Musings

With my life getting very busy I can't help but start to think about what comes when it is all done. To be honest I have written posts like this before and about 50% of them actually happen, but it can be good to throw ideas out there. Anyway here goes:

I am happy with my current job. Moonkkang is a good school, my bosses and co-workers are all great, kids are good and the pay and vacation are as good as you can expect from a hagwon. I have no complaints there.

However, it IS a hagwon and resigning would make it my fifth year in one. At this point it does nothing for me but provide a paycheque. A public school job would open more doors and look good on my resume. As would a university job and I will be looking in to that as well.

There is also Daegu. At one point I loved this town but I feel my time here is not as useful as it once was. Daegu is home to a host of westerners who come to Korea for a year or two to basically drink and piss about. Not that there's anything wrong with that but it amazes me how many esl teachers here have no idea what a verb is. It is not an environment that generates professionalism in anything. Seoul seems to have older people with real educational experience and a desire to improve themselves. Not that that is totally absent in Daegu, but the average age of an expat seems to be about 25, as opposed to 30-35 in Seoul. A new city would be a new adventure, regardless of the job I got there.

So options-

Daegu and Moonkkang are comfortable and I would certainly be happy enough to stay until my dissertation is about to start. In fact that may be the smartest thing to do. However, my school is based in Seoul, the centre of esl development in Korea is in Seoul. Most of my friends are in the greater Seoul area. Seoul and Gyeonggi-do would be a new area to explore. A public school gig would be a new challenge and one that would benefit me in a number of ways, heck even a hagwon in Seoul would provide new challenges and a new environment.

The fact is that I still have six months to decide so it's not a rush, just food for thought.