Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rhonda]

New teacher coming to Korea...I have to choose a school within the next couple of days. A few questions:
1) Anybody familiar with POLY Returnee, or Mido School (Seoul area)? Any warnings? Good news? Horror stories?
2) Which is safer, Pusan or Seoul? I've heard about "Russian mafia" in the former and, of course, the N.Korea probs with regards to the latter. Should I even be worried about either of these?
3) Any other warnings or advice? Keep in mind that I've been researching for a couple of months and know all the basics...if you think there may be something missing from my equation...
I'd appreciate your comments...they could make a world of difference.

[waterbaby]

Hi, here's a link to a recent link about MIDO:
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=4955

And here are some for POLY schools
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=4315
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=991 (This one is pretty good because it has Lost Seoul's archive report - Lost Seoul runs the www.hagwonreport.com site.

[Homer]

I don't think there is a difference in safety between Seoul and Busan.
I think both are equally safe.
If you want more info on Busan check out pusanweb at

http://pusanweb.com/

As for the russian mafia i would not lose sleep over it....

[rhonda]

Hey guys,
Just wanted to shout out a big, huge thank you to waterbaby and Homer for your quick responses...I'm amazed at the support network for us newbie teachers...Homer, the "russian mafia" did sound a little paranoud to me but, well, I guess ya never know...my friend who just returned from Kimpo said that she was constantly mistaken for a russian prostitute! ...but I'd imagine white women in general are perceived that way?...
waterbaby (luv your username by the way)...I'll check out the websites...which I had no idea were available, so once again...thank you, thank you, thank you!