The BIG Question: Korea or China?

Should you go to Korea or China to teach? It’s a tough question that depends on your priorities and circumstances.

To give you some background about me: I’ve taught in Korea for nearly five years, and I’m currently doing my second year in China. I started out teaching at language academies in Korea, then took a job teaching subjects (Science, Social Studies, English Language Arts, Math) at an elementary school whilst pursuing certification. Once I finished that, I ended up heading to China from Korea. China was *not* on my radar at all but a good opportunity came up—so I took it!

I’ve noticed that a lot of misinformation gets tossed around about both places, so I wanted to spell out many of the differences that I’ve noticed.

I’ll write about Korea and China in general as much as I can, but in essence I’m comparing Seoul to Shanghai. I spent most of my time in Korea either in or around Seoul. Even when I didn’t live in Seoul, my entire social life was there. I’ve traveled around China a bit, but I live in Shanghai. I do talk to people who don’t live in Shanghai regularly.

I’ve taught EFL and I’ve taught at an international school.  I’ll try to cover both—although I haven’t taught EFL here in China. Again, I am regularly interacting with people who do.

Language Exchanges? Why I Switched to Private Tutoring to Learn Korean

At Yeouido Park with a (good) language exchange partner and some of his friends

 This is my third year in Korea, and I've previously written about the steps I have taken to improve my Korean.

Well, the neighborhood class I was taking ended in June, and after that I needed to figure out another way.

Language Exchanges

First, I decided to find a language exchange partner. That would be a situation where I would help a Korean with their English, and in exchange, they would help me with my Korean. That sounds like a good idea, right?

I tried this site, called Conversation Exchange, because there were lots of Koreans on it. When I filled it out, I began to receive messages from Koreans, usually men, who wanted to improve their English. They either needed it for a job, or their university course, they would say. That sounded promising.

It's Chuseok Time!

 The kids at school in traditional Korean clothing, called the Hanbok, and making rice cakes

 
Chuseok or 추석 is the biggest and most important holiday in Korea. It celebrates the year's harvest and it's a time for Korean families to come together, be thankful and recognize the contributions of their ancestors.

It's a family holiday known for its food and gift giving. They come together and eat traditional food, and its staple is called Songpyeon (송편), which is a type of rice cake that is rolled into a ball and contains a sweet filling. There's also quite a bit of gift giving, where practical presents are given to friends and neighbors. Ideally, Korean families will visit the hometowns of their ancestors to pay respects to their spirits. It's technically one day, but it's celebrated as a three day holiday.

This year's gift box!

There are some similarities to Thanksgiving, so Chuseok is often described to foreign people as "the Korean Thanksgiving." 

You can read more about the Chuseok holiday here and here.

Since I'm not Korean, I don't have family that's from here, leaving me with little to celebrate. While I've heard of it happening before, it's not really common for the locals to invite foreigners to celebrate with them. It's strictly a family thing, so we are normally outside of the bubble of celebration.

My God They're Bold: Frustrations with Korean Boys and Their Solicitations for Sex

25th birthday. A day or night out with "friends" can easily lead to disaster.

 
One Sunday evening a couple of months ago, I met with a potential language exchange partner. I wanted to practice using Korean, but the course I was taking ended, and wasn't going to start up again for several months at least.

We met at an ice cream parlor. He told me that he had lived in America for awhile, and we were interested in the same TV shows. I thought we had hit it off. He could help me.

Not too long later, he started making comments, suggesting that I "must be popular" and he asked me whether I had a boyfriend. He began pestering me about coming over his place to cook dinner sometime. When I told him that I didn't know him well enough, he became pushy about it. "Then, I'll come over to your place." 

I let him know that also wasn't acceptable. I wanted to only meet him in public places. He quickly became frustrated. He told me that it was okay, nothing would happen. I didn't have a boyfriend, so why did it matter?

By then, what he was looking for was clear. I bluntly told him that I wasn't looking for sex. I wanted a language exchange partner.

"What?? No, that wasn't what I wanted!! You're crazy!"

So Many Activities In So Little Time!

I am still alive! I have been very busy these past few weeks. In Korea, it's currently monsoon season. It has been raining every day, and it's likely to continue to do so until around late August.

That hasn't kept me from being active, though. I've still been able to get out and do things, such as:

Playing Kickball

Picture of us after the game!

A few folks from the BSSK group decided to meet up for a kickball game! It was a gloomy Saturday, almost rainy, so not many people showed up, but it was still fun nonetheless.

We met up at a field near Janghanpyeong Station, line 5 and by exit 6. The neighborhood is full of middle aged Korean men lounging and hanging out. Why the strange location? Well, that field was free to rent. I could see why because it smelled of manure at times.

We played our game with a certified kickball ball, then ate lunch together. 



Volunteering

Making play-doh art with Mapo Gaon

Last weekend, one of my friends invited me to join him at the place where he volunteers. The organization is called Mapo Gaon. He helps disabled children in a particular area in Seoul once a month. I agreed to join him.

Their job was to pick up local disabled children from their home and bring them to a space, where the children and their helpers do activities together for a few hours. I thought it was very interesting and it was nice to meet the children. I also got a chance to practice my (limited) Korean.

At Yeouido Park

Afterward, we had some drinks at an Outback Steakhouse and had some drinks at Yeouido Park. It's a nice setting at night time. Many folks sit on mats and have a night picnic.

Salsa Dancing

Temple Stay at Magoksa Temple (마곡사) and a Trip to Independence Hall (독립기념관)

When I first came to Korea, I learned about doing a temple stay. Temple stays, as I was told, offered a more unique and intimate experience with the history of Korea and Buddhism. 

Some buildings at Magoksa Temple

How to Sign Up

Basically, there are some temples in Korea where you can do a temple stay. There are options of staying for just a day, or staying for a night or two. In theory, you can sign up and go on your own, but that might be tricky if you're not fluent in Korean.



We all had a chance to bang this drum

A common option is to do what I did, which was sign up for a temple stay with other foreign tourists and residents through a travel group or agency. These sorts of agencies make everything simple. I was able to sign up and send them money to confirm my spot. After that, all I had to do was show up at a location in Seoul at a certain time, and board a rented bus going straight to our destination. It's much easier because you don't have to deal with figuring out how to get there or even simply communicating with temple representatives due to the language barrier. A popular agency is Adventure Korea. There are also groups available on Meetup that do similar trips and organize temple stays.



One of the Shrines

I did my own Temple Stay at Magoksa Temple (Korean: 마곡사). It's located in Gonju city in the Chungcheongnam province. I went with an agency now called Wink Travel and Culture Group with William Cho as the organizer. I actually wouldn't recommend them, as I've had a couple of negative experiences with the group related to two different trips. I'll explain that later. The Magoksa Temple, however, was wonderful... I would certainly recommend doing your stay here. To clarify, I went when I first arrived to Korea back in 2010. 

To learn more or organize your own trip yourself, go here for contact information and instructions on how to get there. It's a bit of a trek from Seoul, but it's not too bad or complicated.

The Program

My Korean Language Journey (So Far...)

Even though this is my 3rd year in Korea, I'll admit that I don't actually know much Korean. This is my fault, officially beginning with my waiting for more than 6 months to even learn to read the language. My life had changed and became much, much better after doing that one simple thing!

My textbook and a gift from a classmate!

I debated about how much effort I should put into learning the language, because I know that it would take years to just to become very good at speaking Korean. I also wondered how long I would actually be here. Would I put in an astronomical amount of effort, only to leave and never use it again? In the end, I figured that I should learn something, even if it's just to help me survive.

Lots to learn on the board

Eventually, in the fall of last year I --ahem-- picked up a copy of Rosetta Stone Korean. I worked on that for awhile and got through the three levels. I found it to be a good introduction for those that know absolutely nothing about the language. It isn't that comprehensive though, so I believe a serious learner shouldn't rely on it.

I knew that when I came back that I would at least sign up for a Korean class. There are many in the country. The best known courses are full time, fast-paced and offered by  universities here. Since I work and generally have other things to do, I knew that a comprehensive course would have been unfeasible for me.

My class all together

The good thing is that the Korean government provides funding for free Korean classes for foreigners. I was able to sign up for one of these in my area.

Posing!

The specific course has many different levels, from absolute beginner to test prep-level. The first course was fun, but it wasn't challenging because I was placed with beginners who were unable to read or introduce themselves in Korean. I asked to move and they moved me to a slightly higher level. The classes have been good ever since, and our teachers are pretty friendly.

The book they gave us is pretty informative and it cost less than $20. The pace isn't too fast and the atmosphere is relaxed. My classmates are also pretty fun to talk to. So, I'll be happy for the time being.

I don't have a specific goal on my language-leaning journey, but rather to just keep putting in effort to improve and hope I like where I'll end up eventually. In the meantime, I'll still do my best to keep up with my Spanish and will continue to practice Portuguese when I have time.