Arrangements have been pretty sudden recently, but the plan has been in the works for almost a year now. Anyway, my girlfriend and I are leaving for Korea tomorrow night to teach English for a year. We'll be teaching/living in Changwon which is just outside of Busan; about 20 minutes from the southern coast (pretty much as far away as you can get from the North Korean border ). We're both excited and will use this opportunity to travel our asses off. The post comes pretty late as we are leaving tomorrow, but has anyone been to this part of the world? Any suggestions? We're well prepared and have done tons of research, but any advice and/or first hand experience would be welcome.
Here's a blog by two Canadians currently teaching English in Korea. You might find it helpful. http://thedailykimchi.blogspot.com/
I went to Seoul 4 times between 10/2005 and 10/2006 for a period of about 12 weeks. I never made it down to Busan or any other cities because I was too busy working, but everything about Seoul was great. The people were hospitable and I never felt uncomfortable or threatened in any way. Food was incredibly cheap (as long as you we stayed away from the American restaurants) and very good. The Koreans do not waste anything and will generally cook anything they can catch. There was not a lot of English spoken outside the hotel staff. There was no sales tax and no tipping. I suspect you will have yourselves a great time. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me through the board and I'll try and answer them.
If you could pick me up a couple of these while you are there to save on shipping, that would be awesome. Seriously though, that's awesome, and I'm jealous. My wife and I talked about teaching ESL overseas before the boy was born. Congradulations and have a great time..and keep us posted!
If she's hot make sure she is a Woman..... LOL Korea the #1 place in the world for sex changes and cosmetic surgery. My Friends bring back pictures and OMG I couldnt tell lol they had a picture of 10 woman and told me to pick the 3 that were guys... I guessed wrong because they were all MEN Blah
Make sure she is a woman. You haven't seen Bangkok have you? Actually, they haven't even had operations. It is very sad.
I taught in Korea two years. Enjoy, the food is awesome, culture and people are great. I still think about moving back. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Since you leave tomorrow this might not help, but if you have big feet buy a years worth of shoes. You can't find them off an army base there.
respect...if there's one thing i've learnt about being around koreans...it's to show them courtesy and respect...apparently it's a very big part of their culture...i see my friends always bowing and saying hello to their elders...
Korea is alot of fun.. Busan is 2nd largest city but Seoul is Much bigger. Seoul- Korea's NY Busan-Koreas LA..You should try living in Seoul also..
