Korean Job Discussion Forums

[minutiae]

So I'm seriously considering teaching in Korea. I am also considering Japan, but I'd actually prefer Korea. However, the negativity I hear about Korea is rather overwhelming.

I'll try to keep it brief.

I want to go with my significant other. We both have ESL teaching experience and our BAs. We also have a cat who is up to date on all shots. We are young, and as such, are fairly used to making little money, working crap jobs and living in crap apartments. Our standards are not that high. We're adventurous and fairly tolerant. We want to make money in order to pay off school debts.

Korea seems like an ideal place because the pay is decent, the flights and apartments are often paid. If my research is correct, bringing pets into the country is much easier than it would be in Japan, where they have a six month quarantine period for North American animals. Those of you (and I gather there are many, compared with Japan) who have brought your pets with you, were there problems? General caveats to be aware of?

One thing I need to be 100% on is Health Insurance. My partner has a condition that means we absolutely must be covered, and have a Betapace prescription. Basically I need to know whether the Korean Health Care system is reliable, and whether Betapace will be available to us there. What have you guys' experiences with the system been like?

Well, those are the most pressing health and well-being questions, and others may come in the course of the research/application process. Thanks in advance for reading this, we'll see you in Korea!

[dogshed]

I wouldn't tell anyone about the condition when going through the application process. They might not want to hire a sicky even if your condition is controlled.

My experience in a rural area may not be applicable to you.
The drug I wanted had different dosage guidelines for the US and other countries. (You'll have to ask pharmacutical company why the dosage in the US is twice.) Bizarre thing is they didn't even give me the near the correct dosage for Korea. I had print outs from the internet with lots of alternative drugs just in case I couldn't get the exact drug.

For what it's worth here are my suggestions:

Check with your doctor to see what alternative meds and dosages would be acceptable.

I would be to use yahoo to make a phone call to a couple of the English speaking medical facilities that people
recommend on this board and see what they say about availability.

There is no medical privacy. Go to a doctor and pharmacy far from your school. Especially if you live in a rural area.

Bring enough with you to allow time for someone to ship some from back home or for you to fly home if needed.

Make arrangements for someone to ship you more drugs from the US if needed. Will your doctor approve a refill with a phone call?

See if you can get written prescriptions for your drug and alternatives before you leave just as a CYA. Get more than one original if you can.
You never know what paperwork you need or don't need.

Keep a bank account with a debit card in the US.

This is just wild ass guessing here:
From what I've read on this board the typical employment exam would not catch a heart issue and I wouldn't mention it to the employment exam doctor unless he notices. Even then I would pretend I didn't know what he was talking about. If you have to reveal it act like it is no big deal and maybe he will also.

[asamouse]

I have a cat. I actually got her here in Korea from a rescue organization. The one thing I would advise is to get a job in a large city. Koreans are not big on cats, and as such, there isn't much available in terms of cat products. Stores such as E-Mart (a large chain store similar to Wal-Mart in America) carry kitty litter and cat food. There's not much variety, but it is available. (My cat has no complaints!) Stores like E-Mart don't exist out in the rural areas, so you might have trouble finding supplies. As long as you're in a big city you'll be fine!

[grainger]

I traveled here with my dog and had no problems. They need to have all their shots up to date before they come. If there's less then a month left before their due to get their shots updated get it done early. Most, if not all airlines, won't let you fly if your pet doesn't meet this requirment. My sister got knocked of a flight with her cat for just this reason. The shots have to be done at least a month before they fly and should be good for at least a month after they arrive.

My sister traveled here with her cat and did have some problems. She had adopted an older cat from the humane society a few months before she decided to come so, because she didn't know the cats full history and only had documents from the humane society detailing the cat's vaccination history rather than the vet, they were actually going to put her back on a plane to Canada when she argued about putting the cat in quarenteen. She argued with them for over two hours before she was able to clear customs...with the cat. My sister can be a handful. Just have your bases covered and you should be fine.

I looked after my sister's cat for several months well she was back home and I can say that most of the bigger stores carry kitty supplies now. I always picked up Natual Balance cat food from the vet and litter from e-mart. Korean's are becoming cat owners at an increasing rate. You can find them in most pet stores now. Street cats are still considered to be kind of like rats but house cats are fine. Many Korean's are afraid of cats but then most Koreans are afraid of my little dog too. Most of the time I get the impression that they just like to pretend they're afraid or have taught themselves to be afraid. It really is kind of ridiculus most of the time.

Korea's a great place. I won't go to Japan because of the quarinteen issue. It seems really cruel to me.

[Wondering]

You can get pretty much any type of cat food you want from a vet. Just bring a picture of the bag with some close-ups of it as well so they can find a supplier online and to prove it exists. (Every vet I've gone to claims that the dog food I buy doesn't exist.) Ask them to order it. Be ready to pay up front for however many bags you want them to order at that time. As long as they know that the kibble will not merely sit on the shelf until it expires, they are willing to carry any type of pet food. Until they know you well enough, you might have to pay up front every time.

I no longer have to order from my vet. When an order came in, he left the bag out in the open while waiting for me to come and pick it up and had so many requests for it that he now carries it.

[Bramble]

Good luck with everything, but doesn't this topic belong in another forum?