One Year Later...

It has officially been a full year since I packed two suitcases and a backpack and moved across the world. A lot has changed, and a lot hasn't changed, and when I looked back through this blog, I'm glad I kept it up. Around this time last year I wrote a post explaining why I decided to teach ESL in Korea, and I like to think I've fulfilled my goals of being here for a year.

My Happiness. If you haven't noticed an ongoing theme, I was really unhappy towards the end of my senior year. Like sometimes would barely leave my bed for the whole day unhappy, say hurtful or just rude things just because... I had serious FOMO, and I was constantly plagued with this fear that I was constantly being forgotten. For my whole adolescence, I would get really upset at what I perceived was either a) people forgetting about me or b) people purposely seeming like they forgot because they didn't really want me there. Of course, I never explained how much this hurt my feelings. I usually let it build up, turned a bit of an icy shoulder, and then I lashed out much later or at random times. I'd also bury myself in work, using it as a buffer between me and the feeling of being forgotten, which was a gateway to feeling very alone. I can think of a few very specific times that I did this like clockwork. 

Anyhow, my goal was to really try and push for my own happiness, and I think I've successfully gotten there. I'm not wildly happy and full of spirited "You can do it!" But I'm not spending all day in bed Facebook stalking all the fun times everyone else seems to be having.

My Career. I remember telling this guy I hated in high school how I was going to be a fabulous New York socialite with a closet full of beautiful shoes and invitations to all the best parties and a powerful job in advertising. Gag me. Call it college happening, but I can think of nothing I want less. I don't want to live in NYC because I hate the cold. I don't want a ton of shoes because I just won't wear them. I don't want to go to parties because no one dances, and I have to be uncomfortable and sober while making small talk for hours. I don't want to be a socialite because... what does that even mean? And while advertising is still on the table, it's going to be for companies I care about not just blanket advertising to the biggest spender.

I frankly don't even know what my career is going to be, and as I told my dad, it's not going to be traditional or familiar. I'm out in the world, I'm seeing new things, and I'm exploring. Right now I frankly don't want anything else. As much as I've always wanted marriage and babies and a cute little castle with a massive garden and an apple orchard in the backyard (hey, dream big, right?), I don't want it right now if it means giving up whatever path I'm on. I've renewed for another year in Korea because there's a lot to still see, and there's a lot more I want to learn as a teacher. I do have some more finite desires, namely a graduate school course in Germany or Ireland (though Germany is looking pretty good right now), a future with linguistics, and working with companies I admire. I'm also interested in the idea of micro loans, so if you know anything about that let me know.

Writing. Speaking of my career, the most important thing to me is writing. The novelist dream will always be there. I've started reading so much more, and it's been wildly therapeutic in a weird way. Good books are good for the soul, no matter what anyone says. And I mean good books, with rich characters, a Roller Coaster of a plot, and this ability to grip something in you and never let go no matter how many years pass. I've been reading those kinds of books lately, and it's been amazing. 

I've also started writing again. Nothing big, and never consecutive. Just snippets here and there of observations, imaginations of my favorite characters, and more. But it's something, and it feels good to not sit there, wondering how to phrase something.  

The FIVE Best Resources for Expats in Korea

So, now that I've been living in Korea for six months as of April 15th, I can officially tell you this: You will not be uncomfortable living in this little country for at least a year. Once you get the hang of the basics: transportation, housing, banking, food, you'll discover that finding the food you want, learning more about Korea, or just shopping is as easy as owning a laptop or computer. There are very few things I have to do without in this country (none pop into my head specifically right now), and that's thanks to the resources provided by the growing expat community, continuing globalization, and, of course, the handy-dandy internet! Here is my list of the five best resources of expats in Korea as they make home in a foreign country.

EAT YOUR KIMCHI

These guys are the best. I know they've attracted criticism (fair and unfair) in the past few years, particularly when they moved from being teachers to full-time business owners, but there's no denying they do a lot of the research on what's happening in Korea, whether it be food, trends, or more. They talked about what we all wondered when we watched K-pop videos (SJ, "Because I naughty, naughty" Chincha?). They introduced us to different kinds of foods, trends, trinkets, and more in Korea. They taught us more about Korea from a waygook's perspective with comparison videos, TL;DRs on different topics (everything from teaching to gender relations and more), and gave us a fantastic ramyun hack. The food ones have been especially fun, especially when Martina shows her recipes. That chocolate tofu pudding, on. point.

DOM & HYO

Dom is an English teacher in Korea, and he's currently engaged to Hyo. While their life as a couple, depicted in his cartoons, is adorable, I really love the site for their infographics on Korean vocabulary! He has a ton, and they're so fun and easy to use. Plus, he obviously has Hyo to make sure everything is correct, so you know you're getting good, easy information. I particularly love the infographics on food vocabulary because often I forget the names or never learn them (it's very easy to point and just try).

G-MARKET

It has an English section, albeit some more specific descriptions may require Google Translate. Simply find what you want to buy, add it to your shopping cart (make sure it's domestic, not international), and opt to pay via bank transfer. G-market will give you your own account under the same bank you want to transfer from (so no transfer fees), and simply go to an ATM or your online account, and transfer the money. In about two days (sometimes the NEXT day), you'll have whatever you ordered. The best? Shipping is usually free or the most is around 2,5000 won ($2.50). And you can find almost anything on G-Market. From new booties to camera accessories to lasagna noodles to CDs and more, it's all there.  

iHERB

Great for healthy or more conscious eaters. Heck, if you're in the USA, it's great for you too. You do need your home country credit or debit card (however, if you have a Korean credit card it will work), but it's about 4-5 days delivery to Korea, and it costs about $4.00 for up to 15 lb or $105. The prices on things are better than in Korea (like quinoa, dark chocolate, etc), and you can most likely find random things you won't be able to find at all here easily (like spirulina, actual whole wheat flour, oats).  

P.S. Use this code to get $10 off your purchase! LZF040 

WAYGOOK

An awesome site for general questions and a ton of lesson resources. Simply google Waygook and the name of your lesson, and you will be flooded with responses. Heck, even finding food can be helpful (it's how I discovered I can buy lasagna noodles on G-market!)

Have you tried any? I don't know what I'd do without these sites. When I started middle school teaching, I was totally lost until I looked up lesson ideas on Waygook, and iHerb has been crucial into my healthier eating habits!

10 Things I Love About Teaching in Korea

1. Being around Kids. I forgot how lovely it is to be around kids again. I try to feed off their energy and their excitement because it's just so sweet to see. Just letting them go outside to play or figuring out a game that works on their English and lets them jump around is so much fun. Even the days when I've gotten poor sleep or I'm feeling a little ill, I can't help but laugh when I'm around them!
2. My Schools. I know I'm going to be switching schools come March, but I just want to take a moment to say how much I love the schools I've been at. I actually have four schools in a week, the same one Tuesday and Thursday, and three different ones more in the countryside. They've been absolutely lovely, and, again, the kids make me laugh. Even the one school I thought wouldn't miss as much, I found myself getting all gushy over leaving when my last day came. I think it was the fact that my sixth graders, who I had had the most trouble engaging, wound up warming up to me, even to the point of one of them latching onto my arm when we were doing a baking activity. I mean, how does your heart not melt all over the place?!
3. Winter Camps. I really like them! Not only do I get to create the lesson plan from scratch, I literally work three hours a day. I know at other schools they have to desk warm after the camp is over, but my education office allows us to go home. I go in a 9, I leave around 12, and I have the rest of the day free. Which means I feel like I'm on holiday from about Christmas until March.
4. My Education Office. Shout out to Namwon Education Office for being so amazing. Whether its our training trips to Jeonju Hanok Village or having us leave early on Wednesdays so we can attend a Korean language and culture class or even setting us up with our sweet housing situation, it's been absolutely lovely. I feel like I'm spoiled.
5. My Co-Teachers. It's a weird set-up. I have a main co-teacher at each of my schools with one main-main co-teacher (the one who picked me up and got me settled), but because I teach elementary, all the homeroom teachers are kind of my co-teachers as well. All of them have been awesome. Again even one of my co-teachers who I thought didn't like me, was the one who invited me along to the school activity.
6. My Housing Arrangement. Seriously I have the best housing arrangement. My building is called a villa, and it's comprised of all the foreign teachers who are paid by NOE. It's a stand alone building, and it's more like a little dorm home than anything else. My actual apartment is a bedroom, a main room, my bathroom, and an extra room. It's kind of huge. I literally have a guest room for visitors.
7. My Lesson Planning. I actually really like lesson planning. I think it's because it forces me to look at how to teach a language, and in return it lets me focus on how I can learn languages better. I'm still trying to improve my Korean as well as maintain and improve my Spanish (any exchange partners out there, llamame, por favor!), and lesson planning definitely helps. Also looking up ways to reinforce the days of the week to fourth graders is fun in itself.  
8. Desk Warming. I don't know about you, but I'm about 100 times more productive at a desk situation than sitting on my couch. Writing posts, organizing my life, list making, actually reading my Pinterest boards... I like desk warming. You're getting paid to sit at a computer to literally do whatever you want. You can online shop, and no one will bat an eye.
9. My Location. Namwon is the city of love, need I say more?
10. The people I'm with. I really love the expat community within Namwon, and the Koreans I've been able to meet. Heck, even the taxi drivers are adorable 95% of the time. 

Any of you feeling particular fondness for where you live? At the beginning of this year, I thought I'd teach wherever I was placed in the countryside for a year, and then if I wanted to say, I'd move to Seoul, but now I'm contemplating staying here an extra year...

Celebrating the Holidays as an Expat

Ah, celebrating the holidays. A time for family, reunions, celebrations, and getting so stuffed you feel as though you're pregnant with a food baby. If you're not with your aforementioned family, it is also the time homesickness likes to rear its ugly head. I believed that with modern technology and the fact that I've only been an expat for two months would have helped curve said blues a bit, but even I found myself missing home. I feel like it'd be especially odd for those expats celebrating holidays in countries where said holiday isn't that big. Christmas is a behemoth of a holiday, but it is not traditional in Korea, and hence it does not hold the same feeling here as it might at home. In fact, I believe Christmas day is more date night and less family feast here, but given that I'm not in a relationship much less in a relationship with a Korean fella, I only know this secondhand. 

Anyhow, my main tip for beating the holiday blues is to spend as much time as possible with other people. Even if you think you're utterly exhausted, and you just don't feel like it, get your tush up and out and celebrate. Accept the invitations, travel a little, be with people. That's the fun of holidays, anyhow, eating the foods you know you'll love and laughing over silly things with others. I still feel totally lucky that I got a city where the expats all know one another, and there are even traditions here handed down from former Namwon teachers. From decorating the halls to planning a dinner Christmas day and escaping the city for the countryside for a small weekend, these are the activities I stepped into. 

So even though Christmas with my family was a short Skype session that involved my grandmother asking me about my dating life (and then chiding me for not having one) and saying hello to the majority of my family and being asked questions about the Korean life, I didn't feel as homesick as I thought I might. I spent Christmas Eve with my fairly new founded church community, laughing hysterically over the many skits and songs put on by everyone from the toddlers to the elderly (and yes, that included me being a part of a group singing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"). I spent Christmas day gorging on delicious food in one of our villa's apartments, listening to the benefits of Christmas in the heat (from the South Africans) vs. a white Christmas (the rest of us). I went to Jeonju on Friday to buy my Christmas present for myself and to explore Gaeksa. With the rest of the villa and some others, I escaped to an adorable pension in Gurye (designed like a little Hanok village) for more festivities including lots of food, fresh air, games, and food comas. 

And now I'm looking towards six weeks of winter camp and then a long vacation in Cambodia and Thailand. I think this is where I insert #blessed. ;)

Hope you all had a lovely holiday as well!    

You Know You're Teaching in Korea When...

1. Anything ending with "ge" and "ch" you subconsciously add a y to the end. Lunch becomes lunchy, change becomes changey.
2. Your shoes are gathering dust in your shoe closet. Because you bought all these pretty shoes knowing how stylish Koreans like to be everyday. And then you realize you're going to wear slippers in school the whole day, and you revert to wearing your comfiest shoes with socks no matter how silly it looks. Pink socks peeking out of my Chucks in an otherwise nice outfit? Yup. 
3. You know if Waygook.com ever went down, life would be over. You might have a panic attack. Everything is on Waygook from lesson plans to winter camp ideas to where to buy tampons or black tea in Korea... -cough-
4. You've mastered the art of online shopping. Oh and not just online shopping, online shopping in Hangul. G-market deals anyone? The beauty of the online shops, the interesting job of Google Translate, you've been through it all. You also appreciate iHerb and its low shipping rates.
5. "Heol," "Aigoo," "Chincha," "Eeotokke?" mean something to you. Those little Korean expressions have crept their ways into your vocabulary without you even realizing it.
6. You've come to expect little candy presents from students. What, don't kids everywhere just give their teachers pieces of candy or pieces of their treats all the time? No?
7. You bow all the time. Saying hello, thank you, goodbye... Anytime you want to show you're grateful. Your kids will run passed you in the hall and pause to bow and say hi to you. You know this is going to be an embarrassing habit to break when you re-enter your respective home countries.
8. You know the top K-pop groups or songs. Even if you're adamantly against K-pop and its sheer manufactured pop, you know the groups. And you know how seriously your female students take those groups. EXO ring a bell?
9.  You've mastered the art of public transportation. Subway systems, bus systems... You know the drill. You probably spent a lot of money on taxis your first week getting lost and trying to figure out where everything is. But now you know. The bus doesn't stop at your stop unless you explicitly ask him to, and you know you pay after your bus ride when leaving your city and before your bus ride entering the city. 
10. You question the Korean diet constantly. They're so thin, right? But there's so much processed foods, rice, sugary coffee packets, snacks, peppero... Eetokke? It's gotta be that kimchi.

Anything I'm missing? I've only been here for two months so far!

[The Traveling Teacher] Middle Schoolers

So, last week was the elementary school festival. This week it was the middle schools' turn! In Korea, the schooling works a little bit different. Elementary is 1st-6th (6-11) while middle school is technically 1st-3rd again (so you'd say you're in 1st grade when in the States you'd say 7th). My middle school was 6th-8th, but I know other schools were 7th-9th, so I think it varies. Anyhow, the festival was more or less the same, but they did make some of it different! My group was a bunch of city students, and we won in our section! I think I'm gonna use my 10,000 won gift card on Kyuhyun's new album....

Our group!

Don't worry, I scraped off the almonds.

Tea manners

Finally got the girl version!

Happy Pepero Day!

I brought some in for my students. Did you get any?

[Traveling Teacher] Fun Stuff

Teachers!

Guys, I really can't complain as an elementary school ESL teacher here. I know I'm technically in the honeymoon stage still, but this job has a lot more perks than downfalls. Like the scale is way unbalanced. The only moments where I get frustrated are when the kids are a little too rambunctious--it's a little more tolerated here than in the States. Things like "listening ears" and "quiet when others are speaking" aren't really enforced to the levels they are at home, and it's not just like that in school either. Often times, I have to tell students to quiet down when I'm trying to get one of the quieter students to say something, and that can get annoying, but kids are kids after all! I kinda would rather see them too rambunctious than overly reserved.

Group 9! Can you find me?

Anyhow, here's an example of some of the fun stuff that comes with being a teacher! Today the elementary students had a sort of festival (not sure how to phrase it). Typically the Namwon teachers leave school after lunch on Wednesdays anyway. We go to an elementary school nearby our villa at 3:00 p.m. and either have a Korean lesson or a Korean culture experience. However, today we met at Haneul Middle School where the education office set up a sort of "Running Man" style festival for us and the students. We were split into 9 groups, and we went to each station to learn about Korean culture. The kids had to act as our translators, and the other teachers judged them on their abilities to speak English. Everything from a Hanbok fashion show to tea drinking to ordering tea at a cafe to playing traditional Korean games--we got a little exposure to it all. It was an absolute blast, and the kids were so stinkin' cute! I didn't get any of my students from my usual schools, but I met new ones who were adorable. It was kind of funny because our group had two teachers, myself and Tom, and without fail our group tended to break apart into the girls with me and the boys with Tom.

This mission: "Make teachers creatively fashionable with 7 scarves."

It was also nice because we were in the old downtown of Namwon, and a lot of the shops got involved and gave out little souvenirs to us and the kids after each round. Probably the absolute funniest moment, though, was at the end. This is one of those prime Korean kids vs. American kids moments. One of my girls was trying to give a scarf to a teacher while we were all crowded, trying to get a picture. When she thought the teacher realized she was talking to her, she tossed the scarf at what she thought would be her open hand. However, it turns out the teacher wasn't paying attention at all, and it seemed like the girl was just throwing something at her. The girl's embarrassment was so extreme! She covered her face and crouched down, and stayed like that for a good while. I was laughing as the Korean teacher realized the mistake and just waved it off, and I had to keep telling her it was alright.

One of my co-teachers and our students.

Anyhow, I'm really liking this teaching thing, in case you're wondering. Even the "naughtier" kids make my day. Like one of my other students, whose favorite thing to say to me is, "Teacher, give me candy," was disappointed I wasn't in his group, according to my co-teacher.

[The Traveling Teacher] In Transit

My "Roll With It" Idea...

Goodness, getting from the Philadelphia Airport to my apartment in Namwon was a little bit crazy to say the least. I think if I didn't drill myself with, "Just roll with it," before leaving, I'd be one worked up mess. While getting abandoned by my driver in Madrid without any form of communication was a little traumatizing, it was so bad, I think every other new country experience I have will seem like a cake walk in comparison.

Alright, so actually physically getting yourself from your hometown to Namwon deserves a whole post in itself. You've gone through the headache of paperwork. You've gotten your contract, your passport, your visa, and any other necessary confirmations. You've booked your flight one way or another, and your bags have been packed four times. You're waking up at 2 a.m. from a quick nap because it's finally time. Months of preparations, changes, and a thousand goodbyes or see you for nows have happened. You're getting your behind over to the Land of the Morning Calm (or insert nickname for your respect country here). What happens?

Well, I can't really speak for everyone, but here is the following account of my story. There are no times associated with anything because I just lost track between the trillion time changes I went through.

Jeonju Hanok Village

This is going to be 3/5 of my weekend getaways! It was technically a training trip with other Namwon English teachers and our Korean counterparts, but it felt more like a field trip! I was lucky that the training happened to fall two days after I started working, so I got a little bit more of an "orientation" than just being totally thrown into the mix. We left our respective schools after lunch and met at the educational building to board a bus for the hour ride into the Hanok village. After we arrived, we went straight to our seminar room where we got an example lesson that involved vocabulary for tastes and a quick orientation on living in Korea. It was actually pretty fun, and our taste lesson involved blind tasting. FYI Ginseng is a rough, rough thing to taste blindly.

Afterwards we went to this restaurant for some stew and meet, our supervisor treated us to coffee, and then we had free time. Some went out to some bars, but I'm still a little jet-lagged, so I opted to walk around with a few people to explore the village at night. Jeonju's Hanok village is absolutely beautiful! It has a bunch of traditional style houses with different souvenir shops, restaurants, and other places. We also climbed up to Omokdae, a temple created to commemorate the place where the first king of the Joseon dynasty rested after his war victory.

The next day we had an official tour around the village where we learned about the different structures and the reasoning behind their designs after breakfast of beansprout stew. We also stopped by the Jeonju Catholic Church, which is considered the most beautiful Catholic Church in Korea. It was crazy because weddings were going on, and tours/the public was going in and out as though there weren't! My friends explained that Korean weddings are very...factory. You're in and out, people are usually talking throughout the ceremony, and it's all very quick. How unromantic! 

I'm not sure where exactly we went next, but we had a traditional food experience where we learned to make three temple food-- Ginseng Salad, a sort of rice paper roll, and a nut bar. Our head chef explained to us that what is important is that all these foods did not have any ingredients that were thought to create anger (like meat or onions). I loved the nut bar. The rice paper roll was okay (however its accompanying spicy mustard sauce was enough to make me cry!), and I was not a fan of the Ginseng salad (I'm still scarred from my blind testing...).

We then boarded up our bus and went home to Namwon where one of the girls was nice to enough to help me buy a toilet seat and show me where the local Innisfree is (more on that whole thing later when I finally do an apartment tour!)

[The Traveling Teacher] Packing

Boy, oh, boy was packing difficult. I packed and repacked four times, and I still wound up paying a $60 fee for one of my bags being overweight. As someone who is a total clothes horse (I'm working on it!), I found it incredibly difficult to part with my wardrobe for a year. Also, if my plans of weight loss go accordingly, I may be saying goodbye to these clothes forever or be faced with a hefty tailoring bill. It was a bit cathartic, I will say, and if I had had to bring anymore suitcases or add anymore weight, I don't know that I would have survived the whole travel process. However, that post is for next time, so for now I'll leave you with some quick tips for packing up your life for a year!

1. Don't buy that big suitcase. Seriously that thing is heavy. If you go to the store and see the bigger size, get the one that would be considered medium. It's almost impossible to get the bigger suitcase under 50 lb. 
2. Check what you're allowed. I said this before on my old travel blog, but seriously check everything out. My flight to Spain? One checked, one carry-on, one personal bag. The carry-on didn't have weight restrictions. My flight to Korea? Two checked, one carry-on that had to be a certain size, and one personal item. Honestly, you don't need anymore than that. It might be nice to pack a lot and pay $150 for the third suitcase, but think about how difficult that's going to be to navigate in the airport and beyond!
3. Really, really shed away the clothes. Keep your wardrobe neutral, and prepare to mix and match. My wardrobe is honestly a lot of black, gray, navy, and white with a few items in colors like hunter green or pink. I brought a lot of different jewelry to "spice" up the outfits, but otherwise it's the definition of minimalist. Only bring what you find comfortable and what fits!
4. Don't overdue the shoes either! Oh man, did I shed my shoes. Over all, I bought two pairs of boots (brown and black), a pair of cognac heels, a pair of black flats, two pairs of sandals (cognac and black), a pair of leopard loafers that I love, a pair of brown booties, and a pair of Chucks. I shed some heels and extra flats in the name of keeping it simple and sticking to the shoes I know I'll wear a ton. I also know that buying shoes here isn't as difficult for me since I'm a 6-6.5!
5. Bring a lot of... Anything you're picky about and don't think you'll find easily here. For me that's deodorant (I only like Secret Gel), shampoo (I get dandruff easily, so I packed 2 things of Head & Shoulders), and toothpaste (I heard it's not that good here). 

More to come as I get into the groove of things here!

Arrived!!

I've arrived! Yay! I'll post a little apartment tour and go over how I physically got myself from Philadelphia to Namwon once I fully settle in!

[The Traveling Teacher] Why

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I don't think I was 100% sure of my decision to teach abroad until early spring semester this past year. I had filled out a few applications for jobs over winter break without much luck (it seems in the respective fields I was anticipating entering, job hiring happened ASAP rather than waiting for graduation in May), and I was over all more concerned with finishing my classes with good grades, my two theses, my internship, my part-time job, my sorority, my friends, and my continuously growing girth to really focus on the job hunt. Before senior year, I had fiddled with the idea, but I was also scared of putting off starting my career.

However, I realized a few things during my junior and senior year that had me set on teaching. This may or may not sound cliched in a few parts, but it's honestly what I figured out upon reflection, prayer, and talking with friends. 

First and foremost, I wanted to be happy, or at least pursue happiness with the best chance of success. Was publishing, specifically editing, really what I wanted to do? Was working in marketing or advertising really a career path I could pursue? Did I really want to try and tap into the fashion world somehow? And how about location? Was New York City the place I truly, truly wanted to turn into home? Even with its polar vortex winters and humid-as-hell summers? And my career. What did that even mean? 

I also started to question what I wanted from my life. I mean, what difference did it make if I started my career at 22 or a little later? Did forming a 10 year plan do me any good? I spent so long on a straight and narrow path towards what I perceived as success (no, literally, I used to think, "I'm not gonna punch this chick because I would get in trouble somehow, and she is not worth me ruining my bright future over.") that I could feel myself burning out towards the end (or at least the end for now) of my academic career. I could see a huge difference from freshman year Sam to senior year Sam, and I didn't like it. 

Additionally, I thought about the dream I have held to since childhood. I want to be a novelist. I wrote this huge, epic book in high school (okay, epic for the YA non-fantasy, historical genre), and since then I've played around with ideas but formed nothing concrete. I would sometimes write, look at it, and wonder what the heck happened? I put off writing a lot, citing a lack of personal experience (but, seriously) and that hasn't changed in the least bit. 

So, here I am. I chose Korea because I only got six weeks the last time I visited. Beyond the fact that it makes sense the most monetarily, it is also the country that I have on and off been studying since 2010. I want to learn more and experience more of the culture both contemporary and traditional. I chose teaching because of what it offers, and that I have found myself in teaching positions since my first babysitting gig at age 11. I don't know what's going to happen after the year is over, and right now, despite my mind racing in three different directions, I'm trying to force myself not to worry about it.

I want this year to be my year of adventure. Of growth. I truly want to be a newer version of myself by the year's end (not a new person, but like when you update your iPhone to the newest iOS (oh, yes, I went there)). I could stay in Korea another year, I could pursue a masters, I could teach elsewhere, I could start my career. Who knows? I'm not going to answer that question for at least a while, and I'm going to force myself to stop planning and start living in the present. So, as my departure date comes near, here's to my year of adventure. 

[The Traveling Teacher] On Getting There

PART II

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So, my plane is booked, a meeting with my provincial office is set, and my agenda book is filled with last minute get togethers and appointments. The last time I talked about teaching abroad, I had reached the point of having my contract in hand. Let's just say the next few parts go a lot faster and are a lot easier than the first half! Right now I'm patiently waiting until I get to start packing my bags, which (in case you're counting) is exactly one month from tomorrow. EEK!

Anyhow, the visa process:

1)  Look up where your Korean Consulate is. I knew from Spain that mine was most likely in New York City, but it's pretty easy to check where you consulate is. Google your state and then Korean Consulate. The NYC Korean consulate's page, bless their heart, is tricky to navigate, so it took some patience and googling to figure everything out. From here on out everything is going to be based on my experience with the NYC Korean Consulate, but from talking with my friend from LA, I've found her experience to be similar.

2) Gather (more) documents. Okay, so there's lists everywhere of what you need and don't need. I personally traveled to NYC to get my documents in instead of mailing, so that, in a roundabout way, made everything a little faster. Here's what I brought:

• My contract (signed, sealed, delivered)
• My notice of appointment
• E-2 Visa Application
• Passport sized photograph
• Consulate Checklist (I don't even think I needed that...)
• My Passport

I did not need, as I read beforehand: a VIN (my notice of appointment replaced that) or a sealed transcript. I did have to pay $20 for the return envelope (in cash only). 

3) DON'T FORGET: Make copies of your contract and NOA because you're not going to get them back.

4) Tell you agency you've got your visa! Guys, my visa was literally in my hands two days after I applied for it. 

5) Book flight. So AT booked my flight via Orange Travel. I had to pay upfront with reimbursement from my school later on. Let's just say, it's gonna be a loooongggg flight. I start here at 6 am on a Monday and will arrive at my guesthouse Tuesday night.

6) Prepare! I asked for my itinerary post-flight before I paid for my flight, but either way works. Basically, I'll be flying into Incheon Airport and then boarding a bus for Jeonju. Then I'll take a taxi from the bus station to my guesthouse. I will then take a taxi to the provincial office Wednesday morning! Huzzah!

I'll let you all know more about how I'm preparing later as I actually start, ya know, preparing! There's some technical and technological things I've got to figure out as well as, the most important thing in my life that's not breathing, my clothes. I've been skimming out my wardrobe in preparation for this move as well as just skimming through all the junk in my room in general! I've also been reading up (kind of) on my province and on Jeonju, and I'm seriously excited!!

[The Traveling Teacher] On Getting There

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Oh my goodness, getting to the point of teaching abroad is a journey all its own. From the paperwork to the classes to the phone calls and interviews to the applications, it's a daunting enough task to turn even the most adventurous away. I started my process about mid-spring and have just received my official contract in the mail last week. Let me tell you, if not having patience is one of your traits, you might want to rethink things.

Anyhow, I'm starting this series on my blog to help document my time spent in South Korea! I don't want to completely turn this space into a TEFL Teacher blog (because there's a trillion that are more detailed and much funnier than I could ever be), but I do think I've learned a few helpful things along the way so far and anticipate learning much more in the future. To be perfectly honest, I'm going into this year wanting to float in life a bit. I've planned my academic career down to the T for the past 21 years of my life, and I want a chance to just...explore. I don't know what I plan on doing after the year is up or where I want to be, but I'm open to anything. I just want to keep learning and keep exploring and keep discovering. I'm not ruling out living in Korea long term, but I'm not ruling out teaching in other places or entering a permanent career track either. Just know, even while I'm in my "floating" time, I'm still paying off things like bills and student loans, so I'm not totally lost in life!

For the first part of this series, I thought I'd layout what I have done to reach this exact point-- a contract in hand, a visa trip on the way, and an official start date of October 15th: