When I first started teaching for Oxford Seminars, my wife and I had recently returned from teaching English in Jeonju<\/a>, South Korea<\/a>.\u00a0 The prospective\u00a0teachers who enrolled in my courses naturally asked me plenty of questions about my experiences there, and many were so impressed by what they heard that they decided to go to South Korea<\/a> themselves.<\/p>\n View of Jeonju from the surrounding mountains<\/p><\/div>\n A young man named Steven from the very first course I taught\u00a0sent me an email after the final class session to ask me more questions about the process of finding a job overseas<\/a>.\u00a0 He was eager to give South Korea<\/a> a try, but he was concerned about finding a school where he would truly be comfortable working.\u00a0 During the course, I had discussed\u00a0some tips to avoid getting stuck working at a problematic school, and he wanted to know how he could end up working at an English academy like the one where I had been employed. \u00a0Besides taking advantage of Oxford Seminars’ Job Placement Service<\/a>, it also occurred to me that I should ask my former director if they were hiring anytime soon! Surely enough, my academy had a vacancy at a time convenient for Steven, and they were more than happy to hire a recently certified teacher who came with my personal recommendation.<\/p>\n A view of Pungnam Mun Gate in Jeonju, South Korea<\/p><\/div>\n The director was so happy with Steven that she began to ask me if I could recommend more certified teachers for upcoming vacancies, and she hired five more of my recent trainees in the months that followed.\u00a0 The next summer, my wife and I planned to return to South Korea<\/a> to teach at an intensive short-term<\/a> summer camp in the small city of Chungju.\u00a0 We made sure to arrive a few days early so as to have a chance to visit our some-time home of Jeonju.\u00a0 Not only was I delighted to visit some old friends, Koreans and westerners alike, but I was also eager to meet up with all six of my former students.\u00a0 We met up on a beautiful July day at a city park famous for its enormous pond lilies that bloom in midsummer.\u00a0 Strolling down the paths and boardwalks, I heard how each had adapted to life teaching English there, both inside and outside of the classroom.\u00a0 Though each had their own favorite local dish, or ideal weekend activity, all were in agreement about two things: teaching English to children in South Korea was challenging, yet fulfilling work, and Jeonju was a wonderful place to live.<\/p>\n A Deokjin Lotus we found on our walk through the park<\/p><\/div>\n When I returned home that fall, I joked with everyone in my next Oxford seminars course that if they ended up to teaching somewhere interesting that I might just visit them too.\u00a0 Of course, at the time, I was mostly <\/em>joking.\u00a0 Little did I know, however, that I would see one of the students\u00a0from that very course the following summer when I took\u00a0another trip.<\/p>\n Want to learn more about teaching English in South Korea? Explore your options\u00a0for teaching English on our website<\/a>, or ask an instructor at a free information session<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can also download our free course guide<\/a> for more course and country information.<\/p>\n Written by Jeremy White<\/p>\n![\"View](\"\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/View-of-Jeonju-from-Mountains-Surrounding.jpg\")
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