Hey! I don't know them I'm afraid. I like Cheongju, and the good thing is that with busses it is only about an hour and a half from Seoul. I go at least once a month to get my eyes checked (I got lazer surgery on them in August) and it is really quite minimal hassle, and not too expensive (about 4GBP each way) and the last bus back is maybe at 11pm (I'm not sure, I've never stayed there that late, but I've heard others have). Any more questions, just ask, I'm happy to help :) When do you think you'll be going out there?

On a totally different note, apparently I'm a featured writer! How exciting is that? I've only written about 3 blog posts :P

Anyways, I hope that you do come out here! I love it! I'm so glad I've done it (it's been nearly a year and I'm trying to stay out here another 6 months after my contract is up). As for agencies, if you do decide to come to Cheongju, I recommend James Cranshaw of www.teachkoreans.com, who was my recruiter. He knows the local schools well and is a good guy. He's from Britain and has a Korean wife who is also lovely.

Sorry for the poor sentence structure in that post, I'm fading fast and it's time for bed. 

Hi! Cheongju is actually where I am, and there are a lot of jobs everywhere, so it really depends on what you want as to where you go. I like Cheongju, but if you want lots of entertainment then you are possibly better off somewhere like Seoul (although I think there is plenty to do in Cheongju for me). Who is your friend? It is unlikely, but I might know them :) There's probably around 300 English teachers here (so if you average it out a job comes up nearly every day of the year! Although that isn't true, because they tend to be clustered at the beginning and ends of months and public school jobs are only offered twice a year). Anyways, as for public or private, it is very much up to you! Public school has larger classes and more planning, but less teaching hours and no profit incentive for the person running them (ie, you are less likely to be told to give students good grades or whatever), you also have a co-teacher most of the time. Private schools (what I'm in, called a Hagwon) are more profit driven (although that's not always a bad thing), have much smaller classes normally and more teaching hours and less planning time. They also have different hours (some are 9-5pm, but generally only if you do kindergarten, otherwise it tends to be evening hours or, heaven forbid, a split shift (which is what I do!!)). There is also often less social obligation (which, again, can be a good or a bad thing) There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to both. Personally, I like my hagwon job a lot! I don't think I'd want to work in a public school, but then I have friends who do who question my sanity!

Ha oh fancy dress- I see! I'm dressing up as the corpse bride for Halloween- can't wait!

It's great you're interested in teaching in South Korea! I'd recommend you have a chat with one of our featured writers, she's great at offering friendly advice about teaching English in Korea.

http://www.onlinetefl.com/tefl-chalkboard/mahalath

Hope this helps and let me know if you have any further questions!

Hi Becky,
I'm loving the hat!

I'd just like to welcome you to Chalkboard, is there anywhere in particular you're interested in teaching?
Great to see you've joined the Newbie’s group! It's a good way to get started.

Give me a shout if you have any questions at all!

Cheers,

Erin