Korean Job Discussion Forums

[zmase]

Hey everyone! I'm about to leave for Daegu in 11 days and I have a couple questions about living/teaching in the area. Here's more info about my situation:

I'm going to be teaching in an EFL school in Dalseo-gu Dowondong Daegu. Teaching elementary/middle school kids, class size 10-12 and the hours are 1:30-10:30p, mon-fri. They set me up in a 2 bedroom appt that's 600 sq feet, 4 vacation days in summer, 4 in winter, benefits, trip there and back. It pays 2.2 mil a month.

And here are my questions:

1. Is this a good school/situation?
2. What is the dress code/can I wear jeans? My contract says no t-shirts but I'm wondering what's typical on average.
3. How do you set up banking in korea (new account/money transfer, etc--I have Bank of America)
4. Is this a good area in Daegu?
5. Is there anything I need to know before I leave?

Thanks so much and I appreciate the help! I'm very excited. I'll post more questions later if that's ok.

-zmase

[Cohiba]

Remember "Cohiba's Rule" (Now better than ever!):

Think twice before you live outside of Seoul. "In Seoul" and
"outside of Seoul" are like two different countries. Seoul
is an interesting place with variety and venues for most
tastes. Outside of Seoul you will find a homogeneous Korean
culture. I don't mean this in a bad way, but you will never
find things like: French, Greek, Indian or any other ethnic
foods. Markets that sell sherry, pate, pastrami, ricotta cheese.
Specialty shops that sell Cuban cigars, European pies, cold
cuts or rye breads. Just to name a few things.

The FFF RULE: FFF=Fun For Foreigners.

If FFF in Seoul = 100, then FFF decreases at
1/distance. So 2km from Seoul FFF=1/2(100)=50;
10km from Seoul FFF=1/10(100)=10. This rule is
a rule for nightlife, food and foreign products only.
Nature etc. is on a different scale altogether.

This means you will be wasting a lot of time commuting
to Seoul. This is especially a drag if you have been
boozing on a Friday night and there are no buses or
trains.

I, unfortunately, live near Seoul where the FFF factor
is almost in the negative range. I know!

[oldfatfarang]

Ah, Daegu. The Pearl of the Orient. Well, not quite. However, Daegu is a relaxed and friendly place. The Koreans there are way more friendly than Seoul. Way more friendly.

Good luck.

[Karea]

Come on. Surely there is life outside Seoul???

I'm currently living in a small City in the UK with a population of less than 200,000. I suspect (and hope) that at least the Cities numbered 2-5 in size and population in South Korea (Busan, Daegu etc.) should have something to offer.
I heard, as is the norm for most Countries, that there is less bad attitude outside of the capital City.

I keep getting told by recruiters that it's hard to find jobs in Seoul for less experienced teachers. So I'm looking at the "smaller" Cities.

[nate2008]

zamse, I live in that EXACT neighborhood. Wherever they put you up, you will be within walking distance of my house lol

When do you move in? I'd be happy to show you around the neighborhood and introduce you to the foreign party scene.

[Bob_Salad]

Ignore the Seoulcentric bias on some of these replies; Daegu's fine. Your job however, sounds pretty poor.

[climber159]

You'll be fine in Daegu. There are enough other foreigners there that you'll do ok. It's also a large enough city that traveling to Seoul or Busan is relatively easy via train.

Your job, as mentioned already, sounds terrible. You're being cheated on your vacation days. I believe Korean labor requires employers to provide a minimum of 14 vacation days. Do you have sick days? Also make sure your hagwon boss is registering you for the national pension plan and health insurance.

Other things to know:
Banks: Woori=good; SC (Standard Chartered)=better; KEB (Korea Exchange Bank)=Best

Cell Phone: LG Telecom is most foreigner-friendly.

[Cohiba]

[D.D.]

Those hours suck big time. Who would want to do a 40 hour week in a hogwan for 2.2. Your holidays are also a joke. Keep looking you can do better than this. The idea in taking a hogwan job is so you can zoom in and teach your classes and leave hopefully after 6 hours. I bet they are getting you to teach 30 hours rather than 30 classes if they are giving you a 40 hour week.

[zmase]

it really sucks?

nate i'd love for you to show me around! are you in the same school? should i listen to these people that says my job sucks?

i'm still a little confused about the whole bank thing...

[zmase]

also: i already took the job. now i'm worrying!

[nate2008]

zmase,

You still didn't tell me anything about when you are coming here. I'm leaving Korea forever in just over a month.

Don't worry about the banks yet.

Your hours are very long (9 hours per day according to what you said, which makes 45 hours a week...) I hope there's something about overtime in your contract? And how many actual teaching hours? Your vacation time SUCKS, and is there anything in the contract about sick days?

No I am not in your school, I knew better than to work in a hagwon for my first teaching gig. I'm in a nearby public school.

To be honest, you might want to try to renegotiate these terms, or else just find a new place altogether. Did you sign the contract yet? Even if you did, you could just tell them you're not coming unless the old contract is ripped up and better, more fair terms are agreed upon by both parties.

Give us the details about your:

1) teaching hours
2) sick days
3) health/pension (these are required by law, just make sure theyre in the contract)

Maybe it's not as bad as it sounds...I dunno. Let us know.

[zmase]

hey there nate!

i'm arriving on the 25th of july...so 11 days!

here's my schedule:
1:20pm - 10:10pm (class starts from 2:20pm)
1class - 60mins
break - 10mins

It says I may work 5-7 classes per a day, and if I work more than 30 teaching hours, I will get paid overtime (20,000 won for every 50 minutes over).

As for vacation, I just reread my contract and this is what it says:

Holiday: There are 13~15 Korean holidays per year. Employee is not required to work on these days.

(b) Annual leave: Employee is permitted 10 days of leave per year(included sat, sun). The instructor should set up the vacation time according to a yearly schedule of the school.

(c) Emergency leave: Emergency leave in a year in the event of a death or serious illness of an immediate family member, such as grandparent, parent, spouse, children, brother or sister. The emergency leave will be granted and/or extended after a close consultation with the Principal. The Employee will bear the cost of transportation. If the employee leave Korea unexpectedly then the employee should notice before 30 days.

(d) Sick Leave : Employee is permitted to 3 days of paid sick leave per year. Unused sick leave may not be taken as annual leave. In order to be eligible for paid sick leave, when Employee is unable to attend class due to illness, he or she shall notify Employer, with proof of illness from a physician(doctor�s note), at least a half an hour prior to the commencement of the class. If employee fails to notify employer of illness, the employer has the right to deduct one day�s pay for every day the employee is absent from work.

how does this sound?

is your (or should i say "our") neighborhood a cool place and close to downtown/bars/shopping/events?

[zmase]

also, this is what it says about benefits:

The Employee will be provided with health insurance coverage from the designated public health insurance corporation with 50% of the premium paid by the Employer and 50% - by the Employee.

[nate2008]

Ok well 10 days of vacation is a little low, but whatever. 30 hours teaching per week seems pretty standard for a hagwon. Don't get me wrong, your contract is on the lower end of the scale for 2.2m a month, but it's not horrible. By that I mean it's not like they're working you to the bone for the bare minimum, I've seen worse contracts. Hopefully your place is nice.

BTW - There may be a lot of people who come here and say that your contract is crap, they make 2x more than you and work half as much, they get 50 days vacation per year, blah blah blah. This site is notorious for having a ton of negative posters and downright crazy people on it, as well as people who like to bullshit, so just ignore all the people who might come in here flaunting their contracts, because a lot of it is probably BS anyway.

About Daegu - Ignore all the people who have posted bashing Daegu. I love this city, and I promise you will too. Ignore anyone who posts that retarded "formula" about distance from Seoul meaning less English, less culture, whatever...it's the dumbest shit I've ever seen. This city is big, but it feels small. The foreigners here are great, and there's a large community of us. There are plenty of clubs ranging from rock climbing to theatre. I'll introduce you to a few key people when you get here, and they will make sure that the amount of friends you have expands exponentially.

About our neighborhood - Sorry but we are in the ass-end of nowhere. We are just barely in the city limits in the southwest corner of the city. This, however, is only annoying in terms of access to the downtown party scene. I have dropped a ton of money this year because a taxi ride home from downtown costs about 10$.

Our neighborhood is not within walking distance of a subway station, which really sucks. The nearest station is a 35-45 minute walk. A taxi to the station will run you about $2.50. It doesn't sound like a lot but trust me, it adds up over the course of a year. The subways stop running every night at 11:30pm and open again at 5:30am. During this time the taxi fare increases slightly.

These are just the negatives though. There are plenty of positives. There is some very picturesque hiking within walking distance, and there are plenty of street vendors, good restaurants and markets within walking distance. There are several hagwons with foreigners teaching at them, plus almost all of the local public schools have foreign teachers. To be honest, I don't hang out with any of the foreigners in our area, but that's only because we are on completely different time schedules and I never really see them. If you are like me and enjoy hitting the gym from time to time, there are a couple for you to choose from. There are some nice public bathhouses a short taxi ride away. There are beer bars aplenty. And the Daegu Arboretum is a very short taxi ride away.