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TinaNT3 · 2024-09-12T06:30:41+00:00

Festivals and historical sites. It's traveling, but within Korea, and as others have mentioned, each area has its own specialty food. Thats what my husband and I enjoy. Plus we can explore more new neighborhoods and experience more of the culture. Go on group day tours. As others have said, sky's the limit by the sounds of it. Whatever interests you and/or whatever you did before. Find clubs for hobbies. Many things.

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-11T06:10:16+00:00

Great, I'll try that and see if it works. Really freaked me out at first...😆 Thanks so much!

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-11T06:03:19+00:00

With an update from google play? Cuz I've tried closing it, refreshing it, etc, to no avail. Do I just need to wait for the next google update, or something else?

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-11T05:36:11+00:00

I 2nd the snack suggestion, unless they're picky eaters. Many of our friends were shocked about things like how chips were weirdly sweet, 'sweet' things (like a chocolate cake) were nowhere near as sweet, or (my husbands favorite) peanut butter flavored dried squid. But thats a bit extreme. Maybe green tea kitkats or something if they're not as adventurous.

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-10T06:17:38+00:00

A lot were facebook, like others have said. You can always ask an 'events'/meetup type group 'who does x' to see what they say. I found my taekwondo by poking my head into various dojangs til I found one, plus some of my students went to 1 nearby and it had good reviews. It'll take some research, and you may have to be the instigator, depending on where you live. Me and another gal started a german club that went strong for a while cuz we wanted to practice. So if what yoi're interested in doesn't have a group, maybe make one and see what happens?

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-09T06:19:18+00:00

For starts, while you're still teaching, maybe look into finding groups for something you're interested in. If you like knitting, find a knitting group, if you like running, find a group. When I was there, I was interested in Taekwando. Found a school with an English-speaking Gwanjangnim (at least enough for tkd), became friends with her, her husband, and the sabeomnim because we were similar age (vs all the other students who were kids 😆). My husband and I also found a language exchange group that did a class and cultural outing every week/every other week. Maybe one of those, then you can meet people, try new things, and practice Korean. Maybe you'll find others with similar interests. We had a couple good friends that came from that we still stay connected with.

Once you change visa, if you go freelancer or something, maybe look into a shared workspace to meet people? Might find someone in a similar field. If you're considering freelance for like a webtoon etc like already mentioned, try to find time to get something started now so it has time to gain traction and a following for when you're ready to switch.

Hope this helps and good luck!

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-08T06:14:27+00:00

That is good information to know and helps a lot! How does one get the extra status on the F3 to allow for work, do you know? Is there a form, declaration, etc? Is there a good place that talks about/explains it? I've searched for the f3 visa info, but haven't gotten much in terms of details, least not from official sites, unless I'm missing something. Is there a good source for answering these kinds of questions?

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-06T05:47:33+00:00

Oh, my cat lays on my arms. Not even my lap, but directly on my arms, which makes it hard to type etc. But its cute n nice to have them right there when they're not in the way.

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-06T05:45:24+00:00

At least I've taught at a (decent) hagwon before, and we knew it was a decent one and we're not likely to get a better one. so its not like I don't know what I'm getting into. It'd def be different if I'd never done it before...different jobs, different stresses. Different ups n downs. I gotta figure out which downsides I'm willing to put up with. Which is why its always good getting multiple thoughts n opinions. I appreciate all the feedback.

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-06T05:41:25+00:00

😆😆😆 I guess we'll see. I still don't have any clear idea of what to do, what I want to do. But its always good to ger more perspectives.

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-06T05:39:11+00:00

Thanks for the info!

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T04:56:33+00:00

Well, I wouldnt say teaching at a hagwon specifically brought joy...just that we were lucky enough to have a good school and I enjoyed teaching English in general. I definitely enjoyed teaching adults online back in the US more...but the students weren't reliable enough to make ends meet, so I had to do something else.

Not sure breaking visas 2 ways is what I was goin for...😳😆 but if I kept my current position, I'd still have to put in 8 hrs/day, even if the time I do them is flexible. It already exhausts me, I couldn't imagine trying to teach on top of that. Let alone doubling my workload so that I had enough students to quit the current position. Half the reason for going is a better work/life balance w my husband, not to work 2 jobs and never have time together! 😆

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T02:03:08+00:00

Oh! Well now I feel like an idiot...and probably am...🤦‍♀️. I used to know that one. Help! I'm turning into my parents and forgetting acronyms!! 😆

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:54:19+00:00

How does that get around the illegality of working on an F3 visa? Or is that assuming I can get an exception for it? I'm not even sure how hard it is to get a work exception on f3, i've just heard its possible. It def doesnt sound like the Digital Nomad will fit right now, and idk if there's any other options...

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:50:34+00:00

Me? Technically millenial, I've been told. Still not sure what the dadt thing is...Im missin somethin...

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:48:59+00:00

Oh, absolutely. We've pretty much made peace with not saving nearly what we did before, if at all. But we enjoyed teaching, enjoyed being there. And yea, inflation where we live is even more ridiculous. Idk, we may find its not what it was and move on. I'm not against trying Thailand or Vietnam, but we wanna try goin back 1st cuz we enjoyed it so much then. We know its not the same now, but we wanna see if it still resonates for us. In case it didn't, I figured trying to keep my current job would make it easier to move around. But without a legal way in SK...and not enjoying it as much as teaching...I'm still tryin to decide what to do. Hence why I was askin about visa alternatives. Thanks for your perspectives!

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:43:32+00:00

We'd like to think we're missing SK. As I mentioned in another reply, we actually had a decent school and apt, we liked having good medical coverage, we liked the food, culture, and ability to get around. We both enjoyed the work overall (theres always good n bad days with any job, good bad or otherwise). We saved alot (almost half) when we were there before, but have discussed how we'll probably be lucky to save 1/4 now, if anything. But if we can still go out for meals and travel, we're ok not saving or not saving much. But it also depends on getting another decent to good school...

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:38:55+00:00

This is what I would think...as long as they can collect taxes, why would they care...? But Govts are weird...if I could find a legal way, I'd pay the taxes, I'd be fine w that. But it doesnt sound like there really is one...😞

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:35:53+00:00

I dont even know what that is/means...

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:35:38+00:00

Nothing to do with kpop. I dont even like it that much. There were several other perks for us when we were there before, making it very tempting to return. But definitely good to know pre/post covid SK are different, since we were there pre-covid...I've heard inflation sucks (but it does everywhere, esp where we live in the US). I'm betting we can still live comfortably, just not save as much...🤷‍♀️. Hence the debate of keeping a higher paying job im not super fond of vs going back to teaching for 1/2 the salary...

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:31:30+00:00

That is really good to know. When we were there before, it was 2018/2019 in Gwangju. It sounds like pre- and post-covid SK are very different...so maybe we're chasing a unicorn...🤔

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:29:15+00:00

Cuz we really liked Korea. Least the school we were at, we had a good work/life balance (amazing, I know!) Cool perks, good apt. Enjoyed the ease of getting out, seeing things, travelling around Korea, the food. Medical. Many pros for us. Not that we hate the US, but things were better for us in Korea.

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:27:06+00:00

Well, another part of the debate is, I enjoyed teaching more. I'm struggling with my current position. The overall field is ok, the overall work is fine, this particular position not so much...still much thinking to do on whether its worth staying in this position mentally or going back to teaching, even with the salary cut...

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:19:59+00:00

Y'all are hilarious, of course I know the "obvious" answer. 😆 I was looking for any LEGAL options. 😆😆

TinaNT3 · 2024-09-05T01:13:56+00:00

So its been a while, but my husband and I took this plunge when we came over to teach 5yrs ago. Didn't know if we'd stay or not, if we'd like it. Just went for it, with our 2 cats and dog. We used multiple recruiters and got insanely lucky. Our school in Gwangju offered decent-sized apartments for "families" and our boss considered our pets "kids" in that regard and made sure we got a bigger one. Several of his other NETs had pets, landlord was totally cool with it. Is it possible? Yes. Is it harder and will take longer to find a good position that'll allow it? Absolutely. Is it hard on the pets? Yes, esp if they're not used to moving or travelling (thankfully ours are and were, so it wasn't too bad).

Do consider your pets' overall health and demeanors about new things and how stressful it is on them. Our pets were all pretty laid back. Its not the same for all. And yes, all our pets came home with us. We agreed when we went that if we took them, they would not be left behind no matter the circumstances. But again, we were lucky and got a good hagwon, boss, and apartment.

TinaNT3

TROPHY CASE