Quote: (12-13-2018 09:45 PM)Kelent Wrote:
Quote: (12-12-2018 11:10 PM)[email protected] Wrote:
I taught in both South Korea and Japan. If you want to save money it's definitely S. Korea. I worked in a public school and got free lodging (studio apartment) plus meals and the pay was 2.1m won which is about $1871 USD per month. If you don't want to work full-time, lesser hours you can work at a cram school or hogwon. For Korea you need a undergrad degree, clean criminal record and these days you might even need a teaching certificate. Food and everything is cheap as chips, I remember a 30 minute taxi ride I only paid 4000won for. Because I didn't do anything else I ended teaching English under the table for $40-50 per lesson, this is illegal but many do it. Korea also has the fastest internet and some of the tastiest foods out there. Might be a culture shock, I strongly recommend reading up on Dave's ESL cafe forum before you dive in. Saving 10k is very doable in a year. My fondest memories are eating out at restaurants every day, getting my ass whooped in Tekken at the arcades and getting laid more than I ever thought possible.
Japan is basically the opposite. You won't be able to save shit. The English bubble here popped ages ago. You'll be teaching at shitty cram schools for something like 6-800$ per month, have to pay your way. Food and rent is expensive and there's not much left after expenses. Of course, it's Japan and everything is better and more convenient but you will be broke. The best part of Japan for me was hanging out with American lifers, drinking pineapple flavoured beer outside 7/11 and arguing politics. This one American dude was from Alabama and called himself a communist. What I would give to have friends like that again.
Thanks for your advice, I appreciate the perspective! I've heard that in Japan it's easier to get jobs outside of the ESL market with degrees/experience, like with Computer Science or music production or something.. Similar to how things work in the EU I guess. When you were in Japan did you meet any foreigners that went a different route to get into the country?
With Korea, how did the culture change when you were there, if at all? I've heard that due to the military presence and things the military does foreigners from the West aren't viewed in the most positive of lights. Let's say someone wants to go to Korea for 2 years but they don't want to work ESL, or they want to change industries, can you speak to how would that work? I hear about a lot of foreigners on Youtube (particularly black Americans) who go abroad to work in the entertainment industry, or foreigners from Russia/the EU who also work in non-ESL jobs but might have started out with ESL.
I checked out the Korea ESL forum just yesterday and it seems like the landscape changed in the past 8 years. The government is a lot less welcoming to ESL teachers and public jobs are all but gone unless you work rurally. It's more competitive in the cities but the pay seems much higher (people kept saying 2.4m won/month is the standard and if you accept less you are being played).
I've rarely heard of any foreigner that gets into either country through other means unless they had a highly specialised skill. I'm sure there are but I'm not on those forums. I know Japan is starting to accept highly skilled immigrants for permanent residence but I'm sure those are highly competitive.
Foreigners in both countries have not-so-great reputations. At best they are seen as English teaching utility robots and at worst they are seen as a public nuisance. Not much has changed there.
Most foreigners don't stay. It's fucking lonely being a minority in a land where nobody speaks English. The only ones that stay don't have much to go back to or they've wifed up something good. Everyone comes to make some money and leave eventually. There's not much room to move up without PR/citizenship. When you go back to your home country your ESL experience is seen as a blank year. The consensus is that careers are built at home and ESL is just a stepping stone.
You can be successful in Korea/Japan. I'm just of the opinion that if you can make it there you can probably make it anywhere.
Also, the money you make is not taxable by America since you are making less than 90k.
Just do everything and see what sticks.