Back in August, I wrote an article for TESL Korea News about my year’s experience teaching in Korea. I was just days from departing the country, finding temporary residence in a love motel, looking out over some of the common eye sores of your average Korean city, town or suburb.
I introduced the article with two questions…
Worth it? Most definitely
Would I do it again? Absolutely
…and concluded with: It makes me sad to leave, but I know I will be back. Where else would I want to be?
August. Four short months ago. Surely there has been an unrealistic transformation from then to now? The kind that could only happen in some low budget movie broadcast to kill a Saturday night in the summer. Shorts and t-shirts. Hot weather and beers in the park. Baseball followed by a gentle stroll home in the eerily mild and quiet Gwangju dawn from another of the city’s clubs.
My previous employers were not perfect, but it was the job any debutant teacher would hope to land. A kindergarten school as big as a palace, thirteen foreign teachers, and in comparison with most private schools, comfortable working hours bordering on improbable.
Since then, I have effectively moved across the road. I now work in a small school (two foreign teachers) that is part of a huge national franchise. The school is quite laid back but gone are the kindergarten students. Now I’m teaching the little ones who came off the production line of young Koreans with excellent English. It has been interesting watching the development of children aged between 5 and 14, with regards to their language skills.
My situation is healthy and I’m very pleased with the school and everything with it.
But upon returning, I have come face to face with victims of how awful some Korean schools can be. I have a friend in Seoul who quit after six months because her contract was effectively rewritten when she landed in the city. I know two other people who were promised their school’s location was in Incheon City. Turns out it’s on an island in the West Sea. And it goes on.
I guess the experience of teaching in Korea is what you make of it, and some people are natural moans. But there are serious problems, and I suggest googling the topic before signing a contact.
A friend in Japan alerted me to this video today. He asked whether it was accurate. The scary thing is the video would appear to be based on the real life experiences of teachers in Korea. So, I ask you, fellow native teachers, is this accurate for you?
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7839719/
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Korea Blog - HiExpat.com |