I did it in south korea about 4 years ago. Probably the most entertaining year of my life up until then. Several suggestions from my perspective:
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Stay in a smaller town if you can - I was in a farming village with about 30,000 people (and me the only foreigner for about 40km in any direction). You will really get a sense of the culture and history of the country, and it will force you to learn some of the language. People who go to another country and go live in the major cities are cheating themselves - you’ll wind up hanging out with nothing but other ex-pats, speaking english, drinking and going to western restaurants. The same as home, so what’s the point in going, right?
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eslcafe.com (dave’s esl cafe) is your best friend in terms of finding a gig. Post your resume and what you want to do, and recruiters will contact you. There is also a forum, and you can check up on things.
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If you go to Korea, don’t work for wonderland. Just trust me.
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Wherever you go, it will likely be difficult to find supplements, or even a decent gym (in Korea, i had to work out a gym with nothing but machines).
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Now is a really shitty time to be trying to go over. Sorry. A company called Nova, in Japan, just closed down, leaving between hundreds and thousands of teachers out of a gig, people who are already over there and experienced.
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If you can go, do it. In terms of compensation, it goes as follows:
Japan-Korea-Taiwan-China-Thailand, with the last 3 usually not paying for either your flight there/back, or your room.
wow - that was a lot wasn’t it.