Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Been There, Taught That]

After having looked into and thought about the best location for me--the teacher--and my nonworking wife and toddler daughter, we've come up with Suwon as a suitable central location. Now all we have to do is find a position there. We're going to go hagwon first year, public permanently after that. Main reason: prepaid airfare.

I'd appreciate input from anyone currently working in Suwon as to especially work experiences, recommended schools, etc; also, though, my wife wants to get to know people and not feel out of the loop, so she'd like to correspond with someone or ones, mothers in her situation, in particular, but just expats making a life to get a perspective and prepare mentally for the challenge.

Ask, and I'll PM you her email if you'd like to correspond. It would help her a great deal to get a perspective other than her husband's and know that there will be support there.

[Suwon23]

I'm kind of new to Suwon, and I don't live in Youngtong-dong, where you'll be. But I think Suwon is a good choice, especially if you have kids because there's more green space than most parts of Seoul.

Your experience probably depends more on the school than the town. there are too many hagwons for me to have a useful opinion on all of them. I know a few well enough to recommend or not recommend. Kim and Lee in Maetan has a bad reputation with its teachers. The CDI in Maetan is individually owned, so that's a big no-no, but I think maybe the one in Youngtong is owned by CDI itself, so that would be a good choice.

[sojourner1]

I'm sure you can be happy in happy Suwon if you find a happy school. Have a happy time. It's said to be a decent right outside of Seoul kind of place to be. You can even take the Seoul subway to get to Seoul as Suwan is connected.