toniyellow



Joined: 30 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The weather is just a lot more frustrating than say Busan, which is so close but so much nicer with the sea breeze.

In winter the temperatures are below 0 but it almost never snows. (I hate cold weather without snow)
In summer it is crazy crazy hot and no wind.

The city is surrounded by mountains which block the wind and the air just sits and stagnates. There is a haze that almost never clears. I should be able to see Palgong mountain from my classroom but mostly I can't. I thought the haze might clear in winter, but its worse, an inversion effect is keeping the coal smoke trapped close to the ground.

But the public transport is better than Seoul or Busan. Whenever I visit another city I am frustrated by how long it takes to get somewhere and how many transfers I have to make. Overall mostly I am glad I live here.
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Morticae



Joined: 06 May 2010

PostPosted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cold weather without snow is great! Cold weather with snow sucks.

Snow is cool the first day or so, but they don't do anything to combat it here. That means that for WEEKS it's just a sheet of ice. Every day I have to be careful as I walk to work. One slip and I could be down for the count Laughing

But yeah, snow is great until it turns into the ice sheet.
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Ceel22



Joined: 11 Nov 2010

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

toniyellow wrote:
The weather is just a lot more frustrating than say Busan, which is so close but so much nicer with the sea breeze.

In winter the temperatures are below 0 but it almost never snows. (I hate cold weather without snow)
In summer it is crazy crazy hot and no wind.

The city is surrounded by mountains which block the wind and the air just sits and stagnates. There is a haze that almost never clears. I should be able to see Palgong mountain from my classroom but mostly I can't. I thought the haze might clear in winter, but its worse, an inversion effect is keeping the coal smoke trapped close to the ground.

But the public transport is better than Seoul or Busan. Whenever I visit another city I am frustrated by how long it takes to get somewhere and how many transfers I have to make. Overall mostly I am glad I live here.


Thanks for that, info is really helpful. I thought Taegu would've been really fresh, it being a mountainous region an all.... got that wrong I guess! But good to know there's a good public transportation system which means being able to escape those dreary and overcast days at the weekend or public holidays!
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Ceel22



Joined: 11 Nov 2010

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

toniyellow wrote:
Overall mostly I am glad I live here.


How long have you been teaching in SK? Are you with Epik or a private school? (please forgive the naked light bulb-like interrogation!Smile)
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TwoFold



Joined: 31 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 4:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

meagan8477 wrote:
Which recruiter are you with? The only people I know that have heard back applied through ESL Starter.


Looks like mid-January then for NOAs and contracts from EPIK? It's a shame that they could give us less than a month notice before heading over to Korea.

Did find an interesting google document on EPIK's website that updates the available job positions in the different provinces.

You can find the google document by going to EPIK's main page and clicking the "Positions Available" button along the left hand side of the page.

http://www.epik.go.kr/

Or you can just click the link below:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tt_vaPpfOA182W26XARvGIg&hl=ko&authkey=CJKrwIoF#gid=0
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Morticae



Joined: 06 May 2010

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's pretty typical, and how it was done with the last August intake. It's enough time to get your stuff done.
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toniyellow



Joined: 30 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ceel22 wrote:
toniyellow wrote:
Overall mostly I am glad I live here.



How long have you been teaching in SK? Are you with Epik or a private school? (please forgive the naked light bulb-like interrogation!Smile)


I'm witb EPIK at an elementary school. Only been here since Feb 2010 so I can only really compare my experience living in Daegu vs the weather/transportwhen I've visited other cities. Not an expert.

I have been to 20+ cities in Korea though - Daegu is a great travel hub. I have been able to take a trip to other places on average every 2nd or 3rd weekend.
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sluggo832004



Joined: 04 Sep 2010

PostPosted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

toniyellow wrote:
Ceel22 wrote:
toniyellow wrote:
Overall mostly I am glad I live here.



How long have you been teaching in SK? Are you with Epik or a private school? (please forgive the naked light bulb-like interrogation!Smile)


I'm witb EPIK at an elementary school. Only been here since Feb 2010 so I can only really compare my experience living in Daegu vs the weather/transportwhen I've visited other cities. Not an expert.

I have been to 20+ cities in Korea though - Daegu is a great travel hub. I have been able to take a trip to other places on average every 2nd or 3rd weekend.



When did you receive your contract last year? First week in January, or second week?
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toniyellow



Joined: 30 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 5:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Third week. Double checked in my email, I got emailed the tracking number for my contract January 19 2009. I received it a few days later.

Wasn't a late applicant or anything either, last minute is just how Korea rolls.
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sluggo832004



Joined: 04 Sep 2010

PostPosted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 6:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

toniyellow wrote:
Third week. Double checked in my email, I got emailed the tracking number for my contract January 19 2009. I received it a few days later.

Wasn't a late applicant or anything either, last minute is just how Korea rolls.




did you use a recruiter?
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