Teaching in Korea FAQ

In my ongoing efforts to help people decide if teaching English in Korea is right for them, I thought I would post my responses to some questions I got from a friend of a friend who is thinking about making the move to Korea. I hope this helps. If there are any questions you think should be added to the list, let me know.


1. How did you apply for the position?

Through a recruiter. It is possible to apply to public school jobs directly, but there isn't any advantage to doing it that way, and it's more difficult and you have one less person in your corner should any issues come up. You could also come here to look for work... I think that makes the most sense for those with experience who are trying to land a highly competitive position, such as a university gig. One of the greatest benefits to starting in Korea is that everything is taken care of for you.... the recruiter will find you positions (for free, they're paid by the school), help you get everything in order for your visa and such, and then you'll be set up with a ticket (or airfare) and when you get here you'll have an apartment waiting for you. I can't imagine landing in Taiwan or Vietnam and trying to find a place to live at the same time as all the other new-arrival stuff.

2. Are you TESL/TEFLO certified?

No, and there's no need to be in Korea. For those who think Korea is a good fit, I would suggest starting here without it, and if after a year or two hear, you decide you want to stick with TEFL and possibly move somewhere where the certification is more important (particularly in the Middle East and a few particular Asian countries), then look into that.

3. How long did it take you from the begginning of your application process till ending up in Korea?

I started in May-ish, knowing that I wanted to come at the begining of the semester Sept. 1. One guy in my town did the whole thing in a couple weeks, but that's definitely on the fast end. The new school year just started last week.... there are always positions available, in public and private schools, but the big hiring pushes are for 3/1 and 9/1... I'd suggest starting several months before you want to come.


4. Is it easy to transfer teachig positions throughout Korea/Asia/World

I'm not sure what you mean by transfer. Korea runs almost 100% on 1-year contracts. One downside to Korea is that visas are non-transferable, so if you don't finish your contract, you have to get a release from your employer and go through the whole visa process again with your new employer. My understanding is that in Japan, for example, the visa is transferable. If you mean at the end of the contract, it's certainly easy to transfer within Korea... a year of experience here is a big plus because employers know you know what you're in for and that you can handle it. I imagine that's true with employers in other countries too. Two years experience and/or TEFL seems to be a commonly listed necessary experience for some of the more desireable jobs I've seen.

5. How hard is it to adapt socially (i.e. nightlife, dating,)

This is a huge question, and there are a lot of variables, most importantly you. I would suggest reading blogs of English teachers here... that's a nice window. Mine is at viewfromgangwon.blogspot.com... I'll probably refer you to a couple specific posts at some point.

In sum, Korea is not an easy place to adapt to. It is probably one of the lesser foreigner-friendly places on the planet. I have friends that have married into Korean families and are happy and plan to spend the rest of their lives here. But I know a lot more people that have come, foudn it very difficult, and are anxious to get out at the end of their contract. I think much of that is culture shock... the experience of living and working in a foreign culture after the novelty has worn off, and I do hear similar complaints from teachers in Japan and Thailand, but I'm not sure they are as ubiquitous or as strong as they are here.

If nightlife and dating are real concerns for you, I would suggest Seoul, or possibly Busan. Seoul is one of the biggest cities in the world, and you can find just about anything there, though I have never heard it refered to as cosmopolitan. Busan is a city of something like 3 million... I lived there for a year and quite liked it... it's on the beach and has a more moderate climate and a less hectic feel than Seoul, but also many many less foreigners and services for foreigners. Now I'm in a tiny town on the east coast, far from everything and very isolated. I took the job largely for the 5 week vacation, but it makes the other 47 weeks pretty tough, and I'm someone who likes a lot of time to himself for reading, guitar, exercise, etc.. Again, search for blogs of folks teaching in Seoul, Busan and other random places... the differences will be obvious.

6. What happens if i get sick/injured?

Korea has wonderful socialized medicine. About 50,000 won (~$30) of your monthly paycheck gets you medical care at prices you won't believe ($2 for a dentist visit, $.85 for a perscription fill, $300 for a crown treatment). Many doctors are trained at US medical schools. The bigger the city, the better in terms of quality of care and availability of ENglish speakers.

7. Have you been able to save money fairly easy?

Yes. This is the other advantage to living in the sticks... there's nothing to spend money on! Unfortunately, over the last six months, the exchange rate has moved massively against those of us saving won to convert to dollars (~40%). It hasn't affected prices here much, but it sucks when you transfer money home. Still, I will bank 5-figures this year, and that's with a 3-week trip to Thailand, buying the nicest food I can find and taking regular trips around the country. I don't, however, drink or smoke or eat meat, so I save money on all of those. The maxim is that you should be able to save half of your salary without trying. I save around 70%. When thinking about savings, don't forget that at the end of your contract you effectively get 2 months extra pay - one called severence and one from a pension.

8. How much stuff did you bring to Korea?

I brought the two largest suitcases I could get my hands on, and packed things like Clif bars, books, and a tennis racket. My parents send me a package every few months with my favorite foods and toiletries, which helps a lot.

9. have you picked up much of the language since your inception?

No, and most people don't, but that's stupid. Korean is one of the hardest languages for an English speaker to learn, but it can be done. Especially in Seoul, if you really wanted to commit to it, there are hagwons (a hagwon is like a tutoring center, they offer after school classes to students, especially in English, and employ most of the foreigners here) that teach Korean to foreigners.... If there were one here, I would do it. I have enough of the language to get around, but embarrassingly little for having lived 18 months here. I bought some books before coming and while here, but just haven't dug into it. I've heard people talk about acquiring languages like Hindi and Italian in less than a year because they loved the culture and always wanted to be immersed in it. I think the converse explains why most of us don't make much of an effort at Korean.



So there are some thoughts. Here are a few blog entries that might be valuable to consider:

several videos, if you want to get an idea of what life looks like in Korea.

differences between hagwon and public school teaching

general thoughts about being and teaching here. be sure to check out the comments section, as there are lots of valuable insights from readers there.


I hope all that helps. If it brings up any more questions, feel free to ask. If you decide you want to come, my recruiter was great before we got here, and in helping us when we needed to move. I'd be happy to set you up with them (I get a little kick-back if you end up signing on.)

Day 1

We just got home from our first day at Dogye Elementary School. Two teachers picked us up at 8:00 - a 24 year old who is our "translator" (the only one at the school who speaks much of any English, highly broken though it is) and a woman who seems to be the matriarch of the school and has been teaching there longer than our translator has been alive.

After the (beautiful) 40 minute (sigh) drive to school, we were introduced to "Head Master", whom we met (very briefly) our first night here, drunk in the streets (him, not us, yet). After some chit-chat (really, gesticulation is more accurate) with him, #2 - the Vice Principal, and #3 - who we're calling "Head Teacher", but are not sure exactly what title to bestow upon him (they're very big on titles here, and very curious about the corresponding English) we were steered toward a gymnasium containing 400 Korean munchkins. "Introduce." Really? In gesture? Lots of ooh-ing and ah-ing, some words from Head Master, what appeared to be the national anthem (I don't need to cover my heart, right? Because that would be weird, right?), and several songs sung by the students and conducted by our translator, we were brought up to a microphone on stage. "Anyeong hasaeo. Hello. Good morning. My name is Michael. It's nice to meet you." I had them through good morning. The rest went right in one ear and out the other. A couple more songs, lots of talking from #3, and it's back to the teachers' room.

"Sit." Okay. Comfy couch. Ten minutes... twenty minutes... an hour... two... lunch time! "Come." Up two flights of stairs and into line, quickly: Rice, yes. Kimchi, ok. Green vegetable, yes. Fried fish, no. Corn, yes. Soup... maybe... huge chunk of pork shank, no! Whew, that was close. We were told not to leave any food on our plates at school lunches. I cleaned my plate. My coworkers did not. Thank God. That would be a lot of pressure on some crazy food day-in and day-out. We were told to eat quickly, that Koreans do and they don't like to wait around once they were done. I do eat fast. Really fast. I'm always the first done. I ate extra fast at this meal and came in second to last at the table (with Melanie last). I'll have to work on that. My stomach hurt after lunch, maybe because of the food, maybe because of the speed eating, maybe because all I did today was sit on a leather couch.

After lunch, back to the teachers' room. All morning, and all afternoon, we were with a new Korean teacher, Park Gong Ju. She had an electronic Korean-English dictionary and we had a Korean phrasebook. So we studied Korean and she English and we got to know each other surprisingly well. We made plans to go mountain climbing with her and her husband. Sweet. In retrospect, my biggest mistake last time I was in Korea (I taught for a year in an after school academy in Busan, a large city on the southern coast) was not making Korean friends. I did, but not until late in the year, which meant I didn't learn much about the culture or the area. Which was lame. I'm determined to right that this time around. So we're going mountain climbing with Park Gong Ju. That was the accomplishment of the day, and really almost all we did. We introduced ourselves to the student body, sat around for 3 hours, ate lunch (for 4 minutes), sat around for 2 hours, walked around the school with Park Gong Ju (who is also new), sat through a teachers' meeting (a real test to my ability to stay awake), and then went out to dinner with the school.

It seems that the first of each month they have a teachers' meeting and then go out for "bowling, eating, or hehehehe". It was baked fish the first night we got here, fried fish tonight. Good fish. And good fried pumpkin. And good lettuce wraps. Head Master tricked me into eating a very spicy chili, and we had many soju "gombae" - cheers. The matriarch drove us home, and it turns out she's pretty good with English. Not that she can complete a sentence or understand more than the most basic phrases spoken very slowly, but she can communicate, which makes her the second we've met at the school. We agreed that she would teach us Korean and we would teach her English at her apartment. Score.

We got home at 7:30, eleven and a half hours after we had left... a very long day for having done very little.

Who am I? And Why am I Blogging?

Hello! Anyeong hasaeyo! My name is Michael, and I just moved from Boulder, Colorado in the US to Samcheok, Gangwon-do in South Korea. I will be living here for the next year, working as an English Teacher in a public elementary school in a small town called Dogye.

I'm starting this blog as a public record of my experiences, pictures, and wonderings this year. You can expect to read plenty about the oddities (from my western perspective) of Korean culture, ranging, at least, from fascination to frustration. I imagine I'll be posting lots of pictures, as the visual difference between Korea and Colorado is vast, and hard to represent in words. If only I could offer the smells and tastes of Korea here!

But more than being about Korea, this will also be about me and my path. For quite a while I've thought it would be helpful for me to post my goals and progress in a public place (to hold myself accountable and motivate me) and now seems as good a time as any. I'll track what I'm reading, how I'm spending my time and where I think I'm going as I understand it. If it's interesting to you, great. If it only provides me a record of my consciousness and the motivation that comes from public accessibility, that's ok too.

Before this morning, I was on the fence about blogging. Teaching should keep me plenty busy, and on top of that, I'm already developing another website about the health benefits of a natural diet. And then there are hobbies, fitness, my relationship, friends, learning Korean language, learning taekwondo, and finding time to keep myself sane in the midst of all that. So what pushed me over the edge to start this blog? I've often noticed syncronicities between my life and one of my favorite blogs, written by Steve Pavlina. So when Steve offered a free, pre-release copy of his book to anyone with a blog with decent readership who would review his book, I couldn't resist.

To get the free copy of the book, I have exactly one month to get my readership up to a respectable level. So please, come back often. I'll keep it fresh and interesting. Leave comments, refer your friends and feel free to leave me feedback. Until next time, anyeonghi kasaeyo.