Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ronaldclaw]

Myself and my girlfriend are planning to begin teaching in South Korea in early January. We are both from England and are both university graduates, we have heard some really dodgy stuff about some of the agencies out there and a lot of them are unwilling to hire British people cause our accents aren't correct!!!! Anyway we both want to live together and work together and if we haven't found a job before we go (we will be in South East Asia for 3 and a half months before) will it be easy to find one if we just flew out there and looked for one ourselves? Has anyone actually done this as a couple and how easy/difficult was it? Oh and I don't want to live in Seoul (I live in London at the moment and I don't think I can handle another sprawling metropolis for a while!) I would prefer somewhere like Pusan which is big but it is near the sea, does anyone have any more suggestions of places that would be entertaining, accessible(airports, ferries, trains etc.)

Thanks

[Ribs75]

Hi,

I am also new to the South Korea thing and will be going out there in two months from now. I am really facing the same problems as you regarding Korean employers and have just left Thailand after one year due to problems with the science job I was in.

In regard to your comment about the British accent not being favoured, I have heard that this can be true, and Koreans favour a model American accent.

As for finding a job, I have read that it is better *not* to accept or look for a job before you go out, as you need a release letter to get out if the job is not what it seems. I have zero experience of Korea yet, but I am reading all the time that the hogwans are nad news.

Myself, I am going to go there first with no job (you are allowed three months as a tourist if you hold a UK passport). I will look for a suitable job once I am there and, above all, I will choose carefully.

As for the couple thing, I don't know, but I see quite a few advertsments for couples on the job board.

Hope this helps

[Gollum]

Ron:

Here's my advice....

Move to Bundang, just south of Seoul. It's a nice, new, clean town with lots of jobs. About 20 to 35 mins from Seoul, so you won't be far from fun.

Find separate jobs, because Koreans go all ape about boyfriend/girlfriend living together, etc. They're very conservative in that sense.

Besides, if you break up, one of you could always move out, but you'd still be working together.

[jajdude]

Nonsense about not living together as foreigners. Live wherever you like. Though Bundang is not a bad place. IF you want to be with your mate, cool: you are both foreigners.

Koreans DO NOT care about that. As foreigners you are outsiders in Korean society and thinking anyway.

They'll be pleased if you can say hello and thanks.

The only time they care is when you are a foreign guy with a Korean woman! As far as I know, that is the only situation that sometimes evokes unpleasant responses.
============================================
P>S> gollum god that "muscular thing" is hideous!

[crazylemongirl]

[joe_doufu]

[rapier]

Couples in Korea:

week1: The girlfriend gets annoyed of her boyfriends constant neck whiplash as he checks out Korean stunners in the street all day.
week2: He catches her surrounded by several macho GI's in Gecko's.
week3: He joins ublove just to help him learn Korean
week4: she gets tired of being called a russian ho, and boyfriends seeming indifference to her distress.
week5: He starts doing privates with one of the hotties from the bar. She likes his accent and his passport.

6 Months: Broken up, but still driving eachother nuts working at the same school.

[livinginkorea]

[fancypants]

keep it, gollum. i like it. reminds me of my grandpa.

and i wholeheartedly agree about coming here first to find a job. the hogwan will likely reimburse your airfare if you negotiate and yogwans (neighborhood basic hotels) are cheap to stay at and plentiful.

[jajdude]

I do not believe Koreans care if you as a foreigner live with your foreign mate. I figure foreigners are given latitude because we are foreigners, and Koreans realize we are playing by different cultural norms.

??????

Or just pretend you are married?

I had a Canadian female roomate once. We were not doing "it" or anything, but it seemed like nobody cared that we shared the apartment.

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

As a couple, don't worry what Korean think about you. Chances are, they don't care if you live together. Hell, my Korean husband and I "lived in sin" two years before we got married and the neighbors, whether they thought I was his wife or Russian "girlfriend", never batted an eyelash at us. I know plenty of foreign couples here that have had no problems...it's probably much better if you live together anyway, just so your girlfriend doesn't get harrassed or home broken into by by some perverted ajeoshi(I've been followed home, but when the old pervert saw my husband, he split). I see it as better for her anyway...saftey.
And I think many schools are looking for couples....why shouldn't they? They save money by putting two teachers in one apartment!
Good luck....you two should be just fine.

[Ribs75]

[dulouz]

Yea, I second the advice on free accomdations Try to get in the position of not using the place they provide, get your own ASAP.

The school will either give you an apt or an allowance. They are less likely to give you key money or deposit money so you might have to cough up $2,000-4,000 on your own. Regardless, the sense of security really contributes to your quality of life.

Bundang is good, there has been a crackdown on teachers lately so there are more jobs than usual. That will work for you.

[Derrek]

Just another warning about living together -- my school hired a guy from Canada before they hired me. He made the mistake of asking someone if they'd mind if his girlfriend lived there with him. They had a meeting with him and told him that they wouldn't allow it. He got really angry, said some choice words, and didn't end up working here.

Koreans can be very conservative. It's a toss of the dice.

And hey, I like the idea of having separate jobs with housing, because you can either take cash for needing no place to stay, or take the free housing at both and rent one of the places out. If you break up, maybe you can move back in the other place more easily. Why give the boss any more of a break than they deserve by saving them 400,000+ per month because two employees from his school are living together?

Renting out a place can net you at least another 400,000 a month in your bank account.