Herald School – Sanbon: Sanbon-dong, Gyeonggi-do

LOOOOONG hours
Enforced lunch duties ( no additional compensation)
Scary and expensive appartments

– anyone can find better working conditions

days are long and classes require a considerable amount of outside preparation. early arrival and late departure are expected each day. director can be downright condescending. no health insurance, yet it is deducted from your check. requirement to pay teachers to cover classes even in the event of an emergency (legitimate, doctor-authorized hospitalization, etc.). expect to be goaded into running for your health check during lunch and footing the bill. expect that they may not order the correct health check and you will have to return on break, footing the bill again, despite the fact that it was their error. location is decent, but expect to be too exhausted to take advantage of subway proximity to seoul. director and superiors often contradict themselves, making specific requests regarding your teaching methods, homework, and tests, only to change their minds quickly and act as if it wasn’t their idea in the first place. you will pay a lot for utilities, and, when you compare it to other teachers’ bills in the area, find you are paying considerably more. director is good about paying in full and on time. not a very encouraging environment overall. superiors make it obvious that attractiveness is as high of a priority as teaching ability, if not higher. constant monitoring, but classroom intervention also comes in the form of yelling at you in the middle of class in front of students, undermining your authority. there are definitely worse jobs, and the technical teaching hours are standard for a hagwon, but if you want to truly enjoy korea, i’d say stay away. if you want to make money and devote about 60 hours/week to teaching, have at it.