Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Threequalseven]

My girlfriend and I have been teaching at a hagwon for 9 months now. Just yesterday, my former employer back in the U.S. said there's a new job opening that fits my exact qualifications. It's essentially the same job I had before. However, when I first worked there it was just a temporary contract position, and now it has reasonably stable funding. It's only 25 hr/week, but it pays $16.50/hr. I know this may not seem like much, but it's pretty good where we're from. There's no guarantee that I'll get hired, but for this purpose lets just assume that I do. There are so many variables that would go into this decision that I can't keep my head on straight.

First, money.
Unless our hagwon decides that my girlfriend can still finish her contract, we would both be kissing our airfare and severance payments goodbye. That's nearly $3,000 each. On the flip side, we were planning on going home for a few months after we finish this contract anyway, so I really don't know how much of that we'd actually save. There's also the issue of taxes. We would just miss the 330 day "Physical Presence Test" required by the IRS, so there's a chance they would come after us for back taxes. (Does anybody know more about this?)

Second, life and travel.
I woke up this morning thinking, "Oh my god. A month from now I might be back home." That means no more Korea. No traveling the rest of Asia. No trip to Thailand like we'd planned. I would just be back home in my cold little corner of America doing what I've always done. It's a trap. Do I really want to do this?

Third, career and future.
Exactly the opposite of the last paragraph. Living here has made me question my future like nothing else. How long can I honestly stay here playing teacher for these little kids? I didn't go to school for this. If I stay here for the next however many years, that would basically negate my ~3 years experience doing what I went to school for. Plus, do I really want to be a person who gets "stuck" in Korea because there's nothing better out there for me?

Last, my life back home.
Eventually I'm going to move back home. And when I do, do I want to see somebody else working the job that I basically helped create years ago? Do I want to always be thinking about resumes, where I'm going to live, and what next year is going to bring? For me, this seems like my one shot at a sure thing - my one chance at stability and direction. Otherwise, I'll just be bumming around doing work that I would rather not be doing.

On top of everything is the the question of what my girlfriend is going to do back home. She's said the idea of moving back home is exciting but scary to her. She likes the work here in Korea and the paycheck, but she understands all the drawbacks of it too. I'm not looking for anybody to tell me what I should or shouldn't do. I guess I'm just tossing my situation out there in part to help me organize my own thoughts and in part to see what others think.

[Dodge7]

My advice is that Korea will always be here should things go south back home. If I can get my dream job back home I'd go. I've been here over 3 years and things do not get better here OP, they get aggravating, mundane and boring. The novelty wore off so fast and you're just left with a crap place to live and even worse environment where it's constantly difficult to communicate and fit in. I swear when I visited home last year it was like a sensory orgasm -- I could read all the signs, I asked where things were in the stores, I understood everything and people's conversations around me. It was great. I miss that.
I'd go back and give it a go, like I said you can always come back.

[Threequalseven]

I am leaning toward going back. I think above all else, my biggest worry is feeling stuck at home. After I moved out of my parents, I lived in the same city about 60 miles away for six years before coming to Korea. I just don't want to go back there and end up feeling trapped and regretful. Likewise, I could see feeling the exact same way about staying in Korea too... The only difference is that I have the rest of Asia at my doorstep here. Back home I live about 4 hours away from Canada, and that's it.

[No_hite_pls]

I know my own personality and I don't like to quit things I have started. I always (knock on wood) finish my contracts. However, I probably have a much better position than you. Really, the decision is up to you and it's a tough one.

[Harpeau]

[Threequalseven]

Believe me, I would rather not break my contract. However, I honestly see this as my only opportunity to go home with a job lined up. Otherwise, we're basically setting ourselves up for coming home empty. I think the trickiest part is going to be explaining this to our director who has been quite lax with us thus far. If possible, we'll see if my girlfriend can still finish her contract if I get hired. But that's about as long as we'd consider being apart for.

On the other hand, I know it would be easy to not even apply for this job and just finish our contract here. It would be incredibly easy. But then what? We'd need to work here for several years to build up enough savings to do anything with. And even if we did that, we really wouldn't be qualified to do much once we came back home. That's why this is so difficult. It's like we're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't. Both options seem equally mediocre, so my heart really isn't in either place.

[Threequalseven]

I think I'm just cracking up a little. I've said this whole time that teaching in Korea is basically my Plan Z. But until yesterday, I expected to stay here for 5 more months, go home for a bit, and come back for a year. Now, I'm looking at going home in one month and possibly never coming back. I'm feeling a bit choked up about this. I don't feel ready to leave quite yet. If this opportunity came about five months from now, there would be no question about taking it. But now it's so sudden and stressful.

[le-paul]

on the other side of the coin.
you could always stay another year and try to save up instead of going on holiday and blowing all your cash. Between you, you could easliy save up 20,000,000. thats enough to set you up when you get home.
have you saved much this year? if you havent, id think perhaps this isnt a good plan because you wont save up next year either.

[meangradin]

this is a no brainer; unless you want to be a professional esl teacher, then your time here is just a means to an end, and that 'end" has been offered to you. As an owner, I wouldn't begrudge an employee in a similar situation - just try to help your boss in korea find someone to replace you.

[Threequalseven]

Saving money is an option, but I have to ask "to what cost" and "for what gain". What good is an extra $10,000 toward loans and savings going to do if it means a bigger gap in my resume and no job back home?

Meangradin is right. I'm just upset about this because I don't feel prepared to leave in a month. Thinking about leaving my coworkers, students, and friends here so suddenly is quite saddening. I already miss Korea when I imagine myself back home reminiscing on all the good times I had here. I think that's why I'm questioning this decision. The mind has a strange way of analyzing moves like this. Just a few days ago, I was thinking how stale Korea is becoming and how nice it would be to go home. Now that I have the opportunity to go home, I want nothing but to stay and milk it for at least a few more months. I'd rather leave and be sick of it here than leave when I still want to stay around. I guess the main goal is just to live with no regrets, and I'd hate to regret missing out on this opportunity.

[schwa]

[PatrickGHBusan]

1- You have the right to quit. There are contractual clauses for that so stop feeling shame for it. You, compared to many others, have a valid and reasonable reason to consider quitting (a job offer back home you like). As long as you quit and give proper notice, you are doing nothing wrong.

2- Travel and Asia, it will always be there but might not be available to you (money, work situation...) so you need to consider this (chance to live abroad and travel) against the benefits of going home to a job you seem to like.

3- Your gf is with you I think so that complicates things. What is her opinion on this? Does she have a job opportunity back home or is it just you?

[Threequalseven]

I just talked to our hagwon boss, and he said he may be able to offer us two months of vacation this winter to see our family and stuff. This, on top of a 100,000won raise each, is yet another curveball. We'd both keep our severance and airfare, we wouldn't have to pay to relocate anything, and we could travel Asia. This discussion came just after I talked to my girlfriend about how we're in our 20s and this may be our only chance to float around before we get serious.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

[Seoulman69]

I've lived in Korea many years now and I enjoy it here. But if I could go back and was facing your choice I would take the job back home.
Korea is fine but nowhere beats home.

[Times30]

Either way you're going to regret something.

If you go back home, you'll end up being one of those guys who are like "Oh man I wish I spent more time traveling in my youth"

If you stay in Korea you'll end up being one of those guys who are like "I wish I took that job and made something of myself"

It really depends on which is more valuable to you. I don't think any of us can really make the call for you, but keep in mind that if you do stay in Korea, getting a job gets exponentially harder the longer you're here. Unless you plan to do ESL as a career in which case it's a fine choice to stay.