Great topic guys! I love to hear about other places, the working conditions, pay etc...
Here in Korea it's similar to Japan. The average wage is about 2 (1,600 Euro) million but I have seen jobs for 2.4 or 2.5 million depending on your location and experience. All contracts here include an apartment (different than Japan I think) and an airplane return ticket from your home country. That's all for 30 hours a week. And oh yes I nearly forgot, you get a month's bonus when you are finished too. Not bad I think. Majority of contracts last for a year. I heard that something like 70%~80% of first year teachers leave after a year. Majority of the teachers are fresh out of college and loads of them come here to pay off their loans.
There are many private schools here which are similar to the cram schools that Mark mentioned. There are certain schools teaching only English, others for math and others that inculde all subjects for elementary, middle and high schools. The Koreans are crazy about English. Seriously crazy about it. I say that about 80% of students go to a private school to study English more after school. They pay on average 150,000 won (125 Euros) a month and that is just for English about three hours a week. Include some other subjects and sending your kid every day to a private school and you can easily hit the 400,000 (330 Euro) mark. Parents care a lot about education but sometimes it looks like that they are throwing it down a hole.
The standard here is very different too. Some chain schools who would avoid due to the stories that you would here. Other schools are brillant but it's hard to find the right balance. I have met some great and some useless teachers. I have met a lot you really don't care and just want to hit the bars and count down the days until they get their airplane ticket and bonus.
Right now I am working part time about 23 hours a week teaching kids and adults in 3 different places. I am making just under 2.8 million (2,330 Euro) and have Tuesday and Thursday afternoons/evenings off. It's fits me perfectly as if I want to work harder I have the time and if I want to cut back then that is possible too.
Korea is definitely not for everybody. Koreans can be very direct. Some of my friends were a little big and Korean would tell them to their face!
You have to be thick skinned that's for sure but it's very enjoyable for us and we will stay here for another 2 years at least enjoying the good life
(p.s. sorry it's a long post)