Korean Job Discussion Forums

[royjones]

Hey guys, sorry for all the questions. I am coming to Korea for the first time the end of this month. I have heard that a friend of mine wears slippers or such when teaching, as you are not aloud to wear shoes. Is this true? If you can wear slippers, what kind and such. I want to buy them before I leave, cause I think size 11 would be hard to find in Korea.. lol. .thanks.

[rudyflyer]

really depends on where you are, some of the public schools make you take off your shoes and wear slippers. Hogwons it depends on what level you are teaching, kids you can get away with clean tennis shoes (forget about sandals) adults you should wear shoes and dress more professionally. Here at the univ level I've seen all sorts, tennis shoes to suits and dress shoes.

Personally I go between clean tennis shoes and casual shoes (topsiders style) depends on how my feet and legs feel. Given the hard concrete floors I get shin splints and have problems with my feet so tennis shoes tend to be the most practical for me.

hth

[royjones]

thanks for the reply. I am going to be teaching elementary school students at a Hogwon. So I should be all set with dress shoes? thanks.

[kangnamdragon]

Bring slippers anyway. You can use them in restrooms. Large sizes are hard to find.

[katydid]

You don't have to wear slippers. If you want to be ultra-cheap, wash off a nice pair of shoes, bring those with you the first day of teaching. Lots of teachers here don't seem to wear slippers, but do use a second pair of shoes. I myself walk to school so I wear a pair of sneakers to school but immediately take them off and switch over to slip on shoes once I get there.

[Crois]

I wear black trainers at my hogwon. In fact i wear all black everyday all day. hmmm.

[Harpeau]

Black Doc Martens are very comfortable. On the odd days, I wear hanbok shoes. Get a pair that feels good.

[Toby]

Elementary kids in a hakwon?

I wore timberland boots for a year. Good comfy shoes are what you want.

Plus, some schools are a bit 'funny' about slippers as they don't want the kids wearing strops around the school.

Bring some comfy shoes plus some trainers. You can buy all sorts of shoes here, so don't worry if you have to go shopping. You will find what you need.

[Crois]

Shoes. Dont follow their strange ways.

[Toby]

You could always get a pair of clown shoes as you will effectively just be an entertainer for a year, working in a hakwon.