Wonderland English – Sosa: Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do

Wonderland was as disorganized as a school could get while seemingly functioning. The foreign teachers (usually two of them) were usually not aware of future plans, what was expected, or given any insight into teaching styles / methods. In most cases, our sole jobs were to make the kids happy so that the Korean moms would continue to fund their expensive English education.

Save your teaching career and yourself the trouble by avoiding this hagwon. In the ten years that this hagwon has been in existence you could probably count on one hand how many foreign teachers actually completed contracts at Sosa Wonderland. I seriously doubt Sosa Wonderland will be in operation another ten years.
Popular expressions found on the Web say “Friends don’t let friends work at wonderland” and “Not everyone smiles in Wonderland”. Both of these expressions and the previous comments are accurate descriptions of Sosa Wonderland. If there is a method to the madness, the foreign English teachers are not kept aware as to what that method may be. Wonderland is staffed by Korean English teachers who don’t speak English and are too scared to approach the foreign teachers. Any concerns they have about the foreign teacher goes through the most round about channels, through every teacher in the hagwon before it gets to the foreign teacher. Then, it is often misconstrued and clear as mud as to what the problem originally was. Korean teachers assume the foreign teachers are lazy even though the foreign teachers very clearly work the longest hours (from open to close). Also, the foreign teachers do not “fake” work as the Korean teachers tend to do. Korean teachers shuffle paperwork around and make pointless copies just to give the appearance of being “busy” and win brownie points from the administration. The hagwon is equipped with video cameras that are supposed to be there to assure the Korean moms that their children are being educated in a safe environment. However, they function more as “spy cams” for the administration to be voyeurs on what the foreign English teachers are doing.
I recommend this book to anyone still considering teaching at any Wonderland. Prisoner of Wonderland by Jane Keeler available at http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/prisoner-of-wonderland-an-esl-misadventure/541936