Q. In two weeks, I will be arriving in South Korea to teach English. I am as white as can be and have never traveled outside of the country. I know some of the language and some bits regarding the culture. I will be teaching there for at minimum 1 year.
Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated.
A. Already knowing some of the culture and knowledge of the culture is a huge PLUS! Anyways, make you bring an English-Korean dictionary with you, or buy it at the airport, Incheon, or Gimp wherever you are flying in. There are some negatives, positives, blah blah. There's really too many to list..but remember the negatives outweigh positives in any new situation.
Positives-
Free housing, the bills will be very low, 50-100 a month for utilities, 10-20 a month for a phone, food ain't much either.
As an English teacher you'll get more respect. Being white you'll get the most. The negatives of race are that most black, hispanic, Asian Americans or native speakers of English have a really tough time getting a good job.
Extremely attractive women. Depending on what your age is, you'll most likely have at least one Korean girlfriend in your tenure here. They are a bit materialistic and picky sometimes about what kind of guy they want, but that just means their smart, and KNOW what they want. The sadness of this situation is the extreme jealousness Korean men have about this. Mostly single men in their 20s, and bored married men in their 40s. If you are the type of person that notices everything, you'll see. Anyways, just ignore your surroundings if you date a Korean female.
Cheap transportation; you can go just about anywhere in this country for a reasonable price by subway, KTX train, taxi, bus, or even airplane to Jeju or Seoul-Busan visa versa.
Excellent history; study the history while you are here. Take into account that North Korea also created parts of the older history when Korea was ONE, so don't be racist against the North like some are here.
Stay out of Itaewon; go there maybe once a month, it seriously transforms some foreigners into alchoholics.
Don't drive here unless you have serious patience. Also watch your back while crossing the streets. Drivers here are horrible and break the traffic laws daily. Police here obviously don't care. They'll just say, "oh well there's just too many cars here."
Bring Old Spice, or whatever keeps your pits smelling fresh. They don't sell DEO here.
Save as much money as you can, the exchange rate is rough right now. Just make a bank transfer every couple of months, or when the rate is lower. (I transfer around $500 USD a month, it's about 740,000 KW)
If someone bumps into you and doesn't say sorry or excuse me, don't be suprised.
Get some business privates if your school will allow you too. They usually pay around 50-60,000 an hour.
@ nice one- as usual, stalking my answers, and whenever I say anything remotely negative about a Korean male, say something extremely immature. It's just proof of the jealousness they have for the white people here...YAWN
Positives-
Free housing, the bills will be very low, 50-100 a month for utilities, 10-20 a month for a phone, food ain't much either.
As an English teacher you'll get more respect. Being white you'll get the most. The negatives of race are that most black, hispanic, Asian Americans or native speakers of English have a really tough time getting a good job.
Extremely attractive women. Depending on what your age is, you'll most likely have at least one Korean girlfriend in your tenure here. They are a bit materialistic and picky sometimes about what kind of guy they want, but that just means their smart, and KNOW what they want. The sadness of this situation is the extreme jealousness Korean men have about this. Mostly single men in their 20s, and bored married men in their 40s. If you are the type of person that notices everything, you'll see. Anyways, just ignore your surroundings if you date a Korean female.
Cheap transportation; you can go just about anywhere in this country for a reasonable price by subway, KTX train, taxi, bus, or even airplane to Jeju or Seoul-Busan visa versa.
Excellent history; study the history while you are here. Take into account that North Korea also created parts of the older history when Korea was ONE, so don't be racist against the North like some are here.
Stay out of Itaewon; go there maybe once a month, it seriously transforms some foreigners into alchoholics.
Don't drive here unless you have serious patience. Also watch your back while crossing the streets. Drivers here are horrible and break the traffic laws daily. Police here obviously don't care. They'll just say, "oh well there's just too many cars here."
Bring Old Spice, or whatever keeps your pits smelling fresh. They don't sell DEO here.
Save as much money as you can, the exchange rate is rough right now. Just make a bank transfer every couple of months, or when the rate is lower. (I transfer around $500 USD a month, it's about 740,000 KW)
If someone bumps into you and doesn't say sorry or excuse me, don't be suprised.
Get some business privates if your school will allow you too. They usually pay around 50-60,000 an hour.
@ nice one- as usual, stalking my answers, and whenever I say anything remotely negative about a Korean male, say something extremely immature. It's just proof of the jealousness they have for the white people here...YAWN
What is it like for a foreigner to live in South Korea?
Q. What is it like for a foreigner to live in South Korea? In terms of the following:
Hospitality
Friendliness
Dating Scene
Quality of life
Cost of living
Acceptance of foreigners
Racism
Attitude of locals
Any information would really be helpful. Thanks!
Hospitality
Friendliness
Dating Scene
Quality of life
Cost of living
Acceptance of foreigners
Racism
Attitude of locals
Any information would really be helpful. Thanks!
A. Hospitality- If you are staying ay a hotel, your Korean friends house, or whatever, they always serve you well even if they don't like you.
Friendliness- It depends on where you are, or what terms you are talking about. If you are being served in a restaraunt or something of the sort, the friendliness is there. If you are walking in the streets and somebody you don't know bumps into you or something like that, there are no manners at all to say sorry. Basically if they don't know you, there's no friendliness. Unless they are making money off of you.
Dating Scene- If you are a white guy in his 20s to mid 30s, decent looking, and not overweight...the chances of you dating a Korean quickly are high. If you are dark skinned, middle eastern, southeast Asian, or of African decent it's extremely hard. I have quite a few friends in this circumstance. If you are a foreign woman, you could get a Korean guy easily. Most Korean guys don't have a foreign girlfriend, because in all honestly most foreign women are not attracted to them. The chances of a one night stand between Koreans are high, however between a foreigner and a Korean, it's not. aka look at the huge population of love motels. lol
Quality of life- Fairly good depending on your job. If you are an English teacher, you get good benefits and a good salary. If you are a migrant worker, you work your butt off and don't get much in return. There are 4 levels of housing. Lowest is a Goshiwon, a very small room in which most students live in. A one or two room villa, an officetel, and an apartment is the highest. Those are incredibly not affordable for foreigners, so we usually live in the villas, or sometimes officetels. The streets are clean, thanks to the poor people over the age of 60 who have almost no money. Every morning you'll see a poor old man or woman tugging a huge amount of boxes or plastic.
Cost of living- Almost the same as the west. With the exception of housing. Usually they are asking for a large deposit, anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 USD. If your job pays for you, you only have to pay for utilities, phone bill, and food.
Acceptance of foreigners- Still low, however they are daily taking styles of the west and remaking them into Korean versions. If you are a young foreign guy here, your acceptance is low. If you are woman it's higher. They think most of us are just here for money, and their women. Look at the west, the Asians that go there are about the same too huh?
Racism- Huge
Attitude of locals- Selfish. ill-mannered and unaccepting of anything but their family.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still here even though there are all of these negative things. But I'm one of the ones that cares, so hopefully in my future tenure here things will change for the best. Remember in any circumstance the negatives outweigh the positives. It's better that you know them first, before you make a change in your life.
Friendliness- It depends on where you are, or what terms you are talking about. If you are being served in a restaraunt or something of the sort, the friendliness is there. If you are walking in the streets and somebody you don't know bumps into you or something like that, there are no manners at all to say sorry. Basically if they don't know you, there's no friendliness. Unless they are making money off of you.
Dating Scene- If you are a white guy in his 20s to mid 30s, decent looking, and not overweight...the chances of you dating a Korean quickly are high. If you are dark skinned, middle eastern, southeast Asian, or of African decent it's extremely hard. I have quite a few friends in this circumstance. If you are a foreign woman, you could get a Korean guy easily. Most Korean guys don't have a foreign girlfriend, because in all honestly most foreign women are not attracted to them. The chances of a one night stand between Koreans are high, however between a foreigner and a Korean, it's not. aka look at the huge population of love motels. lol
Quality of life- Fairly good depending on your job. If you are an English teacher, you get good benefits and a good salary. If you are a migrant worker, you work your butt off and don't get much in return. There are 4 levels of housing. Lowest is a Goshiwon, a very small room in which most students live in. A one or two room villa, an officetel, and an apartment is the highest. Those are incredibly not affordable for foreigners, so we usually live in the villas, or sometimes officetels. The streets are clean, thanks to the poor people over the age of 60 who have almost no money. Every morning you'll see a poor old man or woman tugging a huge amount of boxes or plastic.
Cost of living- Almost the same as the west. With the exception of housing. Usually they are asking for a large deposit, anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 USD. If your job pays for you, you only have to pay for utilities, phone bill, and food.
Acceptance of foreigners- Still low, however they are daily taking styles of the west and remaking them into Korean versions. If you are a young foreign guy here, your acceptance is low. If you are woman it's higher. They think most of us are just here for money, and their women. Look at the west, the Asians that go there are about the same too huh?
Racism- Huge
Attitude of locals- Selfish. ill-mannered and unaccepting of anything but their family.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still here even though there are all of these negative things. But I'm one of the ones that cares, so hopefully in my future tenure here things will change for the best. Remember in any circumstance the negatives outweigh the positives. It's better that you know them first, before you make a change in your life.
Is life in South Korea good if you are an American that becomes an English teacher?
Q. Is it hard to become one and how is the salary?
Would it be easier in South Korea if you were married to a native Korean person?
Is it easier for a guy or a girl to get a job as an english teacher in South Korea?
Would it be easier in South Korea if you were married to a native Korean person?
Is it easier for a guy or a girl to get a job as an english teacher in South Korea?
A. Look up web sites for "teaching abroad". I want to do this sometime. You get a certification through the company to teach english. You don't have to know korean. The idea is to use english to teach and the students will learn it better if you don't fall back on korean. The pay looks fair to me because they set you up in housing so you can save more of the money. the web sites are good for this kind of info.
What is the best school/organization to work at in South Korea?
Q. I'm hoping for people with personal experience teaching in South Korea. I taught English in China for five years and hope to get over to Korea to teach within the next year. Average salaries? Good salaries? What is usually expected to be included with contracts (eg; housing, food, etc.)? Thanks in advance
A. Hello
You can find answers to all of your questions on the Korean message boards at Dave's esl: http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/
Check out the FAQ section for living and working information.
You can also view sample contracts here and connect with other teachers.
There are so many options on the type of organizations to work for, from private institutes and corporations to public schools or universities, and they all have positives and negatives so it is hard to say what might be the best organization for you.
Another good site is English Spectrum for info and job postings: http://www.englishspectrum.com/new/main.php
There are many sites you can find more info at, these are just a couple to start with.
Good luck,
m
You can find answers to all of your questions on the Korean message boards at Dave's esl: http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/
Check out the FAQ section for living and working information.
You can also view sample contracts here and connect with other teachers.
There are so many options on the type of organizations to work for, from private institutes and corporations to public schools or universities, and they all have positives and negatives so it is hard to say what might be the best organization for you.
Another good site is English Spectrum for info and job postings: http://www.englishspectrum.com/new/main.php
There are many sites you can find more info at, these are just a couple to start with.
Good luck,
m
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