The History of EPIK

As with any job, a person must study up in preparation to meet new challenges. Usually, I would research a company based on its history, its current projects and goals, and then all the press involved with that. If I were really bold, I might go interview someone who is working at the company now over a cup of tea or email someone who has worked at the company in his recent past for a few quick pointers.

Before I jump ahead of myself to record my secondhand textbook knowledge about Korea, it's nice to take a step back and first go over the program and school I am working with.

Through EPIK (English Program in Korea), established between the allied nations of the United States and South Korea, I am working specifically for the Daenam Elementary School in the Daebudo county, in the city state of Ansan, part of the Gyeonggi-do province/region roughly in the northwest of South Korea. (From a random scene in the HBO series The Wire, a commander cop told a street patrol cop that that's the first thing someone should know about his given situation - the very specifics of where he is.)

EPIK has a good fifteen years of history so far, though it is still somewhat a recent development. As with many international efforts regarding education and globalization, the initiator of these actions was Peacecorp, starting in 1981. The South Korean government determined, while working with Peacecorp, that having their youth learn foreign languages and be exposed to the cultures of other countries are important goals. EPIK was established in 1995 as its own organization; however, it became jointly operated by Korea National University of Education and National Institute for International Education (NIIED). In 2007, EPIK fully transferred to NIIED, which is a branch of the Ministry of Education Science and Technology. Since then, they have only gotten more organized, hiring and training more people. For more, see EPIK's Wikipedia page and its more-direct sources.

Daenam Elementary School offers first grade through sixth grade. It's a seaside building in a relatively small town, with the main attractions being malls, the beach, seafood and small resorts. I'll write more about this later when I have pictures for you. So for now, it would be easier to take a step back and look at South Korea - the country as a whole.

I was using Culture Smart!: Korea, by James Hoare as a first reference, but EPIK also has its own little booklet to pass out when training Guest English Teachers (GETs) during orientation called Living in Korea: A Guide for EPIK Teachers. (While I've mainly been talking about EPIK, I'm actually working for GEPIK, which is the branch of EPIK specifically for the Gyeonggi region, but most or all of the rules and procedures are the same - just clarifying that now.) The second source is very useful for specific information and the appendix of terminology in the back because of the Korean terms as applied to daily school life.

All of this will be especially useful when your recruiter asks about a phone or Skype interview. She's going to prepare around ten or so standard questions for you about your experiences, why you want to teach, why you chose Korea specifically, how you will interact with your coworkers, so on and so forth. The more you know, the more prepared you will be to formulate your answers to these questions based on your personal experiences. =)