Korean Job Discussion Forums

[blakely]

Look if you're looking for info on whether or not it's a good idea to come teach in korea, stop wasting your time reading through the vast amount of blogs on korea and different websites.

This is how it is for any potential newcomers:

1) Hogwans (private schools) are maybe 70-80% scumbags. Unless you feel like rolling the dice (which are not in your favor) and risking a life which just constantly looks forward to the weekends and dreads the workweeks (and you will dread them). These douche bags will take advantage of you in every way possible if you land one of the many lemon Howans around Korea. You will be stressed and feel like you're back in high school, working for a grocery store or something. Not to mention your vacation time is maybe 1/4 of what public school teachers get (same pay too)

Point: STICK with a public school jobs only if you're coming to Korea, or make sure you have a good friend vouch for the Hogwan you're coming over to work for. Foreign teachers working there will seldomly tell it how it is.

2) Contracts are BS.
If you think that contract you sign means anything to your employer you're going to have a surprise waiting for you. Health insurance, overtime, etc etc. A lot of these hogwons just write whatever to get you over there, then tell you how it is once you arrive. Leaving you with few outs.

Pount: STICK to public schools, don't try and go through the stress of fighting a contract dispute in korea. It's an UP HILL battle to say the least.

3) The winters in Korea are brutal, just as bad as Canada's. The summers are painfully hot.

Point: Seasons are EXTREME.

4) IF you like drinking and partying, Seoul is where it's at. You won't find a more fun nightlife in Asia i'm convinced.

Point: Don't take a job outside of Seoul

5) Make sure you like seafood.

Point: To say this is a staple in Korean diet is an understatement. Picky eaters are going to STRUGGLE.

6) You're going to get sick. Be prepared to get VERY sick. Your immune system will struggle in korea no matter how healthy you are. Sanitization is a strong suit.

Point: Just be ready lol. Doctors are a joke there, bring GOOD painkillers from back home.


. . . this could go on, but laying out the reality of it all may be useful for people who just want to cut right to the chase. It's one hell of an experience and you'll see and observe things you just won't find anywhere else in the world. Enjoy.

[RMNC]

Allow me to address your first two points, as I'm sure you're going to get plenty of flak for your other four.

1. Hagwons: Do your research and you will have a 99% chance of finding out which ones are the scumbag ones and avoid them with ease. At public schools you have useless coteachers, 35 kids per class, little chance to interact, deskwarming that makes you spend more time at work than a hagwon, bureaucratic and insane principals that will screw you just to spite you, and you don't get to choose where to live. There's only so many public school jobs in Seoul, buddy.

2. Contracts: They're still contracts no matter where you go. You can still legally own your hagwon boss if there's a dispute and you know he's in the wrong. They only get away with it if you let them. This is why you bring and sign the contract they sent you, and you tell them so. Public schools still screw plenty of people over and don't pay you anywhere near what you deserve.

I feel confident enough about these points, someone else will rip you a new one about your others. Have fun.

P.S. And you say "there". Have you actually been to Korea? Or are you not there right now? What's the deal?

[Squire]

Don't take a job outside Seoul... BS. There are thousands of teachers quite happy to live in smaller places. Not every foreign teacher is from London, New York, Toronto, Sydney etc.

The rest of your post seems like good advice. I've never worked in a hagwon but I've heard enough to be put off for good

[shifty]

[CentralCali]

[chrisinkorea2011]

[schwa]

Note how the OP's definitive advice to newbies about teaching in Korea doesnt once mention students or teaching.

Its all about job hassles, money, the weather, drinking, & getting sick. Life outside Seoul? The horror!

Yeh, listen to this guy.

[WadRUG'naDoo]

I think most of the OP is ridiculous.

Anyway, neither option, Korean PS or hagwon, are all that attractive to me.

Winters aren't all that bad unless you're from the southern United States (?). Summers are hot, but it's summer (?). I'm, however, not a big fan of Korea's weather, but I hardly find that a selling point.

Prepare to get sick? Some people might get sick. I did when I first got there, but I think it's because I ate something bad that I cooked or ate as a leftover. Besides, I had lived in Taiwan for 2 years and didn't come straight from Canada.

Why do you have to eat seafood? You can eat anything you like. In fact, I hardly ate Korean food before I left and I was there for 5 and a half years (too long).

[lalartu]

the way I see it: OP is infuriated with his life in Korea, can't stand anything here and hated his every second in his first hagwon...well that happens, but there's no need to generalize and stereotype it into something Korea is not.

Everyone's experience in Korea is different
I've taught in two different hagwons before signing up for a public school and loved my experience there!

It was a lot more fun actually because the co-teachers in my hagwons were friendly, approachable and not full of themselves like most teachers in public schools who just care about their own promotions and could give less shit about you as a person.

Seafood? I don't even remember the last time I ate seafood, so I don't know where this came from. There's PLENTY of non-seafood stuff around...so no comment there...maybe you should get out more

Finally, getting sick, really sick? That's called immunity. Moving to any new country will make you very sick because you're introduced to a completely new version of viruses that your old country didn't have. There's a word for that too, it's called traveler's flu. So...suck it up or don't travel:)

POINT: some people are angry and hate Korea and some people live and enjoy their life here. Don't listen to others complaint about stuff. Come over and see for yourself.

PS it's not Hogwan(hogwarts), it's hagwon, the least you can do is spell it right...

[RMNC]

For what it's worth, I never got sick in my first year.

[southernman]

[jammo]

i disagree re: the fish

[thegadfly]

OP thinks 5-10% = 70-80%. OP has an ax to grind, and isn't especially experienced nor well-informed. OP has clearly had a very difficult time of it in Korea, and is clearly very unhappy.

I would suggest taking OP's advice with a huge grain of salt, and recognizing it for its relative worth, or lack thereof. It isn't ALL bad advice -- just mostly bad, prejudiced, and small-minded.

[jammo]

1) 99% of all statistics are made up on the spot

2) Subjective

3) Agreed

4) Subjective

5) Subjective but generally wrong

6) Subjective

[decolyon]

Haha, OP sounds like one of those fresh off the boat 22 year olds that are getting a slap in the face of what the real world is like. Is this your first time out on your own? Is this your first real job?

Those "douche bags" as you so eloquently put it, are just called "people" and "jobs" in the real world. You're not going to like every person you work with, no matter where you end up. That's true for this country or any other. I spend most of my time around people I don't care for or am indifferent to because we have to work together, live near each other, or commute together. That's how it is. You can't just hang out with your buddies all the time.

And no night life in Asia? Man, have you ever been to Bangkok? Or Tokyo? or Shanghai? Or Hong Kong? Or Pattaya? Or Phuket? or Saigon (Ho Chi Min)? Or Bali? Or Osaka? Jeezus man. The Asians love to drink and cut loose on the weekends.