A friend got me into the thinking that maybe in 2 years after university is over, it might be a good time to teach English overseas for a year. I'm completely vanilla when it comes to the subject, and while it is still half pipe dream at this point, I'm looking to see if any of you out there can shed some light on this idea. A Korean friend of mine says that perhaps Korea is a little more conservative than I might be used to (Living in Ottawa, Canada). But he also hasn't been home in about 4 years, and hasn't experienced 'adult life' there. So if anyone has any experience, please feel obligated to share it!
Questions on my noodle :
-Do you have much free time to explore/learn?
-Is the job long hours, and how difficult did you find it?
-What sort of food is available on the cheap?
-How difficult would it be to make friends at all? With the locals? (I'm decidedly an outgoing kind of guy, just wondering about language barrier and things..)
-How are Caucasians looked at? On the scale of - 1. someone to mug and 10. rare exotic demigods to be praised.
-I'm not really in it to make money, though a little would be nice , to pay off a student loan. Is this realistic? How expensive is it in these two places? I hear Korea is much cheaper, but perhaps Japan is overall more developed.
-Currently , when I'm not a student I make my living as a musician, teaching and as a classical and jazz player. Is there much music making going on in either of these places? Is there large music stores where musicians tend to congregate, or better yet, live music venues ? Does jazz exist in these places?!
Much appreciation for any help, I will update with any questions that come to mind.
Cheerio,
Ella_Guru
Last edit: 2009-11-01 02:29:11
Each day gets better : )
Sharp-eYe Canada. November 01 2009 02:33. Posts 400
I was thinking about teaching in Japan after uni but decided against it as I didn't have enough understanding of the language even though it wasn't essential. I think after I watched Lost in Translation I realised Japan isn't the amazing fun place I got the impression of from anime and stuff and its just like any other developed urbanised country.
If you have a good understanding of the language and are sure you'll easily make friends then go for it; its an different experience thats for sure. Personally I don't see the attraction anymore but I would definately visit Japan for a holiday or something just to get it out of my system. I am learning japanese in proper classes now so maybe after i'm done i'll have a change of heart.
As for how foreigners are looked at its hard to say, if you are just looking for a woman then go to thailand or something japanese are very conservative generally speaking and most foreigners are always kept at a distance so don't expect hordes of pretty japanese girls swooning after you instantly. This is something that doesn't change anywhere and your language skills will be what gets you a date there or anywhere.
Food wise it just like any other place, supermarkets are everywhere you need them to be and you can buy cup noodles/rice/etc if you really wanted too. Ofc there are all the usual restaurants but a lack of curry type places so depends on your tastes. If you like japanese cuisine then ofc you'll have np's.
ProoM Lithuania. November 01 2009 03:02. Posts 324
When I spoke with NeverGG she said that you can get around 2.1M-2.3M Won at the beggining as a English language teacher (even for little kids, like: "Look, hes an Apple, A-P-P-L-E" ;D). That's all I know about this :}. oh and job hours are standart, like 8 per day, 5 days a week I think. Not too sure about this.
Warning: "Trolling stuff" above is highly possible.
AzureEye United States. November 01 2009 03:35. Posts 1164
On November 01 2009 02:27 ella_guru wrote: Hey there,
A friend got me into the thinking that maybe in 2 years after university is over, it might be a good time to teach English overseas for a year. I'm completely vanilla when it comes to the subject, and while it is still half pipe dream at this point, I'm looking to see if any of you out there can shed some light on this idea. A Korean friend of mine says that perhaps Korea is a little more conservative than I might be used to (Living in Ottawa, Canada). But he also hasn't been home in about 4 years, and hasn't experienced 'adult life' there. So if anyone has any experience, please feel obligated to share it!
-How are Caucasians looked at? On the scale of - 1. someone to mug and 10. rare exotic demigods to be praised.
I think its kind of obvious why you want to go there and as Adeeler pointed out, you might as well just go to Thailand if you're interested in going to places for the Asian women.
No, but seriously, think about it. You obviously don't know much about their culture, and you want to "teach" when it seems like you're more interested in social relations. English teachers like you are just ruining the country's education system. Grow up man, or if you want women that bad, play it straight like Rekrul
Last edit: 2009-11-01 03:38:06
Check out my profile because you're an ultralisk! #2 Terran Hater on TL. Join the cause, put it in your sig!
fanatacist Angola. November 01 2009 04:05. Posts 9486
savior[gm] : What is a “yawn” rape ;; Masumune - It was the year of the pig for those fucking defilers. Chill - A clinic you say? okum: SC without Korean yelling is like porn without sex. konamix: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!
ella_guru Canada. November 01 2009 04:44. Posts 38
On November 01 2009 02:33 Sharp-eYe wrote: You have a very nice life
Haha, I think so. I just wonder what makes you say that? No need for flattery though. Thanks : )
@ Adeeler I think that is all really helpful stuff. I'm not Japanophile type material, I dont know anime, I dont care for the pop music, and the only videogames Ive played in the last several months are SC or jeopardy. I like your straight up description, as it excites me /deflates me for different reasons. Why Japan or Korea? Because you cant exactly teach English in New York or London. Since it is only a year, I think I would enjoy the culture shock, and from what I gather, the general lifestyle (apartment, posessions) seem to be a lot more minimalistic. Being born and raised in Canada, I've been exposed to any and all cultures, but have never been immersed in one for a prolonged period where I was the minority.
My friend hasnt' been since he was about 16 . What I meant by "adult life" was that he didnt know what it was like to have an apartment, to live on your own. What people do for fun, etc. Furthermore, he moved to Canada just before highschool, so he just didn't have concrete answers what it's like to be a young man living there.
I thought everything was presented quite clearly, and one small phrase is misconstrued and suddenly I'm going home to take home a bride. In my limited experience, Ive noticed that my foreign friends here often mention that they feel isolated or sometimes wish for certain things.
In terms of 'english teachers like me' . Ive been teaching music for a few years all age groups. I really enjoy teaching and am fully aware of my level of communication. I think I would be good, though as I mentioned, I have no idea how hard you as supposed to cram, or how much time you are allowed to check for understanding and comprehension.
I sincerely appreciate the information given so far. I do care about the social aspect because to most healthy 24 year olds, it matters!
Thanks again. I just wanted to clear up confusion. If you have some sort of questions for me (Why would you want to go?) please feel free to ask, it will help us both learn answers. It's alot better that way then to try and detective out my desires.
: )
Last edit: 2009-11-01 04:52:10
Each day gets better : )
MC9876 Netherlands. November 01 2009 05:52. Posts 66
I've just returned from Japan, and spoke to some people that were teaching English. All were very positive. Also, it's not a really difficult job from what I heard as the level of English of most people is not very high. Japanese people are quite to themselves, but the younger generation is open and you'll easily meet new people (I found this suprising myself). Social life is very important. If you work for a company, you'll get accepted and involved into the group, so far I heard. Prices are a bit the same as in Europe, but I recommend to take enough money with you.
I hope to be able to give some info on Korea next year.....
Psyonic_Reaver United States. November 01 2009 06:37. Posts 1244
1. To be able to watch anime & play jrpgs/japanese games with no need for subtitles ever again; no need to wait for poor translations or beyond terrible dubs.
2. To get a job in Japan if I get even more sick of life being poor in the UK and want to finally get life and an oriental gf.
Things that go against and probably also helped me decide not to go to Japan and teach english a few years ago was that I don't drink/go clubbing and I can only eat halal meat so I'd be skrewed for social life & skrewed for food & skrewed if I wanted to get a gf and get skrewed as my japanese is crap atm.
On November 01 2009 02:27 ella_guru wrote: blah blah
Does jazz exist in these places?!
My absolute favorite artist is a Japanese jazz fusion pianist, and shes pretty amazing, so I would presume that Japan (and probably Korea) have great jazz populations.
yeah i repeat, shes amazing
there's also kaori kobayashi, an intense Japanese jazz saxophonist
On November 01 2009 02:27 ella_guru wrote: Hey there,
A friend got me into the thinking that maybe in 2 years after university is over, it might be a good time to teach English overseas for a year. I'm completely vanilla when it comes to the subject, and while it is still half pipe dream at this point, I'm looking to see if any of you out there can shed some light on this idea. A Korean friend of mine says that perhaps Korea is a little more conservative than I might be used to (Living in Ottawa, Canada). But he also hasn't been home in about 4 years, and hasn't experienced 'adult life' there. So if anyone has any experience, please feel obligated to share it!
-How are Caucasians looked at? On the scale of - 1. someone to mug and 10. rare exotic demigods to be praised.
I think its kind of obvious why you want to go there and as Adeeler pointed out, you might as well just go to Thailand if you're interested in going to places for the Asian women.
No, but seriously, think about it. You obviously don't know much about their culture, and you want to "teach" when it seems like you're more interested in social relations. English teachers like you are just ruining the country's education system. Grow up man, or if you want women that bad, play it straight like Rekrul
I whole-heartedly agree with this, although you may legitimately not be one of these "bad foreigners."
You nocturnal deathsick moon, there on the sky's black pillow. Your gaze, gross with fever, enchants me like alien melody...
hey i'm in korea right now on my second month as an english teacher. I work for SMOE (Seoul metropolitan office of education) and was recruited through EPIK (English Program in Korea). I'm currently splitting time at a Junior High and a Boys High School in Nowon, the northern part of seoul.
Let me help you with some of your questions and I"ll add any other important information with a ramble at the end =) . K
-Do you have much free time to explore/learn?
Yes. A lot of your time in Korea will be what you make of it, and as such it is possible to be a hermit and not do anything all day (like me). But my friends and fellow english teachers are doing crazy exciting shit like every day: tuesday night we meet up for wings in itaewon, Friday nights we hit up local bars, every other week or so there's some kinda trip (Temple stay, mountain hiking, film festivals, concerts). I guess it just depends on your preferences, but you will definitelly have the time and it will be more of a matter of finding people to hang out with you. If you sign up through a good program, especially one of the government run programs that enroll you in a public/private school, it should be no problem to meet other english teachers who are pretty cool, ie Epik Seoul School of Awesome (our facebook page we made from orientation)
-Is the job long hours, and how difficult did you find it?
hours are kinda long, 8:30-4:30 minimum, M through F. Difficulty-level is really what you make of it. It's possible to coast and do minimal things for a bit, though the students and teachers do catch on. While they won't fire you for it, they will use the classic korean tradition of understatement and patronizing advice to motivate you to work harder. It also depends a lot on your own creativity level and drive. Some classes you will have no textbook to work off of and not even a clear goal as to what you should be doing. It's up to you whether to make an excellent class or just to put in a so-so class, and I guess that in itself is difficult (having to be self motivated, pushing yourself)
-What sort of food is available on the cheap?
like everything only thing expensive is cheese
-How difficult would it be to make friends at all? With the locals? (I'm decidedly an outgoing kind of guy, just wondering about language barrier and things..)
locals is not as hard as u might think there's this one guy from our group who is meeting korean gagnster like every day dono how he does it as he speaks no korean. but there is a language barrier and it really depends on what you decide to make of it, whether to allow it to be a deterrent or to work around/through it. as for non-local friends, it's quite easy if you go through a good program since you're forced to have like a two week orientation on lockdown (though on mine we went out every night) and you can make friends there.
i guess you can make friends by looking for white people on the street haha it actually kinda works but my experiences with EPIK were really good and i suggest you go through them. Our orientaiton only had a 100 people and staff were so awesome they took us drinking every night and we had a good guy/girl ratio so yeah felt like freshman year again.
-How are Caucasians looked at? On the scale of - 1. someone to mug and 10. rare exotic demigods to be praised.
that really depends on how you carry yourself. if you're ugly and greasy and fat and you look like a pervert finally breaking the confinements of your basement you're gonna get mugged no matter what. if you're a malingerer who doesn't try and it's apparent your teachers and students are gonna hate u. but if you're a relatively decent person who's semi confident etc i don't think u gotta worry too much about the korean attitude towards foreigners: it's bad but not as bad as it used to be, especially if you're in a city.
-I'm not really in it to make money, though a little would be nice , to pay off a student loan. Is this realistic? How expensive is it in these two places? I hear Korea is much cheaper, but perhaps Japan is overall more developed.
k so last month i sent over 150 mahn won to my bank account to start paying loans (or 150,000 won; koreans have a system of counting by ten thousands instead of thousand thousands, ie instead of hundred --> thousand --> million, it's chun won (thousand) --> man won (10,000).) the exchange rate then made me lose about 25 mahn won and there was likek a 3 mahn won commission fee.
you get paid differently depending on your program and your qualifications but your base pay is 200 mahn won (think of mahn won as ten dollars) or about 2000 dollars. You lose about 12 mahn won to taxes. first month you get a bunch of reimbursement fees that equate to your first pay check equaling about 350 mahn won. if you teach afterschool programs, which usually go at about 3 mahnwon(만원 is the korean, i'm going to type that now instead of the visually displeasing mahn won) an hour.
-Currently , when I'm not a student I make my living as a musician, teaching and as a classical and jazz player. Is there much music making going on in either of these places? Is there large music stores where musicians tend to congregate, or better yet, live music venues ? Does jazz exist in these places?!
yes go to hongink university station and you'll see it teeming with artists, talented and untalented, and drunk people as well as a grip of foreigners.
Much appreciation for any help, I will update with any questions that come to mind.
the possibility for pussy is quite high if you are semi decent looking and are confident as many of the foreign teachers who come here soon find themselves feeling lonely. take advantage
Cheerio,
Ella_Guru
Flash: If I think back on it, due to my win at such an early age I think I got too cocky to believe I don't need to change to become better. I will change so my weaknesses will not be as obvious and become a better player.
That was so incredibly awesome and exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. It seems like it could be a really good time. I'm going to digest the information and probably PM you with some more questions. Again, much much appreciation as having someone break it down like that is allowing me to conceptualize it all. Ty ty.
But one last one:
Would you personally say it's worth it?
lol @ Coltrane
Each day gets better : )
d_so United States. November 01 2009 12:46. Posts 1112
well it's better than having no job in america haha. i like the studio they gave me, it has a loft and stuff, and i figure just by having a place to live im saving 800 bucks a month i would be spending in LA. the job has its ups and downs like all jobs, but it's definitely rewarding. i get tired a lot and sometimes i bitch and groan, especially in the mornings, but overall i have to say that it's worth it.
it's more "worth it" for me though since im koraen american and ive always wanted to live in seoul. my korean is pretty good and so communication is not as difficult for me as it might be for others. but really, when i see my non-korean friends they seem to be having a blast most of the time, though the peculiarities of the korean culture are many and you may never feel 100 percent acclimated.
PM me i'll help you out
Flash: If I think back on it, due to my win at such an early age I think I got too cocky to believe I don't need to change to become better. I will change so my weaknesses will not be as obvious and become a better player.
ella_guru Canada. November 01 2009 02:27. Posts 38
Sharp-eYe Canada. November 01 2009 02:33. Posts 400
alexpnd Canada. November 01 2009 02:38. Posts 472
Adeeler United Kingdom. November 01 2009 02:52. Posts 87
ProoM Lithuania. November 01 2009 03:02. Posts 324
AzureEye United States. November 01 2009 03:35. Posts 1164
fanatacist Angola. November 01 2009 04:05. Posts 9486
alffla Hong Kong. November 01 2009 04:14. Posts 13083
betaben November 01 2009 08:02. Posts 503
d_so United States. November 01 2009 10:11. Posts 1112
JohnColtrane November 01 2009 10:44. Posts 1715
