Tefl in South Korea

JFitzgerald

roosh wrote: »

I tried saying it to him again the other day, but he didn't seem to have a clue what I was talking about.

that's a pity.... could you ask someone else in the school?

JFitzgerald

ekevosu wrote: »

Mother of god - i've heard it all now - drying clothes on the floor. that's really filthy. urgh. yeah, i can only air the place when i'm there because anything can crawl in when i'm not looking and has already.

It's fairly common for Korean people to sleep on the floor, hence the no shoes. Floors in Korea would be cleaned daily very very well in most cases so it's not inconceivable to dry clothes on a hot clean floor. My floor on the other hand is a haven for dust and I don't have the time or enthusiasm to clean the floor every single day.[/QUOTE]

fair enough - each to their own. i wouldn't be able for that, though. the day you see me doing that will be the day you will see me ice-skating in hell.

red_bairn

JFitzgerald wrote: »

I need to get internet for my laptop. I'm lost without it.
does anyone know of any good internet providers here in seoul? what's the story with wireless? is it much dearer? the reception in my place is very, VERY poor so would that be a factor?
also wondering if i can bundle it with cable tv. does cable have many english channels? is it worth getting?
i saw a deal (with sky.com) for 28,000W a month.
would i be locked into a year/two year contract?
so many questions....
any help greatly appreciated.

KT telecom is the main provider and is giving more of it's share of the business to SK telecom soon.

You can probably get a HDTV (over the internet deal with NO need for pipe) for around 30,000 - 40,000 a month.

My boss pays about 30,000 a month from my salary towards this, water charge and the apartment building maintenance. So I don't know, some places may get it really cheap.

Maybe ask over in waygook.org for more advice.

roosh

JFitzgerald wrote: »

that's a pity.... could you ask someone else in the school?

he speaks the best english unfortunately.

EDIT: I'll have to see how things go. I put about €170 (W268k) of oil into the central heating on Wednesday. I had it on up to about 20-25 on the dial for about a day and a half and then turned it right down; it was empty by yesterday. I'll have to try and manage it better but it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

There is a nicer looking apt. building right behind the one I'm in. I'd love to find out how much they are per month and how much the key money is, and all that - also if there are any rooms available.

red_bairn

roosh wrote: »

he speaks the best english unfortunately.

EDIT: I'll have to see how things go. I put about €170 (W268k) of oil into the central heating on Wednesday. I had it on up to about 20-25 on the dial for about a day and a half and then turned it right down; it was empty by yesterday. I'll have to try and manage it better but it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

There is a nicer looking apt. building right behind the one I'm in. I'd love to find out how much they are per month and how much the key money is, and all that - also if there are any rooms available.

On the gas heating down here.

JFitzgerald

red_bairn wrote: »

KT telecom is the main provider and is giving more of it's share of the business to SK telecom soon.

You can probably get a HDTV (over the internet deal with NO need for pipe) for around 30,000 - 40,000 a month.

My boss pays about 30,000 a month from my salary towards this, water charge and the apartment building maintenance. So I don't know, some places may get it really cheap.

Maybe ask over in waygook.org for more advice.

Thanks. Sorry, HDTV? what's that?

red_bairn

JFitzgerald wrote: »

Thanks. Sorry, HDTV? what's that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television

That over the net.

JFitzgerald

red_bairn wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television

That over the net.

oh yeah - high definition. i thought you meant some high falutin' internet thingy. ok - i'll look into it. thanks.

red_bairn

JFitzgerald wrote: »

oh yeah - high definition. i thought you meant some high falutin' internet thingy. ok - i'll look into it. thanks.

For example, see what this Korean states:

http://koreabridge.net/listing/internet-service-sk-brodband-kt-lg-telecom

Also:

http://waygook.org/index.php/topic,12506.0.html?PHPSESSID=8cc4dcc6ac18b20e8ae633aee4cd8f39

JFitzgerald

roosh wrote: »

he speaks the best english unfortunately.

EDIT: I'll have to see how things go. I put about €170 (W268k) of oil into the central heating on Wednesday. I had it on up to about 20-25 on the dial for about a day and a half and then turned it right down; it was empty by yesterday. I'll have to try and manage it better but it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

There is a nicer looking apt. building right behind the one I'm in. I'd love to find out how much they are per month and how much the key money is, and all that - also if there are any rooms available.

god, that's a lot of money! with that in mind, i'd better keep an eye on my heating so. is your place really cold/damp? sorry to hear you're looking for another place already, you shouldn't have to be doing that.
saying that, i mightn't be far behind you. if things in my place deteriorate.

JFitzgerald

red_bairn wrote: »

For example, see what this Korean states:

http://koreabridge.net/listing/internet-service-sk-brodband-kt-lg-telecom

that's great, thanks. i'll definitely look into that. a short contract like that would be ideal.

cloneslad

JFitzgerald wrote: »

I need to get internet for my laptop. I'm lost without it.
does anyone know of any good internet providers here in seoul? what's the story with wireless? is it much dearer? the reception in my place is very, VERY poor so would that be a factor?
also wondering if i can bundle it with cable tv. does cable have many english channels? is it worth getting?
i saw a deal (with sky.com) for 28,000W a month.
would i be locked into a year/two year contract?
so many questions....
any help greatly appreciated.

I paid 10,000won for cable with Hello D. It was their Hello D-lux package, it came with every channel, lots of English channels like discovery, fox, bbc knowledge, bbc world, history, geography, star sports, etc etc etc. It also had a similar thing to sky back home, where it had loads of movies and tv shows / sports / comedy etc all saved that you could watch anytime. Most of them were free but any recent movies cost about 2,500won to view. I never watched the charged ones though.

roosh wrote: »

EDIT: I'll have to see how things go. I put about €170 (W268k) of oil into the central heating on Wednesday. I had it on up to about 20-25 on the dial for about a day and a half and then turned it right down; it was empty by yesterday. I'll have to try and manage it better but it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

That's nuts. I think someone may have stolen your oil. The highest my heating bill (gas - which also included my cooking, and showering) for a month was about 120,000won, if it even was that. That was for a large apartment in much colder months with the heating on quite high.

roosh

Here in the staff room with my co-teacher (vice principal et al); I had to remind him this morning about our 5th grade class - which he leads - and I've just reminded him about our 3rd grade class which was supposed to start 10mins ago, but he's showing no signs of budging!

ekevosu

roosh wrote: »

Here in the staff room with my co-teacher (vice principal et al); I had to remind him this morning about our 5th grade class - which he leads - and I've just reminded him about our 3rd grade class which was supposed to start 10mins ago, but he's showing no signs of budging!

Yep this is going to happen.....or you'll be fully prepared waiting in class and wondering why the class are so late only to go back to your staff room to be told the class had been canceled a few day ago.

Main thing is to remind him as naturally as possible and not as if he has done anything wrong. Never correct your boss in front of others either, whether other teachers or students, fairly obvious I know. He's probably very very busy and not just lazy as the teachers here have a lot of paperwork etc. My co -teacher does about 100 other things on top of English teaching.

roosh

ekevosu wrote: »

Yep this is going to happen.....or you'll be fully prepared waiting in class and wondering why the class are so late only to go back to your staff room to be told the class had been canceled a few day ago.

Main thing is to remind him as naturally as possible and not as if he has done anything wrong. Never correct your boss in front of others either, whether other teachers or students, fairly obvious I know. He's probably very very busy and not just lazy as the teachers here have a lot of paperwork etc. My co -teacher does about 100 other things on top of English teaching.

I've heard some of the stories alright.

roosh

cloneslad wrote: »

That's nuts. I think someone may have stolen your oil.

that though did come to mind

JFitzgerald

cloneslad wrote: »

I paid 10,000won for cable with Hello D. It was their Hello D-lux package, it came with every channel, lots of English channels like discovery, fox, bbc knowledge, bbc world, history, geography, star sports, etc etc etc. It also had a similar thing to sky back home, where it had loads of movies and tv shows / sports / comedy etc all saved that you could watch anytime. Most of them were free but any recent movies cost about 2,500won to view. I never watched the charged ones though.

thanks, that sounds great! i must look into that. was the contract a year or longer? i'd be looking for something ideally for 6 months - 10 months. dunno if that's possible.... i'd take a year if that's all i could get....

JFitzgerald

roosh wrote: »

that though did come to mind

yeah i'd look into that. it does seem ridiculously expensive.

cloneslad

JFitzgerald wrote: »

thanks, that sounds great! i must look into that. was the contract a year or longer? i'd be looking for something ideally for 6 months - 10 months. dunno if that's possible.... i'd take a year if that's all i could get....

Not sure, my school organised it. I just told them which one I wanted. They knew I wanted to have the football on a saturday night so they had it arranged the first few days I was there.

I think it may have been a 1 or 2 year contract.

roosh

does anyone know what the story is with the key money that schools pay for accommodation? Is it paid on a yearly basis? I'm just wondering if it would be easier to change if the lease on the place I am in was to end at some time during the year

roosh

JFitzgerald wrote: »

yeah i'd look into that. it does seem ridiculously expensive.

he told me that it would take about W500,000 to fill the tank, and I think he said that would do for around a month or something

JFitzgerald

roosh wrote: »

he told me that it would take about W500,000 to fill the tank, and I think he said that would do for around a month or something

tell your school about this. it doesn't seem right to me. keep a log/diary of anything like that so that you can build a case for moving. do you know if there was another teacher there before you? could you contact him/her to see how they got on? i got all the dirt from the last 2 teachers here.

cloneslad

roosh wrote: »

does anyone know what the story is with the key money that schools pay for accommodation? Is it paid on a yearly basis? I'm just wondering if it would be easier to change if the lease on the place I am in was to end at some time during the year

It's just a deposit you pay for a place, quite like at home. The larger the key money the lower the rent. If you pay a huge amount of key money, you have no rent.

Key money could range from 5 to 50million and more. For a small studio, you'd be looking at anywhere from 5-10million, paying 300-500k a month rent (depending on location and condition of apartment)

The key money is put down and a contract is signed, you don't get this money back until the end date of the contract / or (if agreed by the owner) when you find someone else to take over the lease and pay the key mone, allowing you to get a refund.

Contracts are usually signed for one year minimum, some might also state that you don't get your key money back until a new tenant has been found for the apartment,

cloneslad

JFitzgerald wrote: »

tell your school about this.

100% agree with this.

Tell them you want to move to a place with gas too. At least you won't run out of heating when you don't expect it.

ekevosu

roosh wrote: »

he told me that it would take about W500,000 to fill the tank, and I think he said that would do for around a month or something

Utter bull...500K for a month. In the midst of Winter here at minus 25 the NET's from this area said that their bill was about 400K so 500K at this time sounds extortionate. Sounds like you are heating everyone else's apartment there as well.

At the moment it should be low enough depending on usage. Try not to have it on 24/7 though as its not needed. Also you can heat just one room at a time in a lot of places.

roosh

JFitzgerald wrote: »

tell your school about this. it doesn't seem right to me. keep a log/diary of anything like that so that you can build a case for moving. do you know if there was another teacher there before you? could you contact him/her to see how they got on? i got all the dirt from the last 2 teachers here.

I've got contact details for the last teacher that was here, so I'm going to give him a shout either today or tomorrow

EDIT: I'll see how it goes with the next fill and with me managing it a bit better, but I'll keep note of it alright

roosh

ekevosu wrote: »

Utter bull...500K for a month. In the midst of Winter here at minus 25 the NET's from this area said that their bill was about 400K so 500K at this time sounds extortionate. Sounds like you are heating everyone else's apartment there as well.

At the moment it should be low enough depending on usage. Try not to have it on 24/7 though as its not needed. Also you can heat just one room at a time in a lot of places.

The idea that I was heating everyone else's apartment had also crossed my mind.

was that 400k a month they were paying? I think that is what my CT meant, that it would be around 500k a month in the depths of winter.

I got into the apartment on wednesday, and it was very cold. I got 268k of oil and left the heating on all night to heat the place. I left it on for the following 24hrs as well, at around 23 (the dial goes up to 45 I think). I turned it down to below 10 when I was leaving for school the next day and wasn't back until around 9.30pm. I turned it up to around 18 that night and it was pretty much gone the next day.

I'll have to get another fill and manage it better, and see how it works out.

EDIT: I don't think I can turn it on for individual rooms at all, it's a pretty unsophisticated control panel with just three dials and 4 buttons/lights; one for on/off, one for heating the water and one for switching back to heating - I'm not sure what the 4th does.

cloneslad

roosh wrote: »

The idea that I was heating everyone else's apartment had also crossed my mind.

was that 400k a month they were paying? I think that is what my CT meant, that it would be around 500k a month in the depths of winter.

I got into the apartment on wednesday, and it was very cold. I got 268k of oil and left the heating on all night to heat the place. I left it on for the following 24hrs as well, at around 23 (the dial goes up to 45 I think). I turned it down to below 10 when I was leaving for school the next day and wasn't back until around 9.30pm. I turned it up to around 18 that night and it was pretty much gone the next day.

I'll have to get another fill and manage it better, and see how it works out.

EDIT: I don't think I can turn it on for individual rooms at all, it's a pretty unsophisticated control panel with just three dials and 4 buttons/lights; one for on/off, one for heating the water and one for switching back to heating - I'm not sure what the 4th does.

I was able to turn mine off in the main bedroom/spare bedroom/kitchen/livingroom as to how I wanted. It wasn't on the panel though, I had a set of valves connected to four or five pipes under my kitchen sink. It was just a matter of closing these off, then the floor in each room would not be heated anymore.

badbuzz

Hi guys,

I'm currently gathering my documents together to send away to EPIK as part of my application for the February 2012 window.

Anyways, I've got my criminal record check and copy of my degree apostilled. However, I didn't realise that they needed to be notarized first, and planned on doing that this week. Is this going to cause me a major headache? I have visions of having to re-apply for a degree copy and a Garda clearence in order to notarize them first and then get them apostilled after in Dublin.

Any help appreciated. So annoying seeing as I have everything else collected and ready to go!

cloneslad

badbuzz wrote: »

Hi guys,

I'm currently gathering my documents together to send away to EPIK as part of my application for the February 2012 window.

Anyways, I've got my criminal record check and copy of my degree apostilled. However, I didn't realise that they needed to be notarized first, and planned on doing that this week. Is this going to cause me a major headache? I have visions of having to re-apply for a degree copy and a Garda clearence in order to notarize them first and then get them apostilled after in Dublin.

Any help appreciated. So annoying seeing as I have everything else collected and ready to go!

The garda check is already notarised as it's signed by the superintendent.

The degree copy should have been notarised by a commissioner of oaths then taken to the dept of foreign affairs.

I'm surprised the dept of foreign affairs stamped them without the commissioner of oaths having stamped it prior to it.

badbuzz

cloneslad wrote: »

The garda check is already notarised as it's signed by the superintendent.

The degree copy should have been notarised by a commissioner of oaths then taken to the dept of foreign affairs.

I'm surprised the dept of foreign affairs stamped them without the commissioner of oaths having stamped it prior to it.

OK. So what would be the best course of action to take regarding the degree? Is there anyway I can get it notarized after the apostille is on it?

cloneslad

badbuzz wrote: »

OK. So what would be the best course of action to take regarding the degree? Is there anyway I can get it notarized after the apostille is on it?

I have no idea, i've never known of anyone to do it backwards.

If in doubt, just copy it again, get it notarised then get it apostilled again. You'll only lose out on the €20 you initially paid.

badbuzz

cloneslad wrote: »

I have no idea, i've never known of anyone to do it backwards.

If in doubt, just copy it again, get it notarised then get it apostilled again. You'll only lose out on the €20 you initially paid.

I have no problem doing it that way, it's just going to cost me a lot of time.

I've just passed my EPIK interview and they want my documents to be sent as soon as possible really, for my own sake. I'll have to figure something out!

cloneslad

badbuzz wrote: »

I have no problem doing it that way, it's just going to cost me a lot of time.

I've just passed my EPIK interview and they want my documents to be sent as soon as possible really, for my own sake. I'll have to figure something out!

It'll take a fday. Just photocopy your degree again, get it notarised (10-20 euro) go to dept of foreign affairs, get it stamped. Then you're done.

It's ages until mid february anyway, so don't worry about it. Also you must enter the country withing 90days of receiving your visa, so you can't get it yet anyway.

badbuzz

cloneslad wrote: »

It'll take a fday. Just photocopy your degree again, get it notarised (10-20 euro) go to dept of foreign affairs, get it stamped. Then you're done.

It's ages until mid february anyway, so don't worry about it. Also you must enter the country withing 90days of receiving your visa, so you can't get it yet anyway.

Thanks for the help/info lads...

The worrying stems from the fact that EPIK are first come, first serve, and apprently the places for the larger metropolitan cities (my top 3 choices are Seoul, Busan and Incheon, with Seoul being my major priority) fill up really quickly.

The copy of my degree that I got apostilled is a copy I received from the NUI HQ in Dublin - it has a seal that is lifted from the paper, quite official looking... A notorized & apostilled photocopy of this will definitely suffice for EPIK?

cloneslad

badbuzz wrote: »

Thanks for the help/info lads...

The worrying stems from the fact that EPIK are first come, first serve, and apprently the places for the larger metropolitan cities (my top 3 choices are Seoul, Busan and Incheon, with Seoul being my major priority) fill up really quickly.

The copy of my degree that I got apostilled is a copy I received from the NUI HQ in Dublin - it has a seal that is lifted from the paper, quite official looking... A notorized & apostilled photocopy of this will definitely suffice for EPIK?

A photocopy is all you need, they don't give a cr*p, as long as it's notarised and apostilled then that's good enough for them.

badbuzz

cloneslad wrote: »

A photocopy is all you need, they don't give a cr*p, as long as it's notarised and apostilled then that's good enough for them.

Good stuff, that's a weight off my mind. Just to confirm it with you cloneslad, the Garda Cert doesn't need to be notorized as it's already signed? The apostille stamp I have on it cites the Inspector who signed it as the party acting in the capacity of a Garda Siochana

cloneslad

badbuzz wrote: »

Good stuff, that's a weight off my mind. Just to confirm it with you cloneslad, the Garda Cert doesn't need to be notorized as it's already signed? The apostille stamp I have on it cites the Inspector who signed it as the party acting in the capacity of a Garda Siochana

Yup, just as long as it was apostilled by the dept of foreign affairs.

roosh

badbuzz wrote: »

I have no problem doing it that way, it's just going to cost me a lot of time.

I've just passed my EPIK interview and they want my documents to be sent as soon as possible really, for my own sake. I'll have to figure something out!

it might be worth taking the safe option I'm just wondering if there would be any real difference between getting it notarised before and after? The only difference I can imagine is that the foreign affairs stamp might go over the notarisation, but I'm not certain of that - anyone know?

kraggy

I didn't think you could get the apostille before the notarisation. I thought the apostille was confirmation that the notarisation was genuine?

Maybe I'm wrong. Ring the DFA.

cloneslad

kraggy wrote: »

I didn't think you could get the apostille before the notarisation. I thought the apostille was confirmation that the notarisation was genuine?

Maybe I'm wrong. Ring the DFA.

That's what I thought too. It's why I don't understand why the DFA apostilled it.

roosh

is it standard procedure to get charged for school dinners, and to make a contribution towards the cost of the tea and coffee in the staff room, and to pay for the "teachers meetings"?

EDIT: actually, it's no big deal, I was getting confused between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands

kraggy

roosh wrote: »

is it standard procedure to get charged for school dinners, and to make a contribution towards the cost of the tea and coffee in the staff room, and to pay for the "teachers meetings"?

The dinner is taken out of your wages at the end of the month.

We don't have tea or coffee in our school. We bring in our own. They won't even turn on the A/C in my classroom unless it's about 33 degrees. So if its 30ish, I have to sweat it out while teaching. My clothes do be drenched.

Our principal is pure mean though. I know other people who can turn on the A/c as they please in their schools.

Not sure what you mean by teachers meetings.

roosh

kraggy wrote: »

The dinner is taken out of your wages at the end of the month.

We don't have tea or coffee in our school. We bring in our own. They won't even turn on the A/C in my classroom unless it's about 33 degrees. So if its 30ish, I have to sweat it out while teaching. My clothes do be drenched.

Our principal is pure mean though. I know other people who can turn on the A/c as they please in their schools.

Not sure what you mean by teachers meetings.

I think "teachers meetings" is just another way of saying piss up

roosh

I was just making a cup of tea earlier and the vice principal, out of nowere, asks me if I'm a christian. I know the koreans are pretty forward about asking this kind of stuff but it was unusual; so I had to give a brief rundown on my philosophical/spiritual position

roosh

I'm delighted to find out that my heating issue was just a false alarm! I do actually have oil left, and a lots of it too

when I checked the pipe/level indicator the other day I was expecting to see a column of brown liquid to indicate the level - as it is at home, as I could've sworn it was when it first went in, and as I would expect oil to be - but the liquid is actually clear.

roosh

is the tap water here ok to drink after boiling does anyone know?

ekevosu

roosh wrote: »

is the tap water here ok to drink after boiling does anyone know?

My water is okay here but best to ask for your location.

Also teachers meetings are staff dinners etc which are basically pissups, trips away occasionally. I pay 40k a month for it. We have our own English wing so no contributions to tea etc are asked for. Also I pay about 30k or so a month for school dinners. This is paid by me separately, not taken out of wages.

dapto1

roosh wrote: »

is the tap water here ok to drink after boiling does anyone know?

Yeah I'd check for your area. I've heard a lot about old lead pipes in certain parts of the country, but this is purely anecdotal. Boiling does nothing about heavy metals, so I'm just playing it safe and got a Brita filter. I also fill up from the water cooler in school when I can.

rich1874

Hi Guys


Just a quick question, i'm thinking of teaching in S Korea after Christmas and i strated my application with Tiger English a few weeks ago. I have received Garda clearance and just have to get my documents stamped with an apostille (garda clearace cert and degree scroll).

Recently i received an email from another company called teachersforsouthkorea(TFSK), through a grad ireland email alert. They deal specifcally with EPIK for public school teaching, so i decided to send an email asking for the application procedure. They sent me quite a substantial list of documents i must gather, included signed references and notarised college transcripts, thing which tiger english have not asked for.

So my question, why haven't Tiger English requested these documents, is this TFSK comapny more repuatable (by virute of requesting far more paperwork)? Has anyone had any experience with either of these companies and if so can you offer advice on who i should proceed with? I'm kind of looking to have all my documents ready by the end of this week and was warned by TFSK that once I begin my application process, not to remain in contact with any other recruiting agency and this could affect my chances. (The pros of staying with Tiger English are natually that i won't have to provide any of these extra documents thereby speeding up my application)

Please advise, thanks!