Teach English in South Korea - Great Pay & Great Adventures Await!

I am so extremely grateful for Adventure Teaching. The process, although long and tedious, was very smooth and easy. The employees are friendly, and answered every question I had. My recruiter, Kelly, went above and beyond to help me with whatever she could. I'm glad I went through an agency, because now, if I have any concerns here, I have people to go to.

My experience in Korea have been pretty good, so far. I have only been here for a little over a month, but I can already tell that this was the right decision for me.

The school isn't exactly how I had imagined it to be, however. They are very unorganized, and leave things until the last minute. I feel very stressed with the amount of work, and the little planning time that they give us. My co-teachers, however, have been a life-saver. If it weren't for them, I would of probably left during the first week. I love the students and the teaching part so much though, that I am pushing through all the extra hard parts with the administration.

Outside of school has been amazing. There are always things to do, and places to go. I recently went on an Adventure Korea trip to Gyeongju for the Cherry Blossom Festival and to hike up MT Namsan. It was fantastic!

Overall, I am having a wonderful experience in South Korea. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings :)

I was very satisfied after using Adventure Teaching. Kelly my recruiter was so incredibly helpful, in getting me over to Korea. She gave me great advice, and she listed to what I wanted. While I was very flexible in my preferences, Kelly helped place me in a good school in a great part of South Korea!

My first full day in Korea (a Sunday) was awful, I just wanted to go back home. I walked around my city where I was going to stay and was completely overwhelmed by the Korean billboards and neon lights everywhere. I went back to my hotel and hid until work Monday. Thankfully I brought dried fruit and granola bars so I had that to eat.

Since my first day, every day has gotten much better. I have met friends by getting plugged in to a small group at a church. Some people chose social groups but I really like my church small group. They have really helped me with my transition. Every weekend they take me someplace new. I have been here 2 months now and I am considering another year.

If you are not a morning person this is the job for you. I usually wake up at 10 am go for a jog, come home by 11:30, get ready for work, then I'm out the door by 12:40 to be at work by 1pm. I work an 8 hour day with at least 3-4 hours of planning and 4-5 hours of teaching, depending on the day. I get home by 9:30 pm. Sometimes I wake up earlier to run errands but this is pretty much my day.

One SUPER IMPORTANT thing, if you think the whole world runs like the country you are from, and you are not a flexible person, then don't bother signing up. You will end up having a miserable time and make everyone else miserable. I have a coworker who makes everyone's life miserable at work because he is not flexible, and thinks Korean work should cater to his country's work ethic. You will work hard in Korea, even when you are sick. Sometimes you will be asked to work extra (this rarely happens but it happens). All the negative reviews you read online especially about Avalon are more than likely from people like this.

I have taught in Sanbon for three months and got to know amazing people and adorable kids. I was really glad AT had placed me there.
After three months, the school had me let go and I had to find a new job if I wanted to remain in Korea. I kept in touch with AT the whole time and in 2 weeks they found me a new place with similar working conditions in a very nice place.

I highly value the work of all the AT advisors, who are both really friendly and good at what they are doing.

Keep up the good work, we need people like you!

The fact that all the staff has lived and taught in South Korea and have gone through the same experiences and emotions makes it such a personable program. Hearing your recruiter say, " This was really helpful when I was living there..." really ensured me that I was in good hands. After my very first phone conversation with Kelly I immediately knew that I had made the right decision. She was there every single step of the way, encouraging me on and getting me pumped to leave as I worked my way through the visa process. Having experienced nothing but headaches going through a visa process in another country, I must say it doesn't get any easier than having AT's checklist with each step written out for you in full detail. Kelly even went out of her way looking for job opportunities to help me get ahead of schedule and had job leads and interviews lined up and waiting immediately after I had returned home from a vacation. I cannot say enough nice things about my experience working with my recruiter and truly would recommend this life changing opportunity to anyone. Life here is good, as I am within a 5 min. walk to school and have everything I could possibly need within walking distance. I am even still receiving emails from both AT and The Arrival Store checking in to see how things are going so far. A very personable and enjoyable experience the entire way. There is hope for companies who deliver what they say!

So far Korea has been amazing! The city is beautiful and the kids are adorable! The people at adventure teaching were super helpful and made this transition a lot easier then I had thought. From the first email to the last, through numerous phone calls, stories and pep talks Kelly has been awesome at helping me and encouraging me to take on this experience. The arrival store was a great plus and it was nice to have stuff here when we arrived. Korea has been challenging, mostly just the language, but for the most part the people are extremely nice and when all else fails, just smile. I'm thankful for this opportunity and would recommend adventure teaching to all my friends!

Leaving home for most is an experience that is filled with mixed emotions. You are excited to take on new adventures while you are entering a world you have researched, asked questions about and done whatever you could to make yourself ready but you still have so many questions. If you are thinking about taking on Korea and the journeys’ it has to offer, you are in extremely capable hands with Adventure Teaching (AT).
I came to Korea with my girlfriend and in late February. We got here with one week left in the school year and the biggest thing that I suffered from was jet leg. Culture shock I think is something that I was expecting to be swarmed with, but it was switching from the Eastern time zone to fourteen hours ahead here in Korea.
Let me tell you a little bit about our day. We have been here for seven weeks, but teaching for six. It has taken us about a month to six weeks to get into a good routine. That is normal. The one thing you need to know coming here, you are not going to be able to walk into your job and be set into a perfect routine, nor are you expected to be. We work at a Hagwon (which is a private school) and our days start at 9 am. The students start arriving at 9:30 and classes start at 9:50. We have 5 periods throughout the Kindy (kindergarten) day teaching things such as reading, writing, math, science, art and PE (gym). We have lunch provided which is nice, because one, it cuts down on our expenses and two, it helps immerse yourself into the culture. Our Kindy classes finish at 2:30 as we see our students off, our Elementary students start to arrive.
Our Elementary classes which go until 6 pm. These students come in from other schools to do extra schooling focused entirely in English. The abilities of these students vary. You can have very high English speaking students to very raw English aptitude. With these classes you could be teaching anything from reading, writing, spelling, speech, to science.
One thing that we learned better when we got here was that Korean ages differ from what they call the international age. In Korea, the day you are born you are instantaneously one. Then on New Years you gain one more year. So, for example, if you are born on December 31st you are one, then the following day is January 1st, you then become two. So when you are teaching your students you are seven, in all reality, they are 5 internationally.
Now that we have been here for a good amount of time, and we have gotten into our groove at school we have really started to take on certain aspects of Korea with some traveling. We are going to Seoul next weekend for the Cheery Blossom Festival! This happens in April, or when the weather allows the tree’s to bud.
Another great touristic aspect is that Korea is a great jumping point for traveling. You can very easily fly to Japan, China or wherever you want or need to go. We have our summer vacation in late July early August and we have planned a 10 day trip to Japan. How groovy is that!
When it came to choosing and planning for this adventure, we were treated so fairly by Adventure Teaching. They were patient and understanding of anything and everything we threw at them. Their response was typically we understand each situation is different and we just want you to have the best experience in a country that we have grown to love, and we want you to love it as much as we did. As I said our situation was difficult. My girlfriend has an education degree so there was a high demand for her in international schools. She had three offers but we wanted to be in the same school. And that’s what we stuck to. When the time came, they found us the job we were looking for. We got hired in Cheongju, which is an hour and half bus ride from Seoul.
Our placement coordinator made herself available to us at all times. She understood our need to ask questions, and she was able to comfort certain discomforts with personal experiences and experiences she had heard from colleagues and friends who had also embarked on Korean teaching experiences. She was honest and did not sugar coat things. So we were as best prepared as we could be. But do your research, however do be naïve and think you are going to be fully prepared, just be as best prepared as you can be. This is a new culture, a new land, a new language and a new adventure that can be the best thing that ever happened to you, just do me one favour (and this the Canadian spelling) have an open mind. If you do you will be opening yourself up to a beautiful culture, once in a life time landscapes and experiences many only dream of, but ones you can make your reality!

My life in South Korea has been amazing so far! There are so many things to love, and I still have so much to try and see. Sometimes it feels like there aren't enough days or hours in a week.
Teaching children isn't always easy, but it is worth it. I have quickly come to care about all of my students Plus, life outside of school isn't too shabby either. Seoul is a beautiful city with something exciting happening on almost every street.
At this point, I could write five pages about all of the things I love, but I think everyone who is curious about this experience should try it and find out for themselves.
With that being said, Adventure Teaching is the way to go. They have been so helpful in guiding me through this process, and I am so happy that they were able to get me here.
My recruiter was there for me every step of the way-every silly question and minor panic attack. I feel like it is the people have made this big transition an easy and fun one for me.
For those interested-I think it is all a matter of coming to Korea with the right attitude.You have to keep an open mind and be prepared to accept the differences between your culture and the Korean culture. Just a little understanding goes a long way.
I jumped in, and I have no regrets.