I have been teaching for 5 months at Hagwon chain. I am not responsible to design lesson plans, which makes it easy. I came to Korea with my girlfriend who also teaches at the same hagwon, but that wasn’t always the case. Before arriving in Korea, our recruiter told us we would both teach at the same school, it would be within walking distance from our apartment, and that our accommodations would be a two-bedroom apartment. When we arrived, it was clear that our apartment was not a two-bedroom, but one-room, with a bathroom and very small kitchen area of which there was a washer inside. We were obviously not happy. So we voiced our concerns with our head teacher(she speaks English) and she communicated those concerns to the owner(who doesn't speak English), which is obviously not ideal. It took a while(4months) but we were able to FINALLY move into a nice one-bedroom apartment in a brand new building. When we signed our contracts back in the USA, we were told we would teach at the same school. But when we arrived we were told that the school we were supposed to teach at was a brand new school and they wanted to have 1 new English teacher and 1 veteran. So my girlfriend had to teach at a school of the same chain about 15 minutes away by bus. This went on for the first 3 months, until the first semester ended and my girlfriend joined me at our school. She was not reimbursed for the money spent to ride the bus. Again, when we signed the contract back in the States, we were told that we would be teaching elementary school kids and middle school kids. This was great because I was not interested in teaching Kindy. Well, after a couple months I was told that my owner was also opening up a Kindy next door to the school and that my girlfriend and I were expected to teach there and continue teaching elementary and middle school kids after. So at one point, we were not living in the housing we were told we would be, we were not teaching at the same school which we were told we would be, and we were not teaching the kids we were told we would be. We felt used, like we got bait and switched. When we had to start teaching Kindy, our working hours changed from 2pm-10pm MWF / 2pm-8pm TuTh to 12pm-10pm MW / 12pm-8pm TuTh / 2pm-10pm F. Monday-Thurs we teach 2 Kindy classes then we are provided lunch; always rice+kimchi+some type of soup in addition to some other vegetables and/or protein. It’s whatever is served to Kindy kids just in bigger portions. But, HEY! its free, and we have had no complaints thus far, we like Korean food. Then after lunch we have a 30min break for which we normally go to a cafe for coffee/tea. Then, we desk-warm for 50min until our first class starts. I teach 4 ele/middle classes straight at 50min per class on MWF. Then, I have a 2hour break for which I spend doing whatever I want, but its basically desk warming. Then I teach my 5th and final class, then desk warm again for 40 minutes until I am allowed to leave. Tuesdays/Thursdays are very similar, except the day is shorter and I only teach 3 classes. Once every semester some my middle school kids don't come to my hagwon at all for 2-3 weeks because they are studying for tests at their public school. This means more desk-warming. I do not mind desk warming at all. I guess it could suck if you don't have internet or don't like to read or study Korean. But between getting food, reading, writing in a journal, and playing SC2/LOL/n64-gameboy emulators I pass the time just fine; and the best part is that I'm being paid for it, so no complaints. The middle school kids just started the most recent round of tests this week, and the owner came and told my girlfriend and I to just go home and come back in time to teach our last class. This means I was paid to take a nap and play LOZ: OoT at my house; can't beat that. Also, I think it goes a long way when your Korean co-teachers speak English. When my girlfriend had to work at the other school for the first few months, none of the Koreans there spoke English. Which was interesting considering they were teaching English ... but that’s an argument for another day. At our school now, both of our Korean co-teachers speak English and are young. So we often get to go out do various things with them. They introduce us to Korean culture which makes it easier for us to experience the things we wanted to experience during our time here, its been great. I've actually become quite good friends with my co-teacher. He went to high-school and college in Canada, and thus speaks very good English, its been a blessing, I'm very thankful I have him as my co-worker and my friend. We've traveled to Busan with him and his girlfriend, he helped us set up our banking and cellphones, he even helped us move. So things didn't start off as well as we would have liked, but it has turned itself around, and we have made the best of what we have. Our only complaint now is that they told us we would live in Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi-do. But instead we live just outside the city in a rural area. As the weather gets warmer I smell manure everyday walking to school. No major issues with not being paid on time ...yet. To be honest, without my great co-teachers and that they did end up hooking us up with an adequate apartment, I think we would have pulled a runner, tried to figure out a way to get out of the contract, or leave after 6 months. But as far as the teaching goes, its been the easiest job I’ve ever had.

--Sorry for the wall. Just wanted to be thorough.