Korean Job Discussion Forums

[HolliL1]

I was just wondering if there were any single moms out there who could offer some hard facts about bringing a child over on a teaching assignment?
My son is three and a half. While I think it would be a great experience for him, I'm concerned about the quality of schools (for him) and housing provided, availability of daycare if needed, whether it's even safe.
This is something I've always wanted to do, but I'm concerned that it might not be the best decision for him. When I look at videos and the like, I generally see young 20-ish, recent college grads with no children.
Is it foolish to consider taking my son along on something like this?
Any input?

[Tony_Balony]

There isn't the day care crises here, Korean moms are stay at home moms and I'm sure at least one would love to watch your son, likely many.

Kindy teachers are in high demand, you could work there and have your son there too.

[dogshed]

I wish my mom would have taken me to a foreign country when I was a kid.
Not all moms stay at home. Some are teaching at my school. Even
my little podunk town has a couple of daycares.

It couldn't be any worse than being a single mom in the US.

I suggest a public school. Most of the teachers are parents. Your pay will
be there. No taxes for the first two years.

[xtchr]

[AylaZ]

Hi, I came here when my son was 3. We were lucky to find a nice boss wife korean, hubby american. They had a couple of kids so found a decent kindy that had experience with a western child before. We are into our third yr now in Korea. He is still at the same kindy no problems. Due to my changing schedules it is now quite nice. I choose to keep him home a couple of mornings a week because I can. Depending on your schedule here the hours children rake up in daycare/kindy can amount very quickly.
Any other ?'s let me know. Life here is very simple and money wise can live a lot better than I would in NZ.
Good luck.

[jmbran11]

One of my colleagues had a 4 year old daughter, whom he enrolled in public school. She didn't last a week. She couldn't speak Korean and was totally ostracized.

Whether you could make a good life for your son depends largely on whether you can make the personal connections to help you out. If you have friends/family here who can speak Korean, give you advice, and help you make arrangements, you could do well. However, being in a new place is difficult and lonely even without dealing with concern over your child. If you have no support system here, and come on an E-2 visa, you'll be completely at the mercy of your employer. That's a situation I would not put my child in unless you are able to be SURE that it's a good, supportive environment. And, by sure, I mean definitely don't rely on the word of a director or recruiter, who will say virtually anything to get you here.

[luvnpeas]