Tefl in South Korea

Cool Running · 22-09-2011 09:38AM

Hey Guys,

Hope everyone is getting on well here. Starting to get a bit cold after the crazy heat of the summer. Anyways in case anyone is interested their is an Irish Ceili on Sunday in Seoul. Here is the info

2011 IAK Autumn Festival.********************************
Irish Traditional Music and Dance Festival.Date / Time: Sept. 25, 1.00 pm to 5.00 pm .
Venue: D–Cube Plaza Theater (outdoors) at Shindorim Metro Station, Exit1; line 1&2.Sponsored by IAK (Irish Association of Korea) and The Irish Embassy Korea.Come one, come all and bring friends. Contact: Sean, 010 5895 6430

Facebook info https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=220214298031950

FC Seoul also have a foreigner day on Saturday which should be good.

col89 · 22-09-2011 09:59AM

ekevosu wrote: »

I thought it was mentioned on this thread before a few times that once the college can sign a letter saying you have qualified, then that can be notarised and apostilled and you will also have your transcripts as proof, sealed and stamped. The actual degree paper won't be needed in that case if you can't get it until later.

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong but I'm positive I've seen posters on this thread in the same situation and been given that advice.

This is correct, don't worry about trying to get your certificate before it is supposed to be issued, you can get your college to sign a letter which states that you have finished your course/are still studying and the college will also stamp it with their official stamp to verify that it is legit.

I've just started working at my school since Tuesday and I'm loving it so far! It is so unbelievably easy, and the most classes I get on a given day is just four classes (just over three hours overall). The wage is very reasonable for it, too. The only thing I'm not totally crazy about is the studio I was given, because it has no microwave, toaster, hoover, bins, etc. But the best things about it is the amazing shower (two shower heads - a big one and a smaller one), the great big TV, the air conditioner in my room, and the very stylish/ornate presentation of the entire studio. Oh, and the most annoying thing is having a Korean TV with Korean buttons to flick through, because you're left guessing as to what half of the stuff on the remote actually mean (it was expected, though).

I've not done anything sociable as of yet, but I have become reasonably friendly with the fellow teachers and my landlady. Hopefully I will be able to meet some Westerners soon, as I honestly haven't seen any other Western people in the area I live in (I get a lot of strange looks from the locals!). The next thing to do will be to organize a Boarders meet-up at some point in the future, please God.

dapto1 · 22-09-2011 10:50AM

I'm going to that FC Seoul foreigner day as well, should be good!

cloneslad · 22-09-2011 12:37PM

col89 wrote: »

This is correct, don't worry about trying to get your certificate before it is supposed to be issued, you can get your college to sign a letter which states that you have finished your course/are still studying and the college will also stamp it with their official stamp to verify that it is legit.

I've just started working at my school since Tuesday and I'm loving it so far! It is so unbelievably easy, and the most classes I get on a given day is just four classes (just over three hours overall). The wage is very reasonable for it, too. The only thing I'm not totally crazy about is the studio I was given, because it has no microwave, toaster, hoover, bins, etc. But the best things about it is the amazing shower (two shower heads - a big one and a smaller one), the great big TV, the air conditioner in my room, and the very stylish/ornate presentation of the entire studio. Oh, and the most annoying thing is having a Korean TV with Korean buttons to flick through, because you're left guessing as to what half of the stuff on the remote actually mean (it was expected, though).

I've not done anything sociable as of yet, but I have become reasonably friendly with the fellow teachers and my landlady. Hopefully I will be able to meet some Westerners soon, as I honestly haven't seen any other Western people in the area I live in (I get a lot of strange looks from the locals!). The next thing to do will be to organize a Boarders meet-up at some point in the future, please God.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/23316238780/

get yourself on to this group. A fellow Irish teacher is leaving this weekend and there's a going away party for him. It's just the usual getting drunk they do every weekend, but this time there's a purpose.

I think they are also having a bar crawl on friday night too.

Get yourself a scooter as soon as possible, and a thick pair of gloves / scarf for riding it for the few months over winter.

roosh · 22-09-2011 02:06PM

Hey guys, just received word that I have been approved by EPIK so I will be starting in Gangwon in October (around the 20th I think).

My recruiter said that my NOA should be sent out by the end of this week, or the beginning of next; I'm just wondering if anyone has any idea what the next step will be? I'll have to go to the consulate to sort my Visa, is there anything else does anyone know?

Does anyone have any advice?

Also, do people know if you can just book a one way flight to Korea, or do you have to show that you have booked travel out of the country?

Does anyone know what the accommodiation situation is usually like? I'm not sure if I read that it is very precise about when it is available, as in if I go out a day or two early I might have to stay in a hotel or something.

Apologies for the disjointed post, but I'm trying to contain my excitement.

I'll ask my recruiter a lot of questions, but this thread has been wealth of info, and the response time is usually much quikcker.

Chalad · 22-09-2011 02:37PM

col89 wrote: »

This is correct, don't worry about trying to get your certificate before it is supposed to be issued, you can get your college to sign a letter which states that you have finished your course/are still studying and the college will also stamp it with their official stamp to verify that it is legit.

I hope for everyone's sake that this is correct. However, I've just been told from a friend (currently in a similar situation), that the Korean embassy in Dublin, told him that it's basically up to the employer and local immigration office in Korea, as to what is and isn't acceptable. Each individual application can produce a different result, even at the same immigration office! (This is Korea!)

He was told that there has been cases where a letter was accepted and a visa was issued, and in other cases the application was rejected, therefore no visa was issued.

red_bairn · 22-09-2011 03:48PM

roosh wrote: »

Hey guys, just received word that I have been approved by EPIK so I will be starting in Gangwon in October (around the 20th I think).

Congratulations. What city/town will you be living in?

roosh wrote: »

My recruiter said that my NOA should be sent out by the end of this week, or the beginning of next; I'm just wondering if anyone has any idea what the next step will be? I'll have to go to the consulate to sort my Visa, is there anything else does anyone know?

Once all the forms have been sent away, i.e. any cv/college cert(s) (or letter from the college and stamped/signed)/Garda Check, and you've received your visa number through your school, you should only being worrying about what you've packed and how much you've saved up.

roosh wrote: »

Also, do people know if you can just book a one way flight to Korea, or do you have to show that you have booked travel out of the country?

I think in most cases people have to book a return flight and they pretty much get it fully refunded. You may get a quarter of it within the first 2weeks of work (or 2weeks into your stay; may have orientation for a long period).

roosh wrote: »

Does anyone know what the accommodiation situation is usually like? I'm not sure if I read that it is very precise about when it is available, as in if I go out a day or two early I might have to stay in a hotel or something.

I was put into a brand new spanking studio when I arrived. God-I'd hate to be in a motel. I doubt they'd do that unless there was something wrong with the current accommodation. Usually they put you in the same place that the previous teacher was in. So most likely you'll be in a old or new pad with the bare essentials.

roosh wrote: »

I'll ask my recruiter a lot of questions, but this thread has been wealth of info, and the response time is usually much quikcker.

Ask him/her loads until blood is coming out of the recruiters ears.

cloneslad · 22-09-2011 04:01PM

roosh wrote: »

Also, do people know if you can just book a one way flight to Korea, or do you have to show that you have booked travel out of the country?
.

All your other questions have been answered for you, but just on the one above. You can get a one way ticket, your E2 visa gives you permission to work in the country so you won't need to provide proof that you are travelling onwards.

Elba101 · 22-09-2011 09:21PM

Well my papers have been sent off to immigration :-) Absolutely chuffed it's with a good school in Seoul too (seems so anyway).

I'm just wondering what to pack and what I can get over there clothes wise? Are there any places that sell westerner clothes?

cloneslad · 22-09-2011 09:32PM

Elba101 wrote: »

Well my papers have been sent off to immigration :-) Absolutely chuffed it's with a good school in Seoul too (seems so anyway).

I'm just wondering what to pack and what I can get over there clothes wise? Are there any places that sell westerner clothes?

Pack warm clothes, winters in Seoul go down below minus 15 degrees.

Loads of places sell westerner sized clothes, so long as you aren't absolutely massive or haver huge feet. t-shirts and sweaters are easy to buy, I brought about 8-9 pairs of jeans with me each time so I didn't have to worry about buying any when I was there, though I did buy shorts, 3/4 lengths, runners, t-shirts, sweaters, coats etc when I was there.

kraggy · 23-09-2011 01:23AM

cloneslad wrote: »

It was a €400 minimum, I'm not saying it would be easy, but it can be done. My school provided me with everything for the apartment, including bedding and electrical items (though I took my own quilt cover with me).

For the majority of my time in korea I was able to live on €250 a month (400,000won). I don't think I ever spent more than €600 in a month. Except for when I went on holidays or had to buy christmas presents.

I don't drink or smoke so that was allowing me to save more than your average Irish person, and my week days before work were spent running during the winter or at the beach during the summer. Weekends were spent playing some form of sport and going running or to the beach too.

250 a month? That's 8 eure per day to feed you, pay bills, clothe you etc.

What did you eat? Did you have transport costs?

Jesus, I don't know how anyone could live on that amount. (I'm not doubting you, just amazed).

My bills this month alone were 85 euro. That's just water/electricity/building maintenance fee. I don't pay internet bills or anything else.

red_bairn · 23-09-2011 01:38AM

kraggy wrote: »

250 a month? That's 8 eure per day to feed you, pay bills, clothe you etc.

What did you eat? Did you have transport costs?

Jesus, I don't know how anyone could live on that amount. (I'm not doubting you, just amazed).

My bills this month alone were 85 euro. That's just water/electricity/building maintenance fee. I don't pay internet bills or anything else.

85 euro!!! jaysus, my bills wouldn't be over 100,000W (including phone) and I get the net.

net86 · 23-09-2011 03:20AM

col89 wrote: »

This is correct, don't worry about trying to get your certificate before it is supposed to be issued, you can get your college to sign a letter which states that you have finished your course/are still studying and the college will also stamp it with their official stamp to verify that it is legit.

I've just started working at my school since Tuesday and I'm loving it so far! It is so unbelievably easy, and the most classes I get on a given day is just four classes (just over three hours overall). The wage is very reasonable for it, too. The only thing I'm not totally crazy about is the studio I was given, because it has no microwave, toaster, hoover, bins, etc. But the best things about it is the amazing shower (two shower heads - a big one and a smaller one), the great big TV, the air conditioner in my room, and the very stylish/ornate presentation of the entire studio. Oh, and the most annoying thing is having a Korean TV with Korean buttons to flick through, because you're left guessing as to what half of the stuff on the remote actually mean (it was expected, though).

I've not done anything sociable as of yet, but I have become reasonably friendly with the fellow teachers and my landlady. Hopefully I will be able to meet some Westerners soon, as I honestly haven't seen any other Western people in the area I live in (I get a lot of strange looks from the locals!). The next thing to do will be to organize a Boarders meet-up at some point in the future, please God.

If you fancy coming over to Gohyeon this weekend or any weekend just let me know. The pub crawl for tonight has been cancelled but we do have the leaving party tomorrow night - there are always a lot of us out at the weekends anyway so you will have no problem meeting people here

kraggy · 23-09-2011 03:28AM

red_bairn wrote: »

85 euro!!! jaysus, my bills wouldn't be over 100,000W (including phone) and I get the net.

Yeah, I'm in an officetel and there's a bill that comes from the owners of the building and it includes

water
gas
elevator
service of building
janitors pay
etc

The last one came to 122,000. I didn't use the air con that much either. And I don't have a land phone or tv. And I don't pay for internet. I have an iphone which costs 74,000. So this month, my bills came to just under 200,000. I still manage to save around 900,000. But it takes discipline.

So yeah, it's expensive.

squeakyduck · 23-09-2011 04:31AM

I got my first electricity bill today. 22830 won. I've been waiting on my landlady to come over to pick up my maintenance fee which is 5000 won.

I dunno what my heating bill will be like and I think my internet is like 20000 won

red_bairn · 23-09-2011 04:38AM

kraggy wrote: »

Yeah, I'm in an officetel and there's a bill that comes from the owners of the building and it includes

water
gas
elevator
service of building
janitors pay
etc

The last one came to 122,000. I didn't use the air con that much either. And I don't have a land phone or tv. And I don't pay for internet. I have an iphone which costs 74,000. So this month, my bills came to just under 200,000. I still manage to save around 900,000. But it takes discipline.

So yeah, it's expensive.

All of those above are 30,000 for me in my studio apartment and I have a tv (which I don't use) and the net is inclusive. I just get my boss to pay for that bill because I had issues transferring it into that owners account.

kraggy · 23-09-2011 05:26AM

30,000 for all that?! Jaysus, I knew I was paying over the odds but that's mental. I'm paying 70,000 to 90,000 more than you.

cloneslad · 23-09-2011 05:29AM

kraggy wrote: »

250 a month? That's 8 eure per day to feed you, pay bills, clothe you etc.

What did you eat?

Jesus, I don't know how anyone could live on that amount. (I'm not doubting you, just amazed).

My bills this month alone were 85 euro. That's just water/electricity/building maintenance fee. I don't pay internet bills or anything else.

400k a month x 2 (my g.f lived with me)

Here's the breakdown.

100k each for bills, though usually came to about 170-190,000. So we got some back to spend for whatever.

Bills accounted for:

Cable Tv - Hello D- Delux package so we could watch the premier league in English and have discovery channel, bbc entertainment and Knowledge etc.
Internet
Gas - we used heating from November to February
Electricity -we used aircon from July to the end of sept.
landline (usually only about 3,000won a month)
Apartment fee (bins, recycle, security, communal electricity etc) usually about 70,000per month.

200k each for food

This gave us 100k a week to do our shopping. Shopping was usually made up of chicken fillets, pork, vegetables, corn flakes, bagles, fruit, bread, milk, pasta, crackers, ham, cream cheese, couple of large gatorades, and all the other usual stuff.

we did one large shop on a friday night or saturday morning in Homeplus. Buying large multiple chicken fillets/ pork chops and freezing them seperately to allow us to cook lots of dinners with them.

Some other things like bread and milk would have to be bought again during the week.

Our school provided us with dinner three nights a week (m/w/f) at 6pm and we'd finish work at 9 so there was no need for a diner on those nights, just cornflakes / toast in the morning before a run, then a bagel before school started at 3:45.

We'd then have 100k each for whatever

As I don't drink or smoke this was generally spent on getting ice-cream or going to the cinema, playing screen golf, going bowling etc.

We'd try to stick to not spending more than 400k each because we wanted to travel then have money for coming home, but if I needed or wanted to buy myself something, then I would do it.

when I was in Korea the first time I was speding 90k on Taekwon do and another 80k on the gym each month. These expenses were cut out the second time around as I did a lot more road running instead.

Did you have transport costs?

I lived on an island, only had to walk 6-7 minutes to work. A bus to anywhere on the island was 1,000won. I had no travel expenses, though we did buy a scooter for 50k (came with a full tank, a helmet and a lock). we only used it for about 3 months, going to and from the beach, but as it was a complete death trap of a thing, we never kept it going once it got a flat wheel.

kraggy · 23-09-2011 06:36AM

cloneslad wrote: »

400k a month x 2 (my g.f lived with me)

Here's the breakdown.

100k each for bills, though usually came to about 170-190,000. So we got some back to spend for whatever.

Bills accounted for:
Cable Tv - Hello D- Delux package so we could watch the premier league in English and have discovery channel, bbc entertainment and Knowledge etc.
Internet
Gas - we used heating from November to February
Electricity -we used aircon from July to the end of sept.
landline (usually only about 3,000won a month)
Apartment fee (bins, recycle, security, communal electricity etc) usually about 70,000per month.

200k each for food

This gave us 100k a week to do our shopping. Shopping was usually made up of chicken fillets, pork, vegetables, corn flakes, bagles, fruit, bread, milk, pasta, crackers, ham, cream cheese, couple of large gatorades, and all the other usual stuff.

we did one large shop on a friday night or saturday morning in Homeplus. Buying large multiple chicken fillets/ pork chops and freezing them seperately to allow us to cook lots of dinners with them.

Some other things like bread and milk would have to be bought again during the week.

Our school provided us with dinner three nights a week (m/w/f) at 6pm and we'd finish work at 9 so there was no need for a diner on those nights, just cornflakes / toast in the morning before a run, then a bagel before school started at 3:45.

We'd then have 100k each for whatever

As I don't drink or smoke this was generally spent on getting ice-cream or going to the cinema, playing screen golf, going bowling etc.

We'd try to stick to not spending more than 400k each because we wanted to travel then have money for coming home, but if I needed or wanted to buy myself something, then I would do it.

when I was in Korea the first time I was speding 90k on Taekwon do and another 80k on the gym each month. These expenses were cut out the second time around as I did a lot more road running instead.

I lived on an island, only had to walk 6-7 minutes to work. A bus to anywhere on the island was 1,000won. I had no travel expenses, though we did buy a scooter for 50k (came with a full tank, a helmet and a lock). we only used it for about 3 months, going to and from the beach, but as it was a complete death trap of a thing, we never kept it going once it got a flat wheel.

Ha ha. If you could persuade your girlfriend that she wanted to watch the premier league, I bow before you.

Pure skill lol.

Seriously though, let nobody coming to Seoul think that they could do the above in this city. I'm not just saying it would be hard, it would be impossible. My transport costs alone are 20,000 per week. Food is more expensive as well.

Also, while cooking during the week is fine by me, I like to eat out a couple of times over the weekend. Having said that, it's not TOO expensive. You can get a decent burrito or indian for 10-12,000 here.

red_bairn · 23-09-2011 10:55AM

kraggy wrote: »

Ha ha. If you could persuade your girlfriend that she wanted to watch the premier league, I bow before you.

Pure skill lol.

Seriously though, let nobody coming to Seoul think that they could do the above in this city. I'm not just saying it would be hard, it would be impossible. My transport costs alone are 20,000 per week. Food is more expensive as well.

Also, while cooking during the week is fine by me, I like to eat out a couple of times over the weekend. Having said that, it's not TOO expensive. You can get a decent burrito or indian for 10-12,000 here.

Aye, the weekends really kick my wallet about the place. Drinking...is giving me a small beer belly or love handles that I'm currently tackling with swimming, cycling (bike needs to be repaired tomorrow), weights and general exercises that I can do in my apartment.

I enjoy going to clubs (dance/vibe/music) so usually I'll have to spend money on an entrance fee (and either you get free drink all night or have to spend a little more on drink).

Little events pop up now and again, i.e. Mud Festival, Global Gathering etc, and I don't mind throwing about some of my cash out for these because I know It'll be a laugh.

col89 · 23-09-2011 01:30PM

cloneslad wrote: »

http://www.facebook.com/groups/23316238780/

get yourself on to this group. A fellow Irish teacher is leaving this weekend and there's a going away party for him. It's just the usual getting drunk they do every weekend, but this time there's a purpose.

I think they are also having a bar crawl on friday night too.

Get yourself a scooter as soon as possible, and a thick pair of gloves / scarf for riding it for the few months over winter.

Yeah, that's definitely a great link - I discovered it a while back!

I'm not sure if I'm sold on getting a scooter for traveling the whole island just yet because I'm not sure how I'd take to the many roads and heavy traffic, but I'll be looking out for cheap scooters to see if anything good comes up!

As for the bar crawl - that sounds like my kind of style.

net86 wrote: »

If you fancy coming over to Gohyeon this weekend or any weekend just let me know. The pub crawl for tonight has been cancelled but we do have the leaving party tomorrow night - there are always a lot of us out at the weekends anyway so you will have no problem meeting people here

Cheers for the invitation, it's a pity that I've only seen this now!

I've got to ask one of the teachers to help me out with looking up the different buses and where which one goes to where, so I'll definitely be meeting up with you at some point in the future!

Are you living in Gohyeon, yourself? I'm not sure if I passed the area when I was coming to Jangseungpo on bus, but is there many Westerners over there?! I'm literally the only one living in Jangseungpo. :pac:

By the way, how much money would people spend on a night out, whether it's just drinking in some bar or getting a bit of food before/after drinking?! Would people bring out a lot of money, or is the nightlife relatively cheaper than Ireland's?!

cassi · 23-09-2011 02:31PM

col89 wrote: »

Yeah, that's definitely a great link - I discovered it a while back!

I'm not sure if I'm sold on getting a scooter for traveling the whole island just yet because I'm not sure how I'd take to the many roads and heavy traffic, but I'll be looking out for cheap scooters to see if anything good comes up!

As for the bar crawl - that sounds like my kind of style.

Cheers for the invitation, it's a pity that I've only seen this now!

I've got to ask one of the teachers to help me out with looking up the different buses and where which one goes to where, so I'll definitely be meeting up with you at some point in the future! Are you living in Gohyeon, yourself? I'm not sure if I passed the area when I was coming to Jangseungpo on bus, but is there many Westerners over there?! I'm literally the only one living in Jangseungpo. :pac:

By the way, how much money would people spend on a night out, whether it's just drinking in some bar or getting a bit of food before/after drinking?! Would people bring out a lot of money, or is the nightlife relatively cheaper than Ireland's?!

The scooter is the best wat to get round, I used my scooter and had never driven before, you catch on quickly and road users are so used to scooters being on the road it doesnt fase them like it can here.

Many people on that facebook group live in Okpo which is about 5 mins from Jangseungpo they'll be travelling into gohyeon regularly. Alot of westerners live in Okpo but not all teachers due to the ship yards (its actually one of the highest ratio forigners to koreans in the country) and alot of westerners live in gohyeon. Gohyeon is the main going out spot!

Untill you get the hang of the buses, just approach buses and say gohyeon to the driver, he'll either just say no or tell you whick bus it is. this is the character you'll be looking for on the front of the bus고현. Often the second part of the word will be under the top on the buses. I don't know what numbers they are, i was on the island before they had numbers! The island buses are the smaller blue ones, and most of them go through Gohyeon because the main bus terminal is there for the island, you'll be looking for buses going away from the water. alternatively a taxi between the two towns is about 15,000won. The sooner you get used to Okpo and Gohyeon the easier life gets as they are the main shopping, eating, going out areas etc!

As for spending money, it largely depends on how much you want to drink and what yur drinking! Korean brands are cheaper than western brand beer, cocktails are expensive enough! while the weather was mild, we used to do family mart drinking i.e drinking outside family marts in there outdoor seating areas, thats much cheaper! It can be anything from 20,000 plus! I know its not much of an answer but it really does depend on the person.

Hope that helps

net86 · 23-09-2011 06:36PM

col89 wrote: »

Cheers for the invitation, it's a pity that I've only seen this now!

I've got to ask one of the teachers to help me out with looking up the different buses and where which one goes to where, so I'll definitely be meeting up with you at some point in the future! Are you living in Gohyeon, yourself? I'm not sure if I passed the area when I was coming to Jangseungpo on bus, but is there many Westerners over there?! I'm literally the only one living in Jangseungpo. :pac:

By the way, how much money would people spend on a night out, whether it's just drinking in some bar or getting a bit of food before/after drinking?! Would people bring out a lot of money, or is the nightlife relatively cheaper than Ireland's?!

There are so many of us living here in Gohyeon - 40+ id say if not more - most of which will be at this going away party tomorrow night if you fancy it.
Not sure what the bus numbers are - I know the 10/11 goes to Okpo so that may serve Jangseungpo as well. I just usually do what Cassi advised and say Gohyeon to the driver - he will either say yes or no

The money you would spend on a night out depends on what you do really - ive gone out and spent less than 10000 won but that would mainly when we go to a mart. We are having a drinks special for tomorrow night though so that will make is cheap enough to be honest. I have yet to spend as much on a night out as I would at home!!

Elba101 · 26-09-2011 10:27PM

Hey,

I'm moving to Siheung, Gyeonggi-do in about 2/3 weeks. Was told it's quite close to Seoul but it's not! Can't find out too much about it. Does anyone know anything about it? Or is anyone there?

Thanks!

red_bairn · 27-09-2011 01:12AM

Elba101 wrote: »

Hey,

I'm moving to Siheung, Gyeonggi-do in about 2/3 weeks. Was told it's quite close to Seoul but it's not! Can't find out too much about it. Does anyone know anything about it? Or is anyone there?

Thanks!

It's in around an hour away from the city centre...that isn't far.

roosh · 27-09-2011 11:52PM

anyone know what the medical examination in Korea actually entails?

red_bairn · 27-09-2011 11:58PM

roosh wrote: »

anyone know what the medical examination in Korea actually entails?

anal probing.

If I remember correctly, they do a blood test, blood pressure, scan your chest and check eye sight...and take a urine sample.

kraggy · 28-09-2011 12:48AM

roosh wrote: »

anyone know what the medical examination in Korea actually entails?

The urine test is for drugs and certain medical conditions.

Also, there is an eye test, hearing test and chest x-ray (for TB I presume).

Mine was a joke. They rushed through everything and the nurses were like teenaged girls laughing and giggling at every turn. Couldn't believe they were actual nurses. They rushed me through the eyetest and hearing test. With their laughing I was totally distracted and got a few things wrong and they just laughed and said, ok move on to the next thing. Then they wrote down that my hearing and vision were fine.

Put it to you this way, it's nothing to worry about.

SpatialPlanning · 28-09-2011 02:13AM

kraggy wrote: »

Put it to you this way, it's nothing to worry about.

Hahaha! That's what I was originally hoping. Unfortunately mine didn't work out so well. This is actually a pretty good story!

I was here about 3 weeks before I got my medical done. The Office of Education phoned my school and said that I couldn't teach until I got the results (I've never heard of this happening since then and this was after I had been teaching for 3 weeks!). I went to a small local clinic and got all the tests done. I was told to stay at home for the 3-4 days it took for the results to come through. At this stage I still had no phone or bank account..

3 days later I was in bed about 9am when I got a knock at my door. It my co-teacher. He told me that there had been a problem with my results and I had to go with him right away to the hospital. He said he couldn't say what was wrong but it was serious and we needed to see a doctor ASAP. We hopped into a cab and went to a much bigger university hospital.

Once there we waited for an hour or so and went in to the doc. They sat me down and started talking in Korean for about 30mins. Not a word said to me. Finally the doc turns to me and says "How do you feel". I said I was fine. He said that there had been a problem with my blood test. My first result returned a positive for HIV :eek:. This was re-tested and the second result was negative. I had no idea what this meant and the doctor didn't really enlighten me. He just asked me if I knew I had HIV before coming to Korea!! Then he said that it could be a mistake so I would have to get a second test done right away in a specialist blood clinic.

We went there straight away and I had a few more blood samples taken. This cost me 700,000won, which the school paid initially but then deducted from my flight allowance. I was told the results would take 2 weeks and I couldn't teach during this time. My co-teacher just told me to wait at home and the time would be taken from my sick days. I still had no phone so he told me to call the school every day at lunch time to see if the results has come back.

.....

About 2 weeks later, at 9am again, I got another knock at the door. Co-teacher again. He told me the results were back and we had to go and see the doctor again. That's all he said. He wouldn't say what the results actually were. We hopped into a cab, again, and waited in the hospital for an hour, again. Went into the doctors office and they talked in Korean for about 30 mins again!! Then the doctor turned to me and said.... "how do you feel now?" I said fine, but a little anxious. He said "well, it turns out that the first clinic made a big mistake with your test results and you don't actually have HIV. How do you feel now?". I didn't really know what to say so I just blurted "well, that's great. Thanks very much".

Interesting first couple of weeks to say the least!! Out of everyone I've met over here I only know 2 people (myself being 1) who had problems with their health checks. Both turned out to be fine in the end.

Tl; dr
- Told I have HIV
- 700,000 test
- 2 weeks off school waiting for results
- Told I don't actually have HIV... Oops

Went back to the same little clinic for my latest health check and everything was fine! They must think I'm some sort of miracle man!!! :pac:

red_bairn · 28-09-2011 02:18AM

kraggy wrote: »

The urine test is for drugs and certain medical conditions.

Also, there is an eye test, hearing test and chest x-ray (for TB I presume).

Mine was a joke. They rushed through everything and the nurses were like teenaged girls laughing and giggling at every turn. Couldn't believe they were actual nurses. They rushed me through the eyetest and hearing test. With their laughing I was totally distracted and got a few things wrong and they just laughed and said, ok move on to the next thing. Then they wrote down that my hearing and vision were fine.

Put it to you this way, it's nothing to worry about.

At least you weren't facing the wrong way for your chest x-ray, lol. I didn't realise that they were doing one.

Tefl in South Korea

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