Poor Communication

Adventure Teaching was recommended to me by an acquaintance. To begin, AT was extremely helpful and supportive. The interview process went smoothly and I was placed fairly quickly in a Hagwon in Korea. However, as I got closure to my departure date, communication started lacking. It seemed that once they had placed me, they didn't care anymore. I had dozens of questions but felt like I was causing a great inconvenience when I asked them. I also didn't get answers back from them or an acknowledgment that they received my emails for several days.

Additionally, there were things that were glossed over. My school's contract, for example. I requested that after I signed it my boss should sign it as well and send me a scanned copy. I was told that most of the time schools did not sign the contract. I thought that was completely absurd and felt that I had to battle with AT to get them to get the signature. In the end, getting that signature worked in my favor as unfortunately, my boss did not adhere to the contract on many occasions and I was able to point out that he had signed a legal document and could not do that.

Furthermore, I didn't find that they were completely honest with me. After booking my flight I was told that someone would pick me up from the airport. However, a few days before I left, I received instructions as to how to bus from the airport to my small city. Normally, this would not have bothered me but the fact that they told me and sent me a document that explicitly said someone would pick me up from the airport, did.

AT also never once followed up with me. The only thing I ever received from them was an obvious template email that they sent to everyone. Or emails about the Arrival Store. I was told that I wouldn't be able to buy plug adaptors anywhere but a tech supermarket in Seoul and that the Arrival Store was necessary. I was in a fairly small town in Korea and the grocery store definitely sold adaptors....for much cheaper. I really felt that AT was taking advantage of new travelers. Luckily, I had lived in a foreign country before and trusted my gut.

One thing that did impress me about AT, however, were the very straight forward and clear instructions they gave when it came to acquiring the documents necessary for the visa.