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mariaanceney
Joined: 07 Jan 2011
Location: 840 UNITED STATES
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 Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:44 am Post subject: Getting involved in the foreign community in Korea |
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Hi, I just moved to Korea and I was wondering if anyone had suggestions about getting involved in the foreign community here in Korea?
I'm not really talking about parties for foreigners, more like organizations or groups for community representation or groups that discuss potential affects of policies affecting EFL teachers etc.
Anyways, if anyone knows of anything I would really appreciate the information!
Thanks! |
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hagwonnewbie
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
Location: Asia
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 8:51 am Post subject: |
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Meetup.com
KOTESOL
Toastmasters
A language exchange group like ILUVKOREA or some other groups on Facebook
Sports clubs / intramural teams in your area |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 1:53 pm Post subject: Re: Getting involved in the foreign community in Korea |
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| mariaanceney wrote: |
Hi, I just moved to Korea and I was wondering if anyone had suggestions about getting involved in the foreign community here in Korea?
I'm not really talking about parties for foreigners, more like organizations or groups for community representation or groups that discuss potential affects of policies affecting EFL teachers etc.
Anyways, if anyone knows of anything I would really appreciate the information!
Thanks! |
Good idea. However, be careful about what you do when it comes to community representation activities and check your visa restrictions on activities outside of work.
That being said, KOTESOL is a good idea as they have professional development conferences where you can network.
Also, you can help on your own by organizing workshops at your work for professional development or getting permission to do so outside of work. Get others involved. That will do a lot more to help foreign teachers than discussing policies that may affect foreign teachers because frankly speaking what say do you think foreigners have on government policy? |
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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 2:03 pm Post subject: |
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Where in Korea are you?
Were you involved in a faith-based community back home? |
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mariaanceney
Joined: 07 Jan 2011
Location: 840 UNITED STATES
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:07 pm Post subject: Re: Getting involved in the foreign community in Korea |
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| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
| mariaanceney wrote: |
Hi, I just moved to Korea and I was wondering if anyone had suggestions about getting involved in the foreign community here in Korea?
I'm not really talking about parties for foreigners, more like organizations or groups for community representation or groups that discuss potential affects of policies affecting EFL teachers etc.
Anyways, if anyone knows of anything I would really appreciate the information!
Thanks! |
Good idea. However, be careful about what you do when it comes to community representation activities and check your visa restrictions on activities outside of work.
That being said, KOTESOL is a good idea as they have professional development conferences where you can network.
Also, you can help on your own by organizing workshops at your work for professional development or getting permission to do so outside of work. Get others involved. That will do a lot more to help foreign teachers than discussing policies that may affect foreign teachers because frankly speaking what say do you think foreigners have on government policy? |
Thanks, I didn't even think that there might be restrictions, but I'll look it up.
I've heard about a couple of teachers associations, but it seems that KOTESOL is the most respected.
That's a good idea, to organize within my own workspace, but I was interested in exploring the possibility of actually getting involved in the politics of foreign teacher relations (even though I know it will be somewhat fruitless) so I can be informed about what's going on in the community.
Thanks so much for your suggestions! |
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mariaanceney
Joined: 07 Jan 2011
Location: 840 UNITED STATES
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| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| OiGirl wrote: |
Where in Korea are you?
Were you involved in a faith-based community back home? |
I'm in Seoul right now--by Itaewon.
I was involved in a faith community back at home and there is a branch over here in Korea actually--it was quite international--but I would be more interested in a discussion group than a worship community. Any suggestions? |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 6:03 am Post subject: Re: Getting involved in the foreign community in Korea |
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| mariaanceney wrote: |
| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
| mariaanceney wrote: |
Hi, I just moved to Korea and I was wondering if anyone had suggestions about getting involved in the foreign community here in Korea?
I'm not really talking about parties for foreigners, more like organizations or groups for community representation or groups that discuss potential affects of policies affecting EFL teachers etc.
Anyways, if anyone knows of anything I would really appreciate the information!
Thanks! |
Good idea. However, be careful about what you do when it comes to community representation activities and check your visa restrictions on activities outside of work.
That being said, KOTESOL is a good idea as they have professional development conferences where you can network.
Also, you can help on your own by organizing workshops at your work for professional development or getting permission to do so outside of work. Get others involved. That will do a lot more to help foreign teachers than discussing policies that may affect foreign teachers because frankly speaking what say do you think foreigners have on government policy? |
Thanks, I didn't even think that there might be restrictions, but I'll look it up.
I've heard about a couple of teachers associations, but it seems that KOTESOL is the most respected.
That's a good idea, to organize within my own workspace, but I was interested in exploring the possibility of actually getting involved in the politics of foreign teacher relations (even though I know it will be somewhat fruitless) so I can be informed about what's going on in the community.
Thanks so much for your suggestions! |
Engaging in political activity, activism or other types of activities is a sure way to end up in visa violation land . Check your visa restrictions.
The community you speak of is no community at all. At least not in the sense that Foreigners form a community that communicates. You can follow what is happening in your city or in more general terms in Korea through some of the better blogs. Also note, foreign teachers are NOT a professionally homogenous group as there are many visa types, types of teaching jobs, and reasons to go to Korea.
This means that the teaching population is heterogenous in many ways including: qualifications (some have them, some do not), visa (foreign worker vs resident), places of employment (Hakwons, Companies, Public Schools, Universities...), location (Cities, country side), lenght of stay (the vast majority are short termers who stay 1-2 years, then there are mid termers 3-5 years and the lifers) all have very different outlooks on what they want in Korea. By and large, the teaching community is transient in Korea.
These are all things you will figure out soon enough after you are in Korea for a while.
The main teacher's organisation is actually an association. It is called ATEK and it has roughly 1200 members (out of the nearly 20 000+ foreign teachers in Korea). It does not represent foreign teachers but it does offer some services.
KOTESOL is the most serious org out there and they do offer PD conferences.
Good luck to you anyway  |
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morrisonhotel
Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Location: Gyeonggi-do
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| Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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| As pointed out above,KOTESOL is pretty much your only bet for working with teachers. If, on the other hand, working with a wider community is of interest, then I recommend you contact your local migrant community centre. You get to work with a much wider community and you gain a much wider understanding of immigration policy. If teaching is a long-term goal, KOTESOL. If not, then seriously consider a migrant centre. Plus, of course, most migrant centers that I've found have some educational programs (Korean language, Taekwondo, Korean craft, computing, welding, etc., etc.) that you can partake in. The other added benefit is that, at least at the migrant centre I volunteer in, there are 'cultural' trips - the volunteers get free entry on the three trips I've been on. There are some other benefits - community awards, and such like as well. |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2011 5:20 am Post subject: Re: Getting involved in the foreign community in Korea |
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| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
| Engaging in political activity, activism or other types of activities is a sure way to end up in visa violation land . Check your visa restrictions. |
I would say the one exception to this is (at least for Americans) political organizations which advocate voting back home. The Korean government doesn't seem to mind these types of activities as long as you don't cause trouble. |
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