The Russell Recruiting website warns against potential pitfalls for job-seekers. Steer clear of any recruiter who tries to charge you for services, it cautions, as all recruiters are paid by the employing schools. Also stay away from schools that offer to reimburse your airfare, rather than paying it upfront. Russell, himself a former teacher in Korea and Poland, describes this as a "luring tactic" for schools that will force staff to work unpaid overtime while they wait for their airfare to be refunded.

McIntyre still wants to go to Korea. She's now considering going to Korea without a job and finding work once she's able to inspect the schools herself. For those willing to go it alone, this can be a good way to glimpse beyond all the schools' eerily similar online ads. Teachers already in the country can be more attractive to employers as well, says Russell, since the schools don't need to pay to fly them in. The good jobs are definitely out there: it's just a question of finding them.

"I wouldn't work anywhere else," Wiens says about his job, "because the environment at my school is like a family."

At 26, Wiens is now senior teacher at Seoul Language Institute (SLI). His workday starts at 10:30am, six hours before classes begin. He answers students' e-mail queries from the previous night before turning to work on course development: SLI offers several specialised courses including debate and creative writing, along with courses designed to prepare students for standardised English-language tests like the TOEFL exam and the American SATs.

This, however, is rare. Most hagwons—the private educational facilities where Korean children go after their public-school lessons are done for the day—stick to the standard grammar-plus-conversation formula. And the kids don't always get much out of the equation.

"They're more like glorified babysitting schools," Russell says about the hagwons. "I always got the feeling when I was teaching there I wasn't really making any kind of an educational difference. Kids have fun. They can interact with you and what have you, but the parents are kidding themselves if they think their kids are actually learning anything as far as English goes."

The quality of the education depends largely on the quality of the teacher, however, especially in schools that do not provide teachers with curriculum material—and both Wiens and Russell are quick to point out that not all teachers in a foreign land have their students' best interests at heart.

"Some teachers have even been known to teach drunk, or run away," says Wiens. "Many of the teachers out here lack a sense of responsibility because they are not a part of the country and are only here for a short term."

A modicum of cultural sensitivity is a must. Beyond that, while teaching experience and certification aren't prerequisites for the job, they certainly make it easier. Courses in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and others like it are offered in private colleges all over Vancouver, and they come highly recommended by former students.

"I can't stress how much a TEFL course will help," says Tinka, who will be teaching adults in Japan starting in May. "It obviously didn't show me all I need to know about teaching, but I learned a lot and it got me really excited about trying teaching overseas." A TEFL certificate or similar credentials also give the teacher leverage in contract negotiations over pay or health benefits, regardless of country of employment.

Contracts do vary, but in Korea and Japan—countries with well-established ESL industries—there is a model that's followed. A typical contract in Korea is 12 months long and includes free airfare and free accommodation, either in a small studio apartment or in a two-bedroom apartment shared with another employee.