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francesz
Joined: 18 Feb 2011
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 Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 6:33 pm Post subject: Being the first foreign teacher on staff |
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What is it like to be the first foreign teacher at a hagwon that has only hired Korean teachers previously? Is it terrible? Liberating? Isolating? Does it entail ridiculous amounts of work? The position is in a major city (Gwangju) and the institute has been around for almost a decade. Also, the target age is 13-16 year olds.
Any and all feedback is welcome! |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 10:05 pm Post subject: Re: Being the first foreign teacher on staff |
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| francesz wrote: |
What is it like to be the first foreign teacher at a hagwon that has only hired Korean teachers previously? Is it terrible? Liberating? Isolating? Does it entail ridiculous amounts of work? The position is in a major city (Gwangju) and the institute has been around for almost a decade. Also, the target age is 13-16 year olds.
Any and all feedback is welcome! |
Newbie teacher in a hagwan that has never had a foreign teacher before = recipe for disaster.
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Swampfox10mm
Joined: 24 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:12 am Post subject: |
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Anything could happen. They might treat you like a king. They might treat you like a servant.
My experience is they'd treat you like a king for 3 weeks, then start treating you like a servant once they figured out that hiring the rockstar foreigner didn't bring in 10 million students banging on their door in the first month. |
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PastorYoon
Joined: 25 Jun 2010
Location: Sea of Japan
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:36 am Post subject: |
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| Swampfox10mm wrote: |
| My experience is they'd treat you like a king for 3 weeks, then start treating you like a servant once they figured out that hiring the rockstar foreigner didn't bring in 10 million students banging on their door in the first month. |
True that. |
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mysterious700
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:40 am Post subject: |
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| Went through that with my first rural public schools a few years back. Rock star at first; maybe 3 to 4 months. It was followed by another 3 to 4 months of xenophobia and BS. Then the local ed office realized how hard it was to get NETS in rural areas and started being nice again. No body wanted to teach in rural areas. But nowadays, I see all kinds of foriegners and young ones at that in the rural areas. What has changed so much to make people accept rural areas when they wouldn't before? Really weird! I use to meet foriegners who would take a hogwan in Seoul over a public school in a rural area. But now the reverse seems true. |
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sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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| PastorYoon wrote: |
| Swampfox10mm wrote: |
| My experience is they'd treat you like a king for 3 weeks, then start treating you like a servant once they figured out that hiring the rockstar foreigner didn't bring in 10 million students banging on their door in the first month. |
True that. |
You might be treated well until the first time you say "No" and then it's all downhill from there. |
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RMNC
Joined: 21 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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| sojusucks wrote: |
| You might be treated well until the first time you say "No" and then it's all downhill from there. |
Truth. |
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southernman
Joined: 15 Jan 2010
Location: On the mainland again
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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| mysterious700 wrote: |
| Went through that with my first rural public schools a few years back. Rock star at first; maybe 3 to 4 months. It was followed by another 3 to 4 months of xenophobia and BS. Then the local ed office realized how hard it was to get NETS in rural areas and started being nice again. No body wanted to teach in rural areas. But nowadays, I see all kinds of foriegners and young ones at that in the rural areas. What has changed so much to make people accept rural areas when they wouldn't before? Really weird! I use to meet foriegners who would take a hogwan in Seoul over a public school in a rural area. But now the reverse seems true. |
I was also the first NET in 3 rural PS's. I got kind of treated like a rockstart for the whole contract, I was literally still signing autographs for some students at the end of class after 4 months. The school tried to get me to re-sign, which i didn't. I was after more money in the way of afterschool classes and they still treated me well. Last summer before I left I was on the beach, weather permitting, by 12.15 every day after my summer camp classes
The person who took over from me, requested a rural school he's a young guy. He wanted to save more money than he had been in a larger city teaching at a Hagwon.
I think it's not really that weird when you look at the current world economy. It's actually a pretty smart move. He's just into saving heaps of money. He already has a K girldfiend, speaks basic Korean and lives in a small town that has a nice quiet beach.
So yes, I agree the reverse is happening than say the norm a few years ago. Some people are actually making a choice of saving money and then spending the money on extended travelling at the end of their contracts or getting a reasonable wedge of cash to take back home. I'm not saying that you can't save in larger cities but it is much easier to save in the country and with the extra allowances you get, you just save more
A young SA guy I knew had saved enough money in one year to travel for nine months while slowly making his way back home |
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minos
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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| southernman wrote: |
| mysterious700 wrote: |
| Went through that with my first rural public schools a few years back. Rock star at first; maybe 3 to 4 months. It was followed by another 3 to 4 months of xenophobia and BS. Then the local ed office realized how hard it was to get NETS in rural areas and started being nice again. No body wanted to teach in rural areas. But nowadays, I see all kinds of foriegners and young ones at that in the rural areas. What has changed so much to make people accept rural areas when they wouldn't before? Really weird! I use to meet foriegners who would take a hogwan in Seoul over a public school in a rural area. But now the reverse seems true. |
I was also the first NET in 3 rural PS's. I got kind of treated like a rockstart for the whole contract, I was literally still signing autographs for some students at the end of class after 4 months. The school tried to get me to re-sign, which i didn't. I was after more money in the way of afterschool classes and they still treated me well. Last summer before I left I was on the beach, weather permitting, by 12.15 every day after my summer camp classes
The person who took over from me, requested a rural school he's a young guy. He wanted to save more money than he had been in a larger city teaching at a Hagwon.
I think it's not really that weird when you look at the current world economy. It's actually a pretty smart move. He's just into saving heaps of money. He already has a K girldfiend, speaks basic Korean and lives in a small town that has a nice quiet beach.
So yes, I agree the reverse is happening than say the norm a few years ago. Some people are actually making a choice of saving money and then spending the money on extended travelling at the end of their contracts or getting a reasonable wedge of cash to take back home. I'm not saying that you can't save in larger cities but it is much easier to save in the country and with the extra allowances you get, you just save more
A young SA guy I knew had saved enough money in one year to travel for nine months while slowly making his way back home |
Not really, I tried living out in the country side;
Far more money than Seoul OVERALL
You spend alot of money traveling to other cities, buying motels for girls in those cities*, spending more money cuz your bored.
You save more on nightlife, but at the same time, Seoul has many more opportunities for career advancement and side jobs.
*good luck getting those country side girls...chances are many foreigners will meet a girl when coming up to party in Seoul...the weekend motel fees(50-70 bucks) will slowly negate the savings. |
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southernman
Joined: 15 Jan 2010
Location: On the mainland again
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| minos wrote: |
| southernman wrote: |
| mysterious700 wrote: |
| Went through that with my first rural public schools a few years back. Rock star at first; maybe 3 to 4 months. It was followed by another 3 to 4 months of xenophobia and BS. Then the local ed office realized how hard it was to get NETS in rural areas and started being nice again. No body wanted to teach in rural areas. But nowadays, I see all kinds of foriegners and young ones at that in the rural areas. What has changed so much to make people accept rural areas when they wouldn't before? Really weird! I use to meet foriegners who would take a hogwan in Seoul over a public school in a rural area. But now the reverse seems true. |
I was also the first NET in 3 rural PS's. I got kind of treated like a rockstart for the whole contract, I was literally still signing autographs for some students at the end of class after 4 months. The school tried to get me to re-sign, which i didn't. I was after more money in the way of afterschool classes and they still treated me well. Last summer before I left I was on the beach, weather permitting, by 12.15 every day after my summer camp classes
The person who took over from me, requested a rural school he's a young guy. He wanted to save more money than he had been in a larger city teaching at a Hagwon.
I think it's not really that weird when you look at the current world economy. It's actually a pretty smart move. He's just into saving heaps of money. He already has a K girldfiend, speaks basic Korean and lives in a small town that has a nice quiet beach.
So yes, I agree the reverse is happening than say the norm a few years ago. Some people are actually making a choice of saving money and then spending the money on extended travelling at the end of their contracts or getting a reasonable wedge of cash to take back home. I'm not saying that you can't save in larger cities but it is much easier to save in the country and with the extra allowances you get, you just save more
A young SA guy I knew had saved enough money in one year to travel for nine months while slowly making his way back home |
Not really, I tried living out in the country side;
Far more money than Seoul OVERALL
You spend alot of money traveling to other cities, buying motels for girls in those cities*, spending more money cuz your bored.
You save more on nightlife, but at the same time, Seoul has many more opportunities for career advancement and side jobs.
*good luck getting those country side girls...chances are many foreigners will meet a girl when coming up to party in Seoul...the weekend motel fees(50-70 bucks) will slowly negate the savings. |
I was on an island, probably the richest one in Korea. So the side jobs weren't an issue. I already have a gf ( I agree korean country girls are not really an option). I actually got a call last week, two schools are interested in me coming back and they're putting togeather a package that will be good enough, I hope. Yes, travel can be expensive but this time around I'll buy a car and the benefits will outweigh the costs many times over
I admit Seoul has more action but I travel every holiday and Seoul pales in comparison to what I'm interested in. I.E nice beaches, interesting people and relaxed times. Everyone to their own though, it's all good if you're having a nice time wherever you are |
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