If you have no self control like me, Korea is much better as far as money is concerned. I'm making about the same (when taking the free apartment into consideration) but spending a hell of a lot less BUT I guess that's only because in Japan I felt a lot more inclined to go out. Yes, food can be more expensive over there but when you figure out where to eat and where to shop it can become a lot cheaper; there are dollar stores for food and plenty of cheap noodle shops. However, there are lot of expensive (and tempting) options as far as nightlife goes which can really put a dent in your pocket. Socially, I had a much much much better time in Japan than I'm having in Korea. Money-wise, I'm saving much much much more in Korea than I ever did in Japan.
There are a few good things about working in Japan as well. The main one is that your visa doesn't tie you to your workplace and if you're having a crap time it's pretty simple to switch employers. The flip side of this is that there aren't too many good jobs out there (at least there wasn't when I was looking but that was after the NOVA bust). Working hours are generally longer. I was doing 37 forty minute classes a week but there was no prep. I interviewed at a few places that wanted a six day work week but I don't know if that was because the job market was saturated and they could demand whatever they wanted. I had a few friends working in public schools (and not through the JET programme) and although they had fewer hours, they had a lot of prep/travel time and weren't paid very well.
So I think you should weigh up what you want. Personally, I would be teaching in Japan right now if it weren't for the fact that it's so easy to save money in Korea. If you do decide to go to Japan, I'd recommend Osaka as The Place To Be. Rent isn't astronomical like it is in parts of Tokyo, there are plenty of great touristy spots nearby (Kyoto, Nara) and the place just has a wicked vibe.
Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Location: Korea: More fun than jail.
Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 5:46 am Post subject:
Sorry, don't have the patience to go into as much detail as the previous reply, but here's my simple take. I lived in a nice part of Tokyo 3 years ago and worked for a well-known eikawa teaching mainly adults...Jeju and Daegu since then, teaching only kids...
Japan: killer public transport, kind but often boring people, excellent food, clean, fun vibe / poor pay relative to the cost of living, language is difficult to learn to read (not to speak, per se), girls wear too much makeup (sorry, don't know your gender), long work hours with a huge commute (of course, that was just my situation...)
Korea: cheap ass taxis, endlessly interesting people due to the fact that they're all mental (sorry, gf), participating in sports (skiiing, futsal, even golf) doesn't cost an arm and a leg, very compact and accessible country, savings, bbq rocks / most food is redundant, most people don't take your earnest attempts to use the language seriously, good pot very hard to find, 4 seasons...my ass, supermarkets blow, and now...the exchange rate
there's def more, just ran out of interest in thinking of it...my bad. agreed on the osaka bit. nice and centrally located. J's a lanky one!
Japanese students are a lot like Korean students in terms of their overall aptitude for learning English given the relatively inadequate instruction they receive, only they seldom harbor as much resentment at having a foreign language imposed on them. Moreover, they are almost universally more polite, although they can be much lazier in some respects.
Of course, the salary you earn will not likely be comparable, but then you have to factor in the general receptivity of the people toward your presence, the greater cleanliness of the living and working spaces, and a host of other concerns.
And while I'm not a connoisseur of Japanese cuisine, it certainly has more variety.
Korean students seemed to have a stronger foundation in English, and were more proactive about practicing English.
But Japan is 1000 times more interesting. Older Japanese people are an absolute pleasure to be around, in comparison to older Korean people.
In Japan, you can go to ANY BAR and feel very comfortable, and Japanese people are very interesting, with interesting travel stories, musical interests, and subcultural types of interests. In Korea, I really only enjoyed expat bars, as it use to irritate me dealing with the aggressive nature of full-on Koreans in 100% all-Korean bars.
Public transportation with taxis and subways was MUCH better in Seoul...well, the prices. Sometimes just being on trains/subways in Korea can be irritating listening to people yell, do drunken things, and just being weird in general. Japan subways are very quiet and very subdued, i.e. normal, but expensive.
FOOD....I really miss and love Korean food, particularly the BBQ types outside. I don't find Japanese food as interesting personally (although many would disagree with me). I DO FIND that INTERNATIONAL FOOD in Japan is AMAZING...whereas in Korea, I hated anything that wasn't Korean. Pasta for example, always ruined in Korea, but in Japan, its to perfection. Even Korean food like kimchi fried rice tastes 1000 times better in Japan, despite the fact I was a big fan of it in Korea already.
EXPENSES: It's really beer and taxis that are expensive. If you drink some beer at home beforehand, and limit your taxi usage, etc...I really don't find other things that expensive. Particularly consumer products. There are good 100 Yen stores ($1 stores) all over the place, you can pick up everything there.
HEATING: Heating sucks in Japan, very poorly insulate, much like Korea, however NO ondol heating here in Japan. Ondol heating really makes up for the poor insulation in both countries.
If you are an American, it is interesting that most Japanese have traveled all over the U.S...usually Hawaii 5 times, California 5 times, and all kinds of obscure places throughout the U.S. Generally when you talk to Koreans, they've studied somewhere in Canada, and that is about it. You'll also be amazed how many Australians and British teach all over the place in Japan, and how few Canadians you'll meet.
4 years in Korea, 2.5 months in Japan for me....while I'm still in the honeymoon stage of Japanese life (gawd knows what I'll think of the place in a year) my memories of Korea are still fresh so maybe that'll help with the comparision.
Schools: Less of a hagwon scene in Japan, English conversation schools are about but less in number. Most folks I meet are ALTs (myself included) it's a strange job so far....really easy and J-Teachers seem less stressed and easy to deal with but a lot of desk sitting, have to look busy, I use my time to prep and study Japanese. With the competition for jobs and their economy going *beep* up I wouldn't want to work in the private sector, Korea might be better in that respect as it seems to be impossible for an English speaker to be unemployed for longer than 5 minutes. Probably not the case here. AFAIK you need an MA for uni work.
Students: Koreans have an obsession with English learning that supasses any other Asian country IMO. Japanese kids learn English in the same way westerners learn French/Spanish/German ect....ie it's a nice thing to learn but isn't seen as being that important. On the flip side the kids study less and have better lifestyles so you don't get the sleep derprived/pissed off with english lot that you do with Korean teens, with a qualified and usually efficent J-teacher with you at all times there's less stress with discipline.
Food: What tiger beer said.
Cash: It's not expensive compared to our countries, again Tiger Beer is right re cabs and bars but I find grocery shopping to be cheaper and rent the same (I didn't go for the free housing in Korea, thought it gave the school waaay too much power over me). I always thought buying a car in Korea was a waste of time as public transport is so cheap, in Japan it might be a decent option. Not only for cost but as a lot of Japanese live in western style houses as opposed to apartment buildings the cities are more spread out. It's something I'm considering.
Language barrier: Japan v Korea in terms of English ability really defines Quality v Quantity. Koreans study English for about 10 years, Japanese for about 5. Therefore of course there are more English speakers in Korea. However as Japanese unis are of higher quality Japanese English majors are going to be a lot better than Korean English majors. In short say 15% of Koreans speak English (guessing here) but they speak average English, in contrast maybe 3-4% of Japanese speak English but it'll be super good English.
Language: Both complex Asian tounges which will take many years to master. In Koreas favour for a newbie hangual takes a couple of days to learn and one can then read menus, bus timetables, memorise the students names from their tags ect. Most of those in Japanese are in kanji which takes ahem somewhat longer than a couple of days to learn! In Japans favour there are so many resources to learn, every bookstore even in small towns have Japanese learning sections, free classes are offered everywhere and most unis have full time JSL courses.
I love Japan and miss Korea. I feel lucky to have lived in both countries. In short Korea isn't going anywhere. If you come and Japan isn't for you, you can always head back to Korea or try some palce else. At the end of the day go for it. Don't be that 50 year old guy in the bar thinking to himself "I wonder what Japan would have been like?"
I want to go to Japan so badly. I love my Korean wife, but I finding out that she has serious emotional problems and am even scared of her after we have big arguments. She flips like a switch. I'm not sure what it would do to her to go to Japan, but I have to consider it as I feel trapped in a cage here in a low paying job.
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