>>347987
Lastly, for finding stuff like schools to visit, you will need help. I lived near a university so I had no shortage of students super-eager to practice their English and would find out anything I asked. That's actually part of why I suggested couchsurfing.com, besides free accommodation it might be a good way to meet friends and get some help starting out. Also, culture shock might make your first couple of weeks pretty surreal so living with someone who's either a foreigner or speaks good English might help your sanity.

PS: What I've been suggesting is what I did myself. Most people try to sign a contract on the internet before they come, but my bullshit detector went wild with every school I was talking to so I got fed up and just bought a ticket and did things this way.

Uh, explanation: we were hijacking a korea thread to talk about china.

original teachfag here, like OP said, apparently we've 404'd our old thread.

glad to see there's another foreignfag here doing the advice thing.

Just finished my morning gauntlet of kindergarten classes and now its a slow fall through lunch until the next handful of brats in the late afternoon, I'll be out of here at 5 today.

fielding any questions for anyone visiting or considering teaching in Korea, I am also posting my email, so if you need to ask a personal question, need a buddy in country, or need to have your hand held through recruitment or immigration, drop me a line.

>>347995
oh snap.

apparently I've been owned.

interestingly enough, most of the stuff you've written about shopping in China is largely true for Korea as well, probably just a little easier in Korea because there are big box department stores every few blocks so you're never very far off the typical western shopping experience.

>>347997
Quick question here

How do Koreans view shorts and flip flops (or other sandals)? I know in a lot of cultures it's unacceptable for men to wear shorts, but I am rather ignorant of Korean customs. I plan on teaching English over there once I finish my bachelors degree.

Also I have a huge beard. Would this be positive negative or would it matter at all?

Hey teachfag.
Tell me about prices in korea (food, hotel/sth like that) and about getting job (hard to find, easy to find).
I'm going to finish school (gonna go to Institute of technology) and learn(at least a bit) language, then migrate to korea. Is that hard to get there a life?

>>348323
>I'm going to finish school

reported for underage ban

inb4 but I'm 18, only dumb Americans finish school at that age

>>348332
high school, I'm 18 years old.

I'm the dude who made the question.

Say, what place would you recommend the best? At least for the moment? I did some bits of research on Canton, but I'll take anything from someone's who's been there.

>>348332
Uhm.. What kind of school systems do they have in your country? I'm Swedish and i graduated this year (19years old)

>>348364
I dunno, I've only lived around Guangdong even though I was there a couple years, which is why I'm going north this time.
Guangzhou (aka canton but don't call it that) was good but got kinda boring after a while. None of the places were at all *bad* though, even the ghetto I was in for a while, but I like slumming it a bit so ymmv.

Just one question:
Is that hard to get jub in Korea? I mean any kind of job, easy without any great papers (like engineer's degree) or well paid jobs like for engineers.

>>348450
In both Korea and China, it's super easy (if you're white and speak native English, somewhat harder if you're a different race) to get super lame/easy ESL teaching jobs without any kind of qualification. You work 16-25 hours a week for relatively good money (compared to local cost of living).

In Korea or Japan you pretty much always need a degree (in anything) for the visa. In China that's technically also the case, but rules in China exist to be broken and hardly anyone teaching there has one.

Wait, was it the Korea thread with the teacher advice that 404'd? Damn it, that shit was helpful.

I hear that Korea is facing the same problem as Japan in that the market is being flooded and that these mythical 25 hours a week 2 million won jobs just don't exist anymore.

Whats the real scoop?

>>348566

I haven't heard this myself, but I am worried that this will be the case. It'll be another two years before I finish my degree and, with the amount of interest there seems to be, it's only logically to assume things will have changed quite a bit by then.

>>348566
When I was there (though I only stayed for six months and had one employer) it was exactly the same situation as what happened to me in China:
Walk into school, be white --> get offered a job without even asking.

sup all, its me, original teachfag, bumping korea threads for great justice.

I also want to stress that when I Q&A these threads that I always put my email in, so if you have an important question like "I'm black, is there a Korean branch of the Klan?" or "Is this recruiter/school legit?" please feel free to contact me directly.

This is important, because in our last 404'd thread, some anon mentioned that he was negotiating with a recruiter I went with to a school I worked at that I GTFOed because it was shady as hell. I don't know where that anon is, but unless he starts lurking /trv/ like crazy and emails me, if he takes that job, he's going to get fucked.

As an expat ESL teacher its vitally important to me that shady schools and shady recruiters go out of business, so that everyone who considers doing this job doesn't get stuck in a shitty position.

going to answer some questions now...

remember, if its REALLY important, like "i'm definitely going to korea" important, do not wait for me to get to it through 4chan, email me directly. its always nice to have more english speaking friends.

>>348322
>How do Koreans view shorts and flip flops (or other sandals)?
totally legit. Pretty much everywhere you go in Korea will have a traditional heated floor, and this usually entails a hardwood floor.

Many establishments, for example, my own kindergarten, will insist that you remove your shoes and pad around in flip flops or sandals.

you will also need flip flops for your shower. most korean apartments have an all-in-one bathroom and you shower directly on your tiled floor, so you will need either a shower mat or some flip flops to avoid falling and dying while you bathe.

>>348322
>Also I have a huge beard. Would this be positive negative or would it matter at all?

serious question time, its about hygiene. Is your beard a majestic monument to manhood that is so glorious it must be shampooed and trimmed regularly for the benefit of all mankind, or are you just a lazy piece of shit that hates shaving?

If the answer is "My beard is a point of pride and the source of my power and i take better care of it than my girlfriend does her own hair." Then you're probably good.

Korean men love beards. They think they're absolutely fantastic.

My best friend goes to a Muay-Thai gym and trains with guys that have been the national champions in Korea and Thailand. (The women too... seriously she's hot)
He's the only guy in a gym with a beard, and his trainers are in awe of him. He's surrounded by dudes that fight people for a living, and could easily kill him, but they acknowledge him as the alpha male.

And I don't just mean passively or unconsciously. The first time he walked into the gym with facial hair, the former Korean champion actually made everyone stop what they're doing and sit in a circle around him like 6 year olds so they could all take turns touching it.

I wore a fairly majestic beard in college, even shampooed and combed it daily, but my beard days are behind me. I do still rock a really sick pair of chops that would give Wolverine pause, and I have had beer bought for me because of it.


Whether or not Korean WOMEN dig facial hair is a matter undecided, as me and my buddy are both currently dating foreign chicks.

>>348323
>Tell me about prices in korea (food, hotel/sth like that) and about getting job (hard to find, easy to find).

here's an insight into food for you.

Its friday night, and even though i'm 5000 miles away, I always honor my family tradition- friday night is pizza night.

I'm going to go to a little hole-in-the-wall pizza joint for dinner tonight, and its going to cost me 6,000w for a small pepperoni and a bottle of coke.

that's about 5 bucks, or 4 bucks and change American dollars, depending on the exchange rate.

Another example, buying a bottle of gatorade or coke in a convenience store.

Imagine getting in a time machine to 1996 to anywhere in america and you can actually go find soda vending machines that don't charge a dollar and change yet.

but yea, eating out, you can expect to pay 5 bucks a meal at pretty much any typical restaurant. If its a classy joint or a chain franchise, then expect the typical inflation to a more western price.

>>348450
>Is that hard to get jub in Korea?

Will you have a 4 year degree (of any kind) and is English your mother tongue?

if yes to both, then you'll be fine.

I got out of college in 2008. I bounced around, spent most of the year unemployed, did some shit work delivering pizza, and generally never got the chance to make a reasonable start in my career because a bunch of idiots inflated the housing market and then all promptly exploded.

Since my education did not pertain to an industry that was absolutely necessary to the furtherance of human survival, I became one of the young diploma-in-hand zombies that you see so many of walking out of colleges in my generation.

So I spent a year being a bum, an idiot, a pizza boy, an unemployed loser. When I finally decided that I had absolutely fucking nothing to lose, and that I could do nothing but gain from dropping everything and moving to a foreign country I didn't know shit about, I answered some ads.

I threw my resume at Korea on a tuesday afternoon.

On Thursday evening, I had 4 long distance calls from Korea.

And now I'm sitting here running an advice thread from my rent-free apartment in Korea.

>>348566
>I hear that Korea is facing the same problem as Japan in that the market is being flooded and that these mythical 25 hours a week 2 million won jobs just don't exist anymore.

>Whats the real scoop?

This could very well be true, and I'm probably one of the people to blame for it. Kids getting out of college with few career prospects, nothing to lose but student loan debt, and an economy with no improvement in sight.

It is true that there are more of whitey in Korea lately. Up until recently, most ESL teachers here were Cannuckistani. Canadians ran this show. It wasn't until this past year that Americans actually evened out with them.

While its true that there might not be the glut of jobs there was 2 or 3 or 5 years ago, I definitely did not have any problems getting job offers in 2009.

The problem, for Korea, is that most of the ESL teachers in the business over here are just a bunch of young vagabonds like you or I, twenty somethings with nothing to lose from uprooting and transplanting. There's going to be jobs, because someone is always going to be leaving... either because they're a brat and can't handle the work, or are just ready to go home and go back to 'real life' and try to make it with the people and the career that actually count to them.

I've got one friend that left her fiance back in the states, you think she's going to sign up for another year after this tour? fat chance- she's gonna go home and get married.


maybe the 25 hour easy street jobs are gone. maybe.

but the standard for any foreign teaching job here is healthcare and a rent-free apartment- is it so bad to work a paltry 5, 10, or 15 more hours for that?

I should also point out that Japan suffers a lot from their own hype.

when i went to do go do this teacher thing, I answered ads for both Korea and Japan. Like a weeaboo, Japan was my first choice, but Korea was quicker on the draw.

Japan is probably filling up faster because Japan actually puts shit on the shelves of american stores, you've got all the 17 year old otaku kids spazzing out over anime and having some kind of wet dream about emigrating there, going native, and having a 16 year old schoolgirl for a wife or some retarded crap like that.

I don't mean to bash Japan, as having never taught there, my opinion of it isn't valid.

But, I am offended by the insistence of the weaboo crowd that Korea lives in Japan's shadow, and when I tell people how great teaching in Korea is, the response is often, "Yea, I'd do that... IN JAPAN."

I did go to Japan once on a weekend vacation.

These are the key differences that vastly change the quality of life between Korea and Japan.

-The difference between a Korean woman and a Japanese woman is about 15 pounds and an attitude.

-In Japan, there are designated smoking sections. On the street. Like 4 square quarts on an elementary school playground. If you intend to light up, you have to stand in one of these.

-In Korea, you can smoke pretty much everywhere, hit up a liquor store and get a 1.8 liter bottle of beer, sit around and drink in public, and meet girls that want to practice their english.

Japan is a wonderful country. I would love to spend more time in it, if my money was right.

But Korea is a magical adult wonderland that time forgot, its full of clubs that don't have cover, women that always dress to impress, and there's enough bottles and cigarette butts in the gutter on sunday morning to make a whole tribe of indians cry.

>>348618
wow 5 bucks that aint shit, nice!

>>348632
1. How much do you get payed per month, and of that what do you spend and save?

2. What is the free accommodation like? Is it big enough, was it clean etc.

2a. Is it situated in a logical position or is it positioned badly and no where near a train station or the school you work at?

3. On a day to day basis, what would you usually eat? For someone who has a diet filled with predominately meat and western food, how would I adapt (on a general level).

4. How often do you go out drinking?

5. Toilets... Have you ever had to use a public toilet in Korea and how was the experience?

5a. How common are squat toilets?

6. What city are you in, and do you get out if it often?

7. What hours/days a week do you work?

8. Is there interesting alley ways, similar to what is in Japan?

9. Are there many parks in your city, and how would you rate them?

10. I enjoy walking around cities and exploring, am I able to do this in Korea, or are the cities boring/uninteresting?

11. Rate the metro system of your city.
a. Is it punctual?
b. How crowded is it?
c. Does it service the city well?
d. How clean is it?
e. Is it all underground? If no, how would you describe the views seen from the train?

12. Is there much traditional architecture scattered throughout the bigger cities?

I would, and I'm sure others would appreciate any photos you would like to share of Korea, and in particular if they relate to any of my questions.

I apologise for the number of questions I have, and that some of them may appear to be odd...

>>348566

Eikaiwa fag here, the 3 million yen a year 30 hour a week jobs are on tap here in Japan. Japan of course pays 150% as much as Korea and costs 200% as much.

>>348695
Interesting, there seems to be an assumption that Japan is saturated with English teachers and it is extremely hard to find a job.

To get these jobs is being from uk/aus/canada/usa, white and having a bachelor in something enough to get a job?

Are you enjoying your time in Japan? Would you recommend it to others?

>>348699

Geos is fucked, GABA is terrible for employees. Aeon is the most work and the most money. There are some good smaller schools and some bad ones. I do ECC which is the easiest of the Big Four and pays 252,000 yen a month straight up. I'm married so between the two of us my wife and I made $66,000 USD last year.

You do not have to be white. Some of my friends are ethnically Chinese or Thai (but culturally Californian) and they're very popular teachers. I know several black people in the company who have been here for years and are doing fine.

I recommend Japan for about two years, then leave before the tax rates change for you. I have been here too long hiding from the shit economy back home in Tennessee.

>>348691
k lets do this.
>1. How much do you get payed per month, and of that what do you spend and save?
I do around 1.8m won a month. I can live on 5 or 6 hundred if I'm frugal, 7, 8, or 9 if I eat out a lot or buy shit. honestly, I have simple tastes and it would be hard for me to try to spend a whole months pay.

>2. What is the free accommodation like? Is it big enough, was it clean etc.
standard korean shoebox. mine's pretty nice, I've been in worse in this country, and I've seen better. The ideal circumstance is to take a job with a housing allowance, then you can actually go shopping at the realtor and pick.

>2a. Is it situated in a logical position or is it positioned badly and no where near a train station or the school you work at?
I'm a brisk 10 minute walk from work.

>3. On a day to day basis, what would you usually eat? For someone who has a diet filled with predominately meat and western food, how would I adapt (on a general level).
I am a profoundly picky eater, NEUROTICALLY picky eater. I am not starving. I am not very fond of Korean food. To give you some perspective, I did not try bacon until I was 23. I did not eat hamburgers until I was 25. I'm 26.
The only tragedy in the korean restaurant business is that there's like 1 mexican place in the country.
I primarily subsist on grilled cheese sammiches and cereal, with lots of fruit juice and milk.

Galbi is delicious though. If it walked on 4 legs, was killed and cooked over a fire, koreans can make it taste fantastic.

>4. How often do you go out drinking?
I am a light drinker, I do most of it on weekends and in public places. social drinking really. by myself over the course of a week I maybe put away a six pack. If I'm on a date or with friends I'll drink more.

>5. Toilets... Have you ever had to use a public toilet in Korea and how was the experience?

Like most places, it varies from place to place. My favorite divebar back home had one of the foulest bathrooms I've ever seen, so maybe my threshold for pain is higher.

>5a. How common are squat toilets?
Fairly common, but I've never been in a bathroom that didn't have a complete trifecta- urinals, squatters, and westerns.

>6. What city are you in, and do you get out if it often?
I live in Bundang, down the street from a major bus station. I can be anywhere in the country in 2 or 3 hours. I spend a lot of time in Seoul on weekends.

>7. What hours/days a week do you work?
monday through friday, from 10am to 430 or 6pm, alternating days. everyday there is a 1 hour lunch and a 40 min break. on 6pm days, there are multipe half hour breaks.

>8. Is there interesting alley ways, similar to what is in Japan?
lets define 'interesting' as I've definitely accidentally wandered down an alley into a redlight district and ended up staring at korean prostitutes in schoolgirl uniforms from behind a plate glass window. so yes.

also i'm going back at some point to do a watercolor landscape of it.

>9. Are there many parks in your city, and how would you rate them?
my school is near 2 that I know of, and I live a block away from the Han river, which is gorgeous. it has a bike path paved for miles, sometimes I ride it.

>10. I enjoy walking around cities and exploring, am I able to do this in Korea, or are the cities boring/uninteresting?
that's how I found the redlight... yea, I'd say its pretty interesting.

>11. Rate the metro system of your city.
>a. Is it punctual?
absolutely.
>b. How crowded is it?
fairly, but I've only seen a biblical japanese style crowd once.
>c. Does it service the city well?
If you can't take the subway to it, it doesn't exist.
>d. How clean is it?
remarkably clean.
>e. Is it all underground? If no, how would you describe the views seen from the train?
yes and no, there are a few above ground trestles, sometimes you cross the bay, its pretty cool. for the most part though its underground.

I should note though that I am from Los Angeles, where public transportation is a myth, so I'm incredibly fond of KoRail.

>12. Is there much traditional architecture scattered throughout the bigger cities?
there's a shit ton. I've been to a historic temple, seen the old city gate, Suwon castle... they love to build shopping districts around their historical sites, which is awesome.

A lot of the older places, like some parts of itaewon, also have these fantastic old brick buildings that have probably been there since the entire country was built after the korean war, you know, from back when brick buildings were still first world. its pretty charming.

>>348705
>I am a profoundly picky eater, NEUROTICALLY picky eater. I am not starving. I am not very fond of Korean food. To give you some perspective, I did not try bacon until I was 23. I did not eat hamburgers until I was 25. I'm 26.
The only tragedy in the korean restaurant business is that there's like 1 mexican place in the country.
I primarily subsist on grilled cheese sammiches and cereal, with lots of fruit juice and milk.

Different guy, but this helped quite a bit.This is something I've been worrying about because I'm also terrible when it comes to food. Just thinking about eating new food makes me feel sick so I'm cautious about having to take a giant leap outside of my comfort zone.

>>348713
Thank you. Quick question, if you haven't left already.

How is the tap water?

>>348703
Yeh, I'd prefer to work in Japan. I'll have to see what the markets like in late 2013, early 2014. Which would be when I'm ready and able to go.

>>348719
>tap water

Don't drink it. I've never gotten an explanation other than its hard and that theres some funky stuff in it. I can handle hard water, its just that apparently you aren't supposed to drink korean tap.

I don't know what all the fuss is, I dechlorinate it and fill my aquariums with it and the fish all seem to be fine.

like any other first world country, there's bottled water everywhere, so its not a big deal.

>>348717
I understand where you're coming from. If I went to Korea to teach, I'd have to be particularly careful what I ate because I'm allergic to seafood.

>>348721
you can do it. I hate seafood. won't touch it, I tried it once just to appease a korean girl I was dating, and I'm never going back.

Maybe its because I keep aquariums and I prefer my fish to live in a happy bubbly glass-walled wonderland, but I will not touch anything that comes out of the ocean.

If it wasn't a total pain in the ass to maintain a saltwater aquarium, I'd buy octopi and keep them.

>>348619
I will have 4 year degree, english isn't my mother tongue (and I won't study it, it's worthless in poland). I bet they won't let me teach english because of it. I'm going to be environmental engineer (I think it's good degree - maths rules everywhere). Will I get job if I become engineer (in korea of course)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb4ozEOZh8U
If anyone is thinking about going to China I would recommend watching this video a few times as it explains some of the major differences between Chinese and Western culture.

>>348618

I'm an Australian about to graduate from University with a teaching degree, my girlfriend of two years (the girl of my fucking dreams) has just called it off after moving and started teaching in the country, and what you are currently living sounds amazing and exactly the kind of thing I'd like to do for a year or two.

I want to know everything you know.

The best way to get a job, who to contact, best schools, best time of the year to start applying, best way to do it, everything.

Do I need to do a TESOL course, or is my bachelors enough?

I've taken down your email, and will probably contact you at some stage if this is okay?

bump

>>348728
1 more question. If I get engineer's degree in poland and take it to korea, will they accord/concede (or however to write it) it?

>>348803
Go To Taiwan.Taiwan is better than Korea.

I will also probably be e-mailing you soon as I am seriously considering doing this if the time is right (as in people are hiring now or in the near future).

However, I think it would be helpful if you could post some steps to take to prepare. Like, I have no idea where to start teaching English, what can I do to learn some of that? Torrent a TESL course? How much money will I need at the outset to live long enough to get the job? Should I start sending out resumes? To who?

Basically if you could create a checklist or something of stuff to do to get my shit together that'd be awesome. I'll send you an e-mail for more detailed stuff, but I think this would benefit everyone seriously considering doing this.

Cheers.

>>348812

This.

could you guys please post some english links I can at least send resumes too?

Also, since I'm italian, do I get any chance to find some kind of college or high school where they teach minor euro-languages like italian?

Is the dude who went to China still around?

This may seem like a silly question and I doubt you could answer it, but how's the underground music scene?

I mean, is there stuff like metal concerts and bars around? Do they get a lot of shows by local bands? Or do some or other random band just play at this or other band from time to time?

>>348940

depends where you go.

changsha i know has a great underground club scene with lots of metal, punk, electronica, hip hop groups from all over the world and locally. i think wuhan is another place that's got the goods.

i'm sure big cities like beijing, shanghai, guangzhou, chongqing, etc also probably have something similar but i can't speak for those places personally.

>>348940
Fairly decent in guangzhou from what I heard peripherally while I was there, but I don't dig chinese music much so I never properly checked it out.

Tangential novelty: they like "underground" so much that a bunch of bars have camouflaged exteriors and need a secret knock, hidden button combination (like pushing the right bricks or lanterns in), or password told to a taxi driver to get you in.
It's kinda silly, especially since the illegal stuff happens right out in the open in a lot of clubs.

How do you prepare to teach EFL? Do the schools provide all the materials and you just act as a baby sitter or is the lesson plan more under your control?

>>349155
ex EFL teacher here
many of those "laowai teaching english " places are a scam, students/parents are willing to pay good money cause they assume that if you can speak a language you can teach it.
many places will give you a book, some of those books are terrible, some okay. you will learn as you go along, there is no way to prepare for it.
if it's a good school -they will give you some training and tips , but those places are rare

teachfag checking in. posting email as usual.

alright, we have a few posts in here now about qualifications and finding schools.

first things first, here's a link I should have given out a long time ago, but I iz dum. dum az hell.

www.eslcafe.com

This is the bible of ESL teaching in korea. You can get advice here from people that have been doing this longer than me, and a lot of them who will be doing it long after I'm gone. I don't lurk it personally because I'm not really into the lifestyle and I don't intend to stay here after my contract.

But for anyone thats coming in, this is where you go to do it, this is where you look for advice, this is where you find the people that have done it for 3, 5, 10 years.

Also, its an excellent site to post resumes.

drop a resume on eslcafe, see what you pick up in your inbox (the next day) and then lurk the forums to see if the recruiter trying to pick you up is legit.

now on to qualifications.

going to repeat some stuff i've already said, but our old thread 404'd, so shit happens.

the primary qualifications are that you speak english fluently as your mother tongue, and that you have a 4 year degree. the field your degree is in is not relevant.

If your degree is english, or in a teaching field, this will receive preferential treatment and you're more likely to find quality positions.

Also, if you get certified with a TEFL course, this is also a perk.

Some of the better jobs will discriminate and only try to take teaching/english degrees or certified candidates. Most of them will not be picky.

If you can do anything to guarantee that you get preferential treatment, do it. those certification courses are pretty cheap and you can do them on line. If I was ever in a position where I had to do this thing again, I would definitely get certed first.

>>349158
this dude is correct.
and as a random foreigner that has an unrelated degree, you will be filling this role.

training is often light, crash course is the standard, and you're going to be handed books and expected to parrot them.

its just part of the game.

If you teach kindergarten or adults, its a little more merciful.

kindergarten, if you like children, is easy and its mostly just song and dance. you will read Go Dog Go to six year olds, and parrot a chant from a CD.

Adults will actually have a pre-fabbed lesson plan and a book, will blow through it, and then spend the whole class in conversational practice. these people are objectively paying to rent your time, for the most part, you stand in a classroom and talk to them.

the murky water is elementary and middle, where you have brats that may or may not want to be there, theres an expectation from the parents that they have to learn or do a certain thing, and you have X amount of material you must go through.

I have personally taught everything except adults, and I love Kindy, and want to try adult. middle school and elems are not that fun.

If you are not a teacher, don't delude yourself into thinking that you will be cast as one. This is a song and dance routine. You are a foreign face, a figurehead, and a paycheck.

If you get hired to do a song and dance routine, then so be it.

If you get off of the plane and get shoved into a classroom like a lot of people do, and are actually expected to be a teacher even though they knowingly hired you as some fresh out of college vagabond with no experience or credentials, then you can just sit on it for a month and if you don't like it, put your first paycheck into a plane ticket and leave without telling anyone. That is the result that shoddy recruiting practice deserves, and often expects.

That is the rule here. No matter what happens, or how shady your job is, or if you get fucked into doing something you didnt sign up for, never believe anyone when they tell you that they hold all the cards.

You aren't from Korea. You can go home, and Korea will have never mattered. You get a reset button.

They're home in their country. They don't. If you aren't satisfied, or you are misled and the boss does not fulfill his obligations or expectations, leaving them out in the cold with no foreign teacher is the best punishment you can exact.

>>348803
going to answer this question really quick and then I'm going to go hop in the shower and figure out what the fuck i'm doing with my life, its 3:30pm on saturday in Korea, and im still in my boxers. (i'm not in a hurry because my date cancelled and I wont see her til monday.. have to go out this weekend and find another sucker/woman)

anyways, a little too much information right?

alright.

so the question we're fielding right now is basically, "I have degree X and I want to do Y job in country Z, will they recognize my qualification?"

the answer to this question is APOSTILLE.

-google it-

an apostille is a legal document that you can get for a degree that authenticates it as legitimate.

apostillated documents are recognized in any country that uses the apostille program, which started in the 60s.

now if you're an american, you're probably thinking,

"FUCK THATS AWESOME. WHY DIDNT I ALREADY KNOW THIS/DO THIS?"

Well its because America didn't join the apostille program until 1981, so the legal institution of apostille is only 30 years old in this country.

I started checking out that site you listed, but most of the stickys are from 2003. Obviously situations are different, but be aware other anons, that the info is dated.

I'd like to live in Korea (or hell, just about any foreign country), but I have no idea if I'd like teaching English to kids. I don't really like kids and I'm hardly an extrovert, although maybe I could take to it...

So what if you hate the job and want to quit after one week or one month? Most job ads seem to be for one year long contracts.

>>348566
i get 2 million won but i put in 38 hours a week. i'm at a hagwon of course, a public school is less hours, probably closer to 30.

What is the good and bad of teaching English in Korea?

What is the good and bad of living in Korea?

on eslcafe you need to even pay to be able to read the others' posts?
lol

Quick question

I'm 6'3" 170 lbs and wear a size 14 shoe.

Would I be able to find clothing/shoes that would fit me in Worst Korea?

>>349164 certification
Just to elaborate:

I got my TESOL from a decent school, real in-person classes for several weeks, actual classroom experience, and a real exam. It was expensive.

Alternatively you could order a $30 diploma online, requiring only that you do one of those bullshit online tests that you can repeat as many times as you want without studying until you accidentally pass.

Schools don't know or care about the difference, so take the cheap option because you're gonna get thrown in the deep end either way.
(Your first class might be a bit scary, but it's fucking cake.)

BY THE WAY:
I didn't have the opportunity in Korea, but while I was in China I was helping a friend interview applicants for her English school. I saw a whole lot of fake university degrees! Some of them looked pretty legit until I googled the schools (finding shit like them being issued by a pty ltd. with a name similar to a real university), but one guy had a fucking "Dr. of Metaphysics" from the Universal Life Church.

I wonder whether these cunts are getting visas with this shit?

any different from english languages school in korea?

>>349260
>>349189
I have no idea what the hell that is about. I have personally only used the site to post resumes.

>>349246
see below
>>349169
>>349168

>>349268
you might be able to find clothes in itaewon or one of the other big shopping districts, but for the most part you're fucked. measure your shoe size in centimeters. I'm an 11 wide in america and im about a 275 here. I've seen Korean shoes go up to 290.

As far as pants other shit goes, unless you're in a foreigner shop, I've never found pants bigger than a 34 waste.

it would be a lot of fun for you here though, as the novelty of being a towering behemoth doesn't get old. I'm 5'9 and I'm a head above most locals.

>>349275
>Alternatively you could order a $30 diploma online, requiring only that you do one of those bullshit online tests that you can repeat as many times as you want without studying until you accidentally pass.

yea. pretty much. and in all honestly, what are they going to do? most of these places interview over the phone. whether you took the course online or in classroom isn't gonna matter a lot from 5,000 miles away.

and also, academic fraud is rampant in China.

Most Korean schools will ask that your degree be apostillated. (see apostille post above)

teaching english is a big money business in Asia. Like every other business, there's gonna be a lot of shysters doing it on the cheap. Education is just as much of a racket as dice or liquor.

Teacherfag, is there any chance we could get some horror stories of bad dealings with schools and such?

>>349303
The more legitimate /you/ are, the less crap you'll have to put up with.

>>349303
The Korea guy hasn't been there very long.

I have a couple but I'm sick of telling the stories tbh. Main thing is not to let schools hold return tickets or bonuses or whatever over your head because they'll use them to exploit you. Getting fired just before the end of a contract so they don't have to pay up isn't uncommon. Mind games like your boss telling you about "complaints" against you that you know are bullshit is a big warning sign.

Everywhere has laws against screwing over foreign teachers this way (usually even if you were teaching illegally), but if your boss is connected or "friends" with authorities, good luck.

>>349305
Not really true, but better qualifications or experience means better jobs at places with less motivation to fuck you.

Personally I just avoid long contracts whenever possible or otherwise don't consider them worth the paper they're written on and always have a backup plan. Being able to lay down the law when a boss tries to pull typical asian slavedriver bullshit feels *good*.

Hey, how hard would it be to find hair mosturizers and stuff for very curly hair?

I mean, I've got long curly as fuck hair, while every one of the asians has straight hair, so yeah.

>>349308
>>349303
on the contrary. I could write a whole thread with my horror stories. My first job in Korea, that I was thankfully only 4 months at, was the quintessential nightmare hagwon.

In the span of that 4 months the I saw the boss do a lot of fucked up shit.

-taken to the labor board 3 times.
-cancel all the invites to the company christmas party for the foreign teachers.
-illegally fire a foreign teacher, who they then tried to bluff out of paying when she won her lawsuit by insisting that she return to Korea to get her settlement payment, AND THEN SHE DID and they had to pay her.
-'accidentally' lose a paycheck and not deliver for a whole week to a foreign teacher that he suspected was going to fly home on him (to his credit, he was right... because somebody was a NARC and told the boss he was rabbiting.)
-in the span of this 4 month period, he lost 5 korean teachers, illegally fired 1 foreign teacher, and had 2 other foreigners rabbit on him.

That's 4 months. During that time, I actually met a complete trifecta of employees, the guy I replaced at the job, myself, and the woman who would replace me.

>>349315

How do you make sure you stay out of a bad school?

well, qualifications are good. the more discriminating the school is on their choice of foreign teachers, the more legit you can hope them to be.

Hope them to be.

Your best defense is to shop around. Fire shotgun style into a crowd and see what you hit. Engage multiple schools, multiple recruiters.

Some recruiters will try to railroad you into using them by asking you to send all your documents to them before they set you up with a school, that way your shit is stuck with them.

Don't do this. There's no need for a recruiter to hold your shit until you and the school you've picked are both 100% satisfied.

Always talk to another foreign teacher thats on the job, or talk to the person you are replacing. Its unacceptable for them not to provide emails, because thats how they met most of their recruits in the first place.

and lastly, this is the GOLDEN FUCKING RULE.

well its actually 2 golden rules I guess, or maybe part A and part B.

-Always leave the first paycheck in the bank, or at least enough of it to be able to book an emergency flight the hell out of Korea if it comes to that.

-Never NARC a foreigner that is planning on making a midnight run, as this will give the boss an opportunity to do some shady shit.
At the end of the day, its you the foreigner vs the korean boss. Always be ready to jump if you have to, and cover for anyone thats going to jump if they do. You never know when it'll be your turn.

There's absolutely no guarantee that you can get the best job at the best school. You won't know for sure whether or not the place is legit until they throw you in a classroom.

You just have to cover your own ass.

Are you able to choose where you want to go? My friend and I are planning to do this together, is there a chance we will be able to be near/together?

Also, could you post pics of your apartment?

>>349317
I'm really, really wary of recruiters. Since they work on commission they are almost guaranteed to lie to you about the school or to the school about you, or both. Best case someone ends up disappointed, worst case the school sees you at the airport and does a 180.

Use them for options if you like, but don't believe anything you can't verify.

>>349323
Totally possible. You don't generally get to choose where you get offers from, but you can always hold out for a destination you like.
Getting hired at the same time by a training centre isn't too difficult, and failing that you can usually get two nearby schools. I know I just shat on recruiters, but this is a situation they could be handy for.

>>349330
>>349329
not me, but this dude is legit. It doesn't take a whole lot of bad experiences in Korea to really figure out how that shit goes down.

>>349330
this, you pretty much just decide where you want to go, and then deflect any offer that isn't what you want.

I wanted to be in Bundang near my friend, I got within 5 subway stops.

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. I have to admit, it's looking less and less appealing but I still have a year till I've finished my degree so I have plenty of time to look around.

>>349290
Thanks for answering.

I'm actually a 34 waist so I guess it's only length that I'll have to worry about.

Also how are you expected to dress on the job?

How exactly do you teach them? What is an average day like?

Do you know of an Ch'an schools around Seoul OP? I plan on going abroad in a year or two and either studying that or Soto Zen.

>>349174
1 more thing. How are koreans looking at foreigners as non-teachers? Or they just see foreigners as english teachers?

>>348618 wtf I live in calgary and when I go to a pop machine its like 2.25.

>>348619
I have a 3 year B.A general studies degree (didnt like the program so just got a degree). Other then the background check I have everything I would need to go teach, whats the best way going about it? I have lurked daveseslcafe for a while.

>>349536
>How does I dress job?
It depends. At my shitty old crap job it was formal attire. black shoes and ties. At my current good job, I'm wearing overalls right now like some backwoods rancher. I do enjoy dressing well, but as I currently work in a kindergarten its not feasible to let a bunch of children pull on my $40 shirts and $30 ties.

>>349422
>looking less appealing
-get a bad school, feels bad man.
-get a good school, feels good man.

I would personally shoot for kindy or adult, depending on how well you can handle kids. anything in between will actually have a detailed curriculum and you'll be shoved into a classroom with a handful of books and be told to figure it out.

>>350147
you could post a resume on the esl job board, or contact one of the recommended recruiters.

When you post a resume, you will get recruiter spam. some of them will be legit, some of them will be just firing into a crowd and throw a list of schools at your email address.

just like everything else you run into on the internet, if it looks like its been pre-fabricated and just had your name thrown in, its probably a scumbag. If it looks like someone actually typed it out, pursue.

A lot of the spammer recruiters will out themselves immediately because they're under pressure to fill specific slots and will try to play you for a fool.

"I really like this one." you'll say, and they'll say "This other one is great, look at this one!"

At that point, you don't even try to argue with them for the one you actually one. Just cut them off at the knees. There ARE recruiters that will actually try to accommodate you, there's no reason to put up with shoe-horning.

>>350155
>the one you actually one.

Yea, I'm an english teacher.

herp derp.

>>350158
whats it like living there? do you just chill by yourself in the evenings of have you met people? was it hard just relocating yourself or was it easy? I have been out of school a year, stuck in a dead end job and want to go. the only thing stopping me is a long term gf, but she's got a year left at least and I wanna try something different.

>>350173
>school
High School or University/College

If it's high school, you're not going to Korea.

>>350183
To the contrary, there are plenty of illegal unqualified teachers in Korea.

I wouldn't recommend it though.

do you have any pics of your apartment? and/or the surrounding area or your school?

>>350197
dont have any pics right now as im not much of a picture taking person, and my camera's battery is asplode and needs to be recharged. Which reminds me, I need to recharge my camera battery for my trip to thailand.

its for the better, as my apartment is in a sad state right now. I'm losing an ongoing battle with the forces of laundry. Nobody in Korea uses dryers, you have to hang up all your clothes.

>>349880
>Ch'an school
...I admittedly have no idea what this is. its either a typo or I'm just oblivious to the culture around me. probably the second one.

>>350173
>Live in Korea, wat do?
I do end up chilling by myself a lot. last weekend was a total fuck up as all my friends cancelled their plans and I got left doing fuck all on saturday, so I went out to go drink on the street because thats awesome, and it rained me back indoors. epic fail.
I also date more here than I did back home, and mostly other foreign girls. I'm not opposed to going native but where I live isn't a very social environment, I like to go up to Seoul around Hongdae to hang out with the natives.

I had a date after work today, but she flaked because her apartment, like mine, is currently a disaster area- which I believe, because like I said, there are no dryers in Korea and women have a million times more underwear than dudes.

>>350210

Is your apartment complex filled with other foreigners also? Where do you usually meet all these foreigners?

>>350173
oops i am the guy with the 3 year b.a

>>350223
i know there's a fair number of foreigners in my building but i havent met most of them.

i mostly meet other foreigners just out on the street or trolling around online expat sites.

>>350210
how old are you? and also is it easy to meet foreigners there? what you do for fun? Sorry if these questions are bland. I am just refreshing this board. bored.

>>350210

>...I admittedly have no idea what this is. its either a typo or I'm just oblivious to the culture around me. probably the second one.

It's the predecessor of Zen. I'm not surprised that you don't know it, its completely unknown to Westerners even though its schools are widespread throughout East and Southeast Asia often alongside Chinese expat communities.

>>350231

Out of curiosity, how are the students there? I know where I am living right now (Canada), most students are completely uninterested in anything you say and have complete disregard for the class rules. How is it in your school?

You mentioned previously that you were a /toy/soldier.

How difficult is it to find gunpla or the like in S. Korea?

?

>>350306
>will there be gunpla?

I have 2 HG kits, 3 SD scale zakus, all of the zeon amphibious suits in SD, probably 5 of the BBW SDs, and about 50 of the tiny little gumball machine gundams.

I love toy robots.

And I'm pretty sure I'm done buying them forever now.

to answer some of the questions about teaching, here are some of my teaching aids.

first, Nakji the octopus.

cute little asian girls seem to love tentacled monstrosities. the hentai thing must start at an early age.

one of my many cowboy hats, that I put on when its time to lay down the Law in my classroom.

my dokaebi bat, which i use for laying down the law in my classroom.

Unfortunately, its plushy and squeeky, so it is incapable of causing permanent damage to young impressionable minds.

the kids love it.

and of course, read picture title.

>>350347
fail.
>and my mitts.jpg

Are the TV programs shit just like Japans?

>>350375
its a lot of telenovela crap, some boring reality shows, and televised starcraft.

the softcore porn is HILARIOUS though.

>>350379

Most asian porn are hilarious compared to their Western counterpart.

Do you miss any shows at home?

>>350382
of course I don't. I have the fastest internet in the first world.

I legally* acquire all the shows I want to watch with the written consent of their networks through an exchange program called bit torrent.

*steal

>>350384

Do tell about file-sharing laws in Korea

Is the internet in your apartment free/paid for by your company?

>>350385
there are file-sharing laws?

no seriously. As I mentioned above, pretty much every copy of windows in this country is cracked. I can go to an electronics mall right now, buy a laptop with cash, legitimately, and when they install the software, set the clocks and shit, they'll boot it on cracked windows.

I'm pretty sure the only authentic software in this country is starcraft, and only because you need product keys to get on battlenet.

The korean police, while admittedly not very preoccupied, have better things to do, like cracking down on child prostitution.

Not normal prostitution though. Thats an open secret here. This country would burn down overnight if the entire korean military and the 40,000 US troops garrisoned here suddenly couldn't get to cathouses.

>>350388
yes, the internet is free here.

by free, I mean you can steal wireless from pretty much anywhere that people live. Since Korea is the size of Kentucky, thats most of the country.

now if you're only checking email and skyping your folks, I suppose thats fine.

But just like everywhere else, if you actually want an internet connection that isnt going to come and go with the tides, and you need to play tf2 all night when your flakey date cancels, you might as well just get the legit deal.

you pay utilities in korea. electric, gas, phone... internet if you buy it.

but when you live rent free its hardly a thing.

>>350396

i see. how much does internet cost?

>>350404
i pay like 30 bucks a month and its lightning fast.

>>350407
>>350396
>>350395

Win

>>350404

>>347987

100mbit fibre, 33kW/mo no contract.

>>350344

Dawww
but shame on you for thinking that.

god damn i posted a resume last friday at that esl cafe place, checked my mail today have no less than 6 offers.

wtf? i thought the hiring rush had passed. i thought this would take a few days to get a response at all much less 6.

So I'm just about ready to pull the trigger here, but I have some extra cash to throw at a TEFL cert.

What a good place to take on online course for it? Main concerns are if it will be accepted and how much it will cost.

>>350952
there's not really a hiring season in this industry, there's either jobs or there aren't.

logically, most of the people who take these jobs, post-college 20 somethings with nothing to lose from packing up and moving around aren't very committed people. We come and go with the tides.

Somebody's always being replaced, for better or worse.

I have 3 friends that are leaving this month. 2 of them this week. 2 of them are legitimately at the end of their contracts and 1 is just rabbiting because she misses her fiance.

>>350958
I admittedly don't know a lot about this, as when I pulled the trigger I pulled it with nothing to lose and wasn't scrupulous about where the bodies hit the floor.

I did pay the price for that because my first job was a nightmare hagwon.

current job is <3 though.

If I had to do this again I would definitely get certed just to make my options that much better, you're going to have to ask wiser men than me on where to get it though.

One quick question, how and where did you learn Korean? I'm learning bits and pieces here and there, but I'm not really learning at the speed I'd like to. Any tips?

You say that adult classes are a good option - but I have heard that you are teaching businesspeople and so you have to teach around work hours - 6/7am then again late at night. Is this true?

>>350983
I speak about 30 words of Korean. I teach at a kindergarten, when my children misbehave (the gravest offense is speaking korean in english class) I'm obligated to either wail on them biblically or point them towards a korean teacher who will wail on them biblically.

I have no trouble getting around, getting anything I want, or any general day to day trials. Every language partner I've tried to line up to actually try to have a dialog with the locals and better myself has flaked.

When people ask me how I've been here as long as I have without learning the language, I tell them the truth- "They don't pay me to speak Korean."

In all honesty, I don't want too. I don't want to do something that's going to make it easier for me to live in this country, because although I enjoy the children and doing the kindergarten thing, ESL teaching is not something I want to do for a significant period in my life.

Had the economy not gone to shit, I never would have even entertained the idea of teaching abroad.

Besides, Korea is great and I love it, but if I ever have to do this crap again I'm going somewhere that has mexican food, sun, and delicious brown women.

>>351025
yes. teaching adults will mean that you teach ungodly and obscure hours.

I have a friend that does it, and I have to say that the secondhand stories alone are worth the trouble.

The thing is, not only will you be teaching businessmen, but college students, housewives, people with the ambition to better themselves, all kinds of adults from all strata of Korean society.

And since Korean society is heavily stratified, most of these people have absolutely no compunctions about baring all in front of each other. What does a successful salaryman care about a college kid or a pizza boy? He can buy or sell them.

Most of the students in adult classes from different parts of society will never see each other outside of class. they will never talk to each other in their own mother tongue.

You will here stories about mistresses, cheating, money, all the good stuff.

Its like being the catholic priest in a confessional and jerking off furiously because when you look down on the congregation from your altar, you know exactly who is fucking who behind who's back in the crowd.

The timing is impeccable.
Currently working with a good recruiter to find a job in Korea. But unsure about private or public schools. Hagwon is private right? There's a public one in Ulsan that looks promising. Any way to dig out the reputation of a school?

Noes! he has gone :(

>>351042
Find expat forums, ask around, etc.
Public schools are solid ground--There's much less chance of you getting fucked over than at a hagwon, but it's much more boring and follow-the-book style and you'll have kids who have no interest in learning English, etc.
Hours are good but the pay effects that.

>>351041

>Besides, Korea is great and I love it, but if I ever have to do this crap again I'm going somewhere that has mexican food, sun, and delicious brown women.

Like most Californians?

>>351037

That's actually pretty hot, I wouldn't mind teaching one of those classes.

>>347987
Osaka,Japan looks like Seoul,South Korera.

>>351118
seeing as how I am a native son of the greatest nation on Earth, The California Republic under the leadership of Governator Conan, the "what the hell are we hanging out with the other 49 loser states for? Oh yea, the federal road money that we desperately need for our earthquake repair. USA!" state, YES.

>>351042
>Hagwon private.
right.

>How do I shot good school?

Someone else mentioned it, but yea, go digging around in the expat community. The school should be perfectly willing to give you an email address or phone number of any expat currently or formerly working at the school. If you can't talk to whoever you're replacing, and find out why you're replacing them, be suspicious.

>>351085
>you'll have kids who have no interest in learning English, etc.

this is just a universal truth of education as a whole. Unless you're teaching nothing but 5 year olds, for whom everyday is a magical wonderland of coloring books, rubber dinosaurs, and Dr Seuss books, then you are going to run into kids that don't want to be there.

There is no justification to the myth that asian children are smarter, more disciplined, and more studious than their dumb gaijin counterparts throughout the world.

If Japanese or Korean kids are any better at studying than white, black, or green kids, its because they're in at least twice as much school throughout their lives, whether they like it or not, and have it beaten into them.

I've taught classes here where the normal every day discipline crap would get a kid thrown out of a school back in the states.

-teachers pulling knives off of kids
-teachers pulling bb guns off kids
-teachers catching kids lighting fires on stairwells.

Real Buffalo Bill kind of serial killer stuff that largely gets ignored and written off and the locals just go back to business as usual.

for 2 reasons.

-nobody's ever been shot in a korean school so its no big deal.
-corporal punishment is still pretty typical here so a lot of repeat offenders end up getting the paddle, so the "oh yea, what are gonna do about it teacher?" act doesn't happen a lot.

>>351404
I know you haven't taught in Japan, but which country do you like better, and what do you think that South Korea has, that makes it a more attractive option then Japan.

>>348809
its also never cooler than 80 degrees farenheit year round

so... /trv/ meetup in seoul?

Anyone here in Busan?

>>351545
this is my opinion of Japan Vs Korea, and I won't say much more about it because Japan already gets a shit ton of attention on this whole god damn website and it definitely doesn't need any more, negative or positive.

Here it is.

The difference between Japanese and Korean women is about 15 pounds and an attitude.

>>351585
I'm down for anything. except the 24th. gonna be in thailand that week.

3 friends are going home this month, so its always nice to have more buddies that speak da engrish. bonus points if your korean girlfriend has cute friends or you're into playing boardgames.
(drinking while playing boardgames is encouraged.)

email me anytime

>>348940
I returned from a week in Hunan province just today. While I was there I actually played a live gig with a few other local musicians, just a few covers. The scene is obviously not as vibrant or progressive as in bigger western cities but I think if you dig around you should be able to find enough to keep you occupied. As for extreme metal though, I'm not too sure, perhaps that may be asking a little too much.

>>351638
i tried to email you but i think my mail went under your spam :<

>>351394

California is a failed state that hasn't made money in years. It's crawling with illegals and full of people with an unwarranted amount of self-importance. It's like a guido douchebag neighbor who drives around in a ferrari and wears flashy jewelery, people think he's all that but in reality he's up to eyeballs in debt and mooches off his friends and neighbors just to survive.

bumping

Tell us about that Australian chick you fucked

U should teach English in Taiwan or Singapore.

OP I assume there are plenty of places where I can just go for 6 months?

>>351827
replied, late. sorry, shitty week.
>>351904
by all means, let me know when your state governor kills Thulsa Doom, teaches kindergarten undercover, is a secret agent, fights a predator, and goes back in time to save John Connor.

but seriously, trolling a troll post there.

>>352918

u mad?

>>352915
Most places are gonna try to get you to sign a six month contract, but you can always just fuck off half way through. What're they gonna do? All you're giving up is the mythical end of year bonuses that they were probably going to find some excuse to withhold anyway.

>>352950
dahduiuwhiduhwau brainshit

I meant to say "try to get you to sign a TWELVE month contract"

>>352918
im sorry to say that i havent received anything. im not trying to be annoying here, it's just i cant seem to find the reply in the spam folder either

>>352945
>u mad?
I mad? no, not me, my governor stopped Skynet. Hell, I might even be STOKED, as we say in California.

>>353011
uh... sorry dude, there's a chance I've mistaken you for someone else, anonymous image
board after all. I'll check my spam filter and see if I can resuscitate your email.

>>352950
This.

Most schools will try to commit you to a contract of one length or another, a year is pretty standard. I'm personally going to stick around for my whole year because I admittedly don't have a lot to go home too, and I can use the money.

Pretty much every school promises a bonus at the end of a completed contract as an incentive, but a lot of shady places will come up with bogus reasons to fire you in the home stretch just to avoid paying off. This is utterly typical.

As far as the contract length goes, you go when you want to go.

Now, I'm not going to get into the ethical and moral ramifications of that. You signed a contract in good faith, you made a promise, etc blah blah blah.

That argument isn't relevant here. how strong your character is is your own business, personally i'm down for making the whole world blind on that eye for an eye thing.

If you want to go, you can just jump on a plane whenever. What are they going to do about it, they wake up one morning and you're 5000 miles away. What did you leave behind, an empty apartment and an unpaid gas bill? You were never anyone in that country. You were a name, a number, a visa. You jump back on that plane, you don't exist in Korea anymore.

why Korean women (and Asians in general I think) stress so much about their looks?

Quick question: any chance to get not teaching job as foreigner in Korea?

>>353264
my buddy is a carpenter and he worked over there with his bad building all sorts of cool shit. I've met architects and skilled people working all over asia. I guess the question is, what kind of skills do you have? Can somebody local do the same job cheaper?

common sense bro.

>>353043

I could sign up for 1 year then leave after half, but I'd rather not. Surely I could find a 6 month contract somewhere?

>>353289
I wouldn't know anything about it. I took a teaching job, even though its not something I want to pursue a career in. I am by profession and formal education a designer, and I have no intention of looking for a real design job while I'm here because the asian definition of work is a heinous grind compared to any western definition. Drinking with your boss on a tuesday night is a novelty as a foreign teacher, for anyone that actually has a real job, its a prerequisite. I much prefer the western attitude of 'I go home at 5 and then you don't call me unless the place is burning down and im getting overtime.'

>>353202
its a cultural conundrum. Korean women (and probably asian women in general) put a lot of pressure on themselves to look good all the time.

In Korea, (and again, probably throughout Asia) your work life intrudes significantly into your personal life. your drinking friends are always your coworkers. Always. Koreans work the longest hours in any first world country, and then they drink like it, whether they can handle it or not. often cant.
For most Korean wives, hubby coming home drunk is part of his job.

The only way to avoid it is to be a foreigner, and the rules don't apply.

Competition for everything is really serious. its a tiny country, there are only so many jobs, if an employer has their pick of otherwise equally qualified candidates, it stands to reason they'd pick the better looking, better dressed one.

Most importantly though, Korean men have a lot of archaic and ridiculous dating rules that they all keep a mental checklist of in their heads and follow it with excruciating dedication.

Korean men do not date for casual relationships or fun. Ever. They either do 1 night stands or their future wife, thats it.

Since a Korean girl that actually wants to have a boyfriend has to fit that second mold, she has to be really top shelf.

For example, one of the rules in the Korean guy's dating handbook is that if she needs prescription visual aid, and she wears her glasses to a date instead of contacts, you don't call her back because she wasn't trying hard enough.

>>353291
On the ground, yeah probably. Over the internet, no.

So is it possible to get a job teaching English without speaking Korean at all?

>>353338
>can i has teach engrish without speakan ko-rean?

first things first- the golden rule in most places english is taught is that you are obligated lay the foot of God down on any uppity student that dares to breathe a word of korean in your classroom. give them detention, yell at them, hit them with a rubber hose... the punishment varies from campus to campus but the rule is always there.

you will NEVER speak korean to your students. You will be obligated to punish them IF THEY SPEAK KOREAN TO YOU. Depending on how old fashioned your school is, this might even include hitting the poor little bastard. corporal punishment still has its roots here.

Not speaking Korean will not keep you from getting a job. It might keep you out of some of the absolute best jobs, but it won't hurt your employment opportunities.

>>353341

That is very encouraging. Thank you, teachfag.

Another question: How did your family adjust with you going to teach in Korea? Is it easy to keep in contact with them?

How is the standard of living? Is it like Detroit levels of awful, or is it good?

>>353344
well, i was unlucky enough to have my college campus be a 15 minute drive away from my family home.

So I had the compound joy and misery of always being able to sleep in my own bed, and never getting rid of my family.

So after 4 years of that garbage, I was about ready to never talk to any of them for a year.

It didn't help that apparently I was the anchorpoint of my youngest brother's good behavior, and that on prom night he got caught with beer and suspended and couldn't walk at graduation, which broke my mother's heart, as I, her firstborn, didn't walk, my middle brother walked but the idiot principle mispronounced his name (a feat- I'm very white and we have a very white family name) and then my youngest brother, the last one, fucked it all up.

its nice to see how much you meant to your family after you're gone!

and lil bro, didn't I fuckin teach you anything about hiding booze?


anyways back on topic-

fuck skype.

google MagicJack.

all the family you'll ever need.

>>353315
What is life like for foreign females? I remember what you said about them needing to be aggressive to get dates, but how is life different overall? Do we have to act any special way, besides playing Keeping up with the Korean Girls?

>>353349
>principle
lol. i dunt hav 2 engrish gud right now its my lunch break.

>>353345
>i can has standard of living?

alright, first of all, your apartment is going to be tiny. like first apartment or college apartment/dormroom whatever tiny. You'll probably be lucky if you get a room as big as your childhood room growing up in your parent's house.

but you live rent free, and everyone else in the country lives in a tiny place too, its not a terribly big deal.

now, onto standard of living.

this is your standard of living- if you have no debts, no drug habit, and inexpensive tastes, its nearly impossible for you to spend a whole month's pay in a month.

here's a list of everything I've bought in Korea. For me. Because I was being dumb with money.

THE AWESOME STUFF
-hand made custom boots
-3 leather jackets (I love dead animals)
-a trip to Thailand (going at the end of the month!)
-a cowhide rug (I really love dead animals, also I am a cowboy.)

STUPID STUFF
-every BB gun in the country so I could assassinate my friends in public places with a shower of BBs.
-2 of those badass new Nstrike nerf guns
-gundam model kits

Also, as an addendum to awesome stuff, things I intend to buy in thailand...
-custom tailored suit.
-gatorskin boots.
-2 dental crowns installed

When I come back from Korea, I will be able to dress like a Las Vegas Pitboss.

>>353353

Another female here, I too would like to know this

>>353353
on this matter I would prefer that you email me, as the experience a man has in this country is significantly different than the one a woman has.

you won't be stoned in the street or expected to wear a veil, but there are enough cultural differences in matters of love and sexual politics that could significantly effect your decision to try Korea, it could almost be a thread unto itself.

For now, I'll give you a short version.

>keeping up with korean girls
a korean girl can't break a B cup on the most pregnant day of her life. There is no problem keeping up with them, the problem is buying underwear. If you walk into a lingerie shop and tell the sales lady that you're a 36c, the first thing she'll do is laugh at you.
the second thing she'll do is fondle you to see if you're telling the truth.

the second thing is this, if you have a thing for asian boys, go to LA and stay there. koreatown is better for that.

if you actually have aspirations of finding a korean boy in his native environment, bring powertools, and get used to the idea of dating me.

4 girls I've met in this country already have.

How quickly do you expect to pay off your college debt? I'm not done with college, yet, but if I were, say, $50,000 in the hole and I taught in Korea (going with the bare minimum over the years) how quickly could I expect to pay this off?

>>353357
>she'll do is fondle you to see if you're telling the truth

Is this shit true? I mean, in my weaboo years, I saw my share of moe girls feeling each other to "see how big you've grown", but I always figured it was fanservice. But then I think back to some Asian-American girls I've known over the years, that've always given over b-cup girls that jealous, but curious glare. It's like they WANT to touch them, but their American culture knows it's wrong.

Also, will email you about foreign female experience. I'm not really looking at dating, but I do want to know about the average day/week for a non-Korean. Obvious looks at chests/sexual harassment? Picked only when all the gaijin guys are gone?

>>353358
I was fairly fortunate in that i had the dumb luck to be born in upper-middle class white america and that my family could shove me through college without having to promise my firstborn child. I personally don't have a ton of student loan debt, my monthly payment is pretty tame.

One of my friend's coworkers who has been here doing this a few years, has as of just last month, completely paid himself off. He's now debt free and doesn't even really know what to do with his money.

your mileage may vary, depending on how much debt you have, (and it doesnt help that I admittedly suck at math) but no matter how much of it you manage to pay working in Korea, you can be reasonably sure that you'll live a lot better here doing it than you would in America...

...Unless you got the perfect job that you went to college for. Of course if that happened you wouldnt need korea.

>>353363
well granted, its not all explicitly dating horror stories, I'm sure you have better reasons to consider korea than your sex life.

in a nut shell, YES. I have heard multiple firsthand accounts of the lingerie shop fondler. Keep in mind the context of the story- this isn't someone trying to cop a feel and score a freebie, this is someone who is in a state of shocked disbelief that breasts can actually be that large.

being a foreign girl has some unique 'challenges.'

I don't know how it relates to the japanese experience.

Ok, lets try this example.

Remember how as a girl, your mother gave you some dating advice on how to find a man?

and it was bad, dated, and probably intentionally wrong so that you would stay a virgin as long as possible?

And then after you were a woman, and there was no doubt that you were bringing home boys, and then your mother gave you that REAL dating advice about how to keep a man?

Imagine living in a country where the first set of advice is true, and the second set never happens. that's often the reality of korean women.

This thread is best thread.

>>353412

Is there anywhere else besides Korea that is as generous to people with no teaching experience? Do any other countries offer free accomodation?

>>353452

Nope, probably not one of the other roughly 190 countries on the planet.

>>353452
When it comes to this type of ESL teaching, Korea is actually a bit on the tough side since it wants degrees.

Or do you mean in terms of pay? In that case, taking local cost of living into account, Korea is probably the best of those that don't expect you to have actual teaching qualifications.

Teacher accommodation is pretty common.

>>353452
Korea is the most accommodating in terms of how much money you'll make.

Japan eats foreign teachers too, as does thailand and china, and for that matter, every other country that wants to learn english so they can play ball with the western world, but the fact of the matter is all these other countries don't pay enough to truly compete with Korea- Well, Japan does, but the cost of living is higher.

now, as far as teaching in a less developed or third world country is concerned, I can't say anything about it, as I haven't done it, but use some common sense.

-You get off a plane.
-You're from the big fat western world and you look like it.

Naturally, either before or after you get robbed blind, somebody is probably going to ask you to teach them english, regardless of what credentials you may or may not have.

And I imagine in less developed countries they aren't going to sweat the small stuff like 'being educated' or a 'convicted sex offender' or 'fugitive fleeing justice in my home country.'

By the way if someone could get in touch with my mom tell her not to dig up the front lawn for the halloween display this year, before I left last year we had this kickass party and some things happened and those graves aren't empty anymore, she should let sleeping dogs lie.

>>353289
I'll be civil engineer.
If you've met architects, I think it's the answer: I will have chances for a job. Thanks.

bumping, this thread can't die this way.

PRAY TO CROM FOR REVENGE OF THREAD!

also I've been contemplating writing a new thread about some stuff i don't feel i've adequately covered in this and the previous thread.

mostly things about being a korean womerns, and how the korean experience is different for foreign mens and womerns.

I'll get back to you eventually on that, its not the top of my list of things to do right now as I have to go make a sammich and get a drink and maybe wittle away an hour playing tf2 or something because the weather in korea is miserable right now and I managed to catch a cold in the middle of July.

<3 Teachfag

I wish Korea had decent beer... fuck all.

all blonde beers are crap beers. Try Black beer Stout.

>>347987

Beerfag here: had it. Not awful but certainly not what I had in mind.

>>354304
I look forward to your next thread bro. The cultural differences between Korea and the West I find very interesting... especially what you said about the dating game.

Teachfag, have you visited Gyeongbokgung?

>>354304
I don't normally keep up with /trv/ threads, but I'll definitely keep a look out for yours.

>>353402

Speaking of the dating scene in Korea, what type of expats are usually found in Korea? I would imagine that a good chunk are Australian and Americans coming in second.

>>353474
DO HO HO
YOU CRAZY EXPATRIATE YOU
YOU SO CRAZY

>>354532
uh... is that where the US embassy is? I really suck at hanguel. Every time I go past Moran on the subway I chuckle because its moron spelled wrong.

>>354606
Cannuckistanis. Cannucks everywhere! After that some americans, I've met 3 aussie dudes, no chicks.

I DID meet a gyopo girl that spent her teen and college years in australia, and I want to fuck her within an inch of her life for her accent alone.

Actually, I should give her a call, she used to live in my building, on my floor, hell i could go stalk her right now if I felt like it. I think she might have moved though.

One of the problems here is that sometimes cellphones randomly suck and you call someone a gang of times and the shit doesn't even go to voicemail. Then you gotta write the whole fuckin thing off because you cant even get her damn phone to work.

Actually, now that I think about it, there's 3 chicks I need to call just so I can rope one of them into feeding my fish while I'm in Thailand, otherwise I'm just letting the little fuckers starve. No way I'm skipping vacation over a handful of 2 dollar fish.

>>355200

>cellphones randomly suck and you call someone a gang of times and the shit doesn't even go to voicemail

...ever think she's just not into you?

>and there's enough bottles and cigarette butts in the gutter on sunday morning to make a whole tribe of indians cry.

fukken lol'd

>>355231
its too regular an occurrence for it to be just girls I want to bone. I don't think so highly of myself to presume that I'm irresistible, its happened to me on the phones of people who I was not romantically involved with.

it's happened to me twice, and in the second case, with a native korean that corroborated that their phone service was in fact shit.

just part of the country i'm sure.

Either that or its my hobby of making lamp shades out of human skin.

Is the pay deposited into my original home bank account? Do I use my old Visa debit card for their ATMs or do I get a new Korean one?

>>355810
Koreans are a little anal about money leaving their country, and your employer will set you up with a korean bank account and then deposit into that.

You'll get a debit card, and there are atms everywhere, and 9 out of 10 of them will have a foreign language mode on them. its just like banking at home.

once the money is in your account, you can transfer it electronically at your leisure.

Bumping corea thread.

>>355824

What should I do if I leave before the end of my contract? Transfer the money in the Korean account to my home account of course, then just abandon that Korean account? Close it? Is there anything troublesome about this?

As a Indian-Canadian man it'll just be like being white in Korea right?

>>356602
lol not for the people that have eyes

>>356605
Damn.

Tell me something about taxes in korea, for instance: in poland we pay about 70% of our earnings.

This thread is amazing

>>357705
only if you are a weeaboo

>weeaboo
>korea
lord, when are you guy gonna learn this shit?

>>357721
same shit, different chinks

Is it hard for a white guy to get a Korean girl? Or is the race thing to installed into their mind?

>>357744

If you want to bang an Asian then go to China. Way too easy.

>>357751
On average, ?/10, what will they look like? I've never been to Asia, inorite?

What are South Korean's racial attitudes towards a chinese person such as myself?

oh hi i upgraded ur threadz.

teachfag here, waiting on a long break between classes at work, getting paid to lurk 4chan.

>>356453
loot the account, GTFO.
>>357729
its definitely not the same shit. Nobody hates Japan more than Korea.
>>357744
>I can has asian womern?
Its a first world country, it has bars, clubs, and alcoholic beverages. Picking up a party girl is picking up a party girl is picking up a party girl.

I had a friend who vacationed here for a week whose only mission was to put his penis in anything he could catch. every moment not spent dancing or drinking was spent online in chatrooms looking for these women.

he succeeded, if that's what you want to hear.
>>357828
>Im chinese
As far as I know, Korea doesn't hate you that much. Your country is technically allies with the North Korea, but as the North gets progressively crazier and China gets progressively stronger and wants to play ball with the western world more, it stops returning the North's calls.

As a resident alien in Korea, I have every confidence that if Kim Jong Il decided to start some shit, China would suddenly not be friends with them. War is expensive and China wants to be a superpower, they aren't going to break the budget defending the last resort of a bankrupt ideology.

As for Koreans themselves, the most derogative thing I've ever heard them say about China is that its dirty.

Which to be fair, big swathes of China are pretty filthy, but when you're a gigantic industrial overpopulated monstrosity of a nation, that comes with the territory.

As it stands, a Chinese person could probably find common ground with a Korean on the thing that is most holy to them, more sacrosanct than Starcraft, and that is HATING THE SHIT OUT OF THE JAPANESE.

why is this thread always up

>>357874
because in an 8 hour work day, i get lunch and 2 hours, 40 minutes of break time to fuck around the internet and answer questions.

that's why.

what his Koreas take on busking?

culturally acceptable?

>>357861
>>357828

koreanfag here.

Koreans will look down on you if you act Chinese, but Seoul is a busy town. No one is going to stop to find out where you are from. Japanese or Chinese tourists will have no problems in Korea. Just don't do anything stupid like waving the imperial flag in the middle of the street.

Also for teachfag, I think you are underestimating our general dislike for the Chinese and overestimating our hatred for the Japanese. Japan (nation) might be hated more than China, but the Chinese (people) are more annoying than the Japanese.

>>358377
how can you distinguish between who's chinese, japanese or korean at first sight?

>>358379
Because believe it or not they look (and act) differently.

>>358389
you all look the same

>>358395
oh, ok.

>>358395
All blonde women look the same too, all redheads, all italians...

Your white eyes aren't used to Asian faces and vice versa.

>>358417
difference is that you can find all of them in most western countries, plus black folks, asians, arabs, etc, in asian countries they all have (natural) black hair and slanted black yes.

>>358389
I've gotten to the point that I can see the difference in physical features, but how do they act differently?

THIS THREAD IS STILL GOING ON??

>>356602
Koreafag here. Unfortunately, the majority of Korean women HATE Indian men and so do a lot of Korean men. We're mostly a racist bunch

>>358543
Chinese - dark, stingy, look like farmers, obnoxiously loud, smell badly, thinks they are better than others

Japanese - short, bad teeth, weird nasal sounds, constant bowing, sneaky (very polite in your face, racist behind your back)

more then two weeks amazing....

>>358620
it's than not then

>>358620
and it's not amazing, we had many 2 month threads back in 2008 and before that, when people actually traveled instead of asking about Japan.

well, i guess i stand corrected.

I suppose its just safe to say that everyone hates everyone, except for whitey, who has money, and then we only hate him once he's broke.

>>358395

It is remarkably easy to spot a Japanese person in Korea... they tend to have brown/redish highlights in their hair. They also tend to be exceptionally slim and wear clothing to accentuate their slender frames. Those who do not have these characteristics, well, they're much more difficult to spot.

Anyway. Seoul is as white-friendly as Asian cities get, based on my experience. After a few weeks you really won't feel dissociated.

>>358389
wrong, prepare to fail

www.alllooksame.com

bump

>>358379
1. Japanese women have more pronounceded noses and narrower faces
2. Chinese women have rounder faces, but because china is a pretty diverse place it's hard to generalize
3. Korean women have bigger cheekbones and smaller eyes.

OP, how's the winter there. Please tell me it snows a lot. I am absolutely in love with fucking snow.

>>359514
why do you need him to tell you stuff you can find using google?

stop bumping this thread

and because I know some faggot will keep bumping this I'll sage this thread to its reply limit (250 posts)

sage

sage

chinks and gooks Are Yellow as piss
japs Are white as snow

easy as that

sage

>>359526
why u mad?

sage

>>359528
lol u mad?

>>359527
because this thread has degenerated into race discussion, people asking pointless questions and low quality posting (ie bump). Why do you think the other thread was deleted?

>>359530
yes

sage

sage

sage

>>359533
>>359538
bee tee dubs it's been 255 posts.

sage

>>359540
then it must be 300

sage.

sage..

sage...

sage....

sage.....

sage......

sage.......

sage........

sage.........

sage..........

sage...........

sage............

sage.............

sage..............

sage...............

sage................

sage.................

sage..................

sage...................

sage....................

sage.....................

sage......................

sage.......................

sage........................

sage.........................

sage..........................

sage...........................

sage............................

sage..............................

sage.............................

sage...............................

sage................................

sage.................................

sage..................................

sage...................................

sage....................................

sage.....................................

sage......................................

sage.......................................

sage........................................

sage.........................................

sage..........................................

sage...........................................

sage............................................

sage.............................................

sage..............................................

sage...............................................

>>359516

You could apply that logic to every thread on this board, it's just nice to get someone's personal view of things.Stop being so mad and go do something more productive than saging a dying thread, you fag.

ohoho

New thread

>>359753

>>359725
No you can't, asking for opinions is one thing, asking for things like temperature is unnecessary, unless you were asking his personal view on how coldness cold feels, which is plainly stupid