I'm Here!!!

I've made the journey to S.Korea safely! It was a bit delayed and turned into about 30 hours of airports and planes... but the important thing is that I'm here and safe! I arrived in S. Korea at about 1:30pm, (about 10:30 est) and was taken to my apartment by a driver arranged by the recruting company. Once at my apartment, I was met by my co-teacher, Ethel (her Christian name). She showed me my apt, how things work, and then took me to get some lunch and to the local E-Mart for a few things. We finished up about 6pm and I spent the rest of the evening exploring what English channels I had and un-packing. 


This morning, I met my co-teacher and she took me to the hospital for my heath check, then off to my school! I got to meet my principle, some of the admin office, and about 4 teachers. I set up my desk in the teachers lounge, had a tour of my classroom, and picked a book to teach from. I went to lunch with the people who were at the school today, we had Korean food, it was rice, sides (3 different kim-chi's, squid, Korean lettuce aka sprouts), and soup. It was very tasty! Once we finished the day at school, my co-teacher took me to E-mart again to pick out a dinning room table since there is not one at my apartment and the school is meant to supply it. I also got some more food to cook with! 


My schedule was explained to me, and starting on Monday I will teach children from 8:10-8:50am Mon-Fri. and I will have an afternoon class of teachers who wish to learn English. The first week or so, I will be teaching on my own without a co-teacher. At the end of January, I will have another class to teach, soccer players! There is a team of players who are about 12-14 years old, who live away from their families in order to play soccer and attend school all year round. Currently the children are in the south of the country. Anseong has a few natural grass soccer fields, one being at my school. This is rare for S. Korea, therefore when the weather is a bit better, we will have a soccer team move to the city to practice and learn. Even though I will only have a few classes to teach, I will still have to be at the school for a full day, so I will have plenty of time to create some good, creative lesson plans. The children are on vacation right now, they got this week off for Christmas break. They start back on Monday, Jan 3. In March their school year ends and a new one begins, with that, they get a 3 week break. During this time, I do have to report to the school, if my principle asks me to. I could still have camps and touring to do. If I choose to, I could use some of my 25 vacation days to not work while the children are on vacation. :)


At about 4pm today the guy came over to set up my internet! I am very happy about that. I can finally communicate with people at home!! I have also managed to meet some people in my city via facebook, can't wait to meet them and make some good friends! 


So far the first 32ish hours in South Korea have been great! I am looking forward to my weekend of learning the city, running, and relaxing! 

More Waiting....

The big day is finally here! I have finished packing, cleaning, and saying goodbye to my friends and family. My flight had a layover, made it to the airport with plenty of time, all went well with flight number one. Went to check in for my second flight, and it has been delayed for 3 hours. As long as it's not further delayed, I will be on my way to S. Korea at 4 am!!

I have spent the last few hours chating with two other american teachers headed for S. Korea. One was there this past year and is headed back for his second year. The other is getting ready to start her first year. He is sharing lots of useful information, that will be very helpful when I first get there!

2 hours to go!!

TEFL Complete

I am down to the final 4 days before I board my flight and set off to S. Korea. 


Today, I completed my TEFL 120 hour course. This was important to me for two reasons. First, I would like to be confident on my first day in the classroom and this course has giving me a refresher  on grammar and many ideas for how to teach it, it has also prepared me for the different struggles EFL teacher have. Second, with my completion certification I will earn 100,000 extra won per month! 


Packing is coming along, I have 1 bag packed it has everything that I see as an essential! Running gear, shoes and more shoes, toiletries, over the counter meds that they most likely won't have in S. Korea, pictures, and my RW 2011 calendar. I have been going through my clothes and decided which to bring and which to leave behind. If you have seen the mass amount of clothing that I have accumulated over the past few years (with some bad shopping habits), you would know why this is such a challenge. 


I think I'm going to take the rest of the afternoon to relax, I have evening dinner plans with some good friends of mine! :) I'll get to packing tomorrow!

Quit Job - Check; Interview with Consulate - Check; Plane Ticket - Check!!

Quit Job - done on Monday!
Interview with Consulate - done on Tuesday!
Plane Ticket - booked on Tuesday!

Count down to SK = 11 days!!

Monday was my last day of work at my full time job. Maybe a little bitter sweet, but mostly sweet. I'll miss the friends that I made and having to go about 3 weeks without a paycheck! Sales was just not my cup of tea!

After work on Monday, I set off for Chicago! It would normally be about a 4-4.5 hour drive, but due to the mass amounts of snow that MI and IN received on Sunday and Monday the drive took a bit longer! I made it in time for Dinner to my friends home in downtown Chicago! The purpose of my trip was for an interview with the Consulate of Korea on Tuesday morning! Tuesday morning got here quick. I got lucky, I went to park in a near-by garage and was ready to pay $17 an hour for that, and the garage was full. So I set off to find some street parking! A lady was just leaving, so I waited for her spot, she pulled out and then stopped to give me her parking receipt, she paid for 2.5 hours and only used 1!! It was just enough time for me and FREE! The interview was pretty simple, there was 5 of us there for the same thing and they did a group interview. It was only 4 questions long! After, the interviewer told us we all did great and to turn our applications and passports in for visa processing! I should get my passport back on Monday with my visa!! Along with my visa process complete, I got word from my recruiter on Tuesday morning pertaining my flight!! They have booked it! I fly out on December 27th at 8pm! I have a lay over and then off to S.Korea! I am expected to get there on the 29th, with the 13 hour time difference and the long flight, I lose an entire day!

I still have some questions to get answered about what will happen the first few days while I am there, but I am very excited!

Everythings Moving Along....

The prep for my move and the visa process are going along very well! On the visa side, I received my Visa # last night and have scheduled interview with the Korean Consulate. Once the interview is complete, they will hold my passport for two days and I will get it back with the Visa Stamp and will be all ready for my departure. I should have my flight booked soon, and know my departure date any time now!

On my end, I have managed to sell a good portion of my things, I have a few items left that I am working on! I hope they all sell very soon! I have purchased an additional large suit case to fill up with clothes, shoes, jackets, and toiletries.

I have completed lessons 1-11 of my TEFL certification, I have lessons 12-13 to complete this weekend and only a few more days to finish up lessons 14-20! My goal is to have the certificate completed by the time I depart for S.Korea!

Look for my next update on the interview and my moving date!!

I HAVE BEEN HIRED!

Things are falling into place! I have been hired at a Middle School! I will be teaching English to mostly beginner students. I am so excited!! I have a few more steps before my plane ticket is booked! Mostly just waiting... but in about 10 days I will receive my Visa # and from there I have to contact the consulate in Chicago and schedule my interview. Once that is scheduled they will book my flight. I should expect to move in 3-4 weeks!! YAY!! 


With that news.... see my next entry! :)