(upbeat music)
- It's about 10:30 AM here in Anyang, South Korea.
I'm just starting out my day a little earlier than normal,
but I guess we'll start with like an "ask me anything box"
and go from there.
So the first question many people ask is "why TEFL?"
Well, in 2017 when I graduated,
I just lost interest In my original degree field journalism,
wasn't feeling fulfilled at a corporate job
and just wanted to travel and see new things
and also get a job that was really rewarding.
The question people tend to ask
is, you know, "why Korea?
Why move to Korea?"
Well, I knew nothing about Korea.
I didn't know how to say hello.
I didn't know what kimchi was,
but I heard that there is a stable job market,
good benefits, and overall was a lot more secure
compared to other countries in my opinion.
The next question people tend to ask is "How?
How can you just uproot your life
and move across the world, right?"
I had a good corporate job.
I had a nice girlfriend.
I just decided after having my TEFL for over a year,
it was my time to be selfish and put myself first,
have new experiences, have fun, see the world.
And at the same time, I didn't know how to do it.
And that's where ITA'S resources really helped.
They have so many recruiters.
I was having like 10:00 PM interviews
every night for like a week.
So you really use ITA's to answer that "how" question.
Next up is my finance lists.
Please don't judge me for being
so financially irresponsible, I spend way too much,
but the great part about Korea, I still save a lot.
I don't contribute to a 401k
or social security America.
So I feel bad about that.
So I do send money...
So quick apartment tour.
The of course entryway, where you leave your shoes.
I've bought too many shoes since coming here.
The washing and drying rack, which is a very traditional.
You don't have washing machines very often.
Kitchen tends to be pretty small in terms of size
and how tall everything is.
Spacing?
Not a lot of it.
So you'll notice that everything
is really on top of each other.
I did buy that in IKEA.
Yes, Seoul does have IKEA.
That's also a futon.
Not a little bad room.
I think it's pretty common.
More places tend to be like office tills,
but I live in a, you know, villa.
So yeah, the wet room and this is the place.
It's nothing too fancy, but it gets the job done.
Actually not bad.
English is one of their major tested subjects,
which is why the English market's so great here.
In addition, lots of the words are actually English.
The Korean word for bus, is just bus.
Their alphabet, only 24 letters.
I was reading within a week.
The mask on.
For the record me talking about English words,
Chicago Dakbbal,
Chicago chicken feet.
Yeah, I unfortunately was not able to,
there was like a two-week quarantine.
It still exists for the most part,
but now they're finally starting to open back up
and go through the steps of opening.
Making friends was actually pretty easy.
I go to a big chain school.
So there's like 15 foreign teachers.
So immediately right off the bat,
you have a bunch of connections.
And also Koreans like talking to foreigners,
they want to practice their English.
They want to make friends.
So, go Tinder, go on Bumble.
So, this is the area that I work in.
It's called Hagwon-Ga.
These are all academies, math, science, you know, whatever.
And I'm gonna go get some food right now.
And it's just McDonald's, which is a classic.
So with the COVID regulations, you have to like sign in.
Like they do have like digital menus.
And of course, again in terms of that,
you can always swap the language
to English if you want,
or you can always practice yourself.
The straight answer is no, you don't have to.
You have to make over a certain amount of money
and teachers don't make anywhere near that amount.
The bad side is because it's like listed as non-taxable.
You can't donate to like a ROTH IRA
because that has to be on taxable income
or something like retirement.
This may be an unpopular opinion,
but it doesn't really matter.
Just bring your normal stuff, maybe a winter jacket.
You can order anything in Korea.
They have Nike, they have Adidas, they have Timberland,
like, you know, I have Cookie Crisp by my house.
The delivery culture in Korea is insane.
You can order anything you want.
The three major types are Hagwons, which I work at.
It's just like your traditional afterschool business
basically where they learn additional information.
Second type is their public school,
which you know, is like EPIK and things like that.
Third, is if you're an accredited teacher,
you go to an international school.
So getting around Korea,
I strictly use public transportation or, you know,
something like the high-speed trains or even the planes.
Don't have a car or anything.
Honestly, Korea is a little sketchy
as you can see this person
just try to literally make a left turn into that car.
The driving culture in Korea is really bad
and it's a stereotype,
but I guarantee you that I've told people I will die
if I try to drive in Korea because.
These delivery scooters are notoriously aggressive.
So, I guess in terms of Hag school.
There it is. Literally,
it's just like on the second floor above a Burger King,
like people get confused on Hag academies.
They're literally businesses,
like afterschool businesses, that's it.
Okay. So just slumped up my shoes and now
going to work.
So, main part of the classroom.
We did a Halloween thing so I have a poster up there.
Oftentimes I don't teach kindergarten.
So you'll see a lot of stuff around my classroom
and or just teachers hanging out.
And, yeah.
In terms of the question like public vs private school,
there's definitely pros and cons for both.
The pros of public schools tend to be
better work-life balance.
You have less hours, it's more relaxed working environment.
You have more vacation days, but the cost of less pay.
You don't get to exactly choose where you want to go.
And honestly, from what I've heard from my students,
the curriculum is not as strong.
Hagwons of course you get more money
over a less vacation days, but still,
you know, like 15 of them, like a year plus holidays.
More pay, but it's definitely like a business
and they're pushing you to say like "Hey, you know,
we want like the kids to do this and learn this,
so you have to like work more hours and work harder".
- It's that toothbrush you'll learn how to write first.
I think that's dues then.
- Great about Ko is?
- Maybe the other ones.
- More than others.
As he said, nuclear power producers around Asia,
so all the equipment's that where used
should be transported away.
So, using of nuclear power produces both CO2 and...
- You will likely never find a high school English Hagwon
simply because at that stage
they're studying for their exams and for college,
they're studying Korean to English grammar.
They don't care about the speaking.
They only care about the grammar,
which they need a Korean teacher for to convert it.
So, you won't really have like a chance.
I honestly just applied to like six different recruiters.
Literally I send my resume
to like a bunch of different recruiters.
They all were looking for jobs.
I was talking to like so many different recruiters
that ITA set up. So yeah,
just talk to as many recruiters as possible.
And yeah, that will hopefully help you set yourself up.
Outside of small things,
like they don't really like do handshakes,
when they take their shoes off in doors,
you know, even in some restaurants.
I think one of the biggest cultural size
is just being an outsider.
You're not going to look like 99% of the people
and it just kind of a weird thing,
where you just so individual.
Prep times are a good time to
get any work you need to get done.
You know, right now I have a bunch of like book reports,
I have to do my lesson plan,
I have to give a comment based on students.
We do have like standardized tests.
So, you know, they have essays
when they do like their OMR card,
like all the way from first grade up,
they do standardized tests in Korea.
So, you know, I have OMR cards
that I have to make sure they're good,
and you know then also make sure their writing is fine.
- It's going to pacify the government's routine.
Archie's first argument was that
it's, it has a...
- So I'm going to go get dinner now.
Like 10 o'clock, like all the schools are out.
So, I'm blogging, kind of.
So, just because.
In terms of like dating.
Yeah, there's tons of options available,
Bumble, Tinder, you know, just meeting people.
Normally lots of people who do speak English, you know,
it doesn't matter if it's like Korean or,
you know, American or even, you know, Russian or whatever.
Like you'll meet people from all walks of life.
So you definitely won't just be forever alone, you know.
Ah you know, but it is
about time for me to head off to the gym.
I will say and end this with gyms in Korea
are definitely not as nice as they are in America.
They're definitely smaller,
but they get the job done
and you'll have like a floor to yourself so,
gym life, you know,
it's still going strong here.
But overall, if you have any other questions
or want to talk to me at all, you know,
just please feel free to hit me up on my Instagram.
I'll post it like over here.
And I hope you guys have a good night.
See you guys, bye.
(upbeat music)