@@annabour Like make sure you have money in your bank account at home to pay for food and needs because you don’t get paid until the end of your first month working. You don’t need to specifically bring cash on you. Lots of places Tran’s credit card in Korea, but some small business like restaurants might be cash/won only.

If you're teaching with EPIK, you can't bring any pets with you because of orientation and your housing situation might not allow pets. You sign an agreement during the application process. I got lucky in my situation and didn't bring the pet myself to Korea. It's a tricky thing with Korea because if you tell EPIK you need an ESA, they might not pass you for the application process. They don't have anti-discrimination laws in Korea. If this isn't in regards to EPIK, your pet just needs to be up to date on vaccines and rabies free. I think cats are also required an anti-body test.

@@kristinalin4565 Okay thank you! But before anyone brings an animal, I still need to see if the housing would allow pets. This brings me new information on EPIK.

@@lillieblazer1720 Yes, and a lot of the time people don't know their housing situation until they arrive. If you're lucky, the previous guest English teacher will try to contact you via socials before they leave the apartment.

You get paid once a month, I believe the 25th or the 26th of every month. It’s about $1.8K USD or 2 million Korean won for your first year of teaching. The school doesn’t set it up for you unless you ask for help and you should ask for help. The paycheck is direct deposit. You get your plane reimbursement either 1 month into teaching or 6 months into teaching, this depends on which province you teach in. You don’t need to submit a receipt, it is a set amount. So I recommend trying to get the cheaper option when purchasing your ticket, so you may pocket the extra money left over. Let me know if you have any more questions 😊

@Kristina Lin Thank you for your responses! It’s super helpful! 🙌💯 For clarification, since we only get paid 1x a month, did you mean the $1.8K USD/2 million KRW salary amount is paid MONTHLY or is that the annual amount we have to survive on for the entire year? Do I fill out my ARC during orientation or do I have to go on my own? How long did you have to wait to receive your ARC? Do I have to wait until I receive my ARC before I can open a Korean bank account? What docs do I need to bring to open a bank account? Also, for taxes, did you show your school a tax exemption certificate (Form 6616 from the IRS - special tax treaty status) so you didn’t have to pay Korean taxes while living/working abroad? Any recommendations you have that EPIK teachers should do when it comes to filing their annual tax returns (i.e. living/working abroad, but still a U.S. citizen). Trying to make sure I don’t miss out doing anything important while I’m out living my best life in South Korea 🤗🇰🇷

@Kristina Lin P.S. Thanks so much for being so patient and answering all my questions. I truly appreciate your help for prospective EPIK teachers! ❤️

@@lisas5842 $1,800 USD/month or 2 million won/month. Orientation will start the ARC process with you and make sure you have your photos. If you don’t, they’ll have you take a taxi out and take photos with a photographer at your expense. Our province coordinator set an appointment date for all of us to go in. If yours doesn’t, you must ask your co teacher to help you. I don’t remember how long, but my card got sent to my school. You need that card to create a bank account unless you’re lucky and the bank teller doesn’t care. You will also need some other paperwork, such as proof of employment from the school. Your co teacher should help you. If you live in the US, I would file paperwork (I forgot the exact tax form), but it allows you to not have to pay taxes in Korea for the first 2 years you teach. It may be the same for other countries, but I would check. I file my taxes with an accountant recommended by a friend.

@@kristinalin4565 Thanks so much for answering my Q’s! 🤗 You’re an angel! 😇 Now I feel confident I can totally make my EPIK dream a reality. I’ve already got my Bachelor’s degree, so just need get my TEFL certification. Which TEFL course did you enroll in? Do you have any good TEFL course recommendations that are affordable (and preferably online to allow flexibility for work)?

I think that would depend from person to person, but EPIK does recommend their teachers bring $1.5K USD before coming over for their first month. Hope that helps!

I didn’t pay rent, the school did. I paid the deposit, but that was to the school not the apartment complex. It’s 250,000 won for your first two months, so 500,000 won in total. If there’s nothing wrong with your apartment when you move out, you’ll receive your despot in full within a year after you move out.

@@kristinalin4565 Thanks for the reply! But do you know roughly what the monthly rent would be in an apartment complex like yours? (I'm planning to live on my own.. not EPIK related). is it 250,000 won per month? That's reasonable...

@@alienmatrix7402 So in Korea, there’s key money, which is a large deposit you pay in the beginning. Usually ranging from 5 million to 10 million won for an apartment like mine. Larger the deposit, the less you pay in rent. My friend did a 9 month lease (in the same apartment complex) her key money was 7 million won, and her monthly rent was 600,000 won. That does not include utilities and internet. You will receive the key money back at the end of your lease, but once the apartment is cleaned out. Make sure you get everything in writing!!

@@alienmatrix7402 Also note, that we lived in the city, Busan and Seoul (especially Seoul) are considered expensive.

@@kristinalin4565 Brilliant, thank you so much for the info!

Which part? If you’re from the US, this may be helpful www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/by-country/pettravel-korea You’ll need to ask the airline what their carrier specifications are and weight limit is, otherwise your cat will fly cargo.

@@kristinalin4565 Thank you i’ll check it out! I am very interested in doing this and im getting ready to go to university because i just graduated high school. However im struggling a bit, i have a cat and really don’t want to leave her here.

@@luckieduckiejk You’ll want to make sure your landlord is okay before you have someone bring the pet over. You can find out after you move or when you get a message from the teacher you’re taking over. You’ll won’t be able to have your pet during orientation.

Wait, assuming you’re teaching because I just saw you’re going to uni? 😅

@@kristinalin4565 I was thinking about going into teaching because I do love kids and english has always been my favorite subject. I just feel like teaching in America isn’t as fun or interesting as it would be in another country. Though i’m open to other options, if you know of any. I understand that this isn’t a very long term job and if I come back to America I wouldn’t have as much of a good deal financially. That’s why i’m struggling to see if I should do this or not because University is very expensive. 😭

Hello! It would really depend on your country. There are specific documents needed from your embassy (for the visa) that is also needed from EPIK. Make sure you have a copy of all your documents for your records before you submit it to the embassy and EPIK, because you won’t get them back.

You can search up courses on Google, I took mine in-person, but I know a lot of people do it online because it’s cheaper. In-person hours are more valuable than online hours, just something to consider if you’re looking to teach at a certain province.

@@kristinalin4565 thank you for replying! how much was your course if you don't mind me asking :)

@@monikaprom1109 No problem! Mine was $1K, with 60 hours in person and 40 hours online. I did Oxford Seminars, but I think it’s 120 hours total now, instead of 100 hours.

@@kristinalin4565 ahh! okay thank you so much :) i plan to do it when i graduate uni since im in my last year of highschool and ready to do a teaching course :) i didn't know there were offline lessons only online so thanks!

@@monikaprom1109 If you major in education or English, you don’t need a tefl btw

You’re not allowed to bring any pets during orientation. You’ll need to figure out who will take care of your turtle during that time, and how to bring your turtle back to your apartment. Right after orientation, you head to your province.

You need to be graduating the semester, you're applying. You need proof that you're intending to graduate. For example, apps open in Aug, so you need to be graduating in Dec.

@@kristinalin4565 no no i mean i want to apply for bachelor degree . I have done FSC yet 🤗🤗🤗

Hi, I believe they may only do that for married couples. They don't for boyfriends/girlfriends. Even if your friend or significant other is doing EPIK in the same city, they'll give you different apartments usually.

Alien registration card, it's your ID in Korea. :) It's very necessary to have! You'll need it to get WiFi, a bank account, cell phone service, etc.

No, I didn't. I applied by myself 😊

No, those hours don't count. They have to be hours from the actual tefl/tesol course.

So usually in the city, there will be people asking to talk to you about Christianity. And they usually target foreigners cause they're lonely. College kids are more aggressive than the older people. They'll ask if you want to be friends and talk about religion or say they want to do a language exchange. They try to get you to believe in their beliefs, and to join their church. Many people I've hung out with have had those people try to talk to them as well.

@@kristinalin4565true, but that's only the bad part about korea. There are way more fun cultural experiences.

Thanks for watching! I'll add that to the list of videoes to make. :) It's been hard making videoes because I don't know what people want to watch and I've been busy Haha

Thank you! And I can make a video if you would like?

@@kristinalin4565 yes please! I need some fashion ideas for when I start teaching in Korea :)

@@MsMusic816 I'll try to film it this weekend.

@@MsMusic816 Been super busy 🙃 In a middle of trying to start a business. I will film when I have free time. But I will say whatever you do, always dress up your first week. Get a feel for how your coworkers dress and then you can see if you need to chill with your outfits or not Haha My school everyone dressed business casual to casual. My friend's school was super chill, some teachers wore leggings LOL

@@kristinalin4565 thank you, Kristina! Great advice, I am beyond excited to start teaching in Korea!

Thank you so much!

I'm honestly not sure, but I don't think it hurts to try.

I think this video will probably be helpful Haha kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZTCgomdedCCibs I prepped all the stuff needed to bring my dog to Korea, and had my boyfriend bring her over after I got the okay. My school didn't care at all. EPIK just says you can't have a pet because of orientation, and you don't know if your apartment complex will allow pets.

@@kristinalin4565 I saw immediately after lol okay! I'm in china now and I think i will come early maybe by two weeks and just set up a pet boarding thing. Especially if covid 19 is still a thing and I have to quarentine anyways. OR if im still in china maybe leave him with a friend and bring him over since the flight is only 1.5 hours from here to incheon. Thank you though! I really dont wanna leave him even though my family would love if he came to the USA lol. Do you also have a video on pet friendliness of Korea. I'm going to binge watch you lol so dont worry I'll find it. if you're doing a Q&A soon I'd really like to know if their strict about dogs on the trains and in public there because they are here!

@@rmsfakelaugh8164 I can make a video about my experience in Seoul and Busan. I'll make it this weekend, and probably upload it next week?

@@rmsfakelaugh8164 Sorry, I've been pretty busy! So I'll write down quick notes, and I'll make a video eventually...LOL General: Modern apartments are more likely to allow pets than older apartments. On the metro your dog needs to be in a carrier, bag or carriage. If you want to ride a taxi, you'll need to have your dog in a carrier. But don't be surprised if they reject you, if they do, you'll need a pet taxi. If you need a groomer, look up "Pet Beauty" on Naver, and I believe for the vet, it's "Animal Hospital". Pet hotels are usually in the nicer pet shops or the vet. It's usually about 30,000 won/ night (35,000 won/ night if it's a busier season). Busan: If you're near the beach, there are a lot of pet shops and pet groomers. People walk their dogs along the boardwalk and on the beach. Your dog needs to be on a leash (but at night, some people just let their dogs out without a leash). There's a Busan pets page with lots of helpful people! Seoul: Not as pet friendly. A lot of the time tho, if your dog is in a carrier, they don't notice, so they don't say anything. I didn't notice a pets page for Seoul.

@@kristinalin4565 lol i was just gonna shut up ans wait patiently no worries but thank you. imma still wait for the video though lolol

I would like to know if people older than 40 get hired. I know age limit is 62 but I never hear anything about older teachers. I'm waiting for my kids to finish college to join EPIK. Will there be anyone at all like me? I'm going either way but I'd still like to know. Thank you.

@@LissetteLissie I did see a few older people during orientation, so it's not unheard of :) A lot of the people are fresh from college and some were in their late 20s to mid 30s

@@kristinalin4565 Thank you for responding. I just hope I'll be able to make some friends.

Hey! I got my certification thru Oxford Seminars. You should be able to find info online. They have classes throughout the U.S. and Canada. Hopefully they have classes near you!

Kristina Lin thank you so much! 🙏🏽 also is there any way I can message you ask questions about epik? I’m in the application process right now :)

@@JenniferGonzalez-bi1tq Feel free to ask! I'll try to answer based off of my experience, but I'm no expert Haha

Taryn Thank you so much! 😭 I don’t have any previous teaching experience. The closest thing I have is Kumon? But I mostly graded assignments and supervised the kids to make sure they finished their work.

Kristina Lin thanks so much for answering! That’s impressive, if you’re still in Korea I hope it’s going well!

yir b This didn’t really whiten my face over time. I only noticed when I used the tone up cream during the day.

Indiana Janet Thanks for watching! 😊 It doesn’t have a lock, it’s just a nice, simple reusable bag.

gabyitzel Maybe by itself it does?? But on my skin, that’s what it smells like to us Haha

maryam m Thank you!

Yes, make sure you review the resources they provided! It's very helpful :)

Did you pass ?

You can look into my company I got bookings within a month! It’s fantastic I get paid 20 Dollars per 50 min

Nicole Rosenberg Oh, yeah. Haha Luckily, I passed on my first try

That’s good I have failed 3 times but I think now that I Practiced with my friend and I know the I do we do and you do I will lasss

Karli Rumburg Yes, it does Haha The Bb cream is pretty light in coverage, while the Milk Makeup sticks I used are more pigmented. I wouldn’t use the same trick if I was using my regular foundation tho.

Kristina Lin thank you! This is so good to know with this product.

Karli Rumburg No problem!

Thank you so much :) Good luck if you decide to apply!

*Pamela Hay* Thank you!! 😊