Getting to Korea

The Journey

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My TESOL Program

I went through ATI to receive my TESOL certification. My experience there was great, but mostly for two reasons. 1 – we are in Thailand, there is no better way to get to know a country and culture than living in it day-to-day for a month. 2- the teachers went above and beyond to help. Especially this one teacher, she is young like us and had been teaching in Thailand for 4 years I believe. She was comfortable with the culture and giving us tips on the day-to-day stuff. Then she really made me feel grateful for the program when my friend got really sick and we had to take multiple trips to the hospital. She went above and beyond to help. We also got some experience teaching English with local monk children.The only issue I had with the program is that it comes off as guaranteeing you a position in Korea. Jodi and I happened to be the only ones in our 16 person group that happened to have our Korean visas with us. We were set. Everyone else was not so lucky. Only  7 of us made it to Korea, including Jodi and I, with two friends having to wait in Thailand longer until they could start working in Korea. Everyone else tried to scramble around waiting for phone calls to happen and given a bit of a runaround though I’m sure people were trying to make it work. Ultimately, though we had signed up for the Special Korea/Thai program through ATI, the rest of the group had to find jobs in Thailand. I would still highly recommend the program however. So make sure you have your visa before you get here!

My recruiting agency for Korea

My recruiting agency for Korea

The other great thing about the ATI experience was that they worked directly with one of the best recruiting agencies in Korea. They work directly with EPIK, getting our paperwork done and making sure everything is ready. Korvia was extremely helpful in helping us with getting to Korea and accomodating Jodi and I. It doesn’t happen always, but our recruiter who was one of the top people in the agency went above and beyond to try to get Jodi and I to stick together. Though it was hard, and I am sure we frustrated him on more than one occasion, he remained helpful. Best of all? We got cellphones as soon as we landed, something others were extremely jealous of considering most have to wait weeks until they get their Alien Registration Card (ARC) and then eventually get a cellphone with the help of a Korean teacher or friend.