Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mysterious700]

I teach in a public school in a rural area. I teach at 3 middle schools. I get paid on time and bypassed the whole hogwon thing. But now wonder if I may have to work for a hogwon. That is if I want to get into a bigger city. There are many benefits to the public school, but the rural area can be isolating and lonely as there are only a couple of foriegners here and hardly any English. Two of my schools are pretty easy going, but one school goes by the letter of the law. If you want a Korean girlfriend, it is next to impossible in a small town. I did OK with women in the west and have had some women talk to me or look my way, here, whenever I visited a bigger city. I was lucky in dating a local K girl briefly, but she had lived in Seoul for a few years before returning to her rural hometown. I'm starting to think big city women are easier to date. I talk to some Korean English speaking women, via the internet, but they all seem to live in the Seoul area. Don't get me wrong, living in a rural community is a great intro to Korea as you can learn about the culture and have greater motivation to teach yourself some Korean. It is a great coversation starter with Koreans, including with Korean women. I did notice some pretty hot K chicks riding the Seoul subway system. It gets expensive to travel there all the time and might just be easier to live there. I'd hate to think of leaving the public school and going Hogwan. (The public schools only hire a couple of times a year through EPIK and I might have no gaurantee of getting into the city I want.) At this point, I have not decided anything and have until next June to decide. I do like the idea of starting my day later and sleeping in a little in the mornings. I have never done mornings well and hate getting up early. (That is a PRO or CON depending on whether or not you are a morning person or not.) I may be able to get into a public school position, but if not, what schools are goo to work for? I've heard YBM ECC is a school where you get paid on time.... Any other schools?....

(The job is mostly good, except for that one school. The kids are great, even though many don't listen. The people here are kind, even though there is a communication barrier. It is the isolation, not being able to chat too much in English, and not being able to meet K women or Western women that is tough. I get average vacation time - 2 weeks the first year and 4 weeks the second year.)

[sojourner1]

You meeting and speaking with any Koreans who speak some English out there? Have you made any Korean friends that you do things with like dinner , beer drinking, and hiking? I don't guess you're going to meet a whole lot of 20 something year old women in a small town as most seek to live in the big city as there is an exodus from small towns and rural areas happening.

I would guess it could get very lonely if you can't even find a few English speaking Korean adults to do things with.

I live in a mid sized city and find myself associating with Koreans who speak some English, but hardly ever do anything with other foreigners despite there being around 300 in Changwon city. I am open to being friendly and hanging out with them, but they don't do that. Maybe they are staying home on their computers and relaxing much of the time.

When I was in the US army in Europe, most of my fellow foreigners stayed in by themselves, while I got out on my own a lot in foreign countries and did things with mostly local people who made very good friends.

I wouldn't say it's any better in Seoul, but you will have many new acquaintances for sure as you bump around Itaewon.