Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gotaski]

I know, I know, if I look elsewhere I can probably find the answers to all of my questions in the other strings, but this is easier.

I arrive in three weeks,(I must say I'm not sure if that feeling in my stomach is excitement, or I just gotta go), and was hoping some of you kind souls could answer my questions.

In no paticular order.

1. How is the skiing, and is the rental gear there decent? Not sure if I should bring my own or not.

2. Will my Canadian issued Mastercard work in most retail outlets and bank machines?

3. I keep seeing on other strings that electronics are ludicrously inexpensive over there. Are there any retailers with websites I can visit to compare laptop prices in Korea to the ones here.

4. Is it a good idea to bring some teaching materials with me. ( it has been almost twenty years since I started University (getting close to graduating lol) and I have actually never taught anything. What is the expectation of the (elementary) students going in? Do they want to know how to ask for the washroom, or know the differnce between an adverb and a dangling participle?

( I know, I know, depends on schools etc., bur any general guidance would be gratefully accepted.)

I really have a million more, but I'll leave it there for now

[venus]

Hi.

The ski-ing is OK. Only ok though. You can ski between early december and the end of february. They are not world class ski slopes, but are ok. They are super cheap compared to Europe I think. I went in late feb and the snow was a kind of icy mix of real snow and fake stuff they spray continuously, not very powdery. I'm no ski-ing expert though....

[venus]

2. Your Mastercard will work in most upmarket retail outlets and some of the smaller ones. Expect the odd problem though from small, independant retailers, the equipment they use often does not have a strong enough transmitting signal. You will find atm's you can use, but again only at certain locations, your card will NOT work at the majority of Korean High st banks, even the ones that say they take foriegn cards. They will work at KEB Bank though. And most of the various (nice money being the best IMO) private company machines found in the bigger subway stations. Sometimes these don't allways work though. However the one in Itaewon station allways does for me.

I called my credit card company and they explained that it's most likely that the machines just don't have strong enough equipment to get the signal over to the UK... Hub of Asia... tee heee

3. I don't know of any websites, but TECHNO MART and YONGSAN ELECTRO MART are discount electronics markets, both are HUGE and yes, much cheaper than most countries. A LOT cheaper than the UK at least. They might have websites, I don't know.

4. You didn't mention what type of school you are going to work at - a hakwan or a public school - but niether will give you adequate training. A small minority do, but it's rare. Just trust me, I work at a public high school and had no training WHATSOEVER.

My advice - yes, do what I never did and read and research AS MUCH AS YOU CAN before arriving. Expecially look for lots of FUN ACTIVITIES and ways to make the classroom experience FUN. Korean kids are unmotivated to learn English and you have to make it FUN. IT is the KEY POINT to the job you are about to undertake and I could not possibly stress it enough. The best advice I could give you for your job is make the classes FUN and EDUCATIONAL and NEVER GET ANGRY IN CLASS. The second one is a toughie for some teachers I've met, but it's great advice, as getting stressed doesn't work anyway, so it's just best not too.

Good luck!!!

[Captain Corea]

I'll give your questions a shot

1) The skiing is fine.. if you love skiiing with a few million people on the same slope all going i different directions (or just sitting there). I'm not sure where you've skied, but Korea is nothing to rave about.

2) Canadia Cads will work in a lot of shops, but you cannot depend on it. I've had mine refused by store owners becuase they are scared of fees.

3) Electronics are not cheap here, at least not ludicrously so. You can get good deals on some hardware, but finding english software can often be a pain.

4) Depending on where you're teaching, the levels will vary. If it is a public school, you'll get the whole range. Most materials you'll need for your first year are here though.


Hope some of that helps.

[gotaski]

Thanks for the informative answers.
Furthur to my last post, I ski at Holimont in New York state.

One thing that does puzzle me though is that for what appears to be an internet savvy society, where are all the retail sites?

Here in N.A. you are literally swamped by the options (i.e. Best Buy, Futureshop, Dell, Sony, etc. etc.) all with online stores and pricing.

[indytrucks]

[Novernae]

[RACETRAITOR]

Ski rentals may not be as great as your own skis, but do you really want to bring them here just to save $20 each time you go? And then probably go only once.

Depending on what the ski hills are like where you're from, you might not be impressed with hills here. I grew up with Sunshine Village and Marmot Basin, and probably each of those have more surface area than all the Korean ski hills crammed together, but with the same amount of people.

[Jack_Sarang]

The skiing is fine. Yongpyong and Phoenix Park in Gangwon-do are the best in my opinion, though some people like Muju.

Obviously the weekends are busy, but Friday night night skiing is not busy as well the absolute best time to go is during holidays.

I go every year to Yongpyong during Christmas and Lunar New Year. Lunar Near Year is the absolute best because so many Koreans spend time with their families the slopes are practically abandoned and there are zero lift lines.

All the ski resorts have tons of private rental shops nearby with better equipment if you don't like what the resort itself is offering.

[RACETRAITOR]

[Homer]

Here goes.

[jessiaka]

My Canadian mastercard has always worked for me, no one has denied it yet (lucky me I guess?).

What I CAN add to this though is that you should call mastercard and put your new address as a secondary address on your account and explain to them you will be in Korea. My boyfriend and I bought a 42" plasma TV from samsung and our cards wouldn't go through. Kind of odd considering there's a $15,000 limit!!
After much broken english and korean we got the card company on the phone and ok'd the transaction. Next day we put our address on the accounts and it's been fine since! Just a heads up on that

[dogshed]

When you buy something with a credit card from outside Korea you have to do the currency conversion twice. Once when you buy something and again when you send money home to pay the card. You loose a little each time. -Jeff