Watching TV shows from abroad

Written by admin Monday, 30 January 2012 07:43

Trying to watch a series from back home, but can't seem to get it here? Try streaming from sidereel.com or watchseries.eu

Use Hotspot Shield if you're getting blocked by American networks for being outside of the States. After downloading and installing the program (works for Mac and PC), it assigns an American IP address when activated, allowing you to watch American shows on the network sites.

Use Expat Shield for UK shows.

Listen to News in Slow Spanish

Written by dvm Monday, 30 January 2012 07:16

http://www.NewsInSlowSpanish.com - Weekly news in slow Spanish for intermediate and advanced students [Cool! Wish they had this in Korean, too! -dvm]

Viewing .hwp files

Written by dvm Friday, 09 December 2011 08:47

Life in Korea: viewing .HWP files http://t.co/yk64TpVl

Cellphone info - in English!

Written by Barun Tuesday, 20 September 2011 18:33

The KT Expat Blog has detailed info about pre-paid plans, monthly plans, activating phones from overseas, and everything else in between about cellphone service. Editor's note: Jeonju Hub is not sponsored by Olleh KT.

Sending Money Overseas

Written by Barun Wednesday, 04 May 2011 14:16

Downloadable brochure for "Easy-One Currency Remittance Service" at KEB Bank here. 

Check out the KEB locations in Jeonju.

Anjee DiSanto, 11:24am May 4 2011:

"If you send money home, you should totally get an ["Easy One Currency Remittance Service"] account.
I recently got one of these at KEB Bank... basically, they give you a second, separate Korean bank account number and they set it up so that, whenever you add money to the second account, it automatically transfers to your bank overseas. From then on, you can transfer money at the ATM any time!"

Daniel Kilduff, May 3 2011: 

"It normally costs me 13 000 to send money to Canada through the bank, but the remittance account is 11 000, so it is a bit cheaper, but the convenience of it is by far worth getting one. You can literally send money home from a GS Mart machine. Just transfer it to the Korean account and BOOM.. its on its way home. Usually gets there in 24-48 hours. *And another benefit of getting an account at KEB, at least for Canadians, is you can also use your KEB card in Canada to access your Korean account."*

Editor, August 29 2011:

Signed up for this account today. Took about ten minutes to set up the account. Take your Alien Registration Card, and definitely should bring your home bank's name, address, account number, branch/transit number and institution number. Money can be transferred the same day that you create the account. Fee was 11,500 KRW.

*Note: The transaction fee is 30% more if you transfer from anywhere other than through a bank teller at a KEB branch.

Useful reading on teaching English in Asia

Written by Isabelle Saturday, 05 February 2011 11:59

Thanks, Isabelle, for sending in these poignant insights for us to check out/share:

"First, there's the U.S. Embassy's description of ESL teaching in South Korea.  Their description of working conditions in the EPIK program hits the nail on the head. 
http://seoul.usembassy.gov/t_types.html

Second, there's a series of articles at "Transitions Abroad," by Gregory Mavrides, an American who's taught English there for 8 years.  He's very perceptive, and most of what he says applies to teaching English in Korea, at least what I've experienced so far. 

a)  "How to Choose Your First Job Teaching English in China."  http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/esl/articles/choosing-first-job-teaching-english-china.shtml

Worth reading for this paragraph alone: ".. as a rule, foreign English teachers are not recruited by deliberate choice or preference on the part of either the educational system or the private English language school industry. Public schools and universities are simply meeting a highly contested and bitterly resented national requirement of the Ministry of Education that states all Chinese students of English must be exposed to a native English speaker and, in the latter case, the hiring of white faces with which to adorn the classrooms is considered a necessary and very costly business expense. You won’t find one foreign language department head in China who truly believes that the presence of the foreign teacher is anything but superfluous (at best) and, similarly, you won’t find one Chinese owner of a private English language school who wouldn’t prefer to replace every single one of his foreign teachers with a licensed Chinese teacher if he knew doing so wouldn’t hurt his business, i.e., Chinese parents expect to see foreign faces at private English language schools." 

I suspect this is true in Korea.  It can be overcome, but the skepticism is there. 

b)  "Culture Shock in China."  http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/living/articles/culture_shock_in_china.shtml

Very good on the language barrier (a highway to infantilization) and last-minute scheduling of everything:  "From a Western perspective, it seems that even the most mundane occurrences—such as upcoming holidays and rescheduled work days—are treated like domestic top secrets. Due to the rather complex nature of Chinese government and organizational bureaucracy, this is an ingrained part of the culture and nothing you can say or do is going to have any influence. Complaining repeatedly about how you expect to be given advance notice is not going to change a system that has cultural antecedents dating back some 4,000 years, so it is best that you simply remain flexible and, by all means, do not personalize it." 

c)  "Keeping Face in China"  http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/living/articles/keeping_face_in_china.shtml

All of it.  Just read it."

Need a costume?

Written by dvm Thursday, 28 October 2010 16:36

Party Balloon - 파티 안 벌룬 is a party supplies and balloon store located kitty-corner from Juplish Judo Gym in SeoShinDong on BaekJaeRo. Click here for map. 

Book for the new ESL Teacher

Written by dvm Wednesday, 27 October 2010 16:47

Written in Gunsan!

Excerpt from Forward:

"Teaching EFL (English as a Foreign Language) overseas is a booming industry and a golden opportunity to travel the world as a working holiday. How many other jobs do you know of where an individual can potentially travel the world? If you do an internet search for ESL/EFL employment overseas, you will find a staggering number of websites posting work for teachers (both qualified and unqualified) in schools located in South Korea, Japan, China, Italy, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Turkey, Malaysia, Russian, Thailand, and on and on. In several of these countries, the work will require a BA at the very least, while further credentials can enable a person to work at universities or international schools. Several private owned schools will consider applicants with little or no teaching experience, as long as they are native speakers, possess a university degree, and are willing to undergo training. Some of these schools will state no experience is necessary."

Especially if you find yourself lost in the classroom, new to the profession, you will find this a helpful read.

It's written by Gunsan teacher Keith Blackmore. http://keithcblackmore.com

Get it for just seven bucks at www.amazon.com/dp/B0046A9O52

Update your browsers!

Written by jek Saturday, 03 July 2010 01:16

The Apple Store

Written by dvm Saturday, 13 March 2010 13:34

The Apple Store is between downtown and Jeonbuk University. (To enlarge the map, right-click and View) TAXI: 금암동 대성학원에서 시청방향 200미터 삼거리 대성학원길코너 애플컴퓨터센터가주세요