What I'll Miss: Part 1

It seems fitting to have this blog post on the week of Thanksgiving.  You could say that this post mentions some of the things I am grateful for. They are also the things I'm going to miss while I am in Korea. I look forward to the experiences this new adventure has in store for me, but these are the things that will make me homesick.

1. My family

I've never been this far from family. Ever. It's nice having family close by, but that's not possible while I'm in Korea. I can't just take a quick trip home for the weekend and I even have to figure out time differences before calling. I'm just glad that Skype makes it a little easier.

2. My friends

I really hope that I will be able to make some good friends while in Korea, but I'm definitely going to miss the awesome ones I have here. It might not be easy to find people in Korea who share my same strange interests, like my unnatural investment in the lives of fictional characters... Thank goodness for the Internet, right?

3. The holidays

Ok, so there are some holidays in common, but they don't celebrate in the same way. It's going to be great to see the differences, but at the same time I'm going to miss things like the family gatherings that typically happen.

4. Being in my "culture bubble"

This one will be a bittersweet departure. We can all live just fine experiencing a single culture for our entire lives because, well, it's our culture. It's comfortable. It's familiar. But, at the same time, there are so many possibilities when you step out of the bubble and into the unknown. I am sometimes more adventurous when I step into an unfamiliar situation. The stranger it is, the more comfortable I am because knowing that no one expects you to know what you're doing is somewhat freeing.

Or maybe I'm just strange that way...

So, that is the first installment of my "What I'll Miss" posts. Look forward to part 2 next week, where I'll be talking about one of the loves of my life -- food. Thank you for reading!

And Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm Going On An Adventure!

Bilbo and I have a few things in common. We're both short in stature, we both enjoy food and we've both been content to just sit in our comfortable homes until someone or something came along to remind us that we're adventurers at heart. I've dreamed of traveling, but most of my trips have been short and far between. A while back, however, I decided that I was going to do something a bit crazy -- go to South Korea and teach English for a year.

Yes, a year.

I may not be facing goblins, orcs, giant spiders (let's REALLY hope there won't be any giant spiders) or dragons, but I will be facing culture shock, a language I can barely understand and children who speak said language I can't understand.   And, let's not forget co-workers who I may or may not understand either.

There are a number of reasons why I decided to do this. First, I want to see more of the world and its cultures. Travel Channel can only show me so much. Second, I want to share my own culture with others. In order to better understand another language, understanding its culture is required, after all. Third, South Korea is intriguing. I'm not just talking about Kdramas and Kpop, here. There are symbols, customs and foods I'm itching to experience.  

I could probably keep listing reasons, but this post would get exceptionally long...

So, what have I done so far?

• Researched agencies
• Researched TEFL courses
• Registered for a TEFL course 
• Started to get up-to-date on vaccinations (Can I just say -- Ow!)
• Started passport renewal process

The TEFL course is through International TEFL Academy (ITA) and takes 3 months to finish. They have job guidance and the admissions advisor has been pretty helpful in answering my questions. She even helped set up an installment payment plan so that I could register now and simply pay in 3 installments.

I'll be starting my course in about 2 months. It's an exciting and nerve-wrecking experience. Meanwhile, I have a few things to attend to, like funding and getting paperwork together. Anyone who is willing to help me out, I'm coming up with some fundraising ideas right now.

I'll keep you posted.