Still Getting There

Ironing Things Out

I'll probably be in Korea by the last week of August. They want me out there as soon as possible. I will be (if all goes as expected) teaching kids from 8-16 years in a hagwon. I've been pretty cautious about taking these jobs because a lot of people go in blind and have a bad experience, ending up teaching much longer hours than stated in their contracts, not getting their severance pay, getting unjustly fired, etc. I picked the best recruiter I could find, as most will avoid telling you the truth of a situation in order to sell you a more attractive job. My recruiter (Duff Recruiting, an Aussie who's married to a Korean woman and living in Changwon, where I'll be teaching) has been upfront with me about the owner of the school. He says the guy is known for cutting corners, but if I put my foot down I'll do ok. He also said that the owner can always get me overtime if I need more money. We'll see how true all this is. The contract states that teaching hours are 2:30 - 9:30 pm, though I can do a split if I want to (not likely). I've told him I won't do a split, as my first act of assertion. Go me.

We'll see how that pans out when I'm actually at his (the owners) mercy, living in Korea. Another plus of using my recruiter, though, is that his office is a few blocks away from the school I'll be teaching at. ;)
________________

Also, NO co-teacher. That's mainly public schools. I'll be in charge of the kiddos, and we all know how much Kat looooooves children. Hopefully they are more respectful than the kids I've subbed for here in the US. The classes are supposed to top out at 10 kids, though, which should be more manageable than the 25-30 I had to ride herd on in APS. If anyone has experience teaching ESL, send me tips. While the school will be providing teaching supplies, I'm getting mom to run me to Learning is Fun for some teaching supplies. She's got her TESOL accreditation and her Masters is in English. With her 20ish years of teaching, I figure she's a good font of info to draw from.
________________

According to the contract, I'll be making 2.2 million won a month, which currently translates to $2,314. I'll have about 8% of that taken out in taxes, health care and pension (the Korean income tax for that bracket tops out at 2%! How is it that we pay so much more and yet don't have the nice state-run health care programs? $6 for an amalgam filling!). I'll be getting pretty much all of this back when I leave, because 4.5% is for the national pension. My employer puts in the other 4.5%, and I get the whole 9% back when I leave Korea, as I won't be needing a pension in Korea. I also get an extra month of pay as a longevity bonus, assuming I finish out my contract. And, of course, I get the furnished apartment. ;) Keep in mind, these perks (sans apartment - they'll house me even if it's a crap apartment) are the very things that some people get denied by greedy owners. Hmmm.
______________

I will have internet in my apartment. It'll cost $20-$30 a month. Who knows what speed it will be?
I'll be taking my laptop with me, obviously. I bought some outlet step-down converters expressly for it (the voltage in SK is 220, not 110) but who knows how long and well they'll last? Also, what if I need to use the outlet adapters, as well? They have three different kinds of plugs in use in Korea, some more than others. @_@ There are some big, clunky hard-core step-down converters that I might need to obtain. I just don't want to fry my laptop. I shall take something with me to test their efficiency.
______________

That's it for now, kiddos. I'll keep this posted with my happenings as they happen.