The Ups and Downs of Reaching to Teach

I am currently teaching in South Korea through Reach to Teach's recruiting program. I have been in Korea for 3 months and live on the outskirts of Seoul.

Korea has been amazing. Everyone here is super nice and although there is an initial culture shock, getting used to the scene is not that difficult. The nightlife is amazing, people are generally super amiable and unprejudiced and the community is very supportive.

Regarding my job, it has its ups and downs. I am currently a 'back-up' teacher meaning my job requires substituting for teachers that go on vacation. I will remain a back-up teacher until the Winter semester when a position opens.

The promises Reach to Teach made regarding this position is one of the major criticisms I have of the recruitment program. The recruiter, who was otherwise extremely helpful and supportive, made the position seem ideal when it is not. He said the back-up teachers would get first choice when the semester started as to which campus they would go to. This was not the case for me. Basically, you teach where the company tells you to teach, and you have little to no choice in the matter. I believe you do have 'first refusal' meaning you can refuse a position at a campus if you do not want it but coming here I thought I would have a choice at several different campuses. The recruiter spun it into something it was not.

However, overall I love Korea and my job when I actually get to teach (I am just a back-up teacher, as I said). Korea is way better than America, and I am seriously considering not going back to my home country.