“It wasn’t the best deal but I was happy ….. 2 years later I was working 3 days a week for a prestigious university, getting paid 3.5 million a month with 5 months paid vacation.”
After I graduated from NUI Galway with a degree in Physics I decided it was time to start my world travels. I didn’t want to take the usual Australia or USA travel and work route. I wanted a new culture, new experiences and to be totally out of my comfort zone.I heard about Korea and how you could get jobs teaching English there. I always liked English and figured I’d make a good teacher.
I enrolled in Bridgemills Language Institute in Galway and started my CELTA course. As soon as I finished I moved home for a few months and started looking for jobs in Korea and decided on a job in Pohang.The next step was the red tape ; Sealed transcripts of my university results, an apostilled copy of my degree, a police back-round check and a basic interview in the Korean embassy. After that it was easy, I booked my ticket to Korea (which was reimbursed upon arrival) said goodbye to my parents and hit the road.I was pretty anxious upon arrival but was picked up by my school and taken to my new comfortable and free accommodation. The first few weeks was daunting but teaching is a quick learning curve and before I knew it I was confident in my job and teaching ability had made plenty of friends and my life in Korea had taken off.The job paid 1.7 million won (1,700 USD) a month for 40 teaching hours
It wasn’t the best deal but I was happy and had more than enough money to save for my travels and have loads of fun.
But like in every job in every country there are ladders to be climbed and after a couple of years I was working for a University earning 2.5 million a month (2,500 USD) and getting 3 months paid vacation a year to feed my travelling urges and also visit my family.2 years later I was working 3 days a week for a prestigious university, getting paid 3.5 million a month with 5 months paid vacation.
The rest as they say is history…….
I enrolled in Bridgemills Language Institute in Galway and started my CELTA course. As soon as I finished I moved home for a few months and started looking for jobs in Korea and decided on a job in Pohang.The next step was the red tape ; Sealed transcripts of my university results, an apostilled copy of my degree, a police back-round check and a basic interview in the Korean embassy. After that it was easy, I booked my ticket to Korea (which was reimbursed upon arrival) said goodbye to my parents and hit the road.I was pretty anxious upon arrival but was picked up by my school and taken to my new comfortable and free accommodation. The first few weeks was daunting but teaching is a quick learning curve and before I knew it I was confident in my job and teaching ability had made plenty of friends and my life in Korea had taken off.The job paid 1.7 million won (1,700 USD) a month for 40 teaching hours
It wasn’t the best deal but I was happy and had more than enough money to save for my travels and have loads of fun.
But like in every job in every country there are ladders to be climbed and after a couple of years I was working for a University earning 2.5 million a month (2,500 USD) and getting 3 months paid vacation a year to feed my travelling urges and also visit my family.2 years later I was working 3 days a week for a prestigious university, getting paid 3.5 million a month with 5 months paid vacation.
The rest as they say is history…….
