Advice on Working for CDI Busan

Part 2 of a series: Chung Dahm Institute!!

I want to preface this by saying two things: First, just something to keep in mind, CDI Busan is not CDI Seoul. In fact, it's a company called Injoon Education; the point is, don't expect them to be exactly the same. Second, I'm sure there are many negative posts about CDI and CDI Busan online that you can find. I find that many people that post these may have other problems that lead them to theses views. (Let's leave it nice and general like that!) While I'm not beholden to them or completely in love with all that they do, I am on a whole happy with my time with them and what they have done for me. The posts below are meant as a precaution; consider me to be cautiously optimistic about working for them.

Working for CDI

-First, it is true that you make good money with them; on a whole, the amount is more than other hagwons. But there is a flip side: people that work with CDI have to work more, not on prep work but in actual classroom time. Don't expect to get any public holidays off, only your week of vacation and that's about it.

-That said, you only really work 6 hours a day, so you have the mornings and most of the afternoon to do things on your own if you are so motivated. The hours are later, but that's sort of a benefit depending on your personal schedules.

-CDI expects more professionalism from its teachers than other schools. Don't expect to walk in in flip flops and a t-shirt and sing "Kumbaya" with the kids and that's it. There is a dress code. You are expected to work. I don't mean this in a frightening way; I would rather be at a place that takes itself seriously and does what it says it does. CDI teaches English and does it pretty well, so expect to have to teach yourself. As a seemingly unnecessary addendum, watch your social networking sites, and don't write anything dumb.

-Teaching materials are provided for you. The curriculum is very structured, which has two sides to it. It is very comforting, since most people that come to CDI are not teachers by profession. But it can also be a bit stifling to people that want more freedom planning their classes. There is room to breathe and do your own thing, but it is less than other schools might allow.

-Talk to your fellow teachers at your branch. They are a great resource on the local atmosphere. Before you come, get in contact with your Head Instructor (HI). Ask them specific questions regarding your branch.

-Your living arrangements are taken care of by one Admin person at your branch. Sometimes, that person does not speak the best of English, so find someone to help you translate or speak to your HI. Just make sure everything is clear and understood; ask twice to be sure!

-Apartments: Get pictures of your place. Confirm the price (often, you will have to pay more than the housing stipend, which is currently 350,000 Won). Ask when you can move in. Ask other teachers for stuff, or check out the Korea Bridge website's postings for cheap stuff from foreigners.

-Read before you sign! Ask as many specific questions as you can!

-Clear things with your Branch Manager, then with HR. Don't assume anything will just be "ok" for you to do. This means vacation, contract specifics, whatever!

-Try to get things in writing. This is not a common practice in Korea, but if you are persistent, they will do it, and it's just a good idea to cover yourself.

-Training is a bitch. It's long and strenuous, especially when you just get to a new country. But in the end, you are waaaay overprepared for your classes and should feel confident walking into a classroom.

-Prepare for your classes. Get your books early, do the leg work. Don't walk in with nothing, cuz your classes will bomb big time. Prepare fun examples for the kids, think of additional information that you want to share, add what you personally can. The structure is a skeleton to build on, but you provide the meat, and it's your job to spark the kids' interests.

-Improve as a teacher. Talk to other teachers, watch their classes, experiment with new ideas, look for stuff online. Many teachers can stagnate because they try to do the same thing from their first term; remember that you should grow as a teacher, and really, that makes it more fun and interesting for you.

-CDI levels, from lowest to highest, are:
English Chip (EC) 1
EC2
EC3
EC4

Memory (ME) Mega
ME Giga
ME Tera

Bridge English (BE)

Interactive English (IE) Par
IE Birdie
IE Eagle
IE Albatross (and Alba Plus)

Masters

iBT TOEFL 1
iBT 2
iBT 3

Try out multiple levels to keep things interesting and new. The most fun tend to be elementary school EC classes and upper levels (Par to Alba), but everyone finds their niche in different places.

-CDI has a certain methodology to their teaching. If you are only a lower-level teacher, you might not see what they are building up to. Look into the methodology; if you understand why they do things, it might help you more as a teacher.

-And just generally be positive about the experience! Have fun with the kids and classes, don't hate too much on the company. CDI workers sometimes have a reputation of complaining about work a lot. It's really just like any job; you get as much or as little as you want to put into it.


But make sure that you enjoy your time in Korea as well; don't forget your Trippin'!

Advice on Livng in Korea

So I sometimes get emails on people wanting advice on teaching and living in Korea. Consider this my generic post to answer those; I would really love it if people would post their own helpful hints, maybe after you read this and move to Korea, you could come back and write your own ideas! Next up is advice on teaching with CDI!

Living in Korea

-Try walking. I used to walk to work every day, and I really got to know that route and the restaurants and stops along the way. It's the best way to acquaint yourself with an unfamiliar area.

-Make an effort to learn the language. Reading Korean is easy to learn. (Even though I never did, oops! Kick myself for it too!)

-Make Korean friends. This can be at your workplace or outside; lots of times, people literally will walk up to you and ask to be your friend! You learn about all the cool little places and things and just plain culture from locals.

-Try ALL the food. You'll find places near you that you'll like, but don't just eat the same thing every time (*cough* donkassu!). Generally, each restaurant specializes in one food, so move around and try new places. Ask around, find the good places, and try some street food!!!

-It's easy to get into the routine of going out until the wee hours drinking, but try to limit your nights out to the weekends. At CDI, we have the whole day to do things, but if you're out late or hungover, you squander that time.

-Learn public transport. Cabs may seem cheap when you get here (and they are often cheaper than public transport if you bring lots of people and aren't going far), but those fares add up. Also, buses can often get you places faster than subways; ask which ones take you places and try them out. (Just hold on if you're standing!!)

-If you live in the city, get out to the countryside a bit or some smaller towns. Those places can offer you a whole different side of Korea. If you're daunted by the idea of going as a non-Korean, then look into a tour company like Adventure Korea; I took a really cool rafting trip that went up to the northeast near the North Korean border. We stayed in a family's house and ate homemade food at the town hall, hiked the trails surrounding the city, and it was amazing!

-Visit places early in your stay. You always say that you will go somewhere or do something later on, but later on you get into your routine and just never get around to it.

-Places to go (and a short opinion about them):
Busan (Obvious, right? 2nd biggest city, it's got the beaches for summertime! The city is pretty spread out, but there are lots of different places to go. A very foreigner-friendly city as well, and a good alternative to the overwhelming Seoul.)

Seoul (Massive and metropolitan, a much more international city. Can be a little much to conquer; just don't get stuck in Itaewon the whole time or you'll miss out!)

DMZ (There's no place really like it in the world. You get an eerie feeling being here; it's definitely worth coming to say you went, though don't expect anything too crazy to happen.)

Daegu (The fashion capital of Korea, apparently, and the 3rd biggest city. It's a fun place to visit: good food and shopping, the hiking and outdoorsy sports are big on the outskirts. Lots of military nearby, which means whatever you want it to mean.)

Kyeongju (The ancient capital of the Silla dynasty, you can get your history lessons here. It's a smaller place, and a lot to walk around and manage in one day. I enjoyed visiting, but I can understand if others are bored by it. Also, the Bulguksa temple is an awesome one to visit!)

Green Tea Fields- Boseong (Gorgeous hiking and countryside, especially in the Fall when I went, but I can imagine it being beautiful in the spring and summer as well. Remember, kids: Korea has four seasons!)

Andong Folk Village (Interesting and full of traditional dwellings and works, but kind of underwhelming. But we went in the beginning of the spring, so it was still pretty brown and dull, though the cherry blossoms were out! The Jimdok [potato and chicken stew with glass noodles] in the city of Andong is supposedly famous too.)

Cherry Blossom Festival- Jinhae (I honestly never went, but I've heard it's fun and worth the day trip. Cherry blossom time is a great time overall to be walking around in Korea; the weather is generally great, so walk to work if you can!)

-Be polite! Having a little humility when you try to set up a bank account or buy a bus ticket can go a long way. If possible, when you do those things, you can predict in advance and have a Korean friend write a quick note (i.e. when you go to the pharmacy and need a certain type of medicine or if you have trouble with your cell phone and need to go to the store).

-Remember your place as a visitor, even if you're planning on being here for a year or so. It's easy to point out differences and problems you have with Korean society when you're immersed in it, but that kind of negativity just distances yourself further from things around you.

Wow, it's been over a year since my last post; kind of crazy to think it's been that long. I'm still in Korea, just finishing up my second year soon. It's kind of funny when people ask you how Korea is; there's never a good answer. I mean, it's like asking people back home, "How's the US?" Generally, you talk about the weather or something political that just recently came up. But how do you really sum up a whole place and culture and experience? It's been good, that's about it.

I've been hearing from some random people that have made the trip over that they have seen my blog, so I wanted to at least touch back and try and give a few more updates before the whole wild ride is finished. After this, my girlfriend (whom I met last summer here in Korea, a foreigner from Iowa) and I will be traveling for a bit, then stopping off at home for our sisters' babies to be delivered, and after that, it looks like we've gotten a job in Shanghai (China Trippin'? Dum, dum, duuuuuuuum!).

I wanted to set up an open invitation for anyone that happens by the blog in the next few months; if you want to post any questions, get any more specific information, or even get some photos or such, drop me a comment and I'll get back to you.

One quick note, since I did mention the weather: it be crazy this year! Snowfall in Seoul all winter, and some even got down to Busan. Now it's pretty rainy and dreary; we've had bouts of warm weather, but it invariably drops back down and we break out the winter gear for another week. Spring is coming, but winter's kicking and screaming all the while. The Yellow Dust also made a brief appearance. In case I haven't mentioned it, the dust blown off of the Gobi Desert over in China gets sent as far as Korea. You can see this haze that settles over the city, and it's holy murder on your breathing. One teacher was out most of a week due to a bronchial infection and a severe asthma attack, and my girlfriend caught some nasty cold with a lingering cough that she can't quite shake. I even resorted to buying us a couple of those ever-so-stylish masks that they sell at the pharmacy particularly to stop particulate.