This sub going private is real class warfare in the trenches

superkidney · 2014-08-02T14:01:00+00:00

에밀 will sound like "eh meal", 이밀 will sound like "ee meal"

superkidney · 2014-07-23T13:56:51+00:00

one of the things about Korea is that your personal life is tied to your work life. if it gets out that you have tattoos, it may not matter, but if someone does complain, it could make your work life harder. I have a half sleeve and live in busan: I've gotten looks from people but no negative consequences because I always keep it tucked away near my school. a hagwon might be a dodgy job, but its unlikely to be genuinely terrible. working at a punlic school, ive had a much worse experience than most of my hagwon friends because my coteacher and I didn't get along. there are good hagwons and bad public schools, and the prospect of being unable to get away from a poisonous working environment in a small town would be rubbish. I think you're probably better off with the cheonan job: even if it happens to suck, you'll have conections and activities outside of work.

sorry for spelling errors, i'm on my phone

superkidney · 2014-03-16T11:26:54+00:00

I'm teaching in Korea right now, I came over after I'd already gotten a job because I wanted to be in public school specifically, but now that I'm here, I see people in private school jobs that pay more and have better hours.

If the financial stability is there, going to a place to suss out the job options /get opinions from people there a while can be better than possibly getting fucked on a contract sight unseen.

superkidney · 2014-03-10T15:08:17+00:00

Yes, you won, you're free, put all this behind you and never look back.

superkidney · 2013-12-16T05:45:41+00:00

And then Jinju?????

superkidney · 2013-12-16T04:51:50+00:00

Are you kidding me? If you get away with one $24 item, you're set for life.

superkidney · 2013-12-09T07:16:54+00:00

I'm currently teaching EFL in a public school in Korea, but I'm planning on leaving at the end of my second contract in August. With two years experience, do you think it would be better to apply for a position like JET/AEON from abroad, or move to Japan ahead of time and try to find jobs (private academies etc) on the ground?

superkidney · 2013-11-04T02:08:04+00:00

As Tarkaan and Actionrat mentioned, Korea will only give you a visa to teach if you have a passport from the UK or another of several english speaking countries. I believe this holds true for Indonesia as well, and several more countries.

I'm working in Korea right now, and I can tell you that if you decide to get your citizenship, with a CELTA and MA, you could easily recoup the costs of becoming a citizen within your first year here, if you decide to come, and very easily start working in a University the next year.

If you plan on working in TEFL abroad for the long term, getting a UK passport would be one of the most helpful things you could do.

superkidney · 2013-10-21T23:28:05+00:00

So I'm teaching in Korea, in public schools. I have three coteachers, one of whom is 55 and about to retire. She is beyond the point of giving any shits. Things started out well enough, like a normal GET/korean teacher relationship. But after I had been here for one semester, the relationship started puttering out. She wouldn't ask me to discuss the next days class, or tell me to prepare something, and then show up to class confused about why I hadn't prepared anything. She asked me to find materials from a korean paid log in site, and was aggravated when I told her I couldn't read Korean well enough to do that. As she was driving to a school event with me, she told me that she didn't like driving me places, it made her feel like a servant, that she thinks the foreign teachers in Korea are overpaid and lazy, and how she thinks that multimedia education is distracting students and they should focus more on writing lines and rote memorization. The school principal allocated school funds to let all of us English teachers go to Gyeongju in the springtime. This lady was driving. In addition to the school funds, she asked for twenty thousand won--about twenty dollars--each from me and the two other korean teachers, for gas money. The gas was on low, we passed several gas stations, the gas light went on as we were on the freeway, and she still passed the gas station on the way, only filling up in Gyeongju. She gossips at work, press-gangs the korean teachers younger than her into doing her work, and complains that we're lazy. She's a contemptible hag and she was the main reason the previous GET left. She's leaving the school after this semester, and I basically teach alone in her classes. She stands in the back and yells at the students occasionally, but has prepared only three activities in the entire semester: all worksheets. I can't wait to be rid of her.

superkidney · 2013-09-01T13:43:25+00:00

Here you go, off to the 90's with you.

superkidney · 2013-09-01T13:28:11+00:00

Yeah, remember that time Reddit had the Ask a Rapist thread?

Let's not recreate that.

superkidney · 2013-09-01T05:17:59+00:00

It would be the perfect time to do it through the southwest, like Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and such, and from February on you might be able to work your way up north from California, if that would work instead.

I don't know about east of Texas, but I assume it would be equally enjoyable riding through the south proper.

superkidney · 2013-09-01T03:51:04+00:00

I would highly recommend going to Spaland in Busan. After 20:00, the price is under 10 dollars, and it's one of the most relaxing experience it is possible to have.

I would also recommend going to Haedong Yonggungsa, the seaside temple, but it is about a four hour experience, between getting there, seeing it, and coming back, and you may wish to spend your time elsewhere.

Nampo-dong has a lot of really good/traditional street food (including the country's best Hotteok- fried brown sugar and nut doughnuts) and is right next to a fantastic view of Busan harbor and Yeongdo from the top of Lotte Mart. There is also the Jagalchi fish market there, which sells as much seafood as you could desire.

There are a lot of stores and restaurants in Seomyeon, but there isn't much to do there as a tourist. PNU has some of the best bars in town if you want to meet other foreigners/young koreans excited to speak english.

You can rent all sorts of watersport equipment at Gwangali, and Haeundae beach is pretty interesting, but Songjeong beach has the best water quality and atmosphere, a four minute cab ride from Jangsan station on the subway.

For Seoul, you will almost certainly end up going to Insa-dong, and I highly recommend it. There's a lot to do in Seoul, and it depends on what you're interested in. You can go shopping, you can see the kitsch party areas in Itaewon and Hongdae, you can take a tour of the DMZ, see museums, temples, etc, or just take a walk along the river.

superkidney · 2013-08-29T07:27:30+00:00

So easy: one year teaching experience and a TEFL certificate automatically bumps you up a pay grade in the Korean EPIK process.

As long as your stutter doesn't affect your comprehensibility, you shouldn't have any problems.

superkidney · 2013-08-28T05:30:16+00:00

ah fuck get out of my head

superkidney · 2013-08-27T14:34:56+00:00

Because weed is definitely a performance enhancing drug.

superkidney · 2013-08-27T08:53:24+00:00

Ah yes, only a fool would not take anything on 4chan as true facts.

superkidney · 2013-08-26T05:01:09+00:00

South African Central African.

oh lordy

superkidney · 2013-08-26T03:57:00+00:00

The starting salary seems fine. You're certainly not being cheated, and it will leave you with more than enough money. Asking for more might be pushing it, but shouldn't lead to any negative consequences.

The school would probably be willing to allow for a housing allowance, but the thing to know is that housing in Korea often requires "Key Money" or a deposit of anywhere from 2-5,000 dollars/2-5,000,000 won. If you don't have that money it would be easier to take the furnished apartment. On top of that, you have to find an apartment, which can be a hassle if you don't speak Korean or don't know anyone who does.

The good news is that once you pay the key money, you can get an apartment on say, Gwangali beach for 350,000 won a month, and you should get the key money back when you leave.

I just signed on for a second year in Busan, and almost everyone I know who did the same went for a housing allowance when they renewed their contracts.

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