Teaching on Jeju

Your experience teaching in Korea is heavily dependent on your expectations. It may not be an overwhelming cultural or spiritual experience that changes your life forever, but, it will be fun. Korea offers travel, change, new sights, new people, and an excellent opportunity to save money.

EPIK is a large program and almost no teacher I have talked to has had the same experience in the workplace. So much is dependent on individual schools and co-workers that it is hard to anticipate what your situation will be. Your greatest assets are flexibility and patience. I have taught in large schools and small schools, with coteachers and without coteachers. Each situation has its own challenges and its own rewards. The EPIK program will basically plant you in any type of work atmosphere and then expect you to thrive.

I find the work to be very easy. Teaching rarely surpasses 22 hours a week and the 'planning' time is so excessive I often have trouble finding productive things to do with my time in the office. This is nice some days but the lack of challenge can eventually get a bit tiresome.

In my opinion, the two most prominent benefits of teaching for the EPIK are the opportunity for travel and the capacity for saving money.

The EPIK program is much more liberal with their vacation days than almost all private teaching positions in Korea. With Korea as a starting point travel around Eastern and South Eastern Asia is easy business.

As for the second benefit, that of money. Within six months of arriving in Korea I had paid off my student loans and at the end of two years here I should have around 20,000 US dollars set aside for graduate school. There are almost no personal expenses when you work with the EPIK program. I spend less than 100 a month on utilities and food and entertainment are my only other expenses. I spend more money here than I ever have in my life and still manage to put aside about 1000 USD a month. Your travel should not be all about the money but in this case it is a very beneficial factor.

My main complaint about Korea is the lack of interaction with Koreans. Culturally Koreans are a sort of shy people. I have found it hard to become close friends with any Korean. I do have Korean friends but it is always a bit of a reserved relationship. You will be invited to do things with Korean groups but I have never felt like an insider. Even now that I speak enough Korean to hold conversations with the locals I still find it hard to feel truly welcome in Korean social settings.

And that is my review of EPIK. I would recommend it. It has been wonderful for me and for many others.