(intriguing techno music)
- Good morning.
What up?
(speaking in foreign language)
From Busan, South Korea.
My name is Matt,
and I'll be taking over the ITA story page today.
Let's get it.
All right, so it's a little after eight.
I go into work.
I don't start till 8:30, so I work 8:30 to 5:30.
Going' in a little early today.
Hope y'all can hear me with the mask,
I don't know, pandemic, so, let's go.
All right.
So, as I mentioned,
living and teaching in Busan, South Korea.
So second biggest city.
I live in the Busanjin District.
So it's kinda on the outskirts.
So like a brand new city within a city kinda thing.
As you can see all these big high rises.
So it's all pretty new, pretty modern.
And yeah, here's our walk to school.
Alright, so a little bit about me.
I'm 25 years old, from the U. S.,
from the great state of Maryland, shout out.
Yeah, so I've been teaching in South Korea
for about three months now.
This isn't my first time teaching abroad.
I have spent close to two years teaching in Spain.
I did two separate contracts, with the same program
in Northwest Spain, and most recently in Barcelona.
So yeah, I graduated college in 2017,
and my online TEFL certificate
I knew I was trying to make moves, see the world.
And I figured, you know teaching English
was the best way to do that.
So, yeah, I was off to Spain.
As I said, spent some time there.
I also have spent time teaching English online,
about a year.
So after Spain, came home, teaching online,
working another job,
and decided to do like a big backpacking trip.
Took me five months.
Yeah, like two months then, you know?
Yeah, I got cut off.
But yeah, so then decided to do South Korea.
Was interested in a change of scenery,
and, you know I know a lotta people go here,
and teach English, so it seemed like a good fit,
and a new challenge.
And, yeah.
So about to be at work.
I will be recording within the school.
I got permission, but no students.
But yeah, so feel free to ask any questions,
and I will try to get to every question today.
Let's go.
All right, so I am now at school,
and I work 8:30 to 5:30, Monday through Friday.
And so I work with kids age two to five,
in a private academy or a hagwon.
And so I teach math science, and I also do gym.
I know I will be doing that, amongst those ages.
And so, some days are busier than others.
Some days I'll have four classes, five classes, six classes.
It all depends per week.
But I do not have a home room, per se.
I am actually flipping between the classes,
as the English teacher.
All right, so today I have four classes starting soon,
but I will give a tour of the school soon.
But a little bit about it.
So it's a brand new school, just opened in September.
So I'm part of the first wave of teachers.
As I mentioned, I'm the only foreign teacher on my floor.
There's a different academy on the top floor.
And there's three foreign teachers there.
Being such a brand new school,
the class sizes are quite small.
So, you know, between three kids, up until seven.
But you know, every week it could change,
you know with the enrollment.
And new school year will be starting in March,
so it could look a lot different, but they will cap it,
from my understanding it 12 or 13 students.
So yeah, just finished gym class.
As I said, I teach that also.
Just tour of the school still.
There is a swimming pool.
Thankfully, I don't have to do that.
You know, it's probably good for everyone else,.
But yeah, here's the gym.
So I got a lotta stuff to do, some English gym.
Got a lotta supplies and stuff.
So yeah, I do that five days a week with all the ages.
What up?
In between classes, so had a second.
Just wanted to talk about how I got my job.
The thing about coming to Korea, I think generally
everyone uses recruiters.
So I used Korvia Consulting.
So I had an interview with them,
and you know from there I specified
what I was looking for.
What kind of school, class sizes, where I wanted to be,
definitely wanted the city.
So from there, they match you with schools
that fit that criteria.
You know, I had my interview at the school with,
you know the principal, director, got the job.
And then Korvia helped me gather my documents
before and after the interview,
and preparing me to come to Korea.
I know there's a lot of other recruiters out there,
but for this specifically, that's what I used.
So Korvia Consulting.
Why did I pick Busan?
The big thing for me is I'm a city guy.
You know, I've lived in Washington, DC,
just most recently lived in Barcelona.
So I definitely love the city vibes.
You know, there's always something to do.
So I knew I wanted a city.
And then the big thing with Barcelona,
living there and teaching was just the beach,
you know just having that right there.
So the fact that Busan has a beautiful beach.
It for me, is kind of a no brainer.
And it was like yeah, I'm going to do that.
Hi y'all, we out.
Another school day in the books.
We had touched on this earlier.
You know, I went through a recruiter, as I said.
So they sent, you know a lotta different matches
based on your preferences.
And from there I decided, you know, which school I'd pursue.
I went through a bunch, before I selected this one.
Yes I mean, you definitely can still find jobs and stuff.
I mean, they're hiring, you know, year round,
even with, you know, pandemic going on.
I know people that are in quarantine still
'cause they just arrived.
So yeah, there's definitely, the demand is still there.
Just, you know, search.
I mean, I can't personally speak on the EPIK program.
I know this guy that I work with on the top floor,
he did it, but now he's with the hagwon.
I mean, you just gotta find out what's best for you.
'Cause I mean, I really can't answer about EPIK,
because I'm not EPIK.
So when I was looking to go abroad,
to Spain in 2017, ITA, wasn't the biggest help.
They didn't have many connections
with the programs and stuff.
So I did that all kind of on my own.
But with Korea they definitely steered me
in the right direction towards specific recruiters,
and evaluating contracts.
So bigger help in Korea.
It's time for the apartment tour.
So let's get it.
So yeah, I'm on the second floor of this building.
No keys, all about the key code.
So here we go.
So again, I don't have a key, it's all about the key code.
(buttons beeping)
All right, here we go.
Welcome to my crib.
Ah yeah, so it was furnished to a degree.
This is the living room.
It didn't come with this couch, table, or chairs, or mirror.
For that matter, it was just this empty room,
and I had it this way for like two months.
I got this couch for $10 on Korean, like Craigslist.
So, awesome.
Table from a coworker.
Restaurants, from a (chuckles) or not restaurants.
Chairs from a restaurant,
that left them outside for be taken.
We got a mirror from a coworker, as well.
So here's my kitchen.
I had to buy the microwave and the toaster.
Obviously came with the fridge.
Instead of an oven, I have a washer machine.
You know, ovens aren't so typical here.
So going to make do with that.
On to the bedroom.
So it did come with the bed.
Came with the desk, the chair, the TV,
this whole setup right here, very nice.
My lacrosse sticks.
Anyone know of people playing lacrosse here,
please let me know.
I have failed.
Shout out Maryland.
Oh yeah, so here we have our little,
not a balcony, but you know, extra room.
So we got like, what do you call it?
A closet.
We, as opposed to a dryer, it's all about the air drying.
So, you know, got a little rack here.
Not the best view.
You know, just some high rises.
But yeah, so that's my apartment.
You know, just for me.
So it's very, very nice.
It's brand new.
I love it.
But yeah, when you come to Korea,
you are provided with an apartment, rent free.
So I don't handle any of that.
I am responsible for, you know, paying utilities,
which I'll put in my expenses.
But it's still very cheap, and means a great deal.
Yeah, so it's not a specific program.
Like I said, I went through a recruiter,
called Korvia Consulting.
But the school was just, you know, it's a chain,
called Hillside Collegiate or IYA Skola.
Yeah, but it's not a specific program,
it's just a chain of schools.
Yeah, so I am provided with the curriculum.
Each month is something different per class subject.
But you do have the opportunity to mix it up
and, you know, add activities or other things
that you know, could add to the unit.
Yeah so like I said, you know, I knew I wanted a city.
This being the second biggest city, it was perfect.
Hours look nice.
You know, some hagwons, you're workin' till late.
So 8:30, 5:30, class sizes looked good,
and the fact that was a brand new school,
I think really intrigued me.
Yeah, so my recruiter sent me pictures
of the apartment before I moved.
So I knew what I was getting into,
you know before I got on the plane, before all that.
So I wasn't surprised when I got there.
Yeah, so when I'm not teaching, you know
I'm off on the weekends.
I'm always just checkin' out new food spots,
hiking, checking out the beach, the mountains.
I mean, it's a really big city,
always something to do.
Just out shall making moves, and just exploring.
You know, like I said,
it's the second biggest city in Korea.
Yes, my Korean is not very good.
I'm still trying to learn, but yeah.
I have been able to get by with the English,
but you know I do hope to have a better grasp of it,
you know in a few months.
But yeah, it's definitely, definitely a struggle.
Yeah, but I don't know if this is a general question,
or about Korea specifically.
But you know, I got my certificate in 2017.
and I mean I was willing to go to Spain,
and you know, I made it work.
So it all depends on where you really wanna go.
'Cause you know, there's jobs all over the world.
So, just depends on what country,
but no, I mean I think it's quite easy.
Yeah, so for me, definitely the language.
You know, I've been to 31 countries in my travels,
but only been to, I don't know, four or five
where it's not in the Latin alphabet.
So, you know, I just can't read anything,
especially when I first arrived.
So that was quite difficult.
But yeah, definitely learn the language.
I mean, I think the best thing about living in Busan,
is just, there's always something to do.
I mean, you've got the beach, you have mountains,
there's so many hikes.
I mean, it's just a cosmopolitan city,
and then there's something here for everyone.
And you know being the second biggest city, yeah.
It's a great city.
Yeah, so for me it really all comes back to the language.
You know, being here not too long really,
and my level is so low.
So, you know,
not being able to have interactions with people
because of the communication.
So for me personally, that's been my biggest challenge,
and I hope to improve on my Korean.
Yeah, so I think the biggest challenge right now
is you know, just differing levels within the class.
You know, each class is different.
You know some kids are better than others.
And you know, following the curriculum,
some kids have a great understanding,
of let's say like a thematic unit, or a story,
then you know the other kids,
and it's, you know working around that to get everyone.
All right, y'all, it's been real.
but you know, gotta go to bed.
gotta do this all again tomorrow.
But yeah, thank you for tuning in.
I hope I addressed all the questions, concerns.
I'm putting my Instagrams here.
If you have any questions about Spain, Korea, whatever,
or if you just wanna see me making moves, that's okay, too.
But yeah, just some advice I think,
you know if you have any doubts
about teaching English abroad, just do it.
You know, it's been an amazing journey for me,
living and teaching in Spain.
Now I'm in Korea, and you know, I'm seeing so much,
met so many cool people,
and I feel like I wouldn't have had the opportunity
to do a lot of things that I've done
without, you know, teaching English abroad.
So yeah, just get out there and do it.
Goodnight.
Annyeonghi, from Busan, South Korea.
We out.
(intriguing techno music)