What I wish somebody told me about teaching in South Korea.

"Soju've been wanting to work and travel 'ay?"

(Sorry I just needed to put a funny pun out there, since this job is NO JOKE.)

I've been living in Seoul for almost 2 weeks now.  The culture is not even comparable to a place like South Africa's.  If I can sum it up in one word it would be: exhausting.  Everything I thought I knew about "not taking life to seriously" and "YOLO" has vanished.  But before you think I'm being the biggest "Negative Nancy" ever, I want to throw you into the deep end and tell you about teaching English to Kindergarten and Elementary kids.

Never in my life have I been this exhausted.  Your hours are from mornings to evenings (09:30 - 19:30).  The language barrier from English to Korean is something I can't even try to explain.  It doesn't help yelling at 6 year old's when they throw pen into another kid's eye, because they don't understand a word you are yelling.

If you're ever considering teaching in the east and you think: "Nah, it's gonna be easy, and I'm gonna party like a first year varsity student who just discovered alcohol"  or "I've always wanted to see the world, this is a dream come true!" think again.  Yes, you will see another part of the world (or just the inside of a pub on weekends, because you're just too tired to go anywhere).

When I started teaching here I also thought that everything will be explained, and I'll know exactly in about 2 weeks time what to do when and where... oh hell no.  Our Korean staff members basically gave us our textbooks, roster and said:  "There you go, goodluck".  You are extremely lucky if the previous foreign teachers are at the school that day to go through everything with you.

I'm not regretting my decision for one second coming here, but I am reconsidering this career. This is really no joke, and if you don' like kids and only want to do this for the money, you're going to go home during the first week. One positive thing is I can swear at all these spoiled brats in Afrikaans (or even in english), and  they won't understand a single word.  At this stage I just feel like passing out on my bed and watching Keeping up with the Kardashians.  If you're planning to teach English abroad in the near future, I truly recommend you talk to people who've been to the same school you are planning on going to.

Maybe by next week something amazing might happen and I will love every minute of 09:30-19:30, but for now I'm hating every second and loving the thought of Friday evening.