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Ive had IBS since arriving in Trat. Well actually since the day of that fateful bus journey from Bangkok (eyes passim).

 

And in other non thai related news, you must have a TEFL to teach public school in Korea. This isnt terrible since i can conceivably get one in the hols in october. But it does mean that now im kinda stuck here until the start of the school year in Korea. That being said, have an interview with a recruiter tomorrow for a placement in Gangwon Do (one of the first lines of defence against the NorK's). Ill get the gen from them on the situation. What im hoping is that due to my actual classroom experience, i wont need the in-class tefl and can just do the online one. This means i can start asap and gives me the option of heading to Kankoku in September for the start of the second term and thus get my prized February vacation block where i can go snowboarding. I can also afford a nice new car by then so i can actually explore korean resorts a bit. Doubt ill make it to Japan this year (first time ive missed it in all 6 seasons), since the priority is getting the hell off the ESL gig and re-acclimating myself to the land of opportunity that is blighty. And for that ill be needing money.

 

Should it not come to plan and i do require the in-house tefl, then no bad thing since its actually got some vocational merit unlike an online course so i can maybe score a gig in the UK doing ESL when i get back if i have to. It just means ill have to start in March instead of September and miss the season. Or get really lucky with a runnner OR just accept a bit of a shitty placement and have to renew my contracts every November/December (since the work visa requires a year contract, they cant offer me a 9 month contract to get back on the proper schedule - and i cant quit my job before the year is up without losing my severance/airfare and requiring a letter of release to change jobs).

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Picture if you will a poor little fat kid getting his first intercity bus. Its a 5 1/2 hour journey so he brought snacks. He is fat, thats what fat people do. Now picture him walking up to the driver

Yes, I can vouch that Ippy is a real person and a very messy room-mate!  

Ippy doesn't have sex though. He finds it troublesome, or something.

yeah, i need to have money when i go back and the most consistent money was in Korea (well, actually it was on JET). Its just that i kept spending it on month long stints snowboarding in Japan and then moving here :) It also comes with the bonus that you can start from zero since they fly you in.

 

ETA: Just woke up bright and early to get to school on time for my interview with the recruiter only to realise its tomorrow. FFFUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!! :veryangry:

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i honestly have no idea.

 

Also, the recruiter, for no reason at all decided to reschedule my appointment ten minutes AFTER the interview was supposed to take place (interview was supposed to take place at 7.30 am). Massive red flag with these guys. They also sent me an email at 2am trying to reschedule it to 6am, then obviously realised i would have been asleep and 20 minutes later switched it back to the correct time. :? (which they rescheduled to Monday 6am at 7.40am my time).Its pretty clear that the dude just wanted to get home early. What a douchebag. :/

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but still marginally less important than atsui/samui desu ne?!?

 

That being said, as a fellow brit you might also feel the same pang of cultural guilt i felt writing that.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dunno if im giving myself a needless headache, but here it is. As of August 1st i dont work in Thailand no more. Just handed in my resignation. Gonna do the Tefl in koh samui or the celta in bangkok. I know the celta is more prestigious, and will carry me further, but i want OUT of this stupid career, and the only requirement for a PS job in korea is the in-class 120 hour tefl. The celta means more should i decide to head elsewhere and maybe try and push my earnings up in the private side of things (plus it leads to the delta if i find myself stuck here in another five years and happen to have another spare 3000 quid lying about and figure im all in anyway so might as well make a career of it).

 

So whatcha reckons?

 

Tefl: 1090US plus 400 accommodation.

Celta: 2100US all in or 1600 for the course. Added extra bonus is a teaching young learners course the week before for a reasonable 5500 baht (about 150US).

 

In truth im leaning toward the celta just because it carries more weight and if im throwing my money away on something i dont like, it might as well be worth something in a few years if i run out of options in my 50s and decide thailand would be a GREAT IDEA again since 'i never really gave it a chance last time!'

 

But yay! i quit! im gonna do a tefl/celta, im gonna get a job in Korea hopefully in a public school, so im gonna get me some Feb holidays which means im gonna get me some riding in this season after all*

 

 

 

 

 

 

*assuming it doesnt all go to hell

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Oh Korea! how i look forward to your sweet cool embrace once more! Decided to do the tefl. You should see the certificate, (my mate has one) it looks like it was done in MS word. :)

But who cares! its legit. Heres a picture to remind you exactly why i going back there. Korean mountains are... an experience... Id like you to have a wee look at that watermark and realise that this photo is supposed to SELL korean winter sports to the world. Lookie! you can compete in a race taking up an entire third of the mountain, or play on a sledge taking up another third, or if you just want to ride, theres a BAZILLION people you can use as natural obstacles.

 

692202_image2_1.jpg

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Go for the expensive but better one young man. Investing in yourself is the best investment.

 

I reckon TEFL as a job is a something you have to embrace and take seriously to get a good gig, or conversely just dabble in and get the hell out. It seems like something you can easily drift along in for years in meh circumstances. People in that situation should be looking at two or three years max, like the original JET program. If you do leave many typical TEFL jobs to try something else, I doubt they're that difficult to get back into. What you've done in using TEFL to see different countries sounds like a great experience.

 

I do my job without any particular qualifications, so granted that they are not everything.

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Its kinda funny. But was doing a spot of research on it last night. Celta is MUCH more prized in the middle east and europe, But Tefl is more recognised in Korea. Its also much much easier :) As we all know, im not exactly swimming in self motivation as far as esl goes so going with the tefl. The risk is that because tefl isnt standardized to a consistently high quality that over time its value will diminish, whereas the celta (because it has very rigid levels of assessment) will remain as the essential ESL qualification for positions around the world. Basically right now the two are seen as relative equivalents. Celta has the edge, but tefl (the 120 hour in class course - not the online versions), still carries enough weight to open doors. Over a few years though i can see a future where only a select few accredited tefl courses become accepted for entry level whereas the rest are seen pretty much how people view online tefl now. But since i honest to god dont want to do this stupid career (i really cant stress this enough), and was one POXY FEKKING YEAR AWAY from getting out of it and returning to the UK (now hopefully only two more years - one year to set up in korea, one year to make cash), then the tefl is just purely for administrative purposes. Its also something i can hopefully pull out in 20 years when ive lost my way again and hate my shitty life wherever i am as being a 'serious' ESL teacher in whatever burgeoning market is hiring teachers then and doesnt care about age limits. So tefl for me. If i really wanted to do esl until i drop dead, celta is obvious, but i really dont. If i do end up that way, ill drop the cash on an MA in Tesol or something instead. Or just swat up on my grammar then leapfrog to the Delta.

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Oh Korea! how i look forward to your sweet cool embrace once more! Decided to do the tefl. You should see the certificate, (my mate has one) it looks like it was done in MS word. :)

But who cares! its legit. Heres a picture to remind you exactly why i going back there. Korean mountains are... an experience... Id like you to have a wee look at that watermark and realise that this photo is supposed to SELL korean winter sports to the world. Lookie! you can compete in a race taking up an entire third of the mountain, or play on a sledge taking up another third, or if you just want to ride, theres a BAZILLION people you can use as natural obstacles.

 

692202_image2_1.jpg

 

That looks like Konjiam.

 

Never again would I ski in Korea. Average wait time for the lift: 30-45 mins

Average number of people in the mess hall at lunch time: full plus 30% more

Average snowfall at resorts: never enough, hence permanent sprayers going all through the night.

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jesus, well spotted :) i bow to your greater korean ski-jo knowledge. Muju is awful low down, but once you get to the second set of lifts half way up it was almost empty. Im hoping if i find somewhere to ride itll be much the same once you escape the bottom lift bedlam.

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haha! heres two of my big days out at muju:

 

The lift Phalanx in turtle formation:

 

gallery_10042_303_723.jpg

 

The start of the day:

 

gallery_10042_303_23879.jpg

 

 

The end of the day:

 

gallery_10042_303_48269.jpg

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