Jackpot

On top of the usual benefits one receives when they finish a job in Korea it appears there are some other bonuses coming my way.

Apparently in January the city government changed the housing allowance to 600,000 Won a month, which is an increase from 400,000. My school has been receiving 600,000 Won to pay for my house ever since, but my house only costs 400,000 because it is a sh*t hole. Pardon my language

Therefore the school has been storing away 200,000 every month since January. My coteacher found out about this and informed me that I should receive the missing money before I finish. This is exciting news but I am only going to believe it 80% because it may have already been put into may bank account. Considering there were at times mystery deposits, but from what I recall they were never really that big. HAHA! Update*** Just got a call from my coteacher and she said that it won't work for me like that, because I never chose the option to take the money pay for the house myself. Instead the school pays for the house with a deposit from the city. Anyways it's not happening. Ah well.... but I still get the next bonus.

The other bonus is airfare. Since I signed on to this school while living in Korea they didn't have to pay for my flight over here. The way flight tickets go with Korean contracts is that if you work 6 months then you have earned your flight to Korea. Then if you work the remaining 6 months you earn a flight home after you finish your contract.

So I was presented with the offer to either take a money sum of the tickets or receive a round trip ticket at the end of my contract. As of right now I am not sure which to take because it depends on whether I will get a job in November or later on in the winter. So far the cash option looks nice because I could always use it later on to buy a ticket anyways. Or use it to get through living in Korea without a job while I am job hunting.

Hitting the job market again in Korea is a bit more interesting this time, for it seems the game rules have changed. I will get more into that later. For now I should work on getting my TESOL certificate completed.

Public vs. Private / Hakwon Dave's Esl chatter

So within my research I thought I would just see if the chatter over at Dave's ESL cafe would provide any legitimate information. Here for you are the responses I found reasonably suitable for contemplation.

Get into a public school. Work your way up. Use your extra office time to get a TESOL cert. and move up a level.

Public schools now start at 2.0 for 22 classes and move up at 200k per level till you reach the top then add 100k per year after that.

Add in 20k per extra afternoon class and even a newbie can pull in 2.4-2.5 + full benefits and not have the stress of a burnout hakwon.

I teach 28 classes of 40 minutes per week. (22 regular and 6 extra curricular).
I get 3 mil per month.
I (officially) get 6 weeks of annual paid holiday. Standard GEPIK contract - 14 WORKING days for the base + 5 working days because I work at a rural designated school). (as compared to 14 calender days in a hakwon).
(The reality was closer to 9 weeks last year).

I get return airfare paid out each year.
I get my severance paid out yearly.
I AM enrolled in the national pension plan. (gonna be a nice golden parachute next year when I leave).

I have medical (NHIC) coverage for myself AND my family (with a monthly premium of 2.54% of my salary).
I have a 60m2 furnished officetel.

Officially I have only ever presented my BA and TESOL cert. to my school.

BE CAREFUL when you only look at the salary as a number and not the whole remuneration package as a whole.

6.7 TEACHING hours per day (33.5 teaching hours per week) could end up being as high as 50 classes of 40 minutes per week and that would be a year in hakwon hell and you still make less than I do.

If you think my job is too good to be true then you can apply for it. I will be retiring (early) next March - there are 2 hectares of white sand beach front with my name on it calling to me.

My thoughts too! Definitely now that I am here and am building up the experience I can understand how there can be a difference.

bassexpander writes:

I taught at a "private" high school.

They are pretty similar to public schools, as 98% of their funding comes from the gov't (just a guess on that number, but I hear it's close). Private schools are able to follow a different set of rules regarding hiring/firing, nepotism (private schools are/were rife with it), etc..

The best advice I can give you is this: In the private school, the principal is KING. If the principal is good, the school is good. If the principal is difficult, then the school will be difficult.

I am definitely seeing this kind of attitude, the principal is well Queen at my school and we are her worker bees. But I wonder if it is any different at a public school, besides a boss is a boss.

I found another answer about public school details here:

2. You get much more holiday in public schools. However, you may still be asked to work during the school vacation; camps, developing teaching materials etc. In a private school you will have to work extra hours during school holidays as they run intensive courses. I hated intensives, but you can make overtime pay. Also the typical working hours will be different - public schools will be teaching in the morning, private in the afternoon and evening - depends on what time you personally prefer (I'm not a morning person).

This comparison seems pretty much my whole reason why I am thinking of trying a public school next. That is because of the intensives and that the teaching hours are mostly in the afternoon and evening.

Well that does it for me, I think I need to just let it all soak in.

Video + Contract details

I made another video of my home, this time concentrating on how I live in it and have made it my own.



Well, I hope you enjoyed that. :)

Now onto some more serious matters.

Examining my contract:

It saddens me to think I have to take a close look at my contract and not have 100% trust in the people I work for. But having a knowledge base of the rules can help one understand what happens in the workplace.

First I want to make sure that I am working the proper hours and if I am making overtime then I should be rewarded. So far from my calculations I have not been working overtime.

Below are quotes from my contract:

Teaching days will be Monday to Friday, with a maximum 8-hour block teaching schedule excluding lunch breaks. The 8-hour block will be an average calculated based on the 5 day workweek schedule, consisting of approximately 26.25 teaching hours per week.

Further more:

In the event employee receives overtime payment or during the annually scheduled intensive months (coming up next month) consisting of one month in the summer and one month in the winter, the maximum 8-hour block workday may not apply.

And.....

Total teaching hours per session in excess of the base requirement listed above is calculated as overtime payment according to the overtime payment rate... Employee may be required up to a maximum of 5 overtime teaching hours per week.

My impression and digestion of this information is that during the "intensive" month period next month those extra working hours will not be considered as overtime, due to that it mentions in the contract as being "scheduled" and makes the base rate moot.

One of the main points my supervisor made to me last Friday was that my teaching schedule right now is not that intense compared to what it could be, for example during the intensive summer period. When she spoke about this her tone was kind of like it was offensive for me to think that my current schedule is too much when in fact it isn't.

After looking over my schedule and doing the appropriate calculations, she ends up being right. I teach about 6-7 classes each day, which are 45 min long except for two 50 min classes. During the intensive period I could expect to teach 9-10 classes in a day, the increase being in the morning classes with the youngest kids.

To get a better understanding I will outline my current schedule:

Monday, Wednesday and Friday:
*Symbols: Y = youngest M = 9-12 yrs old O = oldest, teens

1. 1:20 - 2:00 Y
   
2. 3:00-3:45 M
   
3. 3:45-4:30 Y
   
4. 4:30 - 5:15 M
   
5. 5:15 - 6:00 M
   
6. 6:00 - 6:55 M
   
7. 6:55 - 7:45 M
   

Tuesday

1. 10:40 - 11:20 Y
   
2. 11:20 - 12:00 Y
   
3. 3:00 - 3:45 Y
   
4. 3:45 - 4:30 M
   
5. 4:30 - 5:15 M
   
6. 5:15 -6:00 M
   
7. 6:00 - 6:50 O
8. Phone teaching = 20 minutes
   

Thursday

1. 10:40 - 11:20 Y
   
2. 11:20 - 12:00 Y
   
3. 2:00 - 2:40 Y
   
4. 3:00 - 3:45 Y
   
5. 3:45 - 4:30 M
   
6. 4:30 - 5:15 M
   
7. 5:15 -6:00 M
   
8. 6:00 - 6:50 M
9. Phone teaching = 20 minutes (not sure if calculated into total hrs)
   

Add up the hours:
Monday = 5.41
Tuesday =5.33
Wednesday = 5.41
Thursday = 6 hrs
Friday = 5.41
Total weekly hours = 27.56

*Now I don't know if that means overtime...because when you go back and read the contract it says something about

The 8-hour block will be an average calculated based on the 5 day workweek schedule, consisting of approximately 26.25 teaching hours per week.

I know I am weak in math, but it boggles my mind what the average is based on and how you calculate it.

So if anyone can figure this out for me that would be great.

I am about 60% giving a crap right now whether my work hours are actually an issue. I know it is going to suck a lot when they increase but I have been forewarned and it is not like on the day of they tell me about it. I expect for my July schedule to have the increased number of classes listed on it. Then I can PLAN appropriately. Since you kind of never know when information is going to be given to you I am going to make sure I ask questions about the schedule ...etc.

Well back to work tomorrow.

Getting the Job (Part 1 - Choose your country - Examine China)

This is the start of my series Getting an expat teaching Job.

First off I think the most important aspect of this adventure is to consider closely which country you would like to go live and teach English in. This is an important factor because it will not only determine what your daily life will be like, but also the amount of salary you will earn along with the type of benefits you will receive.

I am going to examine three countries in particular; China, Japan and Korea. Let me say for the record that I am not an expert on this and can only give you my opinion, which is related to my research. Within this examination I will try to cover what I believe are important factors for choosing your home away from home.

1. Location (resources to outsiders, infrastructure, treatment of foreigners).



2. Salary (how much, what is deducted...)



3. Benefits (free airfare, free housing, free or partial health care, etc)
   

When I first had the desire to go live abroad my initial choice was China. However due certain conditions that affect my daily life I ended up not choosing China. However, this kind of choice for you is dependent on your necessities in life.

I. Let's Examine China:

China is an amazing country and of course that is an understatement. The country has thousands of years behind it with culturally diverse cuisine and language throughout its borders. But is China a good choice for an expat? Some questions I asked myself when considering China were:

• Does China have a good hospital system (due to I have a chronic yet stable illness)?
• We all know China is very polluted. Therefore would I like to live in a very polluted area?

It is obvious that my questions have to do with health. And without doing any research I came to the conclusion...that China is not a healthy place to live. Nor does it seem stable.

But don't take my word for it. Here a recent teacher from China explains the ups and downs and also how to best go about getting a job in China.

During my search period I looked for legitimate recruiters from China to help me get a teaching job. But most of the companies I found charged me a fee. This was not one of my goals. Also it seemed some companies did not tell you your final destination of where you would be teaching in China until you got there. So this too was a red flag for me.

Survey Says:

1. Location: While China does offer a unique culture, has a huge lot of cultural heritage sites to explore and also offers up fantastic cuisine it is also embedded within a society that is still drastically coming to age with the modern world. If this is your cup of tea than I say go for it! But I for one want a western toilet, a functioning infrastructure and a guarantee my lungs aren't going to collapse.
2. Salary: Basically I am going to quote what Smitha Murthy wrote in her blog.

" Don’t be persuaded by glib claims that the average salary of the Chinese teacher is only half of yours. Maybe true, but then the average Chinese teacher hasn’t left his country. So state your price, especially if you have a fancy degree. Inquire about your living conditions. Does your apartment have heating or an air conditioner? Small matter, but considering that I nearly froze to death in winter when the school decided to switch off the heating, you would feel cozier if you know these details. "

Therefore the salary seems like it could be a mixed bag...depending on your negotiating skills.

Here is a Chinese recruiter website that details salary, which looks like about $500 USD a month with just the basic requirements. This isn't much in my opinion and may be a generalization.

3. Benefits: From using that same website here are some details. Airfare is reimbursed, which means you will pay first then get paid back later. You get holiday pay travel expense and they say the include free housing.

Conclusion on China:

Remember I have never been to China and that working in China could be a very blissful and stress less time for all I know. However when you start looking at Korea and Japan you start to realize what a better deal these other countries become. To me it seems that getting a job in China has a lot of work to go through before you are finally given something reasonable. Of course many out there may seek the kind of adventure where they want to truly immerse themselves in a whole other political, social and cultural system, which I believe China can offer 100% all the way.

Stay tuned for PART II: Let's Examine Japan!