Headed Back to Korea, Regional Tensions, and More

(*Note this may turn into a long post...you have been warned)

So it finally looks like I'm headed back to Korea!

It's been a long process, but I finally found a good hagwon (I think haha) in Incheon and I should be headed out on December 16th.

So a couple of things. Like I said, it's been a long process. I was even thinking of going to China, but the pay wasn't enough for me. Although going with a hagwon wasn't out of the question, I was primarily holding out for a public school position. Now there is always a debate as to which one is better, but it really depends on the person. Let me just say that I have met people who have been in good hagwons along with people who have been in bad public schools (and vice versa)

I actually had an interview with one public school, but I guess I got beat out by other candidates. Recruiters also sent me public school job leads, but after I said I was interested, I never heard back after the fact.

Also, I actually didn't mind going for a good hagwon. The vacation is shorter, but you start later in the day, classes are smaller, and I feel like I would actually be teaching. I'm a night owl. My bedtime is regularly between midnight and 4am. Maybe I'll grow out of it, but I don't see that happening soon.

Anyways, there are a few things I regret. First, it was just sticking with one recruiter up until about August. I didn't start looking with other recruiters until then and I definitely got a bit more people looking for jobs for me. That's four months where I should've been casting my net wide. Chalk it up to being naive about the tighter job market.

Second, I only stuck with recruiters. A recruiter is not necessary for finding a job in Korea and posting your resume to job boards or jobs on Craiglist can increase your chances too. A lot of these jobs are posted directly by the schools, so you cut out the middle man. You apply directly to the school, and if they are interested, they will contact you, if not, you can move on. Quicker communication.

Third, I was self sabotaging myself. I hate that I did this, but I was reluctant to apply directly to a hagwon because I had heard that they really weren't fond of hiring people of color (which is true for a lot). I also think some recruiters play a part in this as well as they are looking to fill jobs as quick as possible (some didn't even respond after I sent in a picture).

So after reading a post on Dave's of all places about a fellow brotha finding a job at a hagwon, I said screw it and just started applying to any job on ESLcafe or Craigslist that I felt I qualified for. I started doing this around October instead of applying to even more recruiters (I had applied with at least 20-25), and all of a sudden I started getting more job leads. If you are a person of color (esp male), will you have a tougher time? Yes. Should you shoot yourself in the foot and just give up or not even try? NO. Take it in stride and know that a school will see your abilities and won't think about that.

Now here is how funny life is. Two schools I applied with directly decided to interview me within two days of each other and then they both offered me jobs on the same day this week. No job offers for over 6 months, and now I've got to decide between two haha. I decided to go with the one in Incheon because the contract had everything I wanted and the other one didn't (like pension) and I also did TONS of research on it and liked what I had read from former teachers. Location was a big factor too. The other one was in Icheon (without the "N" haha), which is at least an hour by bus to Seoul (which I still wouldn't mind if I had a good job offer there), but the area of Incheon I would be living in is right near a subway station. Being only a half hour to an hour within my favorite places like Hongdae, Insadong, etc would be nice.

So yeah I had to decline the other job and they actually were trying to negotiate a higher salary, but again the big thing for me was there was no pension in the contract (which is illegal).

So I have to send my docs off on Monday and hopefully everything goes smoothly and I'll be back in ROK by mid December.

Now here's the next issue. It seems North Korea is feeling kinda mighty right now. As you may or may not know, North Korea fired on an island of South Korea this week and there have been talks of it escalating into war.

I, like many people were pretty pissed at North Korea, but I think South Korea/US has to take at least a small part of the blame as well. The US/South Korea were doing military drills right near the border firing into disputed waters. This of course provoked the response by North Korea.

As I'm typing this, the drills have started once again along with the enormous US aircraft carrier, the George Washington, so everyone is on edge a bit to see if something will happen.

China plays a big role as well and I wish they would keep their little dog in North Korea in check. THEY ARE ENABLING the crazy man.

Usually nothing comes from these things and it settles down pretty quickly, but a lot of people in South Korea are tired of just turning the other cheek and letting North Korea act as they please.

I also can't shake this feeling that something will happen, though I hope nothing does of course. I'm a little concerned this time around about heading back, but if things settle down after this week, then I'd be cool.

So yeah a few friends wonder why I want to go back, and truthfully, I like the country and I have a lot of good friends that I made that I'd like to see again. I don't plan on staying forever, but it's a good fit for me right now and a for a few other goals I have. I think the biggest difference for me this time around is that I actually HAVE a plan for when I am done there. My first year I thought I would just go there for a year, come back, and head right back into graphic design (thinking the job market would recover).

Well, it turned out that I wanted to stay a second year, I'm not too fond of graphic design anymore, I like photography, I like traveling, I have a few websites/business that I know can succeed, and the prospect of sitting at a desk all day is boring to me.

Hmm so maybe this post wasn't that long after all. I'll be back with more updates.