5 Reasons to chooseKorea
01/ Accommodations
Jobs in Korea will, generally, all have apartments available as soon as a teacher steps off a plane. No extra effort is required for searching for living accommodations, and all apartments will be furnished and likely even have some basic cookware. In China, the teacher will have help in their housing search, and, ultimately more control over their accommodations, but finding an apartment in a foreign country with limited time and having to place an initial housing deposit can sometimes make the first month feel a little troublesome. Public schools in China often offer free, shared accommodations, or an apt which is inside the actual school
02/ Healthcare
Medical treatment in Korea is modern and efficient, not to mention inexpensive. Doctor’s appointments cost $3 for basic consultations, and prescription medicine is similarly inexpensive. China’s system, while cheaper than America, is a little more costly and less efficient than Korea. A basic consultation will cost closer to $10, and fewer doctors speak English.
03/ Traveling in Korea is cheaper and easier due to it's smaller size
Korea is very small, so trains and buses can be used to get to any city in the country at extremely low costs. That makes it easier to fully explore what it has to offer within a year’s time. Korea also has the KTX, a high speed train that hits the three largest cities in the country all within two hours. China and the US are roughly the same size, so traveling often requires taking a plane, which will always be more expensive than buses or trains. Although China also has high speed trains, they can fill up at common vacation times, which can lead to 30+ hour train rides between major cities on standard speed trains. During our time in China, our family of 4 took the high speed train from Shenzhen up to meet my parents and sister arriving into Beijing – and the ride was glorious, with beautiful countryside even at 305km/hr. The ride was 10 hours long and very comfortable, covering most of the country!
04/ Excellent outdoor activities
From skiing in Muju to scuba diving off the coast of Jeju Island, Korea offers a lot of excellent options for people looking for some adventure and exercise. The bike paths in Korea are of particular note—they run all the way through the country and are paved and lit even through most of the countryside. Korea even has a biking passport, where cyclists can collect stamps through each city they visit, culminating in a prize at the end of their tour if they collected enough. It should be noted that China has these activities as well, but they are less centralized and accessible in some cases since it’s much more of a trek between cities.
05/ Nightlife
In Korea, the party scene is non-stop. It’s not uncommon for Koreans to go to dinner and bounce between clubs and bars until it’s time to go to work the next morning. A huge amount of restaurants are 24 hours, and clubs usually close at 5am. In a big city like Seoul, Busan, or Daegu, there will always be something open. In China, things usually drop off at 2am or so. There are a few 24 hour restaurants and businesses, but the nightlife isn’t as culturally ingrained as it is in Korea.