Teaching for EPIK: Pros and Cons

It's that time of year here in Korea when a whole group of new EPIK teachers will be arriving all around the country to start their year-long contracts.  EPIK takes in teachers twice a year: in March and August.  This is also the time that prospective teachers will be applying for the August take-in.  For those of you applying or thinking about applying to teach English in Korea, I decided to write a post about the pros and cons of teaching in a public school in Korea (EPIK) as opposed to at a private academy (hagwon).  As all I know about teaching at a hagwon is second hand, I really can't give my opinion on that but I will include information that I've received via hagwon teachers or other secondary sources.

Pros:

1. The benefits.  Native English teachers in Korea receive a pretty good bundle of benefits whether they are working for EPIK or a hagwon.  The flight is paid for and our apartments are covered.  All we have to pay for ourselves are general utility bills, cell phone, internet and whatever other extra things we decide to spend our money on.  When we complete our year long contract, we receive an extra month's pay (severance).  This last bonus is a really awesome thing if you're planning on traveling a bit through Asia after your contract expires and you haven't saved up as much money as you had planned.
2. Vacation/sick days.  As EPIK teachers we complain a lot about having to go to school and "deskwarm" when school is not in session.  Yes, it sucks and I am often bored out of my mind during these long hours.  My mind definitely wanders into unexplainable territory and I find myself getting dumber with each minute I watch exquisitely horrible reality television.  But compared to hagwon teachers we do get a better deal when it comes to vacation days.  During Winter Vacation we are allotted 10 paid business days for vacation with 8 during Summer Vacation.  I've heard from several hagwon teachers that they don't get vacation days.  Because I played my cards right I was able to use my 10 vacation days (14 with weekends) and tag on Lunar New Year, which is a national holiday to actually get 18 days of vacation time.  This gave me plenty of time to head down to the Philippines for two and a half weeks.  Pretty awesome.  We also get paid sick days and apparently hagwon teachers do not.
3. Support system.  As an EPIK teacher you participate in orientation before your contract begins.  During this time it's really easy to meet people and develop relationships with other teachers that will be working in your city and throughout Korea.  It's awesome to know that you will have people to talk to and meet up with when you get to your designated city.  I think this was one of my biggest concerns coming to Korea.  Hagwons are often small private academies that only have a few native English teachers.  I've heard from hagwon teachers that it takes a bit more time and effort to meet people who you'd actually want to hang out with.  Our coTs (coteachers) are also essential people in our lives when we first get here and throughout our year.  They do lots of stuff for us and help us out whenever we need it.
4. The job is generally easy.  On average we teach about 4 to 5 classes a day which totals 160-200 minutes a day.  I split my classes 50/50 with my coTs so I really only end up teaching 80-100 minutes a day.  Elementary school teachers must follow the government text books so the curriculum is planned.  We usually just have to create a game and some supplement materials for each class.  I've heard that hagwon teachers usually teach by themselves, spend lots of time planning their lessons and teach the entire time they are at work.

Cons

1. Deskwarming.  As I briefly stated earlier, "deskwarming" is an issue that every EPIK teacher faces.  It pretty much means that you are sitting at your desk with absolutely nothing to do, but can't go home because it's in your contract that you are at work for 8 hours a day.  It seems that Koreans don't really understand the phenomenon of deviation.  Doing anything different from the norm or the rules is just not really even thought of.  This is not only applicable in the work place but in everyday life.  When you go to a restaurant don't be surprised if the server literally just does not understand why you want to substitute a side dish for something else.  Korean culture is about conformity, not difference.  This means that during the time that students are not in school and we are not taking our vacation days, we will be on Facebook for 8 hours straight.  It's pretty funny to see your friends on Facebook go from 50 down to 16 at exactly 4:30.  At least I can stay caught up on Jersey Shore, The Bachelor, 30 Rock, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Parenthood, and Portlandia.  You are reading this blog post courtesy of deskwarming.
2. Korean culture can be hard to understand.  Because we are often times the only native English teacher at a school full of Koreans we develop relationships with a lot of our coworkers.  We are expected to go to school dinners and on school hikes.  These can be really fun but also a pain in the ass when they tell you an hour before that you will be going out with the school all night long to dinner and the norae bang.  It is not looked highly upon to miss a school function so you will have to cancel all your Friday night plans.  It is common for Koreans to change plans at the last moment during school too.  You will have planned a lesson the week before and 5 minutes before the class starts your coT will tell you that you're not doing that lesson anymore.  The end of this semester is on Wednesday and most of us will be getting new coTs next semester.  I asked my coT from this semester when I will know who my new coTs will be and she said, "I don't know.  Maybe next week?"  These little things about Korean culture can get frustrating after awhile.  I've just learned to go with the flow and never expect anything to be set in stone until it has already happened.
3. The curriculum is horrible.  From improper English to useless topics, the Elementary school curriculum is a laugh.  I can't speak for middle school or high school but the things we have to teach can be irrelevant or even completely incorrect.  A lot of us have to follow the books to a certain degree which can be really hard to teach.  It is also pretty boring it's a challenge to keep the students entertained.  Next semester there are new English books for elementary school so hopefully there is at least some improvement.
4. The variation.  Each EPIK teacher's situation is different.  Since your school makes most of the decisions regarding your job, housing, etc., no one can ever be sure of what their situation will be like.  I have a friend with a hole-in-the-wall studio apartment where her bed barely fits and another friend with a 4 bedroom "apartment" that's actually more like a house.  Your coteacher can be a huge factor in your happiness during your year in Korea.  If you have a coT that barely speaks any English, is old and conservative with a minuscule sense of humor, you may have a difficult time.  On the other end your coT might be 26 and down to party with you on the weekends.  I work at a low level school which can prove pretty difficult at times, as some of my students can't understand a word of what i'm saying and don't really care.  Usually at hagwons the level of the students is higher which I would guess could be more fun as you are more able to develop relationships with people that you can communicate with.

If you are a prospective English teacher in Korea I hope this helps you to make an informed decision!