Be careful of your bunny rabbits.
We gotta sex before you leave. Also, don't bring bunnies, they'll get stolen. :shh
Where's Green Shinobi?
Yeah, he should have a say or two in this thread.
I myself am always a bit scared of spending more than a vacation in an Asian country like China or Korea, clearly because of the language barrier and the fear of getting myself into situations similar to those GS found himself in (plus movies like "Red Corner" hasn't helped me shake that fear).
But hey, I could be totally wrong. I mean what do I know right? I've never left the comfort of my zone :P
The difference is that Cormac didn't stay a teacher the whole time; he eventually got a much better job in Japan.
A few things to consider. First: what kind of school will you be teaching at? Is it a public school, a university or a private academy (hagwon)? What age groups will you be teaching?
Have they specified your monthly compensation? You want to be making at least 2 million won a month, but ideally you'll be making more than that. 2.3 a month seems to be the going rate for new teachers in the hagwon system. University and corporate gigs can pay quite a bit more. Some public schools offer less than 2.3, but public school jobs tend to give you a lot more vacation time, which will allow you to do quite a bit of traveling. Japan is just a <2 hour plane ride away, and you'll also be within easy reach of China, India, Bali and lots of other cool places. Also, you want to find out about the apartment that the school is providing for you. Make sure it's big enough, etc. Also, see if they'll hook you up with cellphones when you get there. It'll make your life a lot easier.
The people are friendly enough, but there's definitely an "us and them" mentality that you don't really find in a lot of western countries. If you're not Korean, you're a foreigner. It's difficult to explain all the connotations that come with "foreigner" here. It's not negative per se, but you'll understand soon enough. A lot of people, especially the younger folks, will be quite friendly. If you have buzzed hair, they'll probably assume you're U.S. military, which has its own connotations, some good, others bad. There are a lot of U.S. soldiers in the country, and for whatever reason a lot of them are violent drunks who also spend a lot of money.
Intra-country travel is quite easy. There's an excellent bus and rail system that can get you just about anywhere you need to go. Unlike Japan, traveling across the country by train is quite cheap. There's a high-speed rail service called the KTX that connects a lot of the major cities. Within the cities themselves, you'll have access to an excellent metro system. You should be able to get to just about anywhere you need to go. The subways are generally closed between about 12-5am. At this point, you take taxis, but these are very cheap compared to America or Japan. It helps if you write down where you want to go, because some destinations can be hard to pronounce, and if you're just slightly off, the driver will have no idea what you're saying.
Food is pretty good. Koreans think that they're tough guys when it comes to spicy stuff, but in reality they're total spice wimps compared to Thai or Cambodian people, or even Mexicans really. You shouldn't have any trouble in that regard. Bring some immodium just in case, but you'll probably be alright. You can find a lot of stuff to cook with at the supermarkets. There are some big chains called Home Plus and E-Mart that should have what you need, and a lot of times you'll find people selling fruits and vegetables on the street. Make sure you inspect them first. I'd recommend getting a rice cooker if the apartment doesn't have one, because rice is cheap and goes with almost everything.
The language is a bit of a challenge. I'd recommend learning the Korean characters as quickly as possible. The alphabet is quite easy and almost completely phonetic. Most of the letters are similar to sounds within the English alphabet, but slightly different. Pick up a Korean language book that has some cds you can listen to. You can get around with a few key phrases. However, like I said earlier, if you're just a little bit off, they won't understand you at all. English speakers are very used to hearing foreign accents, but this is absolutely not true in Korea. Your pronunciation has to be near perfect. Even if you pronounce things well, a lot of Koreans will giggle or laugh when you speak to them. This really annoys me, but for some reason it's a trip to them to hear foreigners speak their language.
The only thing that I typically caution folks about is that a year is a lot shorter than you think. You might find youself just starting to get comfortable at that point. It all dependsd on whether you start getting comfortable or not (i.e. acquiring furniture etc). If you are pretty strict about living out of a suitcase and leaving at the end of your contract, you'll save a bunch of money. If you start getting depressed because you don't have a sofa or an Xbox after 6 months, you'll be more inclined to spend money on that stuff, which means you'll take longer to break even on the trip, which means you might end up extending your contract. If you do, you'll probably find yourself even more comfortable at the end of your second year, because hey, now we can speak some of the language! The mindset becomes 'Everything is just starting to open up. Let's get a bigger apartment more in line with what we had in the US and maybe we can stick it out here a bit longer and save some more money...'
Nothing wrong with that, really. But bear in mind that English teaching is not something that's worth staying in for more than a few years because it's essentially worthless on a resume (better than a blank space but not much moreso). And your conditions won't improve much. An experienced teacher won't get paid much more than a rank beginner. So beware the trap of staying too long.
I, on the other hand, came to Japan with the expectation of staying a long time, so I started getting settled in asap. Didn't focus on saving money at all. I've seen LOTS of people come over with strict timetables for leaving and end up staying for 5-plus years though. Just something to keep in mind.
Hmm, the pay seems low (I made about $2800 a month after pension money was taken out), but you say they are covering your rent. What about utilities? What's the name of this company? Have you checked to see what their rep is and what others think about teaching for them?
I applied for JET this year, but I think my odds of getting accepted are slim to none. I have almost 0 teaching and japanese experience, and I think my SOP sucked. Supposed to be getting interview dates soon. Let's see if I even got one. :'(
I still wish I'd would've done JET after college.
I had this plan my senior of college that if I didn't get in to graduate school, I was going to apply for JET. I got in to every graduate school I applied for.
Going to graduate school and then getting married a couple years later was the right decision, but I feel like I missed out on a fun experience.
I still wish I'd would've done JET after college.
I had this plan my senior of college that if I didn't get in to graduate school, I was going to apply for JET. I got in to every graduate school I applied for.
Going to graduate school and then getting married a couple years later was the right decision, but I feel like I missed out on a fun experience.
Not too late!
I still wish I'd would've done JET after college.
I had this plan my senior of college that if I didn't get in to graduate school, I was going to apply for JET. I got in to every graduate school I applied for.
Going to graduate school and then getting married a couple years later was the right decision, but I feel like I missed out on a fun experience.
Not too late!
We have a $2,900/month mortgage, and our combined income is $130,000/year. We both love the time we've spent in Japan and would love to live abroad, but JET isn't THAT tempting.
I still wish I'd would've done JET after college.
I had this plan my senior of college that if I didn't get in to graduate school, I was going to apply for JET. I got in to every graduate school I applied for.
Going to graduate school and then getting married a couple years later was the right decision, but I feel like I missed out on a fun experience.
Not too late!
We have a $2,900/month mortgage, and our combined income is $130,000/year. We both love the time we've spent in Japan and would love to live abroad, but JET isn't THAT tempting.
We have a $2,900/month mortgage, and our combined income is $130,000/year. We both love the time we've spent in Japan and would love to live abroad, but JET isn't THAT tempting.
Newsflash: 36 grand a year is not lucrative. If you are set on doing unskilled labor in a foreign country, why not Afghanistan? You can make 200+ grand a year over there for unskilled labor by getting jobs with contractors and at least that way when people are tired of hearing your boring white-person-coming-of-age stories about living overseas, you can show them your Ferarri.
Newsflash: 36 grand a year is not lucrative. If you are set on doing unskilled labor in a foreign country, why not Afghanistan? You can make 200+ grand a year over there for unskilled labor by getting jobs with contractors and at least that way when people are tired of hearing your boring white-person-coming-of-age stories about living overseas, you can show them your Ferarri.
That is, unless you are killed by an Afghani warlord first.
Newsflash: 36 grand a year is not lucrative. If you are set on doing unskilled labor in a foreign country, why not Afghanistan? You can make 200+ grand a year over there for unskilled labor by getting jobs with contractors and at least that way when people are tired of hearing your boring white-person-coming-of-age stories about living overseas, you can show them your Ferarri.
That is, unless you are killed by an Afghani warlord first.
Well that would be a pretty good story, so you really wouldn't need the Ferarri then.
Newsflash: 36 grand a year is not lucrative. If you are set on doing unskilled labor in a foreign country, why not Afghanistan? You can make 200+ grand a year over there for unskilled labor by getting jobs with contractors and at least that way when people are tired of hearing your boring white-person-coming-of-age stories about living overseas, you can show them your Ferarri.
$2,900 a month mortgage? Wow :bow2
Sure go to Korea for chump change and when you get back you can reassure yourself that while you may not be monetarily rich you are spiritually rich while you drive your '98 Honda Accord.
:(
As noted above, I started off in Japan teaching English...and I could buy a Ferrari now. I'm not going to do so because it's insane (I don't own a car period) especially in this economy, but if I hadn't come here, there's no way i'd have acquired the language skills I need to do the job I have now. By going to a market in which you automatically have a fairly unique and valuable skill just by dint of speaking English, you automatically boost the value of any other skills you already have or may acquire. If you're closed-minded about it, you aren't going to get anywhere of course.
From that perspective, your suggestion is useful and they should probably at least take it into consideration. I know they won't do it though, because at the end of the day it's very hard for 1st world folks to leave the 1st world. Especially to go into a war zone.
How did you make the transition from teaching to working in finance? Did you go back to school for an econ degree?
Newsflash: 36 grand a year is not lucrative. If you are set on doing unskilled labor in a foreign country, why not Afghanistan? You can make 200+ grand a year over there for unskilled labor by getting jobs with contractors and at least that way when people are tired of hearing your boring white-person-coming-of-age stories about living overseas, you can show them your Ferarri.
Also, yes, I could make 200k in Afghanistan, but I also have like a 1 in 5 chance of serious injury or death.
Also, yes, I could make 200k in Afghanistan, but I also have like a 1 in 5 chance of serious injury or death.
I'll be your bodyguard. :-*spoiler (click to show/hide):hump /retro[close]
Also, yes, I could make 200k in Afghanistan, but I also have like a 1 in 5 chance of serious injury or death.
I'll be your bodyguard. :-*spoiler (click to show/hide):hump /retro[close]
If you be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal.spoiler (click to show/hide)I can call you betty. :hump[close]
I'm just at a point where it's time to either start traveling and take some risks or to shut the fuck up about it.
From your post. The odds aren't close to 1 in 5, you're just scared.
Successful people don't take 36k-a-year jobs doing unskilled labor and wake up one day successful. Don't put off your life for later.
:(
More like The Buzzkill. I'd say do it Gillo. I want to do something similar. Japan doesn't want me so maybe I might check out Korea. I'm just about to graduate. I might as well dick around over seas for a year or two before I go to grad school or find a job.
More like The Buzzkill. I'd say do it Gillo. I want to do something similar. Japan doesn't want me so maybe I might check out Korea. I'm just about to graduate. I might as well dick around over seas for a year or two before I go to grad school or find a job.
JET is the best, but there are other programs and companies you can go on/apply to for teaching English in Japan.
I didn't really have my heart set totally on Japan. It was my first choice because it's definitely the best asian over seas teaching deal. I think the next best deal would be to check other countries because the cost of living is probably a shit load lower than Japan, and anything other than JET in Japan probably pays the same.
I'm just at a point where it's time to either start traveling and take some risks or to shut the fuck up about it.
From your post. The odds aren't close to 1 in 5, you're just scared.
Successful people don't take 36k-a-year jobs doing unskilled labor and wake up one day successful. Don't put off your life for later.
:(
Jesus christ, who are you? Don't put off "your life"? Oh yeah, a wonderfully bright future of corporate bullshit spent behind a desk so that I can get a shiny new TV every quarter! So-called successful people are enormously miserable in my experience.
Also, Afghanistan is a god damn war zone where people are actually suffering. Striving to make a profit off of that is fucked up to start with.
Oh I'm sorry I didn't know you were against making money. I don't usually talk to them. Sorry for my intrusion.