Semantics

Before continuing much further on my actual story, I should clarify a few things about my contract. As with nearly all teaching contracts in South Korea, the school both pays for your flight over here and supplies you with an adequately-equipped rent-free apartment for the duration of your stay. In my case, my school also supplied me with a cell phone, but I have to foot the bills for that (only around C$10/month) as well as cover the electricity and internet costs for my apartment myself. (I am obviously yet to receive such a bill but since I am not much of a TV man and won’t be getting cable the entirety of my bills will likely total no more than C$60 a month). They also tend to offer a full month's pay upon completion of your contract, so there's definitely some good moneys to be had if you know how to budget yourself.

The currency of South Korea is the won; after pro-rating for the exchange it is clear that the cost of most things here is substantially less than in Canada. The best system the expats have devised for quickly converting things mentally is about 1000 won to 1 dollar. The actual number is obviously fluctuating, but even then this 1000:1 conversion still gives us about 15 extra cents on each dollar. So, for instance, a bottle of water (2L) is about 1000 won. A loaf of bread (which is hard to find) is about 2500-3000 won. A cup of coffee about 2000-3000 won. You get the idea. Again, after the exchange the prices are comparable to cheap and we have become accustomed to calling something that is 4000 won simply “4 bucks.”

Note – I am, in fact, a huge critic and vehement protester of commercially bottled water. Since the tap water here is fairly unsafe for non-accustomed Westerners to drink, however, it is one of the few options. I have managed to circumvent this problem by regularly boiling and refrigerating large quantities of my own tap water. Since it tastes entirely fine and is completely safe to drink after this process, I will not be buying any more bottles than absolutely necessary when in a pinch. Also, about 700mL of (fairly bad) beer is only 1500 won, so if I really want I can do it up Medieval European styles and just drink that instead of water the whole year for the sake of both safety and fun. Sucks to your asmar, bottled water industry. Pretty nifty packaging, though.

Now consider, however, that there is no sales tax (or at least, like any sane country, it is already listed in the price), and that it is downright offensive in Korean culture to tip your waiter, taxi driver, or other service worker for services rendered. So a delicious and already-cheap meal out on the town becomes a veritable delight to my frugal sensitivities. There is a dynamite sushi joint just around the corner from my school at which you can get a healthy dose of some fantastic sushi (limitless tea, kimchi, and danmuji included) for 6000 won. Rememer, that's about C$5.50 TOTAL - tax, tip, and everything else besides included. I will post much more on the heavenly gastronomy of my area soon, but suffice to say that I am constantly impressed by the price, quality, and value of nearly everything I come across – nourishing and non-edible consumables alike.

So how does my paycheque play into all of this? Well, the standard salary for a Western English teacher here is about 2.0 - 2.2 million won/month. Since I work longish hours at a high-calibre school, I get slightly more than that. Suffice to say, I will be able to both live it up in high style and simultaneously put money aside for legitimate real-life savings. This is something I have been unable to do since working in Jasper a few years back, and I must say it feels damn good.

It’s all about the Sejongs baby

Finally, as mentioned, I located my contract through a recruiter. This recruiter promised to ensure that all expenses were paid for me to get safely from the airport to my school, so aside from the fact that it would be free I really had no idea about what to expect from this commute. I would soon find out.