As a teacher, one of the first things you need to do in Korea, is get your bank account set up. Luckily, your school has provided you with a co-teacher whose main directive is to help you get settled in. The assigned teacher will pick you up from the bus, and take you to the immigration office to apply for your Alien Residence Card (ARC). Depending on the time of day, they will also make sure introductions have been made with the Principal, Vice Principal and at least a few of the teachers at your school before taking you to your apartment, and letting you unpack (if you arrive in March, make sure you ask how to use the heater before they leave).

From the date of application, it can take roughly 3 weeks to get your ARC and until then, there won't be a lot you can do. The ARC is needed for EVERYTHING. It is possible the person processing the application might give you your ARC number, which is helpful for setting things up online, but just be aware, most places will want to see your physical card to do bank accounts, mobile phones, internet, cable TV or utilities (if your school doesn't have an account for your apartment).

Back to your bank account. You will need the following:

   l   ARC

   l   Passport with Visa

   l   Signed contract

   l   Proof of pay (School admin can provide a statement for you)

   l   Proof of address - this is actually on the ARC, but not all tellers will accept it so be safe, ask your school to print something showing your address. 

From there, you have to physically go to the bank to set up the account. It can be time consuming, and there are forms to fill out, which your co-teacher can help you with if you don't read Korean. The teller will highlight the important parts for you, it might take between 15 minutes to an hour depending on your teller, then bang! You are walking out with a new bankcard and bank book ready to spend the money you haven't been paid yet. 

VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure you go to a MAIN branch to set up your account - whatever you do, don't go to a local branch, if your co-teacher doesn't want to because the local branch is more convenient, insist on it. 

Why? Because local branches only give limited access to banking facilities. It is the difference between having a card limited to EFTPOS and ATM withdrawals, or one that can be used for online shopping, travel (T-Money), organizing your holidays, international transfers (you still have to ask the bank to set that up), and everything else we take for granted with our regular bank cards at home. Only an account from the Main branch can do this for you. Further, by going to the main branch in the first place, you won't have to cancel your accidental local account (including bank book and card) which also means changing account numbers with your school and anybody else who is set up for automatic payments.

**FYI**: On a side note, some banks will also let you set up your account if you have your ARC number, which is very helpful for getting paid while you wait for the physical card to arrive. Card in the corner where you would normally see the symbol for VISA or Mastercard. This is for ATM withdrawals until you provide the actual ARC number in which case, they will switch you to a fully functioning VISA/Mastercard. well, almost fully functioning... you might want to keep a card at home active. 

I am please to announce that Korean Horizons has won 3 categories in the 2018 Gooverseas Community Choice Awards.

https://www.gooverseas.com/company-news/teach-abroad-community-choice-awards

Gooverseas is a website which stores reviews on teaching positions, TEFL courses, study abroad programs, and reviews on a range of other programs designed to give information to the internationally inclined audience.  This year is the 1st year Gooverseas has recognized the very best in each category. Winners were chosen by their 1,000,000+ strong community, based solely on their program reviews, across all countries and all programs.

Within the Teach Abroad Category, Korean Horizons came :

• Best Benefits Provided  -1st Prize
• Best Support Provided  - 2nd Prize
• Best Facilities Provided - 3rd Prize
• Best Safety Provided - 3rd Prize

Korean Horizons was the only Korean company selected.  Our very own teachers have reviewed us very favorably and we currently have 98% over 79 reviews.

I'm very happy that we are getting the recognition that we deserve :)