So, I've been reading some online forums about teaching ESL in Korea. Many of these posters are "old timers" and some are "newbies." One question that was brought up (for the old timers), "If you were to teach as a newb in Korea, would you come now?" The overwhelming majority of posters said no. Why? Because the exchange rate is horrible. 2,000,000 Korean Won is roughly equivalent of only $1550 in the United States. The wage for the terrible working hours and the amount of work and stress put on you, plus the sub-par treatment from hagwon directors all make the answer "no." This is also in addition to the heightened tensions between the two Koreas - which some old timers say is higher than they have ever seen it. So, this got me to thinking - is it really worth staying here? I mean, in the time I have been here, I have yet to be paid on time, and the time in between paychecks is increasing each time. My September-October salary didn't come until October 25, when my payday was the 23. Not too bad. But this time - my October-November salary, supposed to be paid on the 23, has not yet arrived. Tomorrow is the 30 - exactly one week late. So, we will see if I get paid tomorrow. I was promised to be paid today at the latest, but it didn't happen.
So, is staying in Korea, taking into consideration all these factors, worth it? I have some thinking to do.
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