A Wonderful Experience

Teaching in Korea has been a very rewarding experience. My students are terrific, even if it is hard to get them to pay attention some days. The kids generally are not in your class willingly to learn English and the textbook materials are HORRIBLE. There are times when I feel like a marionette because the schools sometimes decide they want to overly control me and what I teach, even if I go by the book. It is kind of like I am a bragging right for the school: "Look! We have a native English teacher!" The support you receive is awesome and the orientation they hold before you start is pretty well done. There are opportunities to do things like temple stays and festivals, so you won't be bored easily. The transportation system within Korea is amazing. The downside is that there is a LOT of desk warming. You are contracted to teach 22 hours and work 40 hours a week, so you potentially have at least 18 hours of sitting at your desk not doing much. The pay and benefits are great. My schools are fantastic and I have a good support base. Other English teachers in my city, and from what I can tell other cities do this too, have a network online to help each other and get together to do things. If you are vegetarian or vegan, it will be hard to satisfy your diet, but it is not impossible. Food is very expensive here. Every month the city has a meeting of EPIK teachers to discuss problems and train you some more. I am glad I decided to teach through EPIK, mainly because I know if I have a problem there is a network in place to help me and that it is not easy for schools to take advantage of my contract, as in decide to work me past my contracted hours without paying me and that sort of thing.