Korean Job Discussion Forums :: View topic - Thinking of returning after 6+ years--how has it changed?

Speak Korean Now!

Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!

Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"

FAQ

Memberlist

Usergroups

Profile

Thinking of returning after 6+ years--how has it changed?
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3

Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Job-related Discussion Forum

View previous topic :: View next topic

Author

Message

10YearsExp

Joined: 02 May 2017
Location: The Big Apple

Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2017 2:45 pm Post subject:

oatmeal wrote:

well one thing for sure that hasn't changed in Korea since 2007, threads like this lol Smile

haha great point, I do remember some of them back then too while browsing thru here. Isnt that something. Some things never change bwaaahahaha

Anyways, so howzabout we take a vote, how does the future meaning next 5-10 years look for ESL in South Korea?

Majeh

Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Location: South Korea

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 9:11 am Post subject: Stay where you are unless...

Dear 10YearsExp, On your next vacation, why don't you and your wife visit Korea? You can get a sense on how much the country has changed since you left. After a visit, you may change your mind. Also, if your wife has a career in the U.S., you need to consider how a move to Korea will affect her career, too.

Trevor

Joined: 16 Nov 2005

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:06 am Post subject: Re: Thinking of returning after 6+ years--how has it changed

Can you tell us about the ESL market in NYC? I have been thinking....

10YearsExp wrote:

Hi all; I taught ESL in SK from 2007 until 2011 and then left for Istanbul/Malaysia etc. In 2015 I returned to my native NYC where Ive been teaching ESL ever since.

Tell me people, how has South Korea changed over the past 7 years in terms of the volume of available jobs? Ive just recently joined the forum and I see many are saying that the # of jobs in general has decreased.

I taught at hagwons for the entire 4 years (2 years in Gwangyang and 2 years in Gumi). My wife and I really miss it (not so much the hagwons but SK in general).

After those 4 years in hagwons, I taught at a TOEFL Center for 1 year in Istanbul and then 2 years at a university in Kuala Lumpur; then a year back in Ankara (not sure why now, in retrospect) and now have been 2 years in NYC teaching ESL at a private adult language school.

I am now 53, energetic, but not wanting a hagwon job again. I do not have a TEFL or CELTA or any teaching cert at all, just a BA in English and an unrelated Masters.

Just introducing myself to the forum really and wondering what advice you'd give me for South Korea at my age and after so many years I've been gone from there.

Thanks everyone, and PEACE! Very Happy

10YearsExp

Joined: 02 May 2017
Location: The Big Apple

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 12:56 pm Post subject:

Trevor, here in NYC it is pretty easy to get a job teaching ESL, but salaries can vary widely, from $17 to $30 per hour. We got lots of private language schools, community development centers, and F-1 type of institutes. Some require NY State licensure, others don't.

10YearsExp

Joined: 02 May 2017
Location: The Big Apple

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 12:57 pm Post subject: Re: Stay where you are unless...

Majeh wrote:

Dear 10YearsExp,

On your next vacation, why don't you and your wife visit Korea? You can get a sense on how much the country has changed since you left. After a visit, you may change your mind.

Also, if your wife has a career in the U.S., you need to consider how a move to Korea will affect her career, too.

right on, we are planning this Fall for 2 weeks. Good idea buddy.

SuperfuzzBigmuff

Joined: 12 Mar 2017

Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 4:39 pm Post subject: Re: Stay where you are unless...

10YearsExp wrote:

Majeh wrote:

right on, we are planning this Fall for 2 weeks. Good idea buddy.

I can see how in theory this is good, but there are some points to consider.

As someone who has visited a country like Vietnam, I can safely say that visiting there and working there were two completely different things. I think the same can be said about Korea or anywhere else, really.

One can visit Korea and walk the streets, go to a few bars, restaurants or supermarkets and be dazzled by the vast array of B-grade German wheat beer or soft cheeses available, but it's not until you start working and interacting with Koreans at work or in your apartment block do you really get a feel for the place.

Whilst I have zero regrets coming back to Korea for a year or two, my experiences so far have revealed that things haven't really changed that much apart from a few Western conveniences and the fact that things have gone up, but wages have not.

The Korean way of treating foreigners at work hasn't changed a bit. The stares and glares are still there, but maybe not so much in places like the Busan subway where they are used to foreigners.

I've seen young Korean universiy students on YouTube get asked questions like, "what do you think of foreigners?" and the answers are usually quite positive. However, your average 45+ ajosshi perhaps isn't quite so welcoming.

I'd be asking questions like: what is the purpose of coming back? and what do you hope to achieve? For me at least, it's business as usual here.

tophatcat

Joined: 09 Aug 2006
Location: under the hat

Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:30 pm Post subject:

BINGO ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

TheUrbanMyth

Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:41 pm Post subject:

World Traveler wrote:

TUM left Korea after 15 years (due to market changes). Now he lives in China.

Interesting to see that some people apparently can't forget me. Rolling Eyes

Actually I will be leaving China to retire at the end of this year (no I'm not going to say where...suffice it to say it will be somewhere warm and tropical year-around. Already have the visa and housing squared away...just the actual moving is left.)

And no it wasn't due to market changes...that was only a small part of my decision. But it will serve as the reason as the others are personal and no concern of anyone but myself.

I will say this though. Korea was good to me both personally and financially. Sure I had my bad days here but they are outnumbered and overshadowed by my good days. True, it's not everyone's cup of tea but it turned out to be one of the better decisions that I have made in my life.

Hoping you can find the same so that you don't need to keep obsessing about others years after they have left. Have a nice day!

SuperfuzzBigmuff

Joined: 12 Mar 2017

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:41 am Post subject:

TheUrbanMyth wrote:

World Traveler wrote:

TUM left Korea after 15 years (due to market changes). Now he lives in China.

Interesting to see that some people apparently can't forget me. Rolling Eyes

Oh, the irony. You want to be forgotten, yet here you are telling us your future plans. Hilarious!

In fact, it was me who mentioned your name. I left Korea in 2010 after 4 years in Korea, and, during my four years, every single time I logged onto Dave's you were there, every-single-day defending Korea with exactly the same arguments to the boringly repetitve points raised by newbies with culture shock and the burnt out well past their use by date vets. I distinctly remember saying to myself during that time, this guy is totally mental and he'll never leave Korea.

Anyways, that's why I mentioned your name. I didn't log in for 7 years on Dave's, but when I re-joined, I was a little surprised you weren't still at it along with all the other regulars of that time who seemed to have moved on as well.

SuperfuzzBigmuff

Joined: 12 Mar 2017

Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:41 am Post subject:

TheUrbanMyth wrote:

World Traveler wrote:

TUM left Korea after 15 years (due to market changes). Now he lives in China.

Interesting to see that some people apparently can't forget me. Rolling Eyes

Oh, the irony. You want to be forgotten, yet here you are telling us your future plans. Hilarious!

In fact, it was me who mentioned your name. I left Korea in 2010 after 4 years in Korea, and, during my four years, every single time I logged onto Dave's you were there, every-single-day defending Korea with exactly the same arguments to the boringly repetitive points raised by newbies with culture shock and the burnt out well past their use by date vets. I distinctly remember saying to myself during that time, this guy is totally mental and he'll never leave Korea.

Anyways, that's why I mentioned your name. I didn't log in for 7 years on Dave's, but when I re-joined, I was a little surprised you weren't still at it along with all the other regulars of that time who seemed to have moved on as well.

JohnML

Joined: 05 Jul 2015

Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2017 5:28 am Post subject:

SuperfuzzBigmuff wrote:

I too have returned after quite a few years out of the country.

I haven't been back in Korea for too long, but there seems to be far more Western products in shops like Emart.

Wages haven't gone up in 10 years, but things in general seem to have gone up about 30% as a rough estimate. I doubt you'll get rich here.

Some provincial areas are as backwards as before. You still get the Korean glare in the small cities. I haven't spent any time in Seoul yet, but Busan is pretty damn nice; at least the Haeundae area. There are coffee shops everywhere.

I got a public high school job incredibly easily despite being middle-aged, but it's in a city in the provinces down south.I'm not sure if I could have gotten a job in Seoul or Busan where I lived for a few years.

Dave's is still full of the same sad old gits who've been posting their little lives away for up to a decade, but TUM seems to have finally moved on.

Seems about right.

mysterious700

Joined: 10 Mar 2006

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:30 pm Post subject: Re: Thinking of returning after 6+ years--how has it changed

10YearsExp wrote:

As you know the market dried up here. Well, actually some drying up. Some hakwons went under during the Great Recession, but EPIK ramped up hiring. Then, they started cutting back for the next 2 to 3 years and seem to have stabilized since. Things have been decent the past couple of years. It's the best it's been in several years, though not as good as before the recession of course. But, not bad. I have also seen a lot more older teachers around again. I think during the height of the recession, there was a lot of younger white female American bias that blocked a lot of older guys. But, now, I don't think you'll have a problem getting back in. Just have a good professional job photo, your documents ready, and find some good ASAP hakwon jobs or find a recruiter hiring for a province directly.

mysterious700

Joined: 10 Mar 2006

Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 8:42 pm Post subject:

JohnML wrote:

SuperfuzzBigmuff wrote:

Seems about right.

Yeah, I think Busan has changed a lot. I haven't left Korea. But, ironically it was 6 years since I was last in Busan. What I remember was outside of Haeundae area and maybe the Chinese / Russian market, most of the city seemed to be a traditional Korean city. It seemed far less cosmopolitan than Seoul. Not many foreign restaurants. Not much to do except the beaches. Heaundae is decent though. I stayed in Gwanghwalli area and the only foreign thing there was Starbucks. Everything else was very Korean. A burger joint with that Lotteria fake meat taste and 5 french fries. It was terrible. I had to haul my @$$ over to Haeundae to find anything to eat. WHen I travel to a bigger city I always want something different as Korean I could eat in my own town. It was a huge disappointment at the time. But, I have noticed that even smaller regional cities are getting foreign restaurants and there are more choices available. So, it stands to reason Busan has upgraded too. It looks that way when I checked it out on Naver street view.

Display posts from previous:

	Korean Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> Job-related Discussion Forum	All times are GMT - 8 Hours Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3
Page 3 of 3

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

TEFL International Supports Dave's ESL Cafe