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So I got a job teaching English in Incheon, South Korea, and my wife and I are heading out tomorrow morning. It's super nerve racking, making sure we're not forgetting anything important. But I'm also very excited.
When I was 14 years old in 2003, I found out that in South Korea, they actually showed professional video games on TV, and I was completely fucking mind-blown. There was nothing even remotely as cool as that on TV in the midwest. In fact, there's still nothing remotely as cool as that. Ever since then I've wanted to visit, to experience the one place on earth where e-sports has actually taken off and become a viable opportunity for those talented and determined enough to make it their careers.
So after college I found out that they need English teachers and all you need is a degree, so I decided to go for it. I found a great recruiting agency who got me a bunch of job offers, and I basically picked the one with the highest pay closest to the GSL studios 
Anyway I'm leaving in 15 hours and I'll be arriving 90 minutes after the start of the GSL finals. This will be the first GSL finals I've ever missed, but whatever because the next one I'll actually be at IN PERSON. I'm so stoked.
Hope to meet up with some of the resident TL population at some point soon, both the SC2 and BW crowds. My goal is to get pictures/autographs from as many pros as possible. Think that's a reasonable goal?
 
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Hah, you've already set your location as South Korea. Keen.
If you manage to get pictures with and autographs of Boxer and Nada you'll be set I think.
And find out which PC Bang Nestea likes to practice at and ambush him.
Good luck anyway! 
E: oh wait what am I saying, go get autographs of all the BW pros as well!
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Good luck!
Getting signatures from SC2 players is relatively easy but much more difficult with BW pros.
First thing you should do is go out for bbq and get 갈매기살 (kal-mae-gi-sal)! That or 삼겹살 (sam-gyeop-sal) which is good but not on the same tier.
Also I hope you like spicy food! If not you'll learn to like it.
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Sounds fun but I believe the next GSL finals was either leaked or rumor or lie by IPL one of the 4 because some people said they read that they will be at the location of IPL5 for the next GSL finals dunno if true but if so you won't be there in person xD.
But you get to go to GSTL and most GSL matches tell us how it is. Also support Jaedong and go watch his team
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Lucky, I wanna move there so bad
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Whats the name of the recruiting agency?
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Nice one mate. I've been here for like a week and it's been awesome.
So far I've only been to the gsl studios twice, but I managed to get autographs from Boxer, Nada (only managed to get a picture with nada as my phone was out of battery and in the photo i look silly), MKP and Hero. Plus managed to autographs from the gsl code a casting trio.
I don't know if it's same for the BW pros but the sc2 guys seem very approachable and friendly so getting pictures/autographs seems straightforward. Word of caution though, quite a few players just arrive half an hour before their games and leave straight after so it's very easy to miss them. I was very lucky to run into boxer and mkp in the corridor, but Zenio and Nestea dissapeared without a trace.
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Welcome, I hope you like spicy food, singing, and alcohol.
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On March 02 2012 09:25 Meta wrote:+ Show Spoiler +So I got a job teaching English in Incheon, South Korea, and my wife and I are heading out tomorrow morning. It's super nerve racking, making sure we're not forgetting anything important. But I'm also very excited. When I was 14 years old in 2003, I found out that in South Korea, they actually showed professional video games on TV, and I was completely fucking mind-blown. There was nothing even remotely as cool as that on TV in the midwest. In fact, there's still nothing remotely as cool as that. Ever since then I've wanted to visit, to experience the one place on earth where e-sports has actually taken off and become a viable opportunity for those talented and determined enough to make it their careers. So after college I found out that they need English teachers and all you need is a degree, so I decided to go for it. I found a great recruiting agency who got me a bunch of job offers, and I basically picked the one with the highest pay closest to the GSL studios Anyway I'm leaving in 15 hours and I'll be arriving 90 minutes after the start of the GSL finals. This will be the first GSL finals I've ever missed, but whatever because the next one I'll actually be at IN PERSON. I'm so stoked. Hope to meet up with some of the resident TL population at some point soon, both the SC2 and BW crowds. My goal is to get pictures/autographs from as many pros as possible. Think that's a reasonable goal?
What are the pay ranges?
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Good luck Meta, Korea is the best.(i'm not saying this because i'm korean lol)
Anyway, where do you exactly teach english? Bupyeong?
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I hate you, dude! I am so going to come visit sometime if its cool? I have a Korean account to just let me know when you get internet over there! GL HF!
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Of course you can visit, Amanda and I even have a spare room in our apartment :D
Anyway, I got here last night after 24 hours of being awake. To answer some questions:
The recruiting company I went through is based out of Denver, my former hometown. It's called Appletree, and they're really nice and adamant about getting you a job you'll enjoy because they don't get paid until you complete your contract with your school, who will pay them for finding suitable candidates. Pay ranges for myself, with absolutely no experience and a degree that has nothing to do with English or teaching, were between 2.0-2.2 million KRW/month. If you have a degree in teaching you could easily get 2.3 or 2.4. With experience in teaching you might be able to get 2.5.
The school I'm working for is called Hanslang English Institute, in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon. I read a bad review for them from like 2009 but after talking to them I think it'll be pretty great. I love the location so far, walking around there's just SO MUCH stuff.
Walking around and trying to get food/buy things is sort of intimidating because I know all of two Korean phrases and everybody else is just as timid about attempting to speak English as I am at attempting to speak Korean.
I still have no idea how to get into Seoul from here, but I'll probably try to figure out how to get around this massive city next weekend. It'd be awesome to catch SKT1 vs Team 8 on Saturday if I can!
Here's a picture of me next to a van with a bunch of math on it.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/2fdRm.jpg)
Here's an awesome truck I saw earlier.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/f4Wt5.jpg)
My new place. It's pretty big!
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/UiDJz.jpg)
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How long are you going to be teaching for?
Also, how was the cost of moving out there? Did you have to leave a lot behind?
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Keep us updated dude, it's my dream to live there.
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Hey Meta! I got a job offer from Hanslang, too, and was wondering if you could share some experiences with me. It's pretty hard to get real experiences of teaching in Korea online.
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EPT
