Korean Job Discussion Forums

Tancred

Hi everyone,

I am contemplating another year of teaching overseas. I spent a fairly enjoyable year in korea two years ago, and was wondering if anyone has any advice on the current state of affairs in esl teaching in both korea and taiwan. I'm wondering if taiwan might be a pleasant change...or if i should stick with the tried and true in korea.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and i apologize if there are a billion threads like this...if someone could even refer me to another thread, it would be useful.

Thanks again,

T.

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

I hate to inform you but the Wombat Consciousness Movement has become defunct so you can't just pick up where you left off. Razz

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

Did you check the FAQ forum? There have been posts comparing the places. They are similar for money and saving potential. I also think the work is similar. The people are different. You might find the Taiwanese more friendly towards foreigners. Also the Taiwanese don't really drink, unlike the Koreans. And the beer in Taiwan is not fit to drink anyway. My life in Taiwan (one year) was boring, but not as alienating as Korea, not as xenophobic or whatever. The job was not bad though, teaching elementary kids with a pretty easy schedule around 20 hours per week, M-F.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

Taiwan beer gave me a serious headache the next day. The stuff was nasty! Definetely NOT a drinking society by any stretch of the imagination.

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

Taiwan Beer is VERY bad beer.

I compare it to the cheap $1 per pint draft that was sold in college on Tuesday nights - it gives WICKED hangovers.

Yet I still see newcomers walking around with big bottles of stuff.

Tiger, you are right - the Taiwanese are not beer drinkers. I guess that would probably explain both their lack of selection in and quality of beers.

Japan has good beer and is always coming out with new beers (we've had this discussion already, I know).

In fact, I drink Asahi, Kirin and Black Label here in Taipei.

I also agree with Jajude's comments:

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

If I were you I'd go to Taiwan. You've been in Korea already.

I've been to Taiwan twice to work. It's very interesting. The best parts were scuba diving/snorkling coral, and motorbiking the semi-tropical, mountainous interior.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

Those beaches and other options available are intriguing. I liked what little I saw of the country. Totally different feel from anywhere else.

Personally, I wouldnt mind giving it a try someday, if I had a good opportunity come my way.

trevorcollins · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

Tancred · Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:54 pm Post subject:

Thank you all, for your comments. I shall be checking out jobs in both locations shortly.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

Apparently ThreeDogNight is a regular poster on the Taiwan boards Wink

And even if Wombat isnt, there is someone else who uses her same name. Could be just like Daves of old.. think about it.. Cool

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

Yeah, Tiger, I thought that was Wombat of old but I guess it wasn't.

Three Dog Night was banned, I'm guessing as he has not posted for a month or so.

He was "way out there" on some of the things he was posting.

Good for a laugh and always kept me wondering if he was really that strange or just doing it for kicks.

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

Just another little comment about the beer in Taiwan. "Taiwan Beer" is the name of one, and it is real bad. But strangely, even the "Corona" is not good there. The 6-bottle box will say "Imported from Mexico" but it can't be, because they are good. The gov't has a "Tobacco and Alcohol Monopoly" there. It's a good place to NOT drink, or maybe just avoid the beer. The actual imported wine I can recommend...

TECO · Joined: 20 Jan 2003

Well, we have COSTCO.

Lots of imported, reasonably priced, beers (and wine) to buy from.

And there's Japanese beer - brewed in Taiwan, of course.

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

Makes ya wonder why so many beers in Asia are lousy though. Oh, and the "Beck's" (supposedly from Germany) in Taiwan was lousy too... but OK in Korea, I thought. The Japanese beers usually seem OK (but again, not in Taiwan).

I'd say the best bet in Korea are the black market (American) beers. Now, you might say American beer is not great but at least it doesn't make you as sick as some of the Asian (or so-called imports) ones.

I've also been drinking some Tiger beer/draught in VN, not so bad, but I think not great. Gives a rough hangover and makes me sweat! The "Heineken" here seems OK.

Yeah, I agree there are some good actual imported beers for sale in the big stores in Korea. I think so, but I've become suspicious for sure.

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

If you are fond of August in Korea, then you will like the weather inTaiwan from May to September. Hot and very, very humid. You will wake up at 7am already sweating.

The winter weather is nice during the day, but cool at night. A light jacket will be fine. You will also want to sleep in your jacket because the houses are not heated. (Or you could spring for a space heater.)

My impression was that the Chinese were rather indifferent to foreigners and considerably harder to make friends with, when compared to Koreans.

When I was there, English on menus was almost non-existent which was a problem for me because I couldn't read Chinese. As you know, it's a pretty simple thing to learn to read Korean.