jamsil

blogworld, ive moved. i now live and work in seoul, by jamsil. CDI has opened a new location and have pulled veteran instructors from different branches to start up this new one. ive nothing to say about it... things were feeling monotonous at pyeongchon, so it's nice to have change. the bathroom at my old place was much prettier :(

two years later

wow blogworld. ive been here two years! holy cheese and crackers!

people email me or leave comments asking me to post more often, and im incredibly flattered! thing is: i write when i have something that may be useful relating living/working here. very little to no commentary on anything else. i DO answer most emails, often posting them here.

i still live and work in pyeongchon. my key money was paid off by cdi taking 1million won out of my paycheck every month for 5 months. i signed some paperwork and the apt is now under my name, im to get the $ back when i move out of the apt.

i cant update about money or re-signing yet since my contract isnt up until july 2009 but february 10th is my 2 yr anniversary of moving to korea. unlike last year, i dont know how many people quit or got fired or whatever. there are maybe 30 teachers, all but two are a whole new set from those that were here when i first arrived. this last year for me has been all about me in the classroom rather then keeping up with coworkers. all of my coworkers have never been anything other than kind to me, but i dont socialize with them and i never see them outside of work. the differences in age and culture are big enough that i prefer to do other things in my free time, and stay focused on students during work time.

i wrote last year about how much money you could make at cdi, it's all still true (intensive classes, privates) i still do none of those by choice. I didnt get the top score/bonus money this year. different supervisors evaulate you in different ways, but it's coo. i was offered an HI position once, which flattered the heck out of me, but i turned it down. i like my workload as it is, and i'd rather all my concentration be solely on my students and how i can improve as a teacher.

two years later, i still love working here. i still love the kids. teaching gets "easier" in that i already know the material. now my prep is more concentrated on how i can best present the info to the students so that it's fun for both them and me.

everytime i meet a public school teacher, they always tell me i should quit hogwans and go public. Public has it's benefits, i know, but i love that i teach two sets of students a day. i know all their names. i work 4 days a week, 6 hours a day, and i still make more than these full time public school fans. it's more actual work at cdi, i know. but thats why i came to korea: i came for a JOB. i expected to WORK.

i still would never tell anyone to come work for cdi. i still have plenty of gripes about my job. we still dont get a year end bonus, we still dont get free housing, we still dont get health insurance, we still dont get paid vacation, we still sometimes have to come to mandatory meetings and arent compensated for them. we DO, however, now get one day each off for xmas, solnal new year, and chuseok.

i'll update again in july, when the contract is up. i can say, tho, if cdi asked me right now, i would definitely stay another year. i love my job.

public schools

i work for an esl hogwan/academy. that is a school where kids go after their day in public school. there are all kinds of academies here: math, science, art, etc. Hogwons are individually owned, the horror stories you may hear about a school could be for just that one particular school so dont avoid all of them if you hear one bad experience. below is some stuff fm the discussion board on facebook.

PUBLIC SCHOOL taryn blake:
for public schools, there are three main programs, base your choice of them on where you want to live.

In Seoul contact SMOE: http://etis.sen.go.kr/

The province surrounding Seoul Gyonggi-do has their own program called GEPIK.http://cge.ken.go.kr/

If you wanna work way out in the boondocks, do EPIK: http://epik.niied.go.kr/

If you're more adventurous you can go the hagwon route.

HOGWONS JNiki Battle
Hagwons are really funny. What no one tells you is that contracts are more like guidelines, so Hagwons can always be difficult. But I would recommend looking into CDI (Chung Dahm Institute), SLP, Yes Yung Do, or Poly School. They are more like big corporations and very familiar with hiring foreigners. They are used to working with foreigners, so they expect the issues that we bring over here, i.e. racism. They will work you though. No real holiday packages with these schools.

yeah...

it's around 8am or so. im on my way to the internet cafe, sporting jeans, a grey hoodie, funny black glasses and my backpack. an adjosshi (elder korean male) sporting a suit sees me in his peripheral vision and walks up to me, asking,
"American?"
"Yes," I respond, respectfully, quietly.
"Did you vote?" he asks, leaning in, his eyes wide.
"Yes," I answer, not inexplicably feeling nervous... you run into a lot of drunks in the morning, drank dat soju, boy.
"When?" he demands.
"A few weeks ago, absentee ballot."
"Who did you vote for?"
"Obama," i say, respectfully, proudly.
The adjosshi nods his head affirmatively, pats me on the shoulder, and keeps on walking.

lil' picker upper

romare bearden, btw-->

i went through a blue 6 month or so period. i was just in the world of hater-ation, annoyed with everything and everybody, feeling underrepresented, unappreciated, undervalued, by everyone, and i mean everyone: people in korea, people back home, people ive met/connected with anywhere ive ever been in my life. i withdrew from friends feeling like i had nothing or no one and everything in life was lame. but then i got re-medicated, got better. even nicer is when i find things like this, and i get over myself, knowing that even when i go through periods of self flagellating and questioning my work/worth: good things do happen, people connect, friendships are made, love is found, and a little teeny tiny bit of all of it is b/c of me and i need to quit whining already.

my man is going to do it, i just know it.

useful websites

from eslcafe member polonius.

Shopping
http://global.gmarket.co.kr/
http://www.iikea.co.kr/
http://www.ikeakorea.biz/
http://www.whatthebook.com/
http://www.ezshopkorea.com/
(Organic stuff) http://www.healgreen.com/
http://www.rodeoave.co.kr/brand_home.php
http://www.auction.co.kr/
(Used)http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewforum.php?f=6&sid=af03b04e04935ac584d1617889c65e7b
(Used) http://www.buythekorea.com
http://wiki.galbijim.com/Black_markets

Restaurant Guides
http://www.seoulstyle.com/
(Vegetarian) http://www.happycow.net/asia/south_korea/seoul/index.html
http://www.seouleats.com/

Translation/Learning Korean
http://www.zkorean.com
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
http://www.declan-software.com/korean/
http://www.seoulsearching.com/language/
http://www.mylanguageexchange.com/Learn/Korean.asp

Inter-city Travel
http://bus.congnamul.com/SeoulRouteWebApp/view_english/map.jsp
http://www.seoulmetro.co.kr/eng/sg/sg_main.jsp

International Calling
http://www.countrycallingcodes.com/

World Time
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

Currency
http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Travel
http://www.xanadu.co.kr/eng/index.asp
http://www.shoestring.co.kr/en-main.htm
http://www.whypaymore.co.kr/
http://www.hoteltravel.com/
http://www.octopustravel.com/IntlHome.jsp
http://www.lifeinkorea.com/index.cfm?Language=English
http://www.adventurekorea.com/
http://www.jinair.com/
http://www.koreanair.com/
http://info.korail.com/2007/eng/eng_index.js
http://www.kobus.co.kr/web/eng/index.jsp
http://eng.templestay.com/

Online English Newspapers/Magazines

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/index.asp
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/
http://english.chosun.com/
http://www.mygrooveonline.com/
http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=607130200#/group.php?gid=12228910125

Movie Cinema/Performing Arts

http://www.sac.or.kr/eng/
http://www.lottecinema.co.kr/theaterinfo/theater/main.asp
http://www.megabox.co.kr/theaters/main_coex.aspx?TheaterCode=01
http://www.cgv.co.kr/

Touring/ Sightseeing

http://www.tour2korea.co.kr/
http://www.dmz.ne.kr/eng/index.htm
http://www.adventurekorea.com/
http://english.seoul.go.kr/
http://www.seoulcitybus.com/eng/subB_A01.htm
http://www.visitseoul.net/visit2007en/
http://english.nowon.seoul.kr/
http://www.lotteworld.com/Global_eng/Main.asp
http://www.everland.com/MultiLanguage/english/
http://www.everland.com/MultiLanguage/english/caribbean/main.html
http://grandpark.seoul.go.kr/Eng/html/main.jsp
http://parks.seoul.go.kr/main/english/seoulforest/sub_intro.htm
http://www.coexaqua.co.kr/english/e_main.html
http://www.laart.kr/main.html
http://seoulmoa.seoul.go.kr/html/eng/index.jsp
http://www.metro.seoul.kr/muse/eng/
http://www.coex.co.kr/eng/main/main.asp
http://eng.templestay.com/
http://www.nseoultower.co.kr/english/
http://www.sisul.or.kr/grobal/eng/worldcup/worldcup01.jsp
http://www.korea.net/
(Baseball Games) https://www.doosanbears.com/renew2008/main/index.asp
(Baseball Games) http://www.lgtwins.com/
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/intro.html

ESL Korea Discussion Forum
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/

International Hospitals
http://www.snuh.org/eng/
http://www.internationalclinic.co.kr/
http://www.korea4expats.com/article-hospitals-intl-clinics.html
http://seoul.usembassy.gov/health.html
-Dr. Sung's Obstetric and Gynecology Clinic
2nd Floor Chung Wha building, Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Tel: 02-790-0802

Weather/Yellow Sand Levels
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/KPXX0001
http://www.seoul.amedd.army.mil/sites/yellowsand/default.asp

Misc
http://wiki.galbijim.com/Main_Page

goshiwon

http://www.cocoresidence.com/

korea "cribs"

lmao fo real!

sorry, i was having a crappy day.

dude... im getting so annoyed w/people telling me i should go work for a public school!!!
ie Jo-Anna from this blog who left me a comment:

When I was applying to jobs in Korea, I thought it was really sketch that CDI doesn't offer health insurance. If you are working full time, I don't see how it is possible for them not to offer it. I feel as if someone should be complaining to labor board about this. But then again, CDI seems to give a pretty raw deal anyway. Making your find your own apartment and working holidays and weekends and such. If I were you... I'd look for a job with health insurance and apartment provided so you don't have to worry about key money and dumb stuff like that that english teachers here shouldn't have to worry about.... or at least get paid enough to make worrying about it worthwhile. It sounds like you have been working here long enough that you could be working in a public school or at least somewhere that pays more so that you can afford your own health insurance. Good luck with the health insurance stuff.

*pish* noob. she been here like a month, yo, please...

Ok, it certainly isn't a common or typical deal with cdi, i dont know if i'd call it a "raw deal" that you dont get the other benefits that other jobs offer. i guess i dont personally mind b/c it's not a surprise, they didnt trick me: they dont hire you and then say, "Opps, no benefits for you! SUCKER!" yo, i knew all this before i got hired. But it's a trade off, there are other things about my job that I love: the class structure, the organization of the company, never being paid late, small class sizes, rarely working mornings, a 6 hour work day...

and it's not like cdi is the only school people say to "watch out" for. i feel like ALL korea jobs are going to have something "shady" about them, something you dont like, b/c everyone has a complaint about their job. To me, cdi is like any other hourly job i'd have back home: i get paid for the hours i work. If I want a day off, i have to ask my boss, and i dont get paid that day. My job didnt give me housing, i pay the rent, it's my own place.

And i think i've been very clear that i would never suggest someone come work for cdi. i answer questions about my own personal experience with the company, but i dont endorse cdi. and i always preface my opinion with letting people know that this has been my only korea job, so i cant give a well rounded opinion.