Teaching in Korea: Your Apartment

[MirageQuad67]

This was SO helpful and very fun to watch. Thank you, Kevin! I'm actually and international teacher myself, traveling around the world each year to teach Literature and English as an Additional Language. Right now I'm in Ireland and this August, I am heading off to...South Korea! :) I'm following your blog and your twitter! Really glad to have found a resource with first-hand experience!

[yokohamaguy75]

I really like you and Kansai PJ's videos. I lived in Yokohama for about 4 years, but my wife grew up in Kobe. We have been living in the States (Arizona) for a little over a year now since our return from Japan. My wife loves your videos because they are videos of her home town! She really gets excited to see so many familiar sites. Thank you for posting so many videos, as they mean so much to my wife and I. My wife, Naoko, and I will be in Kobe this March to visit family.

[BusanKevin]

well, than you very much. That is a very flattering comment! I'm glad you and your wife enjoy them so much. Expect to see a lot more Kobe in the future. Give me a shout when you visit in March. Maybe we can get together for a beer :)

[360esteban]

OMG!!! he got into your room WTF!! not even my mom gets into my room DAWN is nice to have you talking about korea

[SupaKirbTV]

Great video BusanKevin as always. I got a quick question so hope you see this.. I just started college and ive been thinking alot about teaching (in the US of course) is it true that you only need to study what you teach? Like if I wanted to teach the 2nd grade for example I would develop skills to work with children and only learn the 2nd grade curriculum. Is that right? If so college is going to be a blast! If you're not sure about this its ok, just thought Id ask a teacher.

[BusanKevin]

I think the systems for becoming a teacher are very different between the U.S. and Canada. I studied to be an elementary school teacher. I did a lot of work with the K-6 curriculum in the province of Ontario where I am certified. I think most people are never sure what grad they will teach until they are hired at their first job. Once you know what grade you have to teach, you will become very well versed in the appropriate curriculum.

[SupaKirbTV]

OK, thanks a lot Kevin!

[DerSchnurrbart]

I saw a show about an English teacher who went to prison for trying to smuggle hashish into Korea to sell to foreigners. Did you ever hear anything about stuff like that when you were in Korea?

[BusanKevin]

I saw the same show!

I heard rumours of it while I was there, but normally kept away from folks who were into drugs and the like.

[unrested]

interesting stuff man. definitely better than the nova deal. where i had to come over and be in their selected area and apartment and then they got to choose how much to take out of my paycheck. i had to share a 4 room apartment with 2 other guys and i still had to pay 64000yen!! later i saw that same complex advertising - i found out my portion alone paid the rent and nova made it back double time off the other 2 roomates. how evil is that?!

[Luciditi]

Does everyone get a song by BetamaxDC? lol

[uglyengineer]

Freaky Landlord. I hope that's not a Korean cultural thing; to snoop around your tenant's stuff.

[BusanKevin]

No. I don' t think it's a cultural think. The guy was just a creep!

[talktal]

i like the fact that youre talking about living in korea and what to expect, and also showing the tokyo backdrop as you walk around outside. nifty idea

[junkyardmonkie]

What ever happened to your girlfriend from Korea?

[BusanKevin]

I married her! She's now my wife (she's Japanese). :)

[junkyardmonkie]

Well, i'm glad that ended well.

Is there anything else to do in japan other than teach english?

[Flint133]

Mine is nice/new ... but TINY. My living room back home is bigger.

[smartiboi]

pffft

you're only neater because your wife makes you put your stuff away ;p

loljk

[BusanKevin]

you hit the nail right on the head!!! ;p If I was single, there would probably still be bottles all over the floor!

[smaviii]

I don't plan on going to korea, but i still found it entertaining =]

[BusanKevin]

Thanks :)

[Kaiserks3338]

I love it when you talk about your life...haha

[ad007]

i loved this video. with your experience and knowledge, you could be the official consultant for work abroad! keep up the great work.

[BusanKevin]

If I could make a decent living at it....maybe I should change careers!!!! :)

[sengoku17]

its a burden boxing and bringing your stuff, lol for me

[klynik]

Im not planning on teaching in Korea, but I still enjoyed the video Kevin-teacher!

[Mobbs1]

Also, there are LOADS of youtube videos of people giving brief, tours of their apartments that they've gotten. As BusanKevin says, They're all very different. some even have a second floor. Just search 'korean apartment', Busan's among others will flood up. Very helpful

[BusanKevin]

Good advice! I think everyone who lives in Korea does at least one apartment vid while they are there!

[adiaz80]

Oh, by the way, your videos are awesome. They're informative, helpful, and funny. I put the word out to my friends about your videos. I remember watching one of your videos where you were hanging out in Busan, and there was a grand opening (I guess) of a Quiznos with two girls dancing. I first got a glimpse of that while passing by an electronic store, I couldn't stop laughing because I remembered your video. Oh, and I'm pretty popular here. They call me here by another name...Obama.

[BusanKevin]

haha...that's awesome! That was one of the first videos I ever put on You Tube! Did you live in Jangsan?

[adiaz80]

haha...Yeah, it was great! No, I live in Jangyu at the moment. It's pretty much between the cities of Changwon and Busan. It's located South Gyeongsang Province. Oh! Another thing I forgot to say was that I STILL don't know my home address! Is this common as well?

[tdvu]

my studio in busan is pretty small (not in the cleanest of buildings btw) but comfy since it's close to the subway station so im pretty happy.

I havent seen a cockroach!

[adiaz80]

When I first got here (South Korea), I thought I was going to have my own apartment, but reality struck. I didn't. I ended up having a roommate. I'm glad that we both get along, and he has helped me out a lot with getting to know the city of Busan, Changwon, and (our current residence) Jangyu. Our apartment's not the greatest, but it's spacious. We still want our own apartments, though. We asked our director, so I guess we'll have to see what happens.I don't have high expectations, though.

[DeeDoubleYou81]

Great pointers! I think this also applies for Japan and probably many other Asian countries. I am lucky to have my apartment here, but I have heard horror stories from other people in Japan.

Great vid!

[valakin]

I learned where "Busan" comes from. Does that count Kevin? lol, Na, I enjoyed the video. While I may or may not teach in Korea in the future, such advice is handy. I don't know about your personal life, but was your wife with you in Korea? If so, how was the process for getting a larger apartment?

[InsaneVender]

yeah unrested had roommate trouble when he started

[waigugi]

My boss in Japan did the same thing. She would send the bus driver to check on all of the teacher apartments while they were at work. She also broke into my apartment once after I stopped working for them and I was about to move.

My apartment in Korea, however, was lovely. I really lucked out. Out of all of the apartments the school had arranged, I ended up with the largest one that was closer to a lot of the restaurants, shops, and DVD rooms we went to.

[InsaneBreakdown]

nice video m8

[nancarrow2]

couldn't you change the locks?

[BusanKevin]

We thought about it (myself and other staff members), but we figured, knowing the boss, that would have been a bad idea. If he felt that he had "that" much power of his employees to check our apartments, he would probably outright fire us if we changed the locks.