Going to a new country can be intimidating. There’re so many things to prepare before departure, and the added pandemic made things even more difficult. High death tolls back in the States, flights being cancelled, supplies difficult to come by. I was very stressed before coming to Korea. I was wondering if I would still be able to make it considering all that was going on in the world. I hope this article will answer some questions about what it was like arriving in Korea. The honest answer is it was perfectly fine.

As I complete my third full week living and working in Busan, South Korea, I am able to look back at my experience with gratitude. Many native-speakers working with Chungdahm may agree, the first few weeks working can be quite overwhelming, especially when thinking back to training week—which ended up being a five-day intensive of information and methodology which are essential for a smooth transition to the branch location. Using this opportunity, I will be completely honest about my experience thus far. I have no regrets about applying to work for this company, and look forward to this experience of a lifetime.

I had never dreamed of living abroad before I met the woman who would become my wife in 2014. She had taught English in Korea for a year and a half and talked so fondly about her time there. I actually have a Korean mother, but while I had visited the country a couple times, I hadn’t been there since middle school, didn’t speak Korean, and hardly felt any connection to the aunts and uncles I had there. When I casually mentioned how much I’d like to learn more about the Korean culture and to get to know my family there better, my wife let me know it didn’t just have to be a dream. We could make it happen.

I lived and taught in Seoul, South Korea for a year from August 2016-September 2017 and it is definitely the best decision I’ve ever made. My first thought when I first had the crazy idea to move abroad was to, of course, talk to friends and family for advice! In these conversations, I actually learned that a friend of a friend had lived in Korea and loved it so much that he stayed for 3 years. Obviously, my next move was to talk to this person. He had the same goals as me: teach, travel and explore! He had enjoyed his time in Seoul and found it to be a very fun, interesting and safe place to live.

Taking the first steps of an adventure is almost never an easy ordeal. You have all these questions that zoom in and out of your head adding to the list before you can even answer the first ones that popped up. Will it work out? Will I be happy? What if I get lost? What if I do something wrong? What if a giant prehistoric creature ascends from the oceans and battles a giant moth? Ok, maybe that last one was a horrible reference to Godzilla vs Mothra but you get the idea. 

It took three and a half days for me to fall in love with Seoul, South Korea. On my way to a summer fellowship in Manila, I decided to make a pit stop to visit my best friend who lives there. I touched down in Incheon, and we made our way on the airport bus to her house which sat right on the southern half of the Han River. The subsequent hours consisted of noraebang and fried chicken, a hike through Bukhansan (I’d never met a place with a national park within not just a city, but a citywith millions of inhabitants), weaving through the countless markets and underground malls, and stunning palaces and museums.

Obtaining the necessary documents to teach in Korea can be really stressful  and a big headache if you do not know where to start or how to go about it. From experience, following a methodical order of things needed to be done will help speed up the process. Every citizen coming to Korea has a different route to follow and one needs to know the specific requirements for their nationality. The method of obtaining documents is different in every county. So what may be allowed in America, may not be allowed in South Africa.

After managing at a ChungDahm Academy for 4 years and working as an Aclipse Marketing Assistant for 3 years, I get a lot of questions about living and teaching in Korea. For many applicants, moving to Korea will be their first experience living away from their homeland, so it is completely natural to have many questions about what it is like to live here. This blog is aimed to help answer and alleviate some of those concerns about working for ChungDahm as well as living in Korea. If you have any questions about Korea, feel free to use Aclipse’s Connect with a Teacher Program.

About Me:

My name is Cash. I am from Massachusetts and I have a big family that I love spending time with every chance I get. I recently graduated from Elon University with a degree in Finance and two minors in Spanish and Latin American Studies. I now live in Bucheon, South Korea (pictured below) ,which is about 16 miles west of Seoul, and work for ChungDahm at one of their April Institutes.  This blog will be a two-part blog series which will first focus on the recruitment process, followed by a blog about what life has been like since I moved to Korea in August.  I hope through this blog series that I can help people interested in teaching in Korea get a better idea about the various steps in the recruitment process and how to adjust to life living and teaching abroad.