TEACHING IN KOREA vs TEACHING IN SPAIN
Hey Guise :) Remember me?
What happened to me? Here is the abridged version: Spain, Masters, busy, head exploded, putting self back together, answering your question now.
*Based off of my experience through the Franklin Institute MA in Teaching Program. Shall we begin? Let´s start.
In Korea you will teach for 4 hours in a public school under the EPIK, GEPIK or SMOE education system. You will also have 4 hours to desk warm and think about life or zone 100% the heck out and look at internet memes. This is Monday through Friday. Spain is a little bit different. In Spain you will teach for 4 hours 4 days a week with BEDA, UCETAM, or MEDDES –but depending on your area or program it could be 20 hours a week. You will not desk warm. After your 4 hours you will go home and have a nap, eat a sandwich, or do whatever the heck you want.
In Korea you are given a text book and you work alongside a co-teacher. You are expected to either plan the lessons, or play the games. This is the rule not the exception. If you have a really awesome co-teacher like I did you will have the freedom to plan the lessons the way you see fit and you will not have to stick to the textbook. I taught at a high school in Spain in a bilingual school, so my overall experience was a lot more relaxed. You will be given half of the class and you teach them in a separate classroom. The teacher will prepare something for you to work on with the students– and if you are luck they will not. In Spain you have the option to teach other subjects outside of English. I taught World History as well as english and debate. Some friends even got to teach P.E, music, and art.
One of the beautiful things about teaching in the Korean public school system is alllllllll those days off and that sweet vacation time! I think GEPIK now offers 20 paid days off including Korean holidays, and school and local holidays. I went to Australia for a month (Time it right :). I went to Cambodia and Thailand–and the plus part is that it is all paid for. Don´t expect that in Spain. The only time you get off are the holidays. And aint nobody paying for your trips but you. WAIT! before you stop reading let me say this– with Friday or Monday off you can take a vacation every weekend if you planned accordingly. Most places in Europe are 2.5 hours away from each other at max. While living in Spain I went to Morocco, Portugal, and Germany 3 times–this was during the school year.
Spain doesn´t have these winter and summer camps that make it mandatory for you to teach during the winter break or over the summer break. School finishes in June (or was it July?) and that is when your ass is done. Now that could be really awesome because you don´t have to return back to work until the end of September or the beginning of October. SWEET cookies unless your ass didn´t budget properly and I promise you you will not. You have an apartment to pay for and you don´t get paid when you are not working over the summer.
Korea has your back right there. They pay for your housing and you know when you go on that trip to Bali there will be some funds deposited into your account right in time. But damn that winter and summer camp makes it feel like you are not getting a full break. At least your airfare is paid for.
Korea takes care of medical and you pay into a pension so there is a sweet parting gift for you when you leave. Leaving Korea three years later lined my pocket with like 10k-12k or something crazy like that. And trust me I needed every penny of it because while I was making 2,300₩ a month in Korea rent free. Spain was a different story. My apartment (which I had to find on my damn own) cost me 250€ everything included, but I was only getting 1,000€ a month. that isn´t enough to live off of and travel. Food and transpo. is really cheap in Spain and clothes are cheap as well. But when that sun is staying out until almost 11pm during the summer so are you and so is your wallet. Now one positive thing about living in Spain is that you can private tutor legally on the side. You CAN NOT do this in Korea on your E-2 Visa. The students will ask you to teach them. Their parents will ask you. The great grandfather of your neighbor´s cousin will ask you and you can. This is a great way to make extra income. You can also teach at summer camps in Spain. They have summer camps in Germany, France, Ireland, and Italy. I taught at a Performing Arts Summer Camp in Italy . That is another blurb for another time.
I guess the main question is What are you looking for? Do you want to make money and save while seeing Asia but have to work harder for what you make? Or are you okay with making less (way less) and traveling Europe while working in a relaxed and chill environment. I´m telling you working and living in Spain was stress free. Well the kids aren´t as well behaved but nothing is perfect, right?
Because I had saved so much while living in Korea and I worked three weeks at a camp in Italy, I was able to stay one month in Berlin, travel to Paris, enjoy the beach in Athens and eat delicious food in Naples. A lot of teachers start in Asia and then make the move to Europe as their next big step. When researching new places to live I came across a lot of programs to live and work in France, Belgium, and a few other really cool places. The only problem with some of those programs is that there is an age cut off. So if you are reading this and over that dirty 30 YOU TOO OLD!
Teaching in Korea and Spain both have some amazing benefits (medical and health care ^_____________^) and they both have some serious drawbacks. But if you are thinking about moving to Spain after Korea, what is stopping you? Why not try something new and exciting. Keep on excelling and making yourself great. If you are thinking about teaching and want to know which one is “better than the other” I can´t help you with that. They are both great in their own way and our experiences will always be different. Get in where you fit in my friend!
Oh! I´m way too lazy to read over this. Sorry for grammar mistakes. HAHAH English isn´t my thing.
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