Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mo7684]

My boyfriend and I arrived in Korea yesterday evening. We had applied for two joint positions at Gepik through Reach to Teach. We had been assured by our agency that Gepik have an excellent reputation for placing couples on joint applications close together. However, we turned up at Incheon Airport yesterday only to be whisked away in seperate directions, with our recruiter telling us in a phone call that we would meet up after we had been taken to our schools. I was then taken straight to my apartment where my laughing co teacher informed me that my boyfriend was actually miles away and his school was a one hour twenty minute bus journey away.

Obviously this is very distressing for both of us. We have been completely misinformed. Neither of us want to stay if this is the situation; we arrived in Korea with the intention of being close to one another. Has anyone encountered a similar situation or does anyone have any advice for us?

For what it's worth, my school is Hwaseong Geumgok Elementary and my boyfriend's is Hwaseong Balan Elementary if anyone has any information on how to commute to each place.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Mo7684]

Nope, our apartments are even further apart than our schools. Only public transport is one bus an hour that takes around an hour to get from place to place.

We are seriously upset about this. If we can't get to be together we are going to have to go home, a huge disappointment for us.

[afsjesse]

Unfortunately, situation like these happen and is by no coincidence a rare thing. What you could do is take the living allowance and find a single apartment for both of you that is kind of half way between your schools. I realize this is not ideal and finding an apartment is no easy task. Added to this is the key money situation.

Hope something works out for the both of you.

[ticktocktocktick]

Put your foot down, calmly. Explain that this is not acceptable, and you're being forced to reconsider this forthcoming year. If they don't comply, split after your first payday. They shouldn't be offering these jobs as suitable for a couple. It's their own fault if you burn them.

[jonpurdy]

Assuming you did confirm with GEPIK beforehand that you were coming as a non-married couple and expected to be placed close together:

If they don't move your closer this is one of those extreme cases where I'd actually advise getting your first months pay and your airfare and splitting after that. Running is usually not a great idea and hurts foreigners here but this is one of those cases where I think it would be appropriate.

[Welsh Canadian]

This is one of the reasons why we (fiancee and me) decided not to teach in a public school.

They said there was a chance of us not being in the same area of Korea. Also they said they wouldn't give me the housing allowance.

Basically Public schools only want married or single people. No one in between.

[Korangar]

Hello, just wondering if you got this figured out. My girlfriend and i are planning on applying to GEPIK but are leery of their "try to get you close" policy, so i was wondering how it worked in practice.

[Mo7684]

We were very lucky. There is a bus that leaves from my boyfriend's school and ends around a ten minute walk from my apartment. It takes 40 minutes and there is only one an hour, which gets my boyfriend in to work half an hour early, so it is not ideal but it means a commute is possible.

So we are now breathing a huge sigh of relief. We decided to move to Korea after a ten month spell in the UK both looking for jobs in the middle of a recession. We were really looking forward to getting stuck into our work at our schools here. The thought of going home was so grim.

So Korangar, I don't know what to advise you. When we told GEPIK about our situation they were very sympathetic but said there was nothing they could do. It's really up to you whether you want to take that chance but I wouldn't count on anything.