Great Teaching Positions in South Korea

I'm so happy I went to Korea through Reach To Teach. The entire process was laid out to me in a step by step format. I always felt that I knew what the next step was and my recruiter John always kept me well informed on the required paperwork and estimated times for processing the paperwork.

Life in Korea has been great so far. The people have been very understanding of the fact that I am a foreigner here and have helped me settle into this country. My co-teachers have been amazing as well. They helped me set up a bank account, find an apartment (which is paid for by EPIK) and sign up for a cell phone. After the first few months it really starts to feel like a home.

I am a teacher for a hogwon franchise called Topia. I was placed by Reach to Teach. Throughout the entire process, the staff at Reach to Teach has been incredibly helpful and supportive. I have been very impressed that they continued to stay in touch with me after starting my position.

Overall I am satisfied with my job at Topia. The pay is decent and the housing is super convenient. I can walk to my school and I live adjacent to a main subway line. My coworkers are all very nice and my boss is easy to talk to. I teach elementary and middle school. The elementary kids are awesome, but the middle schoolers can be challenging sometimes.

My only complaint about Topia is that they make it very difficult to take vacation days. Also, they do not have as many holidays as public schools.

Overall I have been having a fantastic experience. I have tried many new foods, got back into hiking and outdoorsy adventures, and have participated in tons of festivals and events in the Seoul area. I have met tons of amazing people from all over the world. I highly recommend using Reach to Teach to find jobs in South Korea.

Deciding to come to South Korea was a major decision in my life. Without the help of my recruiter-Reach To Teach, moving overseas would not have been possible.

It takes a special person to leave everything you've ever known, and move across the world, especially when there is a huge language barrier. I chose Reach To Teach, because I feel that they are the most reliable, honest and qualified recruiting company. Their website is not difficult and it explains exactly what you need to know. I enjoyed the pictures they have of past and current teachers. RTT holds monthly events with their staff and teachers, which provides a way for everyone to feel at home. I really enjoyed the blogs of other teachers. I was able to read about people teaching in Korea, Taiwan and China. I had an interview with a former teacher who gave me some great insight. I also like that the people who work for RTT are all former teachers with great advice and experience. The head recruiter 'John Kellenberger' is top notch. I've talked with many people who had issues with their recruiter. He works for you and that is something that should be commended. There was not a time when John did not contact me when I asked. He also sends e-mails just to see how things are going. In my opinion, he was more than just a recruiter helping me get to Korea; he is a friend. I felt as if we were buddies. With a transition this big in your life, that is something that everyone needs.

In Korea, or any Asian country, your life is unpredictable. I think this is what is so exciting here. On a typical day, I work 8:30AM-4:30PM. I usually go home for about 2 hours, and then I head downtown to meet friends for dinner and drinks. We usually stay out and socialize for a few hours and we are back home by 10:00-11:00PM depending. The weekends are packed with eating, drinking and travel. Korea is a social culture and it allows you just relax and smell the roses as they say.

The biggest challenge is the language barrier. They speak Korean, you speak English. For the most part, it is easy to get around town with speaking much Korean. However, when you go to a restaurant and the ENTIRE menu is in Korea and there may or may not be a picture. We simply just point and hope for the best! Another challenge is teaching low-level students. You ask a question and they just stare at you. Motivating students is a challenge as well.

The best thing here for starters is the cost of living. It is very cheap! A 2 Liter bottle of water cost 800 won, which is equal to about $.75 is America. There is hardly any crime! You can just walk around freely at night, and be perfectly fine! Children as young as 5-6 are walking to school alone.

Overall, I highly recommend moving overseas, especially South Korea! It's a decision that you won't regret! There are so many people here with a different perspective on life and it is so enriching!

The only reason I gave the safety review a six is because of the lack of traffic enforcement laws in South Korea. I honestly feel like I am playing roulette with my life every time I get on a bicycle or attempt to use a crosswalk. Remember the game FROGGER on Atari... probably not; I feel like the frog.

As far as day-to-day life in Korea, it is great. I was blessed with an amazing placement, a great school, awesome co-teachers (7 of them), and a good place to live. I was placed in Sangju; a bit rural, but perfect for me. I am huge into supporting the local economy, so I buy all of my fruits and vegetables at the marvelous farmers market held every five days; only five minutes from my house.

The transit system (train and bus) was fairly easy to figure out, but we did have the help of some other great EPIK veterans.

The most suprising thing so far has been the incredible community of foreigners (waygooks) in Sangju. When I originally started reading reviews and what not while applying through Reach to Teach (amazing recruiting agency. Attention: John Kellenberger ( ; ) I thought maybe there would be 5 to 10 other foreign teachers in the city I would be placed in. I was wrong. Try at least thirty. Great support group. We have set up our own Sangju facebook page which is an amazing resource. It is an invaluable resource for everything from how to understand the washing machine controls to just getting a group dinner together or answering questions about schools or lesson planning.

I have only been in Korea for about two and a half months, but must say it was a great decision. None of this would have been possible without the thorough guidance of Reach to Teach. I have already recommended them to others on blogs who are thinking about teaching English overseas, and will continue to do so.

Please feel free to contact me with any further questions or needs.
Thank you again for your guidance Reach to Teach and Mr. John Kellenberger. Have a great dye.

Jesse cox
2jessecox@gmail.com

While placements and work experiences vary from individual to individual, I can say that I personally could not be happier with how my situation turned out here in Korea. I have a nice apartment, friendly co-teachers and Korean co-workers, and have found a great group of friends here. Reach to Teach does a great job of preparing their recruits for coming to Korea, as well as keeping in contact with them should they need any sort of assistance. I have no complaints about the organization, nor do I have any complaints about the position I obtained through applying with them.

Life in Korea is fantastic. It is also similar to my expectations as my recruiter, Reach to Teach gave an honest, open account of what life may be like teaching in Korea. The fact that Reach to Teach prepared you for ups and downs, culture shock and different teaching situations made settling in much easier. Throughout the recruitment process I felt that all my questions were answered and I was kep up to date on the progress of my application. Upon arrival in Korea is was lovely to be met by a smiling Reach to Teach face and have follow up emails to check everything was ok a few weeks down the line. I highly recommend teaching in Korea and using Reach to Teach to get you here.