Posted by Terence on Nov 5, 2009 in
Teaching in Korea Today is part three of my remix of last year’s essay titled “EPIK Teaching: Every Challenge is an Opportunity.” The essay contained five sections in which I detailed challenges (a.k.a. problems) that every Guest English Teacher (GET) with EPIK is going to experience. The third challenge that I described was called “Investing In Your Success.” Below is a “remixed” version of the “Investing In Your Success” part of the essay.
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Tags: buy, candy, halloween, invest, money, soap, won
Posted by Terence on Nov 5, 2009 in
Welcome to EPIK Survival I now live in Wonju, South Korea and have adjusted to my new school and to life in a larger city. I apologize for the lack of chapter updates, but things will be getting back on track soon. There are many more hilarious stories to be told and many more “Tips from Terence” to be written. Stay tuned!
Posted by Terence on Aug 13, 2009 in
Welcome to EPIK Survival I am currently on vacation in the United States and will later be traveling to Japan. EPIK Survival will resume in early September. In the meantime, have fun learning about and living in Korea!
Tags: vacation
Posted by Terence on Jul 10, 2009 in
Teaching in Korea Today is part two of my remix of last year’s essay titled “EPIK Teaching: Every Challenge is an Opportunity.” The essay contained five sections in which I detailed challenges (a.k.a. problems) that every Guest English Teacher (GET) with EPIK is going to experience. The second challenge that I described was called “Helping Out Fellow GETs.” Below is a “remixed” version of the “Helping Out Fellow GETs” part of the essay.
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Tags: halloween, help, materials, play, podcast, teaching
Posted by Terence on Jul 6, 2009 in
Teaching in Korea Last year I won Gold Prize for an essay that I wrote for EPIK titled “EPIK Teaching: Every Challenge is an Opportunity.” The essay contained five sections in which I detailed challenges (a.k.a. problems) that every Guest English Teacher (GET) with EPIK is going to experience. The first challenge that I described was called “Learning Material that is 50% in Korean,” which refers to the fact that the English textbooks that many teachers use only contain 50% English. The essay was well received by the judges and hopefully those who read it got something out of it.
The essay that I wrote was cleanly written, refined, and completely whitewashed. It had no edge to it whatsoever. I always wanted the essay to have a little more “bite” to it, but didn’t want the selection committee to think I had gone off the deep end. Below is a “remixed” version of the “Learning Material that is 50% in Korean” part of last year’s essay. This updated section of the essay contains all of the writing from the original part of the essay, as well as some extra notes and explanations that didn’t make it into the original version. Enjoy!
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Tags: activity, book, lessons, suppliment, teaching, textbooks
Posted by Terence on Jul 3, 2009 in
Life in Korea Having heat in your apartment is important, and so is having heat in your shower. Here is some advice about the hot water when you take a shower: Do not turn your water on full blast. Water pressure in Korea is interesting. If you turn a shower spigot on full blast, the water will almost always become cold. What that means is if you like full pressure showers back home, this habit will need to be curbed immediately if you plan on taking a shower with a normal amount of heat. If you like your showers feeling like the Arctic, then by all means turn that bad boy up. But, if you’d like to avoid frostbite, then I suggest that you keep the shower spigot at about 80% of its full power.
I had been told about the “Korean shower water pressure issue” when I first arrived, but I didn’t truly understand it until I started taking showers that had only two minutes worth of hot water. I first thought I was out of heating oil, but after I filled up my heating oil and still had the same problem, I realized that I must be doing something wrong. I then remembered what someone had told me about not using the water full blast, and I was able to take a shower without screaming in frosty agony.
Even after I remembered that I could only use the shower at 80% of its pressure, I still had a difficult time learning how to adjust the temperature of the shower. Between showering at hotels, motels, my apartment, my girlfriend’s apartment, and my friend’s apartments, I realized that most of the showers in Korea suffer from the “one degree turn = 100 degrees temperature difference” syndrome (a.k.a. the “freezing to flesh searing in five seconds” phenomenon). Most likely, you will spend the first few showers at your apartment getting to know exactly how to adjust it to make your shower pleasant. Oh, and try to avoid taking a shower using someone else’s bathroom after a hard night of Soju drinking. “What’s that I smell cooking? Oh, snap that’s me!”
Tags: apartment, cold, hot, pressure, shower, warm, water
Posted by Terence on Jun 29, 2009 in
Teaching in Korea If you refuse to deal with the public transportation system in Korea, then it is possible for you to purchase a vehicle. You can buy a motorcycle or car during your stay, but you had better seriously weigh the pros and the cons of it before making a move. Here are the pros and cons of buying a motorcycle while in Korea:
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Tags: bus, car, idp, license, motorcycle, permit, public, transportation
Posted by Terence on Jun 26, 2009 in
Teaching in Korea Today’s podcast is titled “Public Transporation Ain’t My Style.” You don’t have to take the bus while in Korea, but not taking it may be harder than you think.
Tags: bus, car, idp, license, motorcycle, permit, public, transportation
Posted by Terence on Jun 22, 2009 in
Life in Korea Paying 400,000 won to fill up your apartment’s heating oil tank isn’t fun. And after the first time you do it, you will probably be searching for ways to make your oil last longer so you don’t end up having to sell plasma in order to keep your apartment warm. If you go to E-Mart you may be tempted to buy a portable electric heater. It is okay to buy and use these kinds of heaters, but if you do, then be sure and get a heater that has a relatively low wattage and a built in timer.
There are a couple of things to remember when using a portable heater. First off, you should lose any thoughts that you will be able to heat your entire apartment with it. A low-powered space heater will heat the room that it is used in, but the heat will leave within ten minutes if it is turned off. Secondly, if you buy a high-powered space heater and leave it on continually in order to heat your entire apartment, then may heaven have mercy on your wallet. My EPIK coordinator, Renata, liked to keep her apartment at 18 degrees Celsius in order to make her heating oil last longer. Because of this, she chose to purchase a high-powered electric heater and kept it running for long periods of time. Normally, her electric bill was around 30,000 won. The month after she got her electric heater, it increased to over 300,000 won. Because I had learned from her misfortune, I purchased a small 900W heater that I used only a couple of hours per day. My bill increased, but it was only by 3,000 won per month. Pay attention to other people’s mistakes in Korea. I never forgot Renata’s portable heater lesson, so I was able to only have my bill increase by the price of a Frappucino. If I hadn’t paid attention, I might have been like her and had a bill that increased by the price of a night at the Ritz Carlton.
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Tags: bill, blanket, electric, heat, heater, heating, oil, space
Posted by Terence on Jun 19, 2009 in
Teaching in Korea Most of you reading this have probably had access to a car while you were in your home country. I’ve been driving since I was sixteen, and the only time I’ve been separated from my car was when I was traveling abroad. I’m sure you already knew this, but you probably won’t be driving much while in Korea. Even if you bothered to get an International Driving Permit before leaving your country, the chances of you using it regularly when you first get here are slim. More than likely, you will be driven to where you need to go by a co-worker, or you will take the bus.
If you are driven where you need to go by a co-worker, consider yourself blessed. They already know the best routes and they are used to some of Korea’s more questionable driving policies. If you aren’t being driven, then you’ll either be taking a two-foot Ford (i.e. walking) or be taking the bus. And if you are taking the bus, if you follow a few simple rules, then you should be able to make it to your schools without much trouble.
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Tags: bus, driver, early, error, late, missing, public, transportation