Okay, folks. Get ready for some Real Talk. This post is directed at anyone who’s considering teaching here in South Korea, especially those intending to teach through EPIK.Â
Here’s the deal: don’t let anyone tell you this isn’t a “real job.” You’ll hear it plenty both before you make the trip and once you arrive. You’ll say, “Oh, I’m going to teach abroad for a year (or two or three or ten).” And someone will inevitably respond, “Yeah, I heard that’s a good way to do a gap year.” Or they’ll say, “Isn’t that what people do when they want to party on weeknights and get paid for it?”
And the truth is, yes. I have met many an individual here who works a 9-5 (okay, 8:40-4:40, generally) teaching English in order to finance nights on the town. However, don’t think that means you won’t have responsibilities, stress, and at least a semi-full workload. You’ll still be working in an office. You’ll still have to wake up early, look decent, and interact with coworkers and students when you wish you could still be in bed. You’ll still have to do paperwork, and stare at your computer monitor for hours, and, above all else, you will still have to deal with office politics.Â
You may be planning to come to Korea for the hot celebrities, or the food, or the nightlife, or simply to pay off your astronomical student loans. I hope that last one isn’t your only reason for being here, but trust me, I understand that it’s a valid one.Â
However, your coworkers will have vastly different priorities. This is their career. They studied hard to get degrees in education. They teach for a living, and most of them plan on doing so long term. The desk you occupy for a year or two is probably the desk they plan to occupy until retirement. (Figuratively. They change schools every few years. More on that another time.)
And, like in any job, your coworkers will have conflicts. Sometimes with you. They’ll want you to do a drama club that you won’t be able to lead effectively because you’re busy teaching an upper level composition class. Some of them will want you to teach a conversation class for the teachers, and others will find this unfair, because you turned them down for the drama club venture. And they’ll try to make it all fit into your contract, because the school can’t afford to pay you for extra work.Â
I’m not telling you this to scare you. I’m telling you this because I want you, whoever you are, dear reader, to understand that you’re not embarking on a year-long vacation. Maybe you won’t really care about teaching (but I hope you do; your students and coworkers deserve a native teacher who cares), but you’ll certainly care about your mental health. And the best way to ensure that you stay sane in this job, despite the bumps in the road, is to remember that it really, truly is a job.Â
You’ll have rough days. Your students will misbehave, be unenthused, maybe even filch things from your desk (your possessions are not safe; kids like to test the waters and see what they can get away with). Your coworkers will speak in rapid fire Korean and won’t bother stopping to translate. Sometimes they’ll disagree with you; some may even dislike you. The administration will ask you to do things you don’t want to do, and sometimes you’ll have to oblige, even if it doesn’t seem fair, because, well, it’s not a breach of contract.Â
But you’ll have some pretty spectacular days, too. You’ll start to catch a few words of that rapid fire Korean. You’ll make friends with your coworkers. They’ll take you to bars and cool parks and maybe even invite you to their weddings or send you pictures of their newborn babies. And your students? Your students will pay you unsolicited compliments. They’ll struggle and ask for your help, and terrifying though that may be, it’s intensely gratifying. They’ll share their interests and talents with you, give you random bits of origami, make you (and only you) and sandwich for show and tell. And they’ll improve. Maybe not at English, but they’ll improve, and they’ll grow and change and smile, and you’ll know that at least some of that is because of you.   Â
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