Thanks to Reach to Teach

So far, I am enjoying living and teaching in Korea. Although I live in a small city (by Korean standards), transportation is cheap and convenient here, so there are lots of opportunities to explore the country. The EPIK orientation was very helpful, both in helping us (especially first time teachers like me) learn about teaching English in Korea, as well as forming friendships with other EPIK teachers. So when difficulty strikes, I have a large network of people I can commiserate with.

My students at my elementary school (although occasionally a bit crazy) are adorable, and their enthusiasm always brightens my day. And most of the other teachers in the school, even though they cannot speak much English, have been extremely welcoming and friendly.

I think, though, my experience would have been drastically different if I had not gone through Reach to Teach. They guided me through the application process, providing helpful information at every step, and assisted me in getting my application in on time, despite the fact that I had a difficult time with the FBI background check (my first background check got lost in the mail).

On top of that, Reach to Teach has been a great resource for me while in Korea. There were some miscommunications and misunderstandings with my school regarding the clause in the EPIK contract that states that the school is supposed to provide certain furniture to the guest English teachers, and I spent a little over my first month without a bed. I tried to handle the matter myself, talking to the school and contacting an EPIK coordinator, but I could not get anywhere. However, I asked John at Reach to Teach for help, and within a few days, the matter was all sorted out and I finally got my bed.

In short, EPIK so far has been a great experience for me, and is a good way to experience a foreign country with a solid support network behind you. And if you are considering applying to EPIK, consider applying with Reach to Teach. They not only assist during the application process, but can be of assistance in Korea if things go wrong (which hopefully they won't, and for most people I know, they didn't, but there is always a chance of misunderstandings).