Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Duckbabes]

Have received a job offer from the bove school and would be grateful if anyone could provide me with any information re: the school. Seems to be a new school as i cant find any information online, except in korean of course!
Am a newbie ESL teacher from New Zealand and am trying to get all my homework done before i fly off to somewhere i've never been to before. The school is supposed to be a private boarding school (or hagyul) in the town of Kochang, jeollabukdo province (or Gochang,not sure which spelling is current).
Would be so so grateful for any information! as a first-timer i'm obviously a bit nervous and want to be as thorough as i can be with my background checks. Thanks heaps in advance![/b]

[milkweedma]

Don't know the school but I know the town well. Have taught kids from that school privately. I'm kiwi too and am in NZ now so PM me and I can tell you more.

[Duckbabes]

[milkweedma]

Gochang has around 40,000? people and is near my own town (2 towns over) Yeonggwang. The best thing about these towns is they are near Gwangju, by bus about 1 hour from Gochang. Gwangju has it all, expat football team, bars, movies, sports.
Gochang has temples and stuff but it gets old fast.
Other people have posted on here before about Gochang so do a search. Public school, you'll often be fine. So don't worry. Just get out there and do it. You'll come to your own conclusions after your 12 month stint is up. There's only isolation to contend with, but there are other foreigners in that town cos ive meet some of them. Go to Gwangju on the weekends, check out Seoul, Busan.

[Otherside]

Good asking about the area.

Regarding the specific school, this is pretty much how it is, which I've said on almost all "anybody know this public school" threads, PS's are very fluid operations. The people who effect(affect?) your stay, i.e. the principal/vp and co-teachers are on rotation, with none lasting more than 4 (for P/VP) and 5 (regular teachers) at a specific school, often less. What could have been a great school last year, could suck now...and vice versa. I've been at my school for a year and a half, and I've had 2 different co-teachers/handlers, 3 different VPs and 4 different principals. Mine is the exception, but you get the point.

So, decide whether you like the location, the age of students etc. the school itself and the contract (i.e. gepik/epik/smoe all have different pro's and con's with certain bonuses for certain areas), and then take it from there.

[fusionbarnone]

The school lunches suck(private schools always seem to have poor lunches).

The sports teacher won the bronze medal for Korea at the Barcelona Olympics. He was going to be my boxing tutor. Studied Kumdo(Kendo), Uido(Judo), and Tae Kwon Do in Gochang. you could study too. Cheollabukdo is famous for the fighting abilities of it's martial artists.

Are you going to be living on the school premises or in Gochang?

They're are a good bunch Principal and teachers. Students as well.

The school is 20 minutes from Gochang. It's a very pretty place with lots of cultural stuff it's one of those rare places still remaining(beaches, mountains, etc).

Try the poonchung eel. It's a real delicacy.

[Duckbabes]

[quote="fusionbarnone"]The school lunches suck(private schools always seem to have poor lunches).
Are you going to be living on the school premises or in Gochang?

I thought about this and actually made sure i'll have my own cooking facilities in my apartment. And yes, I will be living on the school premises. was nervous about it at first but the school sent me pics of the apartment and it looks comfotable.

thanks for the info, am excited about the prospoects of some martial arts training. I do karate here in Nz and am a national swimmer so would be great to keep up the excersie when i get there!