Thinking of teaching English abroad in Asia, but don’t know where?

We’ve got the quiz for you! We currently offer teach English abroad programs in Thailand, South Korea, China, Myanmar, and Vietnam (and soon to be Costa Rica– watch this space, 2020!). With five amazing countries in Asia to choose from, it can be hard to choose the perfect place for you. Do you want to experience ancient temples in Thailand? Try authentic pho in Vietnam? Wear hanbok in Korea? Take your first step into your new career change by exploring your options. Take the quiz now to find out where could be the perfect backdrop for a new chapter in your life.

If you’re still undecided, head over to our Instagram and Facebook pages to see what our current teachers in Korea, China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and China are up to. At XploreAsia, we’ve placed thousands of teachers and helped them start the most amazing journeys. If your mind is already made up, head over to our wesbite to find out more about teaching overseas.

So, you’re thinking of moving to Asia? That’s great! That’s what XploreAsia is here for. We facilitate and support your adventures teaching English abroad. However, it helps to embark on your journey with some of the facts already in hand so you are well-prepared to settle into your new home. In this blog post, we run down some information we wish we’d known before moving to Asia from the west.

Why Can Moving to Asia be Challenging?

What is Individualism?

Individualistic cultures favour independence and self-reliance. The right of an individual precedes that of the group. There’s an emphasis on being unique and standing out. As independence is highly revered in individualistic cultures, many people believe that you should be able to solve your own problems. It can be seen as embarrassing if you need to ask others for help rather than “just getting on with it” on your own.

What is Collectivism?

What Can You Expect?

Upon moving to Asia, you will come to interact with the locals. At first, you might not notice it, but you will gradually come to understand what it means to hold collectivistic views. This can be an eye-opening change for someone who has only had experience with an individualistic culture. In many Asian countries, people are more attentive to other people’s needs and opinions. They are focused on maintaining a good image of themselves and fulfilling a social role within their community. Therefore, you might meet people who value social gatherings to a great degree.

Social gatherings are known to strengthen bonds between colleagues or friends, as they are seen as important events that can help build a stronger community. Community plays a big part in collectivist cultures and people feel obligated to fulfill social roles in their community. Whether it is to be a good daughter to your parents, or a loyal friend.  After moving to Asia, you may find yourself getting involved in these social events and becoming attached to your new community in your new home.

You can see the clash between individualism and collectivism clearly play out in a work setting. In an individualistic work setting, creativity and individual achievements are valued, and a lot of times, people are awarded bonuses based on their performance. However, in a collectivistic work setting, teamwork is valued. It is frowned upon if someone disrupts the group harmony. More importantly, hierarchy is very prominent in a collectivist work setting. A lot of people try and read the atmosphere to avoid upsetting anyone, especially their superiors. So when you get placed in a new work setting in Asia, you may find it hard to understand the significance placed on group work and might think it’s odd how a lot of people may tiptoe around their employers. However, being armed with this prior knowledge of how collectivism operates will hopefully make it easier to assimilate after moving to Asia.

Enjoy Your Adventure in Asia!

Moving to Asia will surely be quite the adventure! Understanding the collectivistic values in many Asian countries will save you some of the confusion you might experience during your time abroad. Don’t get too caught up on thinking like a collectivist, though! This post is just meant to help you become aware of the differences between each culture. Keep in mind to respect the social etiquette in the country you are staying in and enjoy your adventure in Asia!

Picture This:

This is a perfect example of a “honeymoon phase” ending. It’s something that people experience when they live in a different country for an extended period. Of course, this is no exception to teachers who move to South Korea to teach English. This post isn’t meant to scare you off, though! It’s meant to teach you about the hidden facets of South Korean culture in today’s modern society. Knowing this beforehand will help you combat the culture shock you will experience living in Korea. 

1. Age Importance

South Koreans place great importance on your age, especially in an office setting. When you enter a new workplace and meet your colleagues, you will bow and exchange formal words. As time pass, some of your colleagues will start talking to you informally, but this doesn’t mean you can too. You are allowed to speak informally to a colleague who is the same age as you. However, when interacting with a colleague that is either at a higher position than you or is older than you, you must remind yourself to use formal words.

2. Drinking Culture

Drinking alcohol is a big part of South Korean corporate culture. It is a stress reliever for many overworked employees and also plays a big part in building business relationships. Being invited to go out for a drink with your office superior is seen as a compliment, making it hard for people to turn it down. Therefore, people who have office jobs often feel obligated to attend after-work dinners with their employers. Unfortunately, at these dinners, people are pressured to drink. In South Korean drinking etiquette, offering a drink to another person is a sign of generosity. As a result, refusing this drink could come off as a rude gesture. The extent of how much South Koreans drink isn’t a concern that Koreans seem to understand. Drinking is seen as a normal activity that can strengthen bonds between friends or colleagues.

3. Herd Mentality

South Korea is a collectivistic country, often placing a lot of importance on the group or community rather than the individual.

Speaking of being ostracized by your peers, there’s a particular way of bullying in Korea that is quite severe. It is called ‘wangtta’ where a group of people collectively ignore a person as a form of bullying. A lot of times people don’t speak to this person and associates them negative qualities. Sometimes, people who are labeled as ‘wangtta’ continue to be a ‘wangtta’ throughout most of their school year. As a collectivistic country, making a person a ‘wangtta’ would be the harshest form of bullying. Of course, once someone starts bullying, everyone collectively does it as well. This makes it hard for someone who is a ‘wangtta’ to break out of their isolation.

4. Humor & Sarcasm

Humor in each country is different and can be confusing to understand, and this is no exception for the humor in South Korea. In this tiny Asian country, making a fool out of yourself or dissing others is a common way to make others laugh. South Korean humor also includes a lot of hitting. For instance, physically hitting your friends as a joke can be seen to be humorous. It implies that you have a close relationship with your friends. Although it looks painful, it’s a lot different than bullying. If you see both parties laughing while the joke plays out, then it’s most likely that it’s just a friendly hitting! If you’re teaching in South Korea, you’ll know you’re good friends with your colleagues if you experience this energetic humor.

Sarcasm does exist in South Korea, but it is usually used between friends. Sarcasm is usually used to make fun of a person in a snarky matter. For example, one might say, “You seem to be working hard,” in an exaggerated tone that makes it quite obvious that they are making a sarcastic joke. So, if you were to throw a sarcastic comment in a monotone, Koreans will have a hard time understanding that you are joking and might take it literally.

5. Lookism

You will be surprised how much Korean people, care about looks and weight. Korea is known as the world’s plastic surgery capital with an estimate of 1 million surgeries conducted in a year alone. This prevalence allows a lot of female teenagers to be gifted a blepharoplasty as a normal middle or high school graduation present. A blepharoplasty is also called a double eyelid surgery, which allows a person with monolids to attain a bigger eye shape. This is a sought out facial feature in Asian beauty standards.

The prevalence of plastic surgery can be correlated to lookism. Lookism is discriminatory treatment toward people who are deemed physically unattractive. This includes fat shaming, which is normalized in Korea. It’s so normalized to the point that the media often portrays TV personalities who have “bigger” bodies to be ridiculed by referring to them as ‘pigs’. Often, this type of name-calling is seen as humorous. This kind of social pressure keeps Korean women thin. So thin actually, that two in ten women suffer from undernourishment according to a 2009 report by the Ministry of Health.

Experience South Korea For What It Is

We understand that moving to a new country will be a significant transition, but teaching in South Korea will give you a unique chance to embrace the culture, unlike a visiting tourist. While this blog post might provide you with useful information, it’s a different story when you arrive on new land. That’s why XploreAsia provides our soon-to-be teachers with a cultural immersion orientation course. Provided online and in-class, this course strives to help you understand multiple aspects of South Korean culture. We touch on subjects such as politics, society, life in South Korea as well as the South Korean school system. 

We also arrange in-country cultural excursions outside of the classroom so you can experience interacting with the locals and culture. These excursions are accompanied with in-class Korean language lessons so you can build your basic understanding of the Korean language. All these efforts are to ensure you experience a seamless transition into your new life in South Korea. So don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, XploreAsia is here to provide you with the support and guidance you need.

Deciding to teach abroad is already a big leap, but if you’ve gotten this far and are now determining when to go, that in itself can be another big decision. To help alleviate some of the stress, here is a breakdown of how we like to filter our favorite places to go and when.

Semester Dates

It’s a good idea to consider semester dates when you start teaching, but it’s not vital to arrive at a specific time as many countries are continuously seeking teachers. Here is a run down of information on our top locations to help you decide what’s best for you.

Our South Korea program offers a one-year contract working at a Korean school, so you can spend time getting fully immersed in Korean culture and making friends that will last a lifetime.

Like the Vietnam program, this program is perfect for if you would like some flexibility with your time overseas. Contracts start from five months, so you can choose how long you want to teach abroad.

Weather

Seventy-five percent of the annual precipitation is concentrated in summer from June to August, with frequent showers in July and August. The coldest month is January at an average of -4 °C (25 °F), and the hottest month is July at an average of 26 °C (79 °F).

There is a delightful spring (April to June), a muggy and wet summer (July to August), a refreshing autumn (September to November) and a freezing cold, snowy, but dry winter (December to March). From summer highs of 37°C, the temperatures in winter can plummet to as low as -20°C on occasion in the northern regions of the Gangwon-do Province, although it can be significantly milder int he winter along the southern coast and on the holiday island of Jeju in the far south.

Conversely, the hot season can reach temperatures of 38 °C (101 °F) followed by heavy rainfall in late June through September and getting as much as 225 mm (8.9″) of rainfall.

Vietnam

In the far north, December and January can be particularly cold. Central Vietnam experiences hot, dry weather between January and August when temperatures can hit the mid-30°C’s; whilst high levels of rainfall can occur in September, October and November. Southern Vietnam is generally dry and hot from November to April, and warm and wet between May and October, with the highest rainfall in June, July, and August.

Holidays

While stepping outside of one’s comfort zone is certainly encouraged, for some, the prospect of celebrating a traditional holiday away from  family and close friends can be daunting. However, when you teach abroad, there are lots of opportunities to make both new friends and learn about each other’s traditions.

Share your culture and embrace local traditions, such as the Songkran water fight in Thailand.

Teach Abroad with XploreAsia

Although there are many things to consider when making the life-changing decision to teach abroad, we hope this information will help you feel all the more prepared for flying overseas. If you’re looking to add more adventure to your life, check out our in-country TESOL course that we offer in five locations: Thailand, South Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam and Costa Rica. To catch up with how our current teachers are doing in their new homes, check out our Instagram and Facebook pages.