South Korea - LIT TIME TRAVEL

Posted on October 2, 2021July 19, 2022 by The Time Traveler — Leave a comment

EPIK Essay: Thoughts on Teaching & Encountering Cultural Differences

Empty classroom with the world map showing.

While applying to EPIK this year, I had to write personal statements on teaching as well as encountering cultural differences. Below are my teaching philosophy and thoughts on cultural differences (2 of the 3 EPIK essay prompts).

*But as EPIK essay prompts may change, be sure to always check their official website!

Prompt #1: My Teaching Philosophy (on TEFL)

*TEFL is “Teaching English as a Foreign Language.”

Students in rural north Thailand. Photo by Mario Heller.

Duties of the Student

Learning cannot be accomplished without the effort of the teacher as well as the students themselves. While teachers provide the necessary tools, tips, and methods of studying, this must be met with the efforts of the students to bring about results. The key to mastering a new language is repetition and memorization. So, students should memorize terms learned in class until they become so accustomed to the words that they can remember them in situations that require them. While students can practice memorizing by themselves, they can’t with conversations. Therefore, teachers should focus on conversations in the classroom, having the students practice amongst themselves and also providing materials with which they can practice listening.

Duties of the Teacher

It is the teacher’s duty to create a learning environment where students feel safe to make mistakes. The most important thing when learning a new language is to not feel bad about making mistakes. So, it is crucial for the teacher to make the class a friendly learning environment. It should not, cannot be a place of immediate mastery and perfection. Such pressure discourages students from answering questions; they become shy, unwilling to share with the class. This should be prevented, as participation plays a big part in students’ absorption and application of new materials. Students should be comfortable about making mistakes as well as asking questions when they do not understand a lesson.

Not Just a Subject

Most importantly, since English is a language, an everyday method used to communicate, EFL teachers should remind the students that while it is a subject to study, English is also something approachable in our daily lives. Showing the students that studying English doesn’t always require studying, that it can be fun in the forms of watching movies and shows in English, listening to pop songs, or even playing games using English will help the students have less burden, less repulse of studying another language and actually enjoy learning to speak the invaluable, universal language.

Prompt #2: On Encountering Cultural Differences

Encountering cultural differences in today’s world is inevitable as well as ubiquitous, as the world has become closely connected through the technological advancements of the past centuries. And more often than not, encountering something that is different from what one is accustomed to is unpleasant or weird. But cultural differences can be understood and respected if the cultures involved communicate and share the history and reasons behind their practices. (And if the cultures learn how and why their traditions can be viewed in different ways than they perceive them.) If cultures communicate and understand one another, then cultural differences won’t divide different peoples or lead to hatred and stereotypes.

This is why I want to teach English to South Korean students. So that they, too, can learn the language of the world to communicate with the rest of the world. That when they encounter different cultures, they may understand others as well as be understood. That they may become cosmopolitan individuals that share, work, and live with others around the world.

Advice to EPIK Applicants

Like how I did, you will need to answer the following EPIK essay prompts:

Answer both why you want to teach EFL AND why you want to teach in Korea.
Explain your teaching philosophy briefly. How will you connect your background skills and experiences to teaching English in your classroom? How do you plan to further develop your teaching skills?
Share your thoughts on encountering cultural differences. How do you plan to adapt to Korean school life and culture?

I hope my essay/personal statements give you some ideas and thoughts to write about. But I highly discourage plagiarizing or using my thoughts word-for-word since…

#1: The EPIK team already read my essays and know the contents.

#2: Plagiarism is against the law.

Good luck applying to EPIK!

P.S. To read about my EPIK experience, check out my post HERE.

Posted on September 30, 2021July 20, 2022 by The Time Traveler — 4 Comments

Applying to EPIK: Not So Epic Experience (Part III – The Questions)

The EPIK Interview

My EPIK interview via Zoom finally took place on Friday, September 17th. But my EPIK coordinator had trouble with Internet connection that day too, so his screen was pitch-black. Hence, I had my interview without seeing him, only hearing his voice. It wasn’t ideal, but regardless, I was grateful to just proceed with the interview at this point. Some of the first questions I was asked were:

– Why EPIK?

– How do you feel about having a co-teacher?

– What kind of teaching experience do you have?

– What is your 5 year plan?

The What-If Questions

Throughout the interview, my interviewer asked me many “what-if” questions. Some of the “what-if” EPIK questions I remember are: “What would you do if…

…your co-teacher gave you more work than was needed?
…your co-teacher was teaching something wrong?
…you don’t work well with your co-teacher(s)?
…the housing you were provided with lacked certain amenities/appliances?
…the school’s class schedule changed suddenly?

The Lesson Demo

Now, I had an easy time answering all the questions, because they were all similar to the old EPIK questions asked to previous EPIK applicants. (Except for the ones about housing and class schedule). And I had prepared extensively, writing down the answers to about 40 potential questions I had compiled and practicing answering them repeatedly. In fact, towards the end of the interview, I wished the EPIK coordinator would ask me more questions, as I had my answers all ready.

But there was this section in the interview that wasn’t mentioned by the previous EPIK applicants on YouTube. It was only talked about quite recently in the Spring 2022 EPIK Kakao chatroom, when someone who had her interview earlier shared briefly that she had to do a lesson demo. Thanks to her information, I pulled out the lesson materials I had created beforehand. But to my surprise, the EPIK coordinator chose a random topic for me. He assigned me the topic of weather (if I remember correctly) and gave me some time (I think it was 5 or 10 minutes) to prepare. Afterwards, I had to pretend like I was teaching a class for 5 minutes on the designated topic.

Because I had this wonderful teaching material prepared already (I had created it for fun over the summer while waiting for the Spring 2022 application to open), I asked politely if I could use a topic of my choosing, mentioning the PowerPoint presentation I had prepared. My coordinator allowed me to proceed with my materials, and I presented my lesson demo without the given preparation time. I thought I did a great job, since I received much positive feedback on my demo lesson.

The Interview Ends

My EPIK coordinator was Jeffrey, and he provided me with much useful information about the program. Each time I answered a question, he gave me feedback (which were all positive), along with additional tips for becoming a successful EPIK teacher. He told me to maintain the positive, friendly personality that I displayed, as it was crucial to be outgoing during the first weeks at the Korean school(s) I would be assigned to. And for lessons, he suggested that I narrow down my English expressions to just one, and utilize as many hand gestures as I can while teaching (clapping, thumbs up, etc.)

My EPIK interview ended after about 40 minutes. I had much fun showcasing my abilities and potential to becoming a good EPIK teacher.

The Awaited Email & The Result

I had heard from a fellow applicant in the Kakao chatroom that he heard back from EPIK just 4 days after his interview. But my wait time was longer, as the Friday I had my interview was interestingly right before Korea’s three-day national holiday, Chuseok. So I did not hear back from EPIK until a week later, on a Friday afternoon.

I had my CRC ready to submit, a 180 hour TEFL Certificate, B.A. from one of the best universities in the U.S., 2 solid recommendation letters, and a 2 year professional experience. I had made it as far as the EPIK interview, during which I had shown my competencies and received positive feedback.

My heart was pounding in excitement. I paused a moment before opening the email to calm down a little.

This was it….!

Snapshot of the email from EPIK.

I clicked and saw the following words:

Dear EPIK Applicant,
Thank you for your application to the EPIK Program, Korea’s government-operated native-English teacher selection program for public schools.
After taking time to fully consider your application, we regret to inform you that your application has not been selected to proceed forward for EPIK’s Spring 2022 term.
– The EPIK Team –

The email goes on for a couple more paragraphs, explaining that this term was “particularly competitive,” and that the decision is a reflection of my suitability for the term. It is “not necessarily a reflection of [my] ability or qualifications as a teacher.” Plus it kindly states that the decision is final, and that EPIK is “unable to release any information related to the reasons for this decision and will not reply to inquiries of that nature.”

Yes, reader. I was not selected. And I’ll never know why. (Photo by Matthew Henry).

That was my experience applying to EPIK. There were frequent changes which were often not properly announced beforehand. Plus, I spent $182 on documents no longer needed for the initial application. And since I did not get selected in the final round… Now I have an apostilled national level criminal record check just lying around on my desk.

Conclusion

My experience with EPIK was exceptionally expensive and definitely not so epic. But on the brighter side, I will no longer have to spend more money shipping my documents across the Pacific. Neither will I have to cover the costs of mandatory quarantine. The 1.4 to 2.1 million KRW (~1,178 to 1,768 USD), as stated by EPIK, will NOT be covered by the program.

I know that God has better plans for me, so I am no longer disappointed by the result. But I will miss the prospect of teaching and traveling abroad, of meeting new people and exploring South Korea for an entire year.

Alas, I will miss the path not taken.

P.S. For anyone planning on applying to EPIK, here are some great resources to refer to:

1) As mentioned in my previous post (HERE), be sure to check out YouTubers who’ve gone through the EPIK process. It’s really helpful to hear their experiences as well as the EPIK questions they were asked.

2) Check out bloggers who share their EPIK experiences! Some great blogs I came across are ariography and Korealizations. Ariography’s EPIK interview content is from 2018 and Korealizations’s from 2014, but they are still relevant and useful. The only thing I’d add is that as of 2021, there is an on-the-spot lesson demo. Plus the interview is via Zoom, not Skype. (And, of course, there was that CRC requirement (read about it HERE) that was cancelled in September. Hopefully EPIK doesn’t bring that back again!)

Posted on September 30, 2021July 5, 2025 by The Time Traveler — Leave a comment

Applying to EPIK: Not So Epic Experience (PART II – The Interview)

So in my last post, I left off at the part where I find out that I had wasted my money, time and energy on the criminal record check that was no longer needed for EPIK’s initial application. It was no longer required as of September 6th. I had applied early on August 27th.

I was upset to say the least, but I maintained my optimism. EPIK had stated that the apostilled national level criminal record check would need to be submitted eventually, after the applicant was admitted. Trying to stay positive, I thought to myself, “I guess I won’t have much work to do after I get accepted.”

The EPIK Interview Email

I had braced myself to wait for about two months to hear back from EPIK, as previous applicants shared that two months was the average wait time. (I had done some research on the EPIK process through Google, Reddit, YouTube, and more). But to my surprisingly pleasant surprise, I received an email from EPIK on September 6th, which had arrived nearly at midnight. I was able to read the wonderful message next morning:

Hello,

Thank you for your application to the English Program In Korea!

You have passed the first selection phase and we would like to invite you to participate in a webcam interview via Skype.
Please click on the following link and follow the instructions in order to book your interview date and time…
– The EPIK Team –

I moved one step closer to my dream of teaching, traveling, and living abroad! With my own apartment paid for by the program! I booked my Zoom interview for the following week on September 16 so that I would have enough time to prepare.

Preparing for the Interview

To prepare for the interview, I compiled a list of questions asked in the previous terms. To do this, I watched multiple YouTubers talk about their EPIK experiences.

*TIP#1: When preparing for the interview, be sure to check out YouTube videos of previous EPIK applicants. They share many of the questions they themselves had to answer.

There are many, many useful videos out there. To name a few, here are some of the YouTubers I personally found most helpful:

Red Dragon Diaries. Here’s a link to his EPIK Interview video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOoJSwbcrgI
TastyTea (her video is no longer available to the public) :'(
Katherine Walsh. Here’s a link to her video on the EPIK application & interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nE7bQn786c

And while researching the EPIK interview process, I saw this crazy story from the above YouTuber named Katherine Walsh, who had her documents sent to North Korea because the person helping her at the post office thought “the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” was South Korea!! It’s a funny yet horrific story.

Imagine getting your papers sent to North Korea! 🙁

*TIP #2: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is NORTH Korea. Republic of Korea is SOUTH Korea. The one that is NOT democratic calls itself democratic.

Even if you already know this, like the YouTuber in the video, beware that the person helping you at the post office might (sadly) not know!!!

*TIP #3: Also, be sure to join the official Kakaotalk chatroom for EPIK applicants. Kakaotalk is Korea’s most popular mobile messaging app. It’s a must-have when living in Korea.

You should be able to find the link to join on EPIK’s official Facebook Page. Follow that too! Both platforms are where fellow applicants can ask questions, receive feedback, and share experiences with one another.

The Interview…Delayed.

Disappointed yet again. (Photo by Matthew Henry).

My interview was scheduled for September 16th PST. That Thursday, I spent all morning and afternoon preparing for the interview, going over the questions and answers multiple times. I practiced to the point where I could say the answers right away when asked, as thoroughly as possible. I was ready!

But about an hour before the interview, I received the following email from my interviewer:

Unfortunately, we seem to be having some technical issues and internet issues on our end today and are not able to establish a good connection for the interview. I apologize for the inconvenience, but would you be available to reschedule? If able, I will open some time for early next week or the weekend that was previously unavailable.
– Jeffrey Conde
EPIK Coordinator –

I was bummed out yet again. But luckily, I was able to reset my interview date and time with my EPIK coordinator for the following day.

Stay tuned..

Check out the next post HERE.

Posted on September 29, 2021July 20, 2022 by The Time Traveler — Leave a comment

Applying to EPIK: Not So Epic Experience (PART I)

After working for a company for about two years, I left in search of a new one. It’s not that I disliked the company or my colleagues. In fact, my job was very fulfilling, my superiors and teammates great, and I loved the industry that I worked in. But with the onset of the pandemic, I realized that the work I was limited to was not something that I wished to do in the long run. So I left in pursuit of a different role that I could see myself doing even decades from now.

On top of that, my family decided to move back to South Korea and I needed to find a job that could ensure my independent survival.

It was then that the idea of teaching English abroad dawned on me.

Why not teach English abroad? Photo by Element5 Digital.

Why not travel abroad to South Korea for a year to teach English and have housing provided for me by the English abroad program? The program offered paid accommodation and flights as well as a severance bonus. It seemed perfect!

(There are many different programs for teaching English abroad, from the ones in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea to Spain, Czech Republic, and United Arab Emirates.)

Flag of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Photo by Lauren Seo.

EPIK Overview:

Acronym for “English Program in Korea,” EPIK is a one-year program where citizens from English speaking countries (now only accepting applicants from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K., Unites States, and South Africa) can go to South Korea to teach English in public schools.

Established back in 1995, EPIK is affiliated with and sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Education. Check out the official website HERE.

1) Applying to EPIK for the Fall 2021 Term

As excited as I was to teach and travel, I began my application immediately. It was the May of 2021 when I started the process, and the deadline was sometime in July. For the timeline EPIK created for the application procedures, visit this page.

I reasoned there was enough time for me to submit my application.

And I did. By the end of May, I was able to gather all the required documents for the initial application except for the second letter of recommendation, which was scheduled to arrive on the first week of June.

But the application for the Fall 2021 term, out of nowhere, closed on May 24, 2021 in KST.

I don’t remember the exact time in KST that the application closed. Neither am I certain about May 24th. Perhaps it was May 25th. But I do remember clearly that the application closed on the last week of May, because I was beyond disappointed about how randomly the application closed. And EPIK neither put this important update on its website nor did it announce it beforehand; I was able to find out about this news only when I went inside my application portal.

So I could not apply for the Fall 2021 intake.

2) Applying to EPIK (again) for the Spring 2022 Term

As upset as I was, I was far from giving up. Since I had all my materials ready, I decided to retry for the Spring 2022 Term. The timeline for the Spring term showed that the application opened in August. This time, I was going to submit my application the week it opened.

The Spring 2022 application opened on August 23rd, 2021.

But to my unpleasant surprise, the required documents had changed. For the Spring 2022 term, EPIK required applicants to submit an “Apostilled CRC” in addition to the…

– Online Application
– Professional Photo
– Two Letters of Recommendation
– Proof of English Education
– Lesson Plan Worksheet/Handout Samples

The Criminal Record Check Process

So, at this point, the only thing I was missing was the apostilled national-level criminal record check. And as naïve as I was, I decided to go ahead and try to attain it. If I had known beforehand how much I’d spend and what would happen, I would not have started the process.

Referring to various websites and EPIK’s own guidelines, I went ahead and applied for an FBI criminal record check through one of the approved channelers. EPIK writes that “applying directly through the FBI for a CRC is an incredibly time consuming process that can take multiple months.” So, as directed, I chose an approved channeler called Inquiries Screening.

For a complete list of FBI-Approved Channelers, visit HERE.

Inquiries Screening

Long story short, I paid Inquiries Screening $45 to do the job. They requested that I mail the FBI Departmental Order Submission Form along with 2 separate sets of fingerprint cards to them. To get my fingerprints done, I had to go to a post office and spend $62 to get two sets of inked fingerprints, as duplicate copies were not accepted. After paying a total of about a $100 and waiting for about two days, I received a link from Inquiries that gave me access to my background check.

*TIP: Inquiries Screening did a good job, but I was told by the post office lady that it is way more convenient (and cheap) to use a channeler named “Biometrics4All.” Here is their info posted on fbi.gov:

Biometrics4All, Inc.
www.applicantservices.com
(714) 568-9888

The Apostilling Process – Monument Visa

Now that I had attained my criminal record check, I needed to have it apostilled by the U.S. State Department. To do so, I contacted Monument Visa, which appeared to be the most trusted, popular choice. For a service fee of $55 (plus the Fedex 2-3 Business Shipping of $20), I successfully requested to get my criminal record check apostilled through Monument Visa.

Finally Submitting My EPIK Application

Now I was able to submit my application, as I finally had all the required documents for the initial application. Although my criminal record check wasn’t apostilled yet, EPIK wrote on its guidelines that either one of the following were required for the initial application:

– “A scan of a nationally apostilled national-level criminal record check dated on or after August 1st, 2021. Please review the “Required Documents” section of our website for details on which documents are acceptable and how to obtain them.“

– “A scan of a non-apostilled national-level criminal record check dated on or after August 21st, 2021 + a scan of proof of application for a national apostille (receipt, e-mail confirmation, scan of application for apostille, proof of payment, etc.). Acceptable proof will be determined by the EPIK Office. If you have inquiries on this, please email [email protected].”

Using the second option, I successfully submitted my EPIK application on August 27th, just 4 days after the application opened. Along with the non-apostilled criminal record check and proof of application for a national apostille, I submitted my online application with the two letters of recommendation, lesson plan, hand out, an official TEFL certificate as well as the required essays.

Seoul, here I come! Photo by Cait Ellis.

In total, I spent $182 to submit my EPIK application. I could have saved much more if I had chosen a different channeler and requested the documents even earlier on to save on shipping. But even if I had, I would have had to spend about $100.

Be aware: applying to EPIK will NOT be cheap nor easy.

A Ridiculous Announcement

After submitting my application and required materials, I minded my own business and went about my daily tasks. But from time to time, I checked in on EPIK-related news, since EPIK sometimes made crucial changes without properly announcing them (i.e. my experience during the Fall 2021 application term). I periodically checked their Facebook page, YouTube channel, as well as their official website.

Lo and behold, I saw an unbelievable update saying that changes had been made to the application process for the Spring 2022 term. It was as follows:

“Due to various delays in criminal record check (CRC) and apostille processing times in many countries caused by COVID-19, we have decided to postpone the requirement for an apostilled CRC at the time of application for the Spring 2022 term. Applicants applying on or after 13:00PM on September 6th KST will not need to upload an apostilled national level criminal record check (CRC) with their initial online application.“
– The EPIK Team –

So EPIK made the change for the Spring 2022 term that required all applicants to submit an apostilled national level criminal record check only to repeal it a few weeks afterwards. And as an early, eager applicant, I had wasted my energy, time and money on it. On something that was now unnecessary in order to apply.

I wanted to cry. (Photo by Matthew Henry).

There you have it. My not so epic experience applying to EPIK.

But wait. It’s not over yet… 🙁

Check out my next post, “Applying to EPIK: Not So Epic Experience (PART II – The EPIK Interview)”.

Posted on July 12, 2021June 10, 2022 by The Time Traveler — Leave a comment

My Latest KFC Review: Still Terrible

Reflection of the KFC restaurant in a pool.

KFC was one of my favorite fast-food restaurants out there. With its menu of coleslaw, mashed potatoes & gravy, fried chicken, as well as biscuits with jam and butter, KFC had a solid menu of gustatory harmony.

KFCfooditems — Photo by Aleks Dorohovich.

But about a decade ago, things changed. My family and I were given undercooked fried chicken – so undercooked that we had to ask them to fry it again. Even after the request, the chicken bits were oozing pink blood, so my mom had to cook them at home herself before we had any. After witnessing such poor quality, we stopped going to KFC for a while.

After years of staying away and eating Chick-Fil-A instead, our nostalgia for KFC kicked in as we remembered how good the combinations of coleslaw, chicken, and biscuits were.

And so, after about a decade, we made our way back to the same KFC store that served us bloody chicken pieces to order an 8-Piece Fill Up which contains eight crispy chicken, two plastic bowls of mashed potato and gravy, one plastic bowl of coleslaw and four biscuits. With packets of jam on the side like ketchup.

My Latest KFC Review

And I have to say… KFC once again disappointed us!

The “crispy” chicken just had a thin coat of fried batter-like substance which peeled off when bit into. And the biscuits had become smaller and more stale than ever before.

My family and I did finish our lunch (unsatisfactorily) with much of the coleslaw and mashed potato and gravy left over. The two menu items tasted relatively the same as they did about twenty years ago, so they weren’t horrible. But as our tastes have improved over the past decades, the menus were simply “not so bad as to be inedible,” i.e. just tolerable for consumption.

How can a fast-food restaurant with arguably a menu better than Chick-Fil-A be so terrible?

I just couldn’t understand it; neither could my family. And after browsing online, I found that many people shared our sentiment towards the fast food restaurant: pure disappointment.

I couldn’t find a reliable source clearly explaining the reasons behind the downfall of KFC’s quality over the past years, but from the bits of information I could gather, it appears that Colonel Sanders, the founder of the restaurant chain, sold it to someone else. Hence the changes for the worse. Whatever may be the reason, hopefully KFC manages to improve. Because if it doesn’t anytime soon, I could see it shut down for good.

I know for a fact that KFC fares better with the public in Asia such as in South Korea and Japan.

Perhaps it’s the problem with local management rather than the menu or the company. Hopefully the KFC opening soon nearby my place is better than the one I had for today’s lunch. Hopefully I’ll write a positive KFC review next time.

It’ll be the last chance my family and I give to our once-beloved Kentucky Fried Chicken.