An electronic bus pass - finally

I live in the town on Yeonggwang but I teach at two elementary schools in Baeksu so I take the bus. The ride takes 20-25 minutes depending on the school. There are a few quirks that I am still getting used to with regards to the local buses. For example, on my way to school in the morning I pay 1,300 Won when I get off the bus but in the evening I pay only 1,200 Won (for the same ride) and I pay as I get on the bus.

The drivers can make change but it is a bit of hassle to use cash. Today, with the help of a Korean friend, I was able to purchase an electronic debit card. The 'card' is really a small keychain accessory (see the purple object in the photo below). I bought it from the vendor inside the local bus terminal. The card cost 5,000 Won and I added 25,000 Won of credit to the card. I am told that it will work on the buses, subways, and taxis in Seoul. Unfortunately it is not on the same system that Gwangju uses.

UPDATE (MAY 12th): The bus pass only worked for me twice. I tried to return it but the vendor gave me a phone number to call. Of my initial 25,000 Won I was only able to use 2,300 Won. The remaining 22,700 and the 5,000 I paid for the device are a loss. Rather than risking more money, I'll just continue to use cash.

Taxes - Here and at home

ESL TEACHERS: Many teachers have a few questions about paying income taxes. I'm not a fan of CYA disclaimers but it's only fair to say that I'm not an expert on this subject. However, I did some research and I will share with you what I have learned. I am a US citizen so some of this won't apply to teachers from the UK, Ireland, South Africa or Canadia.

The Korean income tax is 4% of your gross pay. Your school will take it out of your paycheck and you don't need to do anything else. Americans can be exempted from paying the Korean income tax for their first two years here. I have no idea why this is true, my guess is that it's an attempt to encourage young Americans to come here and teach.

In order to be exempted, you need to provide your Korean employer with proof that are a US resident for tax purposes.
The IRS will provide you with a letter stating that you pay US income taxes. The form letter (Form 6166) is pretty simple. It has your name and social security number on it and simply reads:

I certify that, to the best of our knowledge, the above-named taxpayer is a resident of the United States of America for purposes of U.S. taxation.

In order to get this letter, you need to send the IRS form 8802 'Application for US Residency Certification'. It costs $35 to submit the form, but it saves you about $80 a month in Korean taxes so it's worth it. If your contract in Korea spans two tax years, say 2009 and 2010, you should technically submit separate 8802 forms for each year. However, once you show your Korean employer the first one they probably won't ask you for the second because your payroll information will already be in the computer. So, it's likely that one 6166 form letter will work for an entire year.

Now the form 6166 says you are a US resident for tax purposes. It does not mean (obviously) that you are living in the US nor that you will pay any US income taxes on the money you earn in Korea. All Americans are exempt from US income taxes on roughly the first $80,000 they earn abroad if they meet the requirements. However, YOU STILL MUST FILE A US TAX RETURN. The major requirement for not paying US taxes is that you are living/working outside the US for either the entire calendar year or 330 of the last 365 days.

Let's say you arrive in Korea on an EPIK contract on August 31, 2009. You will be paid in September, October, November, and December of 2009. Let's also assume that you were in college and earned no income in the US prior to August 31st. So, now it's early 2010 an you need to file your US 1040 income tax return. As of December 31, 2009 you have not been in Korea for 330 days so you should file your return showing your Korean income as taxable. However, once you reach day 330 sometime in 2010 you can go back and amend your 2009 tax return. Essentially what you're saying to the IRS is 'hey, at the time I filed for 2009 I didn't meet the 330-day requirement but now I do so give me back the taxes I paid on that money'.

Let's say you go back to the US after your one year contract is up. When you file in early 2011 for the 2010 tax year, the Korean paychecks you received in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, and August will not be taxable income because you will have met the 330-day rule. When you file your 2010 return you will report the money earned as 'foreign earned income' and then fill out the section for a 'foreign earned income credit'. I use Turbotax so this is a little easier. The net result is that you won't pay US income taxes on that money.

Another question you might have is what address you use on your tax returns. I think the general rule is to go with the state where your US driver's license is issued. By the way, I intentionally typed Canadia above to tick off the Canadian teachers.

Yeonggwang Nightlife for ESL Teachers

ESL TEACHERS: Below are pictures of the bars and restaurants where we gather from time to time.

Dinner #1 - This is Sky. The restaurant is on the top floor. All of the seating is western.



Dinner #2 - This is the barbecue place over by the batting cages. There is no western seating, floor sitting only.



Dinner #3 - This is the barbecue place near the police station and bowling alley. Note the red carpet on the stairs. They have one 8-seat western style table, the rest is floor seating.



Dinner #4 - This is the barbecue place by WaBar that serves duck. About half of the seating is western.



Dinner #5 - This is a very new chicken & beer place over by the Sajik Sky Apartments. All of the seating is western.



Dinner #6 - This is the Pizza Club. It's a 5-7 minute walk from WaBar. All of the seating is western.



Dinner #7 - This is another barbecue place close to Storm. The meat is cooked on a traditional stone slab rather than a grill top. There is no western seating.



Drinking #1 - This is WaBar. The bar is on the top floor. Sadly, WaBar is closing on June 30, 2010. I'm leaving the picture on here because it's an important landmark in town.




Drinking #2 - This is Storm (on the 2nd floor). It's close to the batting cages.

Pay & Pay Stubs

A WEBSITE FOR ESL TEACHERS:

Anyone coming to teach in Korea naturally has questions about how and when you get paid. I'm not sure if this is a national standard but it seems that most teachers here in Yeonggwang are paid on the 25th of the month.

There are 4-5 deductions that will appear on your pay stub.
- The Korean National Pension Plan (4.5%)
- Korean Income Tax (4%) **
- School Lunch Fee (approximately 3,000 Won per school day)
- Korean Medical Insurance (approximately 3%)
- Apartment Deposit (300,000 Won for your first three paychecks)

** American citizens can be exempted from Korean Income Taxes for their first two years here. I'll do a separate post about income taxes soon.

Now I'll walk you through how the deductions above showed up on my recent pay stub. It seems odd to share income information (which is a well-guarded secret back in the States) but the pay rates are standardized here so there's no harm in sharing.

Here's how my March 25th pay stub read:
Base Pay: 2,000,000 Won
Extra 1: 200,000 Won - because I have a Master's degree
Extra 2: 200,000 Won - for teaching in a rural area
Extra 3: 100,000 Won - for splitting time between two schools
=================
Base Pay: 2,500,000 Won

Payroll deductions:
National Pension: 112,500 Won
Medical Insurance: 70,980 Won
Lunch Fee: 52,800 Won
=====================
Total Deduction: 236,280 Won

Net Pay: 2,236,720 Won

I arrived on November 30, 2009 so my 300,000 Won apartment deposit was withheld on December 25th, January 25th and February 25th. Here's an example of how the same pay stub would look if I were paying the 300,000 Won and Korean Income Taxes.

=================
Base Pay: 2,500,000 Won

Payroll deductions:
Damage Deposit: 300,000 Won
4% Income Tax: 100,000 Won
National Pension: 112,500 Won
Medical Insurance: 70,980 Won
Lunch Fee: 52,800 Won
=====================
Total Deduction: 636,280 Won

Net Pay: 1,836,720 Won

You need your Alien Registration Card (ARC) in order to open your bank account. Hopefully your school will make it a priority during your first week to apply for your ARC because it takes 2-3 weeks to get one. Once you have an ARC someone from your schools should go with you to a bank and help you set up an account. After you get the account number, the person at your school who handles payroll can immediately set you up for direct deposit of your paychecks. Your school may not offer you a pay stub, so be sure to ask for one.

The Culture of Exclamation

A WEBSITE FOR ESL TEACHERS:

My school text books have some extra material at the end of each chapter. They are basically articles about western culture. I've never used them with my students because we don't have time, but I thought this one was particularly funny.

The Culture of Exclamation

"Western people show exclamation even over trifles. This phenomenon isn't found an oriental culture that appreciates people who control their feeling and taciturn. We can usually see Americans who are moved so easily by things that Koreans aren't affected by. This means they are accustomed to expresing feeling freely and frankly.

In western culture, they start a conversation about the weather when they meet someone for the first time; 'It's a lovely day, isn't it?'. This is referenced to the inclement weather in England. The people who live in an area with nice weather like Korea aren't touched by this kind of thing but Englishmen can be impressed."

Taking the bus to Gwangju

The express buses run between downtown Yeonggwang and Gwangju. Normally the trip takes 50 minutes. There are two stops at smaller locations along the way, so don't get off until you reach the bus terminal. The fair is 4,600 Won. In Yeonggwang you can purchase a ticket at the counter and in Gwangju you can use a ticket vending machine (so long as you know the Hangul symbols for Yeonggwang).


The Hangul for Yeonngwang is 영광.

The Hangul for Gwangju is 광주.

The tickets are not sold for a particular bus time, you just buy a ticket and hope for a seat. Most of the time there are seats available. The driver will sometimes let you stand in the aisle but since the wait for the next bus is usually only 30 minutes it's generally worth waiting.

Within the Gwangju bus terminal there are some places to eat. There is also an IMAX movie theatre that has 2-3 English movies at all times. Within a 5-minute walk of the bus terminal there is a Starbucks, E-Mart, and an Outback Steakhouse.

Most western teachers head to Gwangju to go to downtown. The downtown area is called Geumnamno. You have a few options to get downtown from the bus terminal. You can use Gwangju's only subway line and take it 5 stops to The downtown area is called Geumnamno 4. The subway only costs 1,000 Won but the entrance is a 10+ minute walk from the express bus terminal. There is probably a Gwangju city bus you can take but I've never looked into it. You can also walk out to the cab line in front of the bus terminal. If you do this, when you get in the cab just ask for the Geumnamno YMCA (prounounce Jee-Nam-No). It always helps to have YMCA written down so that the cabbie can read it. Your last option is to walk. I just did this for the first time the other day. It's about 45 minutes from the bus terminal to the downtown area (if you walk along the riverbed).

On November 1, 2010 Yeonggwang installed touch-screen automated ticket machines. Gwangju is in the upper lefthand corner. The machine gives change.


Here's the Yeonggwang to Gwangju schedule:



Here's the Gwangju to Yeonggwang schedule:



Here's a map of the important areas in Gwangju. This shows the bus terminal, the baseball stadium, the HomePlus and the downtown Geumnamno area (look for the YMCA near the lower right corner of the highlighted area. These maps are available at the information desk in the bus terminal which is close to the arrival gates.



This is one of the automatic ticket machines in the in the Gwangju bus terminal. Yeonggwang is the fifth button from the left on the yellow row.



This is a little blurry, but here's what the bus ticket from the automatic machines looks like. They punch it when you board and collect it when you disembark in Yeonggwang - so don't throw it away.



The red buses like this one are the express buses.


The Yeonggwang city buses are yellow and white.

'yeonggwang south korea'

ESL TEACHERS: If you go to Google and search on 'yeonggwang south korea' you won't find a whole lot about Yeonggwang. Yeonggwang (sometimes spelled Yeongwang on job websites) is a small town (I've heard that the population is about 35,000). I've attached some pictures that I took around town so that you can have a better idea of what it looks like. The Yeonggwang ESL community includes jobs in the surrounding towns of Baeksu, Hongnong, and Beopseong.

In case you were wondering about the name of this website, The Korean word Yeonggwang translates to 'glory' so I borrowed the name from The Battle Hymn Republic.

As a reminder, if you have questions about Yeonggwang and would like to contact me, please email me directly. My email address is jleonard518 AT gmail DOT com. You can also email Tony - vikton AT msn DOT com. Please put something like 'questions about Yeonggwang' in the subject line. Thanks, Jim.

Views from the pagoda:




A fellow teacher sent me this picture. This is the view from the 16th floor of the Sajik Sky apartment building.



This pretty well captures how quickly downtown Yeonggwang transitions to farmland.



The view from the hill next to the Sajik Sky apartments.




This was taken on the road to Baeksu. Make no mistake, this is a rural farm town.


You see this kind of farm equipment all over town.


Random pictures on the streets of downtown.

What's the dress code at school?

A WEBSITE FOR ESL TEACHERS:

One of the benefits of teaching in a rural area is that the dress code is much more relaxed. When I took the job the placement agency told me to bring khakis and collared shirts. I knew that a coat and tie wouldn't be necessary. By the end of my second week the business casual clothes went into the closet in favor of jeans and sweatshirts. I wish I had known this because I could have packed a lot less clothing.

Another thing to remember is that most Koreans don't have large wardrobes so you won't look strange wearing the same outfit three times a week. At the middle schools and high schools the students wear uniforms so they will notice even less. So basically, pack light.

'weather yeonggwang south korea'

ESL TEACHERS: If you go to Google and search on 'weather yeonggwang south korea' you will see a 4-day forecast. Unfortunately, it doesn't give much detail, but it is better than nothing. I'm also not entirely sure how accurate the temperature reading is from Google. I say that because it will often post a range for the day like 37F to 48F with a current temperature of 52F.

As far as the weather, I have only been here for the winter and the colder part of spring. I have lived through seven Chicago winters and it's not nearly as bad as that was, but it does get cold and there is a decent amount of wind at times. As far as I can remember from this past winter we got pretty close to the freezing mark every day. Some nights the windchill would definitely bring it down into the teens.

Koreans often say that 'Korea has four distinct seasons'. This is true, but I'm still waiting for the heart of spring to arrive. We haven't been below freezing in several weeks, but I'm still wearing a jacket every day. From what I have been told, the summers are rather hot and humid.

As a reminder, if you have questions about Yeonggwang and would like to contact me, please email me directly. My email address is jleonard518 AT gmail DOT com. You can also email Tony - vikton AT msn DOT com. Please put something like 'questions about Yeonggwang' in the subject line. Thanks, Jim.

Desk Warming

A WEBSITE FOR ESL TEACHERS:

One of the recent changes for teachers in the Jeolla Provinces is the practice of 'desk warming'. From what I have heard, this has been going on in the other provinces for a long time. Basically, your contract will have stated working hours (typically 9 AM - 5 PM). However, there are several weeks during the year when the school is closed. When the school is closed, teachers are required to come sit at their desk during their working hours.

Like many policies in Korea, desk warming really boils down to your specific school and your principal's opinion. If he thinks it's OK for you to stay at home then you may have a week or more of downtime in your flat. However, I have heard stories of teachers sitting at their desk for eight hours even when none of the Korean teachers and staff are in the building (presumably one Korean comes to unlock and lock the doors). The good news is that you will have a computer at your desk and access to the internet, but not even Facebook can fill eight hours a day.

The big school closure periods are January, February, and August. Bigger schools in bigger towns will tend to close less. Also, in the bigger towns they are more likely to fill the empty weeks in the schedule with English camps. From what I gather, the English camps are voluntary so some families send their kids and some don't. Most teachers enjoy the English camps as a change of pace from the normal teaching routine.

Movies in Gwangju

A WEBSITE FOR ESL TEACHERS:

There are several movie theaters in Gwangju that show movies in English. One is on the second floor of the bus terminal and there are three more (that I know of) in the downtown area. The downtown area is called Geumnamno. It's where you'll find the Speakeasy and the Underground Grocer.

The website below seems to be the best way to check movie times. Click on the 'City Locations' tab and then select Gwangju from the 'Cities G-H' drop-down menu. It appears that they list the movie theaters in alphabetical order. I will try to get the names of the Geumnamno movie theaters the next time i am down there. I know one of them is called the Mega Box.

http://esldaily.org/movies/Korea/gwangju.htm

What is the process for getting a job over there?

A WEBSITE FOR ESL TEACHERS:

This should be generally true for most jobs in Korea.

It usually starts with combing the Korean Job Board on Dave's ESL Cafe or similar websites. Most of the ads are posted by placement agencies like EPIK, SeoulESL Recruiting Inc., Canadian Connection, WorknPlay Consulting, and J.J. RECRUITMENT.

You'll send your resume and other information to the placement agency. This is where you will normal state preferences on public vs. hogwan, location and teaching level. If you're a viable candidate then the placement agency will probably grant you a phone interview.

Eventually the agency will make you an offer for a particular school or school district. If you verbally accept, then there is more paperwork. Here's a list of what I remember sending:

- A medical check-up form signed by a doctor
- my original diplomas for both undergraduate and graduate school
- sealed transcripts from both schools
- a job application for the school district in Korea
- several matching passport-size photos
- letters of reference
- a photopy of my TEFL certificate
- a state-wide criminal background check with an Apostille stamp

The agency decides sends some of it to Korea and some of it is just kept for reference. Then there is some lag time until you receive a contract from the school district with your name and a start date. In my case this took over three weeks.

When the contract comes, you need to sign it. Actually, I learned that you need to sign every page not just the signature page. That cost me a 5-day delay and another $33 to FedEx. Then another round of documents goes to Korea. Someone on the Korean side, either the placement agency or the school district goes to Korean immigration and gets a visa number with your name on it. This can be emailed to you.

Once you have your visa number, you can apply for a 1-year teaching work visa (an E2 visa) with your 'local' Korean consulate. In my case I was living in Nashville at the time so I used the consulate in Atlanta, GA. As of last year the consulates where reqiring that you appear in person for a visa interview. The interview was done with a group (6 of us in total) and the questions weren't very difficult.

Once the consulate is satified, they send back your passport with your visa stapled inside. At this point, the placement agency will work with you on booking a flight.

Here's an important note, from the day I verbally accepted my job to the day I arrived in Korea it took three months. Some of this could have been done a little bit faster, but I would expect no less than two months. So, if you are working and plan to quit your job, my advice is to wait until the consulate returns your visa. I had already left my job so I had to live off of savings for three months.

What is there to do in Yeonggwang?

ESL TEACHERS: There's no way to spin this topic. Yeonggwang doesn't offer much in terms on entertainment. Teaching English leaves you with a lot of free time. OK, I guess that's relative. If you just graduated from college 9 AM - 5 PM might seem like a long day but most teachers agree that we have a lot of hours to fill outside of work.

Within Yeonggwang my two main hobbies are hiking and drinking beer. I also watch a lot of American TV online. Yeonggwang has a few bars (including a WaBar) and it has a bowling alley, but that's about it.

I've probably average three weekend trips to Gwangju a month. Downtown Gwangju have several movie theaters that show movies in English. Gwangju also has a baseball team and tickets are fairly inexpensive. But, it's 50-60 minutes each way to get there so it's not easy to do on a school night.

Working in remote areas

ESL TEACHERS: Written by Kim Horne, ESL Instructor

If you are the type of person that can work alone in anonymity with little or no contact from any sources, be forgotten about most of the time, get stared at constantly and feel like an alien even on the good days, then working in Yeounggwang County is just for you. In fact this is probably the case for any of the remote counties in the Jeolleo provinces. If I have any advice to working in the ESL field it is be resourceful and independent. Both will help working here. Mind you one of the many adventures of working as an ESL instructor is you might not know what type of environment you are in until you get there. Another is the challenge of adjusting to different working conditions. It is not all that bad; I have a few friends that would accept working with the conditions above in a heartbeat, but those people want to get away from everyone.

Is the tap water safe?

OK, this seems like a random topic but it's generally a concern for any westerner who is traveling abroad. I don't have any official information on the tap water but the general consensus among the teachers here is that we only drink bottled water. This is true whether you're in Yeonggwang or Seoul. The good news is that bottled water is cheap. I buy 6-packs of 2 liter bottles and I think they cost less than $5.00 US.

My concern before coming over here was that the tap water might be like it is in Mexico. If you have every been to Mexico you know that even a small amount of tap water there can make you very sick. That's not the case here.

The Korea tap water is OK to drink, but it's not as clean as what we are used to back home. It is safe to use for washing dishes and rinsing vegetables before you cook. It's also fine for washing your hands before taking out your contact lenses (I remember wondering about that when I first got here). The schools are have water purifier machines so I fill up my water bottle several times a day at work. Also, the restaurants only serve purified water.

How many teachers are there in Yeonggwang?

As far as I know, there are 13 western English teachers in this area. We're not centrally organized so it's hard to say for sure how many teachers we have. Part of the reason I started this website it to hopefully make it easier for other teachers to find our group.

- I teach at two elementary schools in Baeksu.
- Another teacher handles the middle school and two elementary schools in Baeksu.
- Two of our thirteen teach up in Hong Nong (one at a middle school and one at an elementary school).
- There are two teachers at a private school (one at the middle school and one at the high school).
- Of the remaining seven I know that at least two are teaching at elementary schools, two at middle schools, and one at a high school. No one has a complete list of schools in the area so this is a bit mirky.

We all have different start dates so teachers come and go from time to time. We also were hired by different groups. At least two of us used Canadian Connection. Another two went through Work-n-Play and two others came directly through EPIK.