Uijeongbu is located just north of Seoul and is connected to Seoul by subway. There are plenty of things to see and do in Uijeongbu like mountain climbing or visiting temples, in addition to many restaurants, shopping centers, cinemas, coffee shops and Western bars.
Please take a look at this link for more information on Uijeonbu:
(A big thanks to one of our Travel and Teach teachers, Breda Lund, for this!)
Buddha’s birthday, a national holiday and the most important Buddhist festival, is coming up May 21. What better way to celebrate than an overnight templestay in historic Gyeongju!
Plus, since it’s a three-day weekend, and Gyeongju isn’t far from Busan, it’s a great opportunity to head to the beach. So after getting in touch with our spiritual side at the temple, we’ll go experience a different type of relaxation in Busan.
Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Dynasty, which was was Buddhist and highly artistic. So it’s no surprise that it produced the most magnificent temples in Korea. Built during the sixth century, Golgulsa temple was carved from solid rock and is the only cave temple in Korea. Visitors and pilgrims come to Golgulsa to see the ancient Buddha statue, original to the temple, as well as the unique cave sanctuaries.
Another exceptional aspect of this temple is its focus on seonmudo, or zen martial arts, which we may observe and experience during our visit, along with other traditional practices like a tea ceremony and zen meditation.
We will also visit the most well-known sights of the city: Bulguksa, the most famous temple in all of Korea, and Seokguram, a unique man-made grotto shrine.
Then, we’ll head to Busan to visit the famous Haeundae Beach, with its seafood restaurants, aquarium and miles of sand!
For more information on itineraries and how to sign up for this trip click here
Icheon is a city located just south of Seoul but is considered a commuter city and is only about an hour away via bus. It is in the Gyeonggi province and is close to other cities such as Yongin, Gwangju and Anseong. Icheon is famous for its Korean traditional ceramics, its hot springs, festivals and markets.
Please take a look at these links for more information on Icheon:
2:00 pm to 10:00 pm/ 50 minutes per class
- teaching hours (up to 30 hours a week)
- working hours include breaks and meal times
Working Days
Monday to Friday
Curriculum
Yes, provided by the school
Age of Students Elementary, middle school aged children and some adult students
Class size
8 students per class
Foreign Teachers
4
Korean Teachers
8
Vacation
4 paid vacation days in the summer 4 paid vacation days in the winter
Salary
Overtime Payment 2.1 million won per month
Overtime pay will be 18,000 won per hour
Severance
Equivalent to one month’s salary, upon completion of your contract
Housing/Distance (apartment to school) Single, fully furnished apartment provided by the school
10 -15 minutes walking distance
Health Insurance
50% covered by the school; 50% covered by you Airfare
Round trip airfare provided
If you are interested in this position or in teaching in Korea in general, please fill out your application form here.
Spring has arrived, or is trying to at least and now is the time to get out and start enjoying what Korea has to offer!
Adventure Korea is a wonderful resource for weekend away options or taking some adventures without the worry of planning (that is what teaching is for!):
Here are 3 upcoming festivals to check out:
Daegaya Kingdom Festival:
This festival brings about the opportunity for you to experience a bit of Korea’s history, dating back to the Daegaya Kingdom. At this festival you can enjoy many experiences, like making bows and armor similar to those used at this time, dressing up in authentic costumes of warriors, pottery making, and/or visit the some 200 tombs in this area.
If you are a lover of nature, here you will have the opportunity to watch real butterflies hatching before your eyes. There are thousands of butterflies and other insects on display and flying around the various pavilions.
We are currently looking for 3 Korean American or Korean Canadian teachers for one of our schools near Seoul. The positions start in July and the school is looking for people who have degrees in Education or in Teaching.
The size of the apartment that you will be given to stay in while you are teaching in Korea will depend on the city and area where you are working. Below is a video by an English teacher who is working and living in the northern part of Seoul. The apartment is an ‘Office-tel’, which have a living area on the main level with the sleeping area on the second level. These Office-tels are also used for businesses as a cheap alternative to a full office. Check out the video below:
Experts who have written about culture shock have identified four distinct phases that anyone going to live abroad passes through; the amount of time it takes for a person to get through each phase can vary with the individual, but in general, each phase will last longer than the preceding one. The four phases are:
Fascination: an initial period when everything is new and exciting where there are seemingly few problems since everyone is being extremely accommodating. The predominant feeling during this period is one of exhilaration at finally being abroad after a long period of anticipation.
Friendship: immediately following the initial excitement comes the stage where the need to structure a new social support system to replace the one that was left behind at home becomes very important. At this time there is an understandable, but potentially dangerous tendency to find people from the same part of the world for friendship. The problem is that relationships created at this stage could turn into a ‘we-they’ scenario.
Frustration: After enough time has elapsed to become familiar with the new surroundings, as well as to become familiar with the requirements of the new job, a stage of depression begins. The result is that hostility towards anyone in your new life becomes the prominent feeling. It seems that every situation, no matter how big or small, turns into something that becomes overly frustrating. This is the period where frustration is at a level where the entire experience is seen as a mistake.
Fulfillment:Although the previous stage is very difficult to overcome, the good news is that the next period is one where the entire experience of teaching overseas becomes fulfilling and rewarding. The understanding of the new surroundings and the people that are interacted with daily now become interesting. Compromises are made which lead to a realization that conflicts can be worked out.
As with any new experience in life, it is what you make of it.
When you hear about Korea, a few things may come to mind: The bustling sprawling capital city of Seoul; the mountains providing the backdrop for cities such as Daegu; or perhaps Buddhist Temples of Tongdosa. Wherever your mind wanders when you think about what you will see and experience in your journey teaching English in Korea, you may be surprised as to the other many fascinating sights and scenes available to you.
As you are preparing for your trip to become an ESL teacher in Korea, you are most likely concerned with things like getting your documents all prepared for your working visa or making last minute plans to see your friends and family one last time before you go on your way for a year or more. You are probably also thinking about what you will do in your first day of class or what your co-teachers will be like or are possibly scrambling to finish up the remaining hours of your TEFL certification course.
When all is said and done, and you are as prepared as you can be, stop for a minute and think about what’s ahead. You are on your way to a whole new world, one that most travelers of South east Asia do not bother to stop and check out. Korea will now be your home, and one that you will soon get adapted to. Whether you come from Canada, or the US, you will be entering a world that boasts some of the most beautiful scenes and ancient treasures that Asia has to offer. And the best part is, that all of these are just a few hours away from you.
People tend to forget that there is more to life in Korea than having a good time with your friends at the bars on the weekends, or exploring the crazy all night shopping malls in Dongdaemun Seoul. While there is nothing wrong with making friends and getting a little bit crazy on the weekends, do consider coming home from the bar early on a Friday night so that you can get up and make that train to the ancient tombs in Gyeongju or to the Jinju Castle. It will be well worth it.
Transportation in Korea is very inexpensive and also very convenient. If your apartment is not close to a train station for example, there will surely be a bus close to you that will get you there; if you arrive at your destination but are not sure where to go from there, ask a local taxi driver who will either take you there or show you the way. If you get lost anywhere in Korea, just ask someone if they speak English and are able to help you. You might get lucky and find someone who has confidence in their English, or you might find someone that is a little bit shy, but even they will have some knowledge of English and should be able to assist you. In either case, Koreans are very friendly people and are more than willing to help foreigners when they can. They are also a very proud people, so as long as you make an attempt to first speak in Korean to them (a simple anyounghasayo!), then you will get the reception that you are looking for.
While learning a few Korean words and phrases will definitely help you in your daily life, speaking Korean is not necessary to teach English in Korea.
A lot of foreigners mistakenly relate the Korean language to Chinese, and think that Korean has thousands of characters, but this is not actually the case. Hangul (the Korean language), has only 24 characters which are made up of 14 consonants and 10 vowels. Each character block will have a combination of at least 2 of the 24 Hangul letters, which are known as Jamo. Hangul was originally created so that every Korean citizen, regardless of economical or social status would be fully literate. It therefore takes a surprisingly short time to learn how to read and write Hangul; one could literally learn the basics on how to do so in a few hours.
If you are interested in getting the basics down, here are a few websites that will help you get started:
Offering material that is free to download. Also included are software bundles that are offered for a reasonable price. The BYKI software is great for visualization as well as pronunciation, as it comes complete with flashcards with audio to go along with each word.
This is a great website that starts with the basics of learning the characters of the Korean alphabet. The site describes how to read and use the Korean characters and how to combine them in order to form words.
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