Korea

[phoenixrkc]

I'm currently in Thailand, where I save about $1000usd a month (roughly 40% of my salary). I still live a really nice quality of life, going out and travelling at will. I am kind of considering Korea right now though because I feel like I might want to make a change. Could i possibly save the same there? What about quality of life? Work/life balance etc etc? Anything I should be aware of if offered a contract? pitfalls? If anyone has experience there let me know. Thanks!

[fine dude]

Think long-term. Does moving to Korea help you to eventually solidify your career and savings? Will you be able to start a family in a first-world environment where you can trust the local government and health systems? That was our criteria and ten years hence, my wife, kids, and I are pretty happy with our decision.

[Smoko]

I went the other way around (Korea to Thailand). To me it is as simple as as money vs quality of life. Korea definitely had its financial benefits and I really enjoyed my first few months there, but by the end of my contract I couldn't wait to get out. Overall I found it boring and homogeneous, not helped by the fact I disliked my job. Thailand on the other hand is less money but an amazing quality of life.

Obviously teacher experiences will vary depending on personal preferences and the quality of each individual school, but I believe the general trend will be that Thailand is a nice place to live but Korea pays more money.

[PsyGuy]

You could save that high of a portion of your salary and the coin in SK at comparable appointments is better. The issue your going to run into is that a comparable quality of life in SK is likely going to cost more in SK than LOS. Traveling ill cost you about the same (bargain airlines, etc.), but the nighttime social aspect in SK is more costly than Thailand. It really depends what your social requirements are if your a green space jogger who binge watches and reads a book on the weekend you can keep your socializing costs in SK on par with LOS. If you have more salacious interests SK is going to be a lot more costly.