Why Korea?

This is a question that I was asked a lot in the planning stages of coming to Korea. It seemed to come from a bit of concern mixed with a bit of confusion.  The first thought on everyone’s mind when they hear the ‘K’ word is the crazy totalitarian regime of North Korea. They are concerned that I might be too close to danger and that I could be captured or hurt in some way.  Plus there’s the fact that I’d be in the middle of a war zone if war ever did break out between the North and South.

Apart from the concern, many people seemed genuinely confused as to why I’d want to live in Korea. There’s a huge lack of knowledge about Korea in the States and I admit before I came here I didn’t have a clue either.  All I knew was that it was in Asia somewhere and North Korea was dangerous. Many people know just as little as I did, so some tended to suggest that I go elsewhere. Perhaps I could go to a more popular place like Europe or someplace closer like Mexico or even South America.

But no, the decision had already been made in my mind.  I was going to Korea.  But why?  What exactly was going on in this crazy little brain of mine?  Well, let me tell you.

Peaked Interest

My interest in Korea first started after watching the television show LOST.  Hearing the Korean couple (character names Sun and Jin) talk to each other, it sounded beautiful and peaked my curiosity of the Korean language.  A year or so later, I saw an advertisement online to teach English in Korea. I love teaching and learning new languages, especially my new-found interest in Korean.  So, having just graduated seminary, when I came across the opportunity to get paid to go to Korea and teach English, I didn’t hesitate to sign up.

When I say I didn’t hesitate to sign up, I really mean I didn’t hesitate to look into it. I didn’t jump blindly into it, as that wouldn’t have been wise. So I surfed the net and found anything I could regarding teaching English in Korea. There was quite a bit of information out there already about it. I found lots of good info reading some forums and blogs, such as Dave’s ESL café.  I watched YouTube videos of people documenting their own teaching experience here.

Research

I learned that there were 2 different types of schools I could apply for – public or private. Private schools, called “hagwons,” pay more initially, however they are hit and miss. Apparently a good majority of them are shady, not paying the teachers on time or the right amount. Some even fire their foreign teachers on the last month of their contract, so they don’t have to pay them their completion bonus. In fact, this actually happened to a couple of my good friends here. On the other hand, some hagwons are dream jobs – having good coworkers, working minimal hours, and getting paid quite a bit of money. Like I said, hit or miss.

Public schools have a much better reputation. Since they are government funded AND they regard teaching as one of the highest and most honorable jobs here, money is paid the right amount on time every month.  The quality of public school jobs is better and slightly more structured than ones at hagwons. They also have better hours in my opinion (9am-5pm), and MUCH more vacation time (18 days).

However, it can also be hit or miss depending on the type of people you work with. In public schools, every native English teacher is paired with one or more Korean co-teachers to help out during class.  Some Korean teachers love speaking English and they love western people. Others despise English and can be racist. Teachers here are basically forced to do whatever the principle assigns them. So it can be the case where a native English teacher is paired with someone who doesn’t speak English and is hostile towards westerners.

As for me, I decided to go with the public school system as that seemed to have more stability and help. I signed up through a program called EPIK – English Program in Korea. EPIK is based in Korea and is the main recruiter for English speakers teaching ESL here. There are other recruiters such as Footprints, who are based in western countries. I thought it was best to go straight through EPIK, but looking back it may have been easier choosing a western recruiter. Oh well, EPIK worked well enough.

The Benefits

So, having done the research, here was the result:

• EPIK would pay for my flight to come to Korea.
• I would have a full week orientation with other native English teachers
• The only qualifications I needed were a bachelor’s degree (in any field) and to be fluent in English.
• I would be working 9-5, Monday – Friday
• I would get 18 days of paid vacation to travel wherever I wanted to go.
• The school would pay a pretty good salary every month.
• The school would pay the entire rent for my apartment.
• I’d be able to send a decent amount of income back home to start repaying my loans.

Let’s see – getting paid to live in another country, rent-free, work at a great job, travel the world,  learn a new language, all while being able to pay back loans. Gee, I think the real question here is, why would I NOT take up this opportunity?  😉

The Paperwork

The headache with planning to teach in another country, especially Korea, is the paperwork involved.  Getting all the documents required was kind of a nightmare for me, since I had gone to school out of state in 2 different states and lived in another. I was driving up and down the Midwest trying to get the right documents signed and stamped at the right places. The background check took forever to get. On top of that, I didn’t have all the documents by the deadline the first time around, so I had to do the whole process over again in order to get on for the next semester. The second time around I BARELY had all the documents.  The morning I received the last document, I bought a plane ticket departing the very next day. Here I need to give a big THANK YOU to my mom, sister and her husband for finishing the cleaning and paperwork for my apartment.  They were absolutely a phenomenal help to me!  I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.

Korea Bound!

Once I was on that flight the next day, I was free. I was on an adventure and I was excited. Everything from there is history – a history I plan to share with you through this blog. I know, I know. So much has already happened since I arrived 2.5 years ago and I just started a blog. I will try, however, to fill in some details of the past couple years as well as share with you current events that are taking place. 

My Friends

I’ve been in Ulsan, Korea now since August 2011. I teach at a great public elementary school and have been at the same place the whole time.  During my time here I have made many friends (both Korean and foreign) and have traveled to many places.  There are three foreigners that work at my school in total – Jenna, Tess, and myself. Jenna and Tess came to Korea a year after I did. They are my sisters away from home.  I love them like family! Seriously, I don’t know what I’d have done without them the past year and a half.  They have been true friends through the joys, laughter, pain, and tears.

I also won’t forget the brothers away from home that I have here.  Ryan, Jesse, and Charlie – you have been such great friends to me these past couple years.  I can’t thank you enough for your moral support and constant friendship.  THANK YOU!

I also have had the wonderful experience of being in a band. I want to give a shout out to Jesse, Suji, Sudong, Luke, and Jon.  Together we are called Second Flash.  SECOND FLASH, BABY!! Oh yeah, and I can’t forget the one and only Anchor Kim, our band “manager.”  Awesome Korean guy who openly welcomes foreigners to take part in many Korean experiences.  He is the owner of the Royal Anchor here in Ulsan.

There are so many more people to thank.  Everyone I’ve met, those who have come and gone, and those who are still here.  Thank you for making my experience here in Korea an awesome one!

My School

I was assigned to a huge school in Ulsan. It’s out towards the west end of the city, about an hour away from the beach. Like I said earlier, schools are hit and miss. It all depends on the people you work with. For me, I was blessed to start working with wonderful Korean teachers who helped me not only to teach, but to get settled in Korea. My main co-teacher was absolutely amazing. From day one she was helping me get accustomed to teaching and living in Korea. She took me shopping to get supplies for my apartment. She had so much patience with me as I slowly learned the daily routine of teaching English at my school. She was always positive and welcoming and taught me how to teach well. She became my older Korean sister!

Honestly, I was utterly confused when I first started. I mean, I was absolutely lost. So many people come here and start teaching on their own on the first day without any orientation! To those people, I commend you! How do you do it? Because for me, I would have been ground into pieces had I not received the help I did. Thank you to all my co-teachers who sacrificed their time and energy to help out this slow learner! 

When applying for a teaching job here, EPIK gives you a choice of a preferred age level. High school was my first choice because I didn’t feel like I could relate to little kids. Middle school was my last choice because I’d rather deal with children than the crazy adolescent changes of middle-schoolers. This left elementary school as my second choice, and as it turned out, was the level I was assigned to.

At first I was terrified. The thought of being around and talking to children scared me. I didn’t know how to relate to or talk to them. I mean, what do I say? After graduating seminary, I was used to having deep, analytical, and philosophical discussions and debates with similar-aged people. What do children want to talk about? Candy? Toys? Also, any sort of contact with them frightened me because of the stigma in the American culture about physical contact with people, especially children. So, I just stayed out of their way and they stayed out of mine. Until I came here, that is. Once I started to teach elementary students, I knew it was going to be a challenge.

As I said, I was lost when I first started. It took about a month (and patience from a lot of people) for me to even understand what was happening. However, after the first month or so, things got so much easier. I finally understood the schedules and daily routine. Even the teachers told me how much I had improved from the first week. That’s because now I could focus on actually teaching, rather than being lost in a completely new land, trying to understand what was happening from minute to minute.

It was still fairly stressful trying to teach elementary students who understand less than 1% of what you say. On top of having a hard time trying to explain things, I also felt pressure to teach them EVERTHING that was in the book all at once. Some of the students were so low level that the content of the first chapter in the book went way over their heads. It just felt like too much to teach them. However, after about 5 months into my year, it started to click. This was partly the help of winter English camp. Students come to our school for 3 weeks of intensive English study. I got the opportunity to practice my teaching skills while also observing how other foreign teachers taught. I also had received some great advice from one of my co-teachers. She said not to worry about teaching everything in the book. Only focus on the most important words and just have fun while you do it. For some reason, that advice sparked an epiphany and everything just fell together. I got into the grove. That first winter camp was so much fun, because the pressure was off. I didn’t have to teach them everything and I didn’t have to give a lecture. I could just create fun games with only 3 or 4 words. It was at that point I started to relax and relate better to the students – especially the younger ones. In fact, now it’s harder for me to relate to the older students because I don’t know how to keep them entertained as long. I am so glad I was assigned to an elementary school. I feel like I have not only gained a whole new skillset, but gained the social competency to relate to children on a better level.

Summary

All in all, I’ve had a very challenging, but rewarding experience here. I’m glad I chose to come.

Whew! What a novel (as I always tend to create). I hope this at least gives you a better insight into the world of teaching in Korea and the reasons I chose to come here.

Please continue to visit my site and enjoy the pictures and posts. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment on my blog or contact me. Comments are always welcome!

Thanks for visiting!

-Justin