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joelove
Joined: 12 May 2011
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 Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:18 am Post subject: |
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| Who in their right mind considers 31 old? It's old to a child I guess. |
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Boffo97
Joined: 08 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:11 pm Post subject: |
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When I first arrived in Korea, I was just 3 days shy of my 37th birthday and there were teachers significantly older than me.
Now that I'm trying to return and am 40, I am hitting some walls (also some because I'm heavy, and of course a lot of jobs want or "prefer" females only) but I think I'm close.
It really depends on the school (and the recruiter)... but honestly, even with the culture difference, I personally find it hard to believe that these schools rejecting people for such irrelevant reasons were good schools to begin with anyway. |
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poetryfoot
Joined: 16 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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| PRagic wrote: |
Cut through all the background noise: Absolutely NO problem getting a position here for you. In fact, female teachers are in higher demand. If you had your MA, you could more than likely move straight into a university position after just a year here.
Come on in. The water is fine. |
Why do you guys think that female teachers are in higher demand? Are there as many female as male teachers in Korea? I checked into getting a TESOL certificate at a local university and it cost $7500! for five classes (with no type of aid available unless you got a Masters---which for me, I didn't want to wait 2 years to go). I figured I didn't want to get a Masters unless I knew that I wanted to do this for a long time. If I go and like it, maybe then.  Sounds like an inviting place (with you all of you nice and helpful people in Korea) |
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poetryfoot
Joined: 16 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Boffo97 wrote: |
When I first arrived in Korea, I was just 3 days shy of my 37th birthday and there were teachers significantly older than me.
Now that I'm trying to return and am 40, I am hitting some walls (also some because I'm heavy, and of course a lot of jobs want or "prefer" females only) but I think I'm close.
It really depends on the school (and the recruiter)... but honestly, even with the culture difference, I personally find it hard to believe that these schools rejecting people for such irrelevant reasons were good schools to begin with anyway. |
Did you feel any trepidation about going? That's true that maybe these schools weren't so "great" anyways. It sure seems like there are a lot out there!! I hope you find the right job. |
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poetryfoot
Joined: 16 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| mayorhaggar wrote: |
I wouldn't say rural Korea is particularly pretty, but it does have its charms. Like anywhere in Korea it can be pretty dirty and smelly, and you see a bit more poverty (or a different kind of poverty) than in the cities. Main thing I like is how much quieter and less crowded it is, coming back to my little town after a weekend in Seoul is always nice. When the air clears up after a good rain, it's really beautiful looking out the window and seeing the rolling hills covered in mist all around the valley.
The only thing I don't really like about my rural life is that it's more of a pain to get to other parts of Korea. If my town was closer to a major transit hub, or if I lived in a larger town, it wouldn't take so long. Basically I have to take a 80 minute bus ride to one of two major cities, then transfer to KTX or an express bus to continue my journey. Otherwise I like it here, my schools are good and everything I need for daily life is in my town. So everything is really convenient during the week when I'm in town, but if I want to go to Seoul or go to the nearest big city to buy some good beer at E-Mart, it is way more inconvenient.
Again I think Busan would be pretty good as a city to pick, but I think Daejeon would be another good choice as a place to live. It has KTX so you could get around easily, and it's not particularly crowded. There's not really a lot to do there compared to Seoul (and no beaches like Busan) but again it would be way more convenient for weekend trips out of town.
I haven't been to Daegu or Gwangju yet (thinking I'll go there in October now that the weather is way getting more bearable) but I imagine they have their pros too. |
Sounds like there are some neat places to go! I always hear about Seoul (ok, and I love Kdramas--but I wanted to go teach WAY before I saw these) in the news and such (and my Korean roommate in college was from Seoul) but these other cities and maybe some of the small towns sound nice. The nice thing about being in small country is being able to travel for a weekend or so and visit these places. The States are so huge you could drive many miles to go to a location. The beaches sound nice, too. All this info is so helpful! Decisions, decisions. I guess I better finish my TESOL certification first and get a job, ha. But all this info on places, job requirements, and places is very helpful |
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Boffo97
Joined: 08 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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| poetryfoot wrote: |
| Boffo97 wrote: |
When I first arrived in Korea, I was just 3 days shy of my 37th birthday and there were teachers significantly older than me.
Now that I'm trying to return and am 40, I am hitting some walls (also some because I'm heavy, and of course a lot of jobs want or "prefer" females only) but I think I'm close.
It really depends on the school (and the recruiter)... but honestly, even with the culture difference, I personally find it hard to believe that these schools rejecting people for such irrelevant reasons were good schools to begin with anyway. |
Did you feel any trepidation about going? That's true that maybe these schools weren't so "great" anyways. It sure seems like there are a lot out there!! I hope you find the right job. |
Of course you feel trepidation. You're putting yourself out there into a strange situation where you can't necessarily have the same expectations and even freedoms that you're used to in the home country.
There are horror stories out there (making it vitally important to research, but even the most fervent researcher will miss some), and there were things that went horribly wrong and weren't my fault during that time. (I won't go into further detail than that.)
But if you love working with kids, most of them are great. It's a great paying job if your local area really isn't good for jobs. And Korea is a very interesting country. It's also a lot more English friendly almost any other country where English is not the main language.
I'd say:
1. Be flexible as possible, but don't let yourself be a doormat either.
2. If the job isn't what it's supposed to be, don't renew. There ARE good experiences out there.
3. Trust, but verify. Don't go in there expecting the worst, but if you are just being run ragged and taken advantage of, seek help. There are options for people in jobs from Hell. |
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Ralph Winfield
Joined: 23 Apr 2013
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| Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 3:51 am Post subject: |
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| Times30 wrote: |
Let people think what they want about age and teaching here. It's not your prerogative to give a **** what other people think. I started teaching here at 26 and I'll stay until I'm dead. If that makes me a loser, a scab, a western failure, then I'd gladly accept those labels to continue being happy at my job, making more than enough money to have a good time, and be surrounded by people who I consider generally nice (even if it's by virtue of me being foreign).
If you are happy here and don't feel that ever small cultural insignificance is a slight to your ego, then come at any age, and enjoy it. I've met a nice old lady who was 56 who had a family, was a licensed teacher, and basically in retirement. She loved it here and continued to stay.
Without sounding like an afterschool special, your life is literally your own. No label, thought, or prejudice should stop you from working here. |
Right on! |
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robbie_davies
Joined: 16 Jun 2013
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| Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 4:45 am Post subject: |
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| joelove wrote: |
| Who in their right mind considers 31 old? It's old to a child I guess. |
Quoted for truth! |
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poetryfoot
Joined: 16 Sep 2012
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| Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 12:07 pm Post subject: |
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[/quote]
Of course you feel trepidation. You're putting yourself out there into a strange situation where you can't necessarily have the same expectations and even freedoms that you're used to in the home country.
There are horror stories out there (making it vitally important to research, but even the most fervent researcher will miss some), and there were things that went horribly wrong and weren't my fault during that time. (I won't go into further detail than that.)
But if you love working with kids, most of them are great. It's a great paying job if your local area really isn't good for jobs. And Korea is a very interesting country. It's also a lot more English friendly almost any other country where English is not the main language.
I'd say:
1. Be flexible as possible, but don't let yourself be a doormat either.
2. If the job isn't what it's supposed to be, don't renew. There ARE good experiences out there.
3. Trust, but verify. Don't go in there expecting the worst, but if you are just being run ragged and taken advantage of, seek help. There are options for people in jobs from Hell.[/quote]
This is great advice! Thanks so much...I guess the solution lies in finding the balance in all of this and knowing when to get out of a bad situation if you need to. I think I am an optimist, but hopefully I will know when a bad situation is just what it is. |
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