Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chaz47]

Does anybody have any advice or experience with this city or university?

I have been offered an interview and wonder what to expect.

How about travel time from Andong to Busan? I guesstimate 5 hours, am I completely wrong?

[passport220]

Andong is a small city. There is a nice modern shopping district with a lot of good restaurants. There are modern conveniences like a E-Mart, HomeMart, 7-11, Pizza Hut, Domino�s Pizza that kind of thing but you can also comfortably walk the whole of the city on foot. The Nackdong River (a fairly large river) runs through the middle of town. There are large open space recreation areas on it�s banks. The people of Andong are very proud of their traditional culture and there are a lot of museums / temples / historic villages around.

I don�t know details about the University, just that a majority of teachers at the local public schools graduated from there, and that there are several other native speakers at the University.

PM me if you would like more specific information.

[butlerian]

[kermo]

Note that Andong is the epicentre of Confucianism in Korea. The vibe is very traditional. This might come into play if you were hoping for a happening scene or a ripe dating field.

[butlerian]

[jazblanc77]

Andong University has had a bad reputation for the shady treatment of it's foreign teachers for as long as I can remember. Google it and you will see what I mean.

[chaz47]

[oldfatfarang]

I've visited Andong. The locals were super friendly. But it's hick Korea. I wouldn't expect any sort of social life.

I've been following Korean uni job ads for 2 1/2 years. It's funny how the same uni. jobs keep being advertised. Note: Andong is ALWAYS advertising for teachers.

MY two cents: it's because of the lousy pay, compulsory kiddie camps and cultural/social isolation. Their interview sheet questions gave a very bleak picture of working there.
Good luck.

[Thiuda]

I worked at the Andong National University Language Centre for a year from 2004-2005. The situation wasn't quite as dire as was made out in the posts at the link provided by chaz47, but certainly the treatment wasn't very good either. Here was the major problems that I had:

1) Housing. In the advert ANU claims that its housing is excellent. It isn't. It's dormitory style living. Singles get an eight pyong room, couples a >15 pyong two-bedroom. All foreigners live in the same building, though the top floor is reserved for guests (who at times were quite noisy). When I moved in it had not been cleaned even though it had been left in a filthy state by the previous occupant. I had to ask to have it cleaned, and the Korean staff made me out to be "difficult" for not cleaning it myself.

2) Management. In my opinion, the Korean management of the language centre was...sub-par. At the time, and I don't think the person in question has changed position, the Korean manager (not the director, which seemed more of a symbolic position) was unfavourably disposed towards foreigners, especially foreigners married with Korean women. He showed a lack of tact when dealing with foreigners that still makes me angry when I think about it three years later. The man was also incompetent, but his lack of social finesse was what angered me the most.

3) Payment. The monthly salary at ANU is very low (1.8 for BA; 1.9 for M.A.), and we had to reschedule classes which fell on a holiday. Also, and this hurt quite a lot, unpaid summer-winter camps.

Now, there was one good thing about ANU; it's a great starter unigwon. After ANU I landed a much better job, one that I would not have been able to score had I not had the ANU experience.

My final judgement: marginally better than a hogwon, but a step up the ladder if you're considering staying in Korea.

[oldfatfarang]

Thanks for the info. I guessed as much. It's not hard to see why Andong is always advertising.

Who's going to work for non-paid compulsory camps (even public schools pay minimal extra payment for camps - 75,000 EXTRA a day plus 5 days extra paid annual leave).

And what a joke having to make-up classes that fall on holidays. My last hagwon tried that with me - I was effectively not going to get a holiday because I had to make up the classes that fell on a holiday. What a rip off. Good luck working at Andong or any other school that uses these management practices.

[chaz47]

Well all of this kind of bums me out. I have a pretty good public school gig at the moment but thought that I'd take the chance and further my career.

I definitely don't wanna live in some waygook barracks.

That stuff about the holidays is total bunk as well...

I'll keep all these points handy when I go to the interview.

[merkurix]

[Thiuda]

Mercurix makes a good point, things may have changed somewhat; though I believe that the housing situation has not, nor has the head-of-staff at the language centre. Also, as I mentioned in my previous post, it IS a good starter university (if you don't have a Masters or uni teaching experience). I would do it if I was planning on staying there for a year, starting an online MA, and moving on thereafter.

[chaz47]

[chaz47]

bump