Living and Teaching in Korea: A Different Pace of Life

A great article that I found online today:
Living and Teaching in Korea

The author and her husband also keep a blog called Kimchi and Cornbread about their adventures living and teaching abroad in Korea.

News article: Native English Teachers in South Korea

Native English teacher head count continues decline

Thoughts IX

It's been a while since I've posted anything on teaching English in Korea.  But it has not been very long since I've thought about it.

I think about it every day.

Part of my daily routine includes reading forums on Dave's ESL Cafe and blogs from other westerners living and teaching in Korea.  I also spend time studying Korean, reading about Korean culture, watching Korean dramas, reading news about South Korea...

I am in love with Korea!

Typical Day Teaching English in South Korea

For anyone out there who has, in the past, or who is currently teaching English in Korea, I would like to know what a typical day looks like.  I realize from my own experience teaching that there are no truly "typical" days and that when teaching young kids, you often need to think on your feet, but I would be very interested in what a daily schedule might look like.

Five Reasons Why Teaching Abroad Is a Great Idea

Five Reasons Why Teaching Abroad Is a Great Idea

Traveling is always an experience.  Visiting new places always opens your eyes to learn new things, meet new people, and expand your worldview.  Teaching English abroad will heighten the experience of travelling and bring even more wonderful things into your life!  The market for teaching English in Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and other points east) is strong and opportunities abound for individuals with the right qualifications.  Here is a quick list of some great reasons to teach abroad:

1. Unparalleled experience.  Leaving home and going out on your own is a big decision that will change your life in new and unexpected ways.  Going to live and work in a foreign will surely take you out of your comfort zone, introduce you to a fascinating new culture, and give you the opportunity to visit exciting new places.  There are not a lot of 9-5 jobs out there that would give you this kind of experience.
2. Learn a new language.  What better way to learn a new language than to live it?  Imagine going grocery shopping, to the bank, or to the doctor in a foreign country and being able to practice the language with everyone you see.  Learning a new language will serve you well not only during your time abroad, but also when (or if) you decide to return home, this would be a great resume item.
3. Refine your teaching skills.  Whether you are planning to be an elementary school teacher, college professor, corporate trainer, or whatever, having experience teaching will benefit you in the future.  Being on your own, you will probably have a learning curve while you try to figure out what your teaching style is.
4. Save money.  Many schools will offer free housing for foreign English teachers and this is a huge savings to your overall expenses.  You can use these savings to travel abroad in Asia, make a down payment on a house, buy a car, or whatever you so choose.
5. Meet new people.  Unless you have friends that you are planning to meet abroad, everyone you meet will be new to you.  This will give you the chance to make new friends from your new home as well as with other English teachers.

See also:
Say Kimchi!
Thoughts III - 10 Reasons I Should Teach in Korea

A Winter in Korea with No Heat

For the last year or so, I have been following Marshallogue, the daily blog of Marshall Jones, Jr.  Marshall is an American teaching English in South Korea and he is quite a character.  I find his posts amusing, intellectual, and exciting; I’ve subscribed to his blog and I receive his posts via e-mail so I can follow his adventures teaching abroad.  He is sometimes philosophical, way out there, downright funny, and always interesting.

Take, for example, his no heat experiment.  Marshall is continually running experiments, just to see what happens, and his topics range all over the place, but my favorite to-date is the no heat experiment.  For this, he turned off his heater for the entire winter in Seoul!  Check out the summary here:

http://marshalljonesjr.com/no-heater-experiment/

With as hot as it has been here in the US lately, I sure wish I was in Korea in the middle of winter with no heat!

Thoughts VIII

I'm still daydreaming about teaching English abroad and finding more and more of my mind wandering overseas.  Recently, I've taken on a few young students here in the good ol' US of A and have been teaching some private music lessons.  My heart tells me that teaching is my calling in life, but my mind keeps asking, "How?"

Originally, I went to college to become a music teacher and I was disillusioned by the tough years of schooling (in order to graduate in four years you need to go to summer school for three years so you can free up the final semester for student teaching), tough laws on teachers (too many lawsuits in recent years), tough odds (jobs getting cut left and right), and tough salary (I make more now than a first-year college professor!).  Even though I was never interested in the money, it seemed like the amount of time needed to get into a field that is losing its respect and admiration while slowly being removed from schools year after year.  Maybe I allowed myself to be too easily convinced that this was not for me, and maybe my professors lacked enthusiasm for the field for the same reasons.

If I could turn back the clock and talk to myself again at age 20, I would say, "Stop!  Don't go to the Administration Office and change your major; stay with it, trust me, and finish your degree in music ed."  But regrets are like water passing under the bridge- when you look back, you can't change the flow of the river of your life.  I am proud of where I am today, but I wish I had chosen to stay in education for the children, not for myself.  I love teaching, I love kids, and I have no greater joy than when I see a child succeed, see that lightbulb come on, and watch him or her achieve.

It's not too late to start again, but if I do that, I want to do it in Korea.  There would be a couple of things I need to take care of before embarking on that journey first, though.  From what I have read and in thinking long-term, I would need to prepare myself for a career, not just a one- or two-year gig.  Here are a few adjustments I think would benefit me in the long-term:

1. Learn to speak Korean better.  I can get by, but one can't just get by as a foreigner for an entire life.  If I can speak like a native, or even close to a native speaker, I can fully immerse myself in the culture and in the country.

2. Earn some sort of certification.  Whether it is a TEFL certificate, a teaching license, or some other sort of documentation, I think that this would be pretty helpful in making myself more marketable as a teacher, in addition to my experience.

3. Forget about turkey.  Turkey is my favorite food.  I could eat a turkey sandwich for lunch and a Thanksgiving feast for dinner and never grow tired of it, but turkey is hard to find in Korea, so I should prepare myself to live without it.

4. Dress better.  Men in Seoul dress impeccably!  My wife always guffaws at my outfits and asks me, "You're wearing that?!"  I like the way Koreans dress, but I usually choose my clothes for comfort, not fashion.  I would definitely need to dress better!

Say Kimchi!

Hana... dul... set... Kimchi!

I stumbled across this website a couple of years ago and I just found it again.  This looks like a pretty good recruiter for English teachers in Korea.

http://www.saykimchirecruiting.com/

Thoughts VII

Well, it's getting to be that time again when I'm starting to think about Korea again.  It’s been several months since I have visited Seoul, since I posted on Korea, or even sat down to seriously think about it.  Everything has been so busy recently that I haven’t had the time to sort through all of my thoughts and I’ve been so caught up with life that the space I have in my mind just for Korea has taken a back seat to the rest of it.

But not in my heart; that special place I have only for Korea misses my adopted country, the family I have there, and my hope of returning there to live.  I’ve begun daydreaming about Korea recently and I’ve done a little searching in my spare time, reading new blogs, and looking at possible employment opportunities.

I think that it might be helpful for me to connect with some other Americans who are living and working there teaching English.  I do have a few questions I would ask of anyone who is currently in Korea as an expatriate:

1. How did you first learn about your current opportunity to teach English in Korea?
2. What did you find to be your biggest challenge when you first arrived?
3. Can you see yourself living there for more than a year?  More than ten years?  For the rest of your life?
4. What do you miss the most about your home country?
5. What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to anyone considering moving abroad and teaching in Korea?