Work Abroad

Japan

Bachelor’s degree. $2000+ a month. Maybe help in finding an apartment. Either teaching adults or children. A popular program is called JET.

Jet only hires outside Japan. They will set you up with your own place to live (with partially government subsidized rent) a school to teach at, a salary around 2500-3000 a month, furniture, work visa, the works.! Outside of JET the most popular way to go is through NOVA, They will only hire you from Japan after an interview.

Click here for additional teaching resources in Japan.

South Korea

Bachelor’s degree and maybe TEFL. $1800+ and free apartment and incoming flight paid for. Flight out and one month bonus if you stay the year. Mainly teaching kids but some adult teaching around too.

Tai Wan

Diploma not essential here but helpful. $2000+ a month. Almost all of the work is crowd control in kindergartens.

Thailand

Diploma not essential. $500+ a month.

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Japan, Korea and Taiwan are where the money is at but think twice before jumping on the plane. By and large you’ll be entering rat race societies built upon severe class systems and chauvinism. Wasn’t that the kind of crap you wanted to leave behind when you got on the road?

Example: A friend of mine was teaching kids in Seoul and getting them to play games. Suddenly her boss burst in and wanted to know what on earth was going on? What was all this laughter and chaos? These children were here to learn!

Teaching English in Asia can be frustrating at times given the cultural differences. One teacher in Japan had this to say:

“Getting along with your Japanese co-workers can be a challenge especially if you don’t speak Japanese. There is commonly a huge disconnect between the foreign English teachers and the Japanese teachers. ‘They’ don’t tell you what’s going on so you assume nothing is going on. It’s easy to feel left out and alone in the work place.

There will be en-kai parties where all co-workers are invited to eat a deliciously expensive meal and watch your fellow Japanese teachers toss back cup after cup of nihonshu. If you’re a female watch out! This is when the normally reserved Japanese men come out of their shell. They don’t just peak their head out; they burst out running at you.

Of course the alcohol is one of the reasons they become perverts, wanting to talk about intimate sexual details, reveal over-the-edge information about their mistresses and comments about your body. It’s not common for your female Japanese co-workers to hear these comments but all they do is giggle quietly next to you when you’d really like them to help you. It’s a culture of extremes I’d have to say!”

By and large, though, the best part of the job is actual students and the relationships you make with them. If you can manage to take on some adult classes and are open and interested in learning more about Asian culture you can have some great discussions and really learn a lot about how the other side of the planet lives.

Teaching in Thailand isn’t so well rewarded but the people are lovely. It’s also chauvinist and loaded with hierarchy but the atmosphere will be much more relaxed and fun.

In much of Asia one is expected to be fanatically loyal to one’s company – a tattoo of the company logo across the forehead would do much in securing a pay rise. Exceptions are made for foreigners who are known to be so anarchistic as to change jobs if their boss treats them like shit. Still you’ll do well not to ever disagree with your superiors. If they give you a crazy order just nod submissively, promise to do it right away and then promptly forget about it once you’re outside the office.

If you’re teaching kids in Asia remember that they have already been at school for 7 hours that day. Then they’re sent to your English ‘cram-school’ by their ambitious parents and when they finally get home they have to do 3 hours of homework. Forgive them if they’re a little pissed off with the arrangement. Let them have as much fun as possible because the rest of their childhood is being eaten by the social obsession with getting ahead.

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