This is my last year, I swear (and some stuff about Tokyo)

Today is the first day of my last year working in Korea. Seriously. This time I really mean it. If you don’t believe me, take a look at my phone. I’ve got a countdown clock going to the last day I officially have to come into work. As of right now I have 11 months, and 12 days. After that, the future is very blurry, which is both terrifying and exciting at the same time. 

I spent some time in Tokyo on a solo trip recently. I had no idea what to expect when I got there, except for things friends had told me and some Youtube videos. I didn’t know if I’d get lost, lose all my money or worse. This was my first solo trip that didn’t involve a visit home, and my first trip to Japan. And, you know what?

It. Was. Awesome.

I went shopping, I ate food, I got NAKED (not in public).  Even though the weather wasn’t that ideal while I was there (crazy wind), it was the most calming trip I’ve ever had. My head tends to be very busy, particularly when others are with me, and it can be frustrating when I can't get some time away from that.  But here I was, in a new place with new people. I couldn’t read the language, or understand most of what was being said, and my impulse was to respond in Korean (what little of it I know). Overall, not a good indication that I’d survive 5-ish days by myself.

But I did. And, even more importantly, it was probably one of the least awkward trips of my life. I slipped into the daily Tokyo routine relatively easily. There were no children gawking at me, like they’d just seen a bear wander into the building that no one else could see. None of the children randomly shouted “hello!”, running off like it was a ding-dong ditch without a door. I did have a girl wave at me from her stroller, but I think she did that because she likes to wave at people. I waved back.

The children, and adults, didn’t particularly care that I was a foreigner. And when it became clear that I didn’t understand most of what they were saying, they were professional and friendly. And, in turn, I was the relatively calm, curious foreigner. .. I hope. 

Desk-Warming in 2016

It seems like the only time I really update my blog is when I have some desk-warming time. So, here I am, sitting at my desk with nothing much to do. I have three more days of this.

Some news -- apparently one of my co-teachers is not staying next year and, due to some budget cuts, she’s not being replaced. It’ll just be me and one Korean English teacher. Not only that, but the ct I thought for sure would be my ct next year still doesn’t know what’s going to happen. Yaaay…..

I’ve had to deal with substitute ct’s, working with homeroom teachers and pretty much teaching on my own, so what else could they possibly throw at me? Famous last words, I know. Good thing this is my last year.

I have no idea how this is going to affect the lesson schedules next year. We’ve typically had it so each grade had one lesson with just the Korean teacher and then 1-2 with both of us. That’s ten lessons, split between 4 grade levels a week, 2 grades per ct (about 3-4 classes per grade). That gives me 7 lessons a week, counting the KG classes I teach solo once a week.

I have this dreaded feeling they’ll decide that, hey, Emily Teacher did ok teaching with the homeroom teachers. Let’s do that for an entire academic year!

Nope. Nopety nope. I hope the HR teachers object to any proposals resembling that, should they arise. Do you know how stressful and difficult it was to communicate with those teachers, to sync the lessons and then teach while most of them sat in the back and didn’t bother to talk to me until last minute?

Nope. Nope. Nope.

Nope.

Well, it’s certainly been an adventure so far, hasn’t it? And I seem to have named my blog fairly well, because things do get stranger by the minute. You’d think that being here for two years would diminish the surprise, but you’d be wrong. I still roll with the punches, though. That, or go sit at my computer and browse flight options…

Other than the unknown future of English classes at this school… I’m cold. It’s dropped well below freezing point today. There are only so many layers I can fit under my coat. I’m very grateful to my ct, who left me her little electric mat to keep me warm while I’m at school. If I could carry a hot pack the size of this thing with me on my walk home, I’d be very happy.

Thanks for reading! 3ish more days of this weather.  

Health Check or Spa Day?

Looks like I finally have some down time, everyone, so you get to hear about my interesting health check experience. Yay!

To be honest, it was kind of exciting... for a health check. This was the third health check I've had since coming to Korea. The first was in a gym, the second in a small hospital over in Sintanjin. This latest one was at Sun Healthcare International. The swankiest hospital I've ever experienced.

The reason it's so nice is because people go there for medical tourism. This means they travel to Korea for medical reasons, whether it be cosmetic medical reasons or more life-threatening ones.

I wasn't there for either.

First of all, this checkup was required by my school for all the staff. It was also paid for, which is probably the only reason I got to go to a place that looked like a 4 star hotel. Otherwise, I'd probably opt for a more affordable one, where it's perfectly normal to carry an open urine sample across a hallway (yup).

Sun Healthcare was a pleasant surprise after the first two. Before you begin all the screenings, you're lead to a changing room where you find the locker that matches your wristband number. The wristband is your key for the locker and for later (getting to that). Just hold it up, it unlocks, and change into some baggy scrubs (aka pj's) and slippers.

Next, blood sample time. I'm not particularly fond of having my blood drawn. I have a thing about needles being poked into the crook of my arm, call me crazy. But it certainly was the least terrible experience I've had. The sign up list is electronic for every test area. The wristband I talked about earlier? You just hold that up and your name goes on the list. I've heard that there is a similar system in many spas/saunas/jjimjilbangs in Korea. Made waiting to be jabbed by a needle seem more luxurious.

Once that was done, it was urine sample time. You'd think there wouldn't be much to say about this, or that I wouldn't want to talk about peeing in a cup, but you'd be wrong. Like I said, my last checkup involved peeing in a paper cup and carrying that cup across a hall. I could have tripped, run into someone, all kinds of disasters could have occurred. At Sun Healthcare, they have a two-way cabinet in the stall. You pee, put the cup in the cupboard, close it, and it "magically" disappears. Nice, right? No one has to see your pee but you and the professionals.

Everything else after that was pretty routine. Hearing test (done in a sound proof box), sight, height, weight, blood pressure, chest x-ray, and dental check. I have great teeth, by the way. I might have had to go through the awkward braces and tooth-gap phase in high school, but at least genetics has given me plaque resistant teeth (Thanks, Mom and Dad!).

Last thing, I had a short doctor visit. I was not expecting a guy close to my age, of reasonable attractiveness, to ask me personal questions, but hey, it's got to get awkward somewhere. Once that was over, my co-teacher and I headed out for a bite to eat. Easy Peasy.

I finally got the checkup results last week. Wasn't really surprised by the results. Could lose some weight (in my defense, I'd been on 2 flights a couple days prior, but still), but otherwise I'm in the normal range.

So, that's my story. One of these days I'll actually go to a spa or jjimjilbang here and tell you about that too.

Thanks for reading! :)

Summer Camp (And some stuff on MERS)

I am so behind on updates it's ridiculous.

So. MERS. I'm sure most of you back home haven't heard much about it. Google it, freak out on my behalf and then PLEASE take a deep breath. I'm alive. My school has stopped checking everyone's temperatures in the morning, while class representatives line up with signs and face masks (creepy, imho).

All's well. Sort of. Well, it could be better, but the situation has been improving. So, think positive!

We're about a month away from summer break in Korean schools, which means one big thing for me -- English Camp!

I was nervous my first time planning, but after finding my mojo during winter camp I'm pretty excited. I've heard of other English teachers stressing out over it, and I do admit that planning will come with some level of stress, but I look at it like planning any other children's activity group -- just with English language and Western culture thrown into the mix.

Another note, my co-teacher pretty much took the lead in planning our first camp together. I was still new to it, and whenever I made a suggestion it didn't go over very well. But, the next camp I wrote out this detailed plan of activities and a theme, and sent it to her in advance. It was my way of showing what I was capable of, and I was successful because this year when I mentioned I was planning the summer camp she trusted me to work on the details alone.

So, let's say you're planning an English Camp in Korea for the first time and have no idea where to start. Here are some of my thoughts on the whole planning thing:

Movies: Some say yes, others say "you're lazy". I say, it depends. I've used them in a way that compliments the English/Culture learning. English camp is not just about learning words, but also familiarizing your students with the world they come from. Lazy? Only if you don't have any reason to show a movie other than "to fill up some time". If your school is fine with it, why not?

Themes: You can apply things to a theme that might not always appear to connect at first. Do a little creative thinking. Just like a good story has multiple layers to it, your camp can too. I don't mean make it complicated, but just look at your theme from a different angle. Take Christmas as a theme, for example. You can stick with Santa OR you can talk about Santa Claus and Claus figures around the world. Then, you can jump off from there and do even more. Also, sometimes there are things about your culture that are very new to your students even if they're old news to you. Use that to your advantage.  

Prep-Work: If it's something the students could do themselves, in most cases you should just let them do it. You don't have to cut everything out and assemble it for them. This is camp, not a birthday party. You have time and the kids are happy to do it. Turn on some music, and let them go at it.  

Materials: Sometimes things that are cheap back home are pricey and hard to find in Korea. This means looking for alternatives or simplifying your activity. We made dream catchers last year, which we made with small plates, yarn and paper. It doesn't have to be the aesthetically best of the best. It just has to keep the kids entertained and busy.

Efficiency: Your students don't have to be doing something "planned" every minute of camp. At least mine don't. I've always enjoyed schedules that had some elbow room. Plus, there's always the chance that something you planned ends up being a flop. It's easier to let go of the failures and move on to something else if you're open to the idea of failure and hiccups.


Ok. Thoughts, done. Thanks for reading. It's probably not a very fun post to read, but hope you found it useful.

The first day of the rest of my year

Hey everyone! By the time I post this, the majority of you will be waking up on the other side of the world, maybe hitting the snooze button a few times and giving yourself a pep talk to get out of bed. Sounds like my morning, actually.

Moving on...

Today was the first day back to school for the new academic year. I kind of wish that US school years ran a similar schedule, just for the fact that it can sometimes be confusing to keep track of what year you were in which grade. Plus, as an Arizonan I wouldn't mind a long winter vacation vs. summer. 

We spent the first day without classes to teach, but we kept pretty busy. First there was greeting the vice-principal, tea time, greeting the principal, finish up tea time, early lunch, talk about co-teaching plans, cleaning, meeting and the surprise arrival of some former 6th graders (in their middle school uniforms and uniform hairstyles, I might add). Busy day. I was so wiped out by the end of it all, I felt like I'd just gotten off a 12 hour flight.

I have one new co-teacher this year, and so far we're hitting it off pretty well. I'm actually feeling sad about the fact that she'll be leaving in October on maternity leave, especially since that means she's going to miss how gleefully insane I can become during that month. The co-teacher she replaced was on maternity leave up until the week of Halloween, and she missed out on my Halloween lessons too. Sigh~

Looking back a year, I can safely say I feel more comfortable and organized than I did the first time. I remember being shown to my desk, handed a pile of books and materials, and nervously blinking my way through planning sessions with my co-teachers. Orientation hardly prepares you for your first day. They might cover some lesson planning and "what to expect", but I can't help but think about the story of the blind men and the elephant when thinking back to orientation. You never got the whole picture, and in our case the blindness was induced by ambiguity.

Now, I understand how the textbooks work (for the most part, still can't read half the text since it's in Korean) and I know more of what to expect or what to ask. I was a little frazzled by the idea of working with a completely different co-teacher this year for half my classes, but we communicate like we've known each for a lot longer.

I'm also surprised to say that I'm not so easily surprised anymore. To clarify, one of my coworkers is very.... unique. I met her my first day at the school, and had no idea what to do. I kept saying yes when I meant no, feeling like I'd been caught in a compromising position when I hadn't, and just plain awkward the rest of the time.

So far, I'm just rolling with it and it's working. She might have asked me to come with her to the bathroom today and hand-fed me a piece of chocolate, among other things, but I managed to laugh it off. Which is good, because I have more important things to mull over than what unusual thing she'll do next. What important things? Tune in next time.

That's my way of saying I'm still mulling....... (Don't worry, it doesn't have anything to do with a secret boyfriend, marriage proposal or anything a wild imagination could cook up)

Thanks for reading!

  

The Renewal Process

Hi, everyone!

Some already know, but I should probably announce here that I have decided to renew my contract. The road to renewal is not as simple as you might think, so I thought that I would share some of the basic information with prospective ESL teachers.

There is a process that you have to go through, one of which I wasn't aware of until renewal time came around. I received a guide just last week with the details, which is where I'm getting my information for this post. I can't guarantee that it will be the same for you if you applied to a different area or program, but maybe it will help in some way.

First, timeline:

(The dates listed reflect my intake, not all)

GET Evaluation by Principal, VP and co-teachers (10.31~11.12)

Renewal Packet Submission to DMOE   (by 11.12)
 - Includes evaluation, renewal application
   and self health check report

Renewal Eligibility Screening and Evaluation  (11.13~11.21)

Official Notification for Approved Renewing GETs  (11.25)

Medical Check (11.26~12.09)

Signing New Contract and Document Submission (12.12)

Official Notification of Renewing & Non-renewing GETs (12.16)

Final Placement Notification of Transferring GETs (2.12)

So far, I've filled out and signed the renewal packet. This simply indicates whether you intend to stay, leave or transfer. You can back out before signing the contract since you're only expressing an interest in staying, and therefore doesn't hold the same consequences of breaking a contract.

November 25th can't come any faster for me at this point. I feel confident that my co-teachers have given me good scores, and I would like to think that the principal and VP have a decent enough impression of me despite our lack of interaction.  There is also the chance of budget cuts leaving me with no position to hold, but... happy thoughts, right?

More info on this later. Deep breaths, keep distracted. I can get through this until November 25th.....

Thank you for reading!

What's Happened So Far: Part 1

I have seriously been lazy with the blog updates... and the picture taking. That's one thing everyone told me to do when I got here. "Take a lot of pictures."

Fail.

So, after half a week in training, a weekend in Seoul and being told yesterday that I would be desk-warming today, I decided it was about time that I updated my blog. FINALLY.

I've already been at my school for over a month now. Time has gone by a lot faster than I thought it would. When I first arrived here, during that first week at EPIK orientation, I was very unsure of myself. I'd be in bed, my head resting on the drinking straw filled pillow (pretty much what it was), when suddenly a thought would pop into my head: "I can't do this. Why did I think I could do this?"

I felt even more nervous after the lesson demonstrations at the end of orientation. Our evaluator had basically nothing but praise for the other girl in my group, while I was told I had an "angry face". This was probably true, but only because he had also told me I had a small voice and kept turning towards me when he was giving criticism. So, understandably I felt singled out and upset.

Then I get to my school the next day. At this point, I feel like they're going to take one look at my teaching style and change their minds. Surely, I'm going to do something wrong and they'll send me home. I'll do something taboo, offend the principal, look unprofessional -- take your pick.

And then I met my co-workers.  

I've never felt more taken care of by a group of strangers in my life. I got food, clothes, teaching materials, supplies... Here I am worrying about making them happy when they are concerned that I feel comfortable. I feel really blessed to have the co-workers that I do. We are still developing our relationship, but I feel more comfortable than I thought I would.

As for my classes, once I got through the first-time jitters, I did pretty well. There are definitely off days (and our 5th graders are just plain rowdy), and I'm still learning but I have realized that I shouldn't take so much of what the evaluator said to heart. My co-teachers tell me that I have a good teacher voice and that I'm a good teacher. I think I just do better in front of kids than in front of a group of my fellow peers.

And then in-service training began...

These training sessions are supposed to make you feel pumped up to teach, right? There were a lot of helpful tips and information provided, yes, but I felt like I was going through that emotional roller-coaster of ineptitude once again. AKA "High School: The in-service training edition".

It was during training that I remembered just how much of an introvert I am, and how much the majority of the other EPIK teachers are not. I got tired of making conversation after the first day, and was completely NOT up to participating in most of the game demonstrations in our last class.

I hate to sound like such a sourpuss, but it just wasn't a pleasant experience. It was like I'd entered a black hole. I'd start to say something and then realize no one was actually listening to me. They'd already turned to someone else, and the conversation I thought I'd been having was apparently dropped already. Oops.

 

At least I had a fun weekend after that, which I'll get into for my next blog update. I might have desk-warming time on my hands right now, but this post is already long enough. Thanks for reading!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Recap! The EPIK Teacher Edition

Hi Guys! I can log into my blog again, yay! Okay, so I forgot to change the security settings on my gmail account, so that's why I couldn't log in for a while. Fun, fun.

I have been at my new school for about a week and a half now. First week -- no lessons. This week, I've taught Grad 4, 5 and preschoolers. To be honest, the preschoolers were the most fun to be around even though I meet with them at the end of the day and I'm just about ready for a break by then. The teacher wanted me to sing a "Hello" song, which I totally blanked on. I don't know any "Hello" songs and I was suddenly too nervous just to make something up.

So, next time I'm going to be ready with a song. Let's hope I don't get too nervous though!

Before I get too deep into all of this, I need to play a little catch-up. I've been away for so long so.... Recap!

EPIK Orientation -- Think high school almost, but condensed. Scary, right? Or awesome, if you were one of those "high school glory days" peeps. You have about a week to find people you mesh with, learn some tips and tricks of the EPIK teacher trade and occasionally panic from all the info dumping. I met some cool people, had a lot of awkward moments with others and by the end of the week I was ready to lock myself in a room for an introvert day.

Which brings me to my new apartment, new school and new everything else...

I live in a studio apartment about 15 minutes walking distance from the elementary school I teach at now. I have 2 co-teachers, who I will refer to at YS and JS for future posts. YS has been an English teacher before, and has been a co-teacher before. JS is new to the school, new to being an English teacher and therefore new to being a co-teacher.

Yikes.

Okay, so I have to say there are things about Korean schools I like. I like that teachers get rotated from one school to another after so many odd years. I like that the staff are a kind-of mini community (which includes staff dinners and team building activities).

What I don't like is the fact that teachers are expected to rotate SUBJECTS. When I first heard this I was really, really confused. One of my office-mates is a PE teacher for the first time this year and, like I said, my co-teacher JS has never taught English before. Her English isn't that bad, but I can practically feel the struggle she is going through to communicate with me as well as the students.

So, I feel sorry for these teachers. I don't know how much thought is put into who gets transferred where (do they do interviews, look at entrance exam scores, what?), but I know that both co-workers mentioned are feeling a little panicked from the new experience. Poor JS.

Now... Outside of school stuff -- I couldn't get my heat to work the first night I moved into my new apartment. Neither could a co-worker who came over, but co-teacher YS came the next day to help meet the maintenance guy and so I only went without heat for about 1 day, which wasn't too bad.

I rode my first metro bus in Korea just this past Sunday when going to church. I got a little turned around, but made it to the church building safely. One of the missionaries was kind enough to translate for me, and then told me about a semi-English speaking session recently organized just 10 minutes away. So, I'll try to find that next Sunday. I also know which bus to take to get to an E-mart, so great experience.

That's it for this blog post. I have a lot to share, but this is already getting really long. Thanks for reading!

My Significantly Unexpected Journey

February 18th

4 am -woke up after only about 3 hours of sleep. Finished packing.

~6 am - Journey to airport after hugging my mom goodbye.

7 am - Arrived at airport, hugged my dad goodbye, breezed through check in and security.

8:30 am - Boarded flight with Southwest to SFO.

10:00 am - Got off plane (wait for it) without departing because we needed to switch planes.

10:20 am - Re-boarded new plane. 

11:00 am - Finally took off.

12:20 pm (California time) - Arrival in San Francisco, missed my next flight.

12:35 pm - Baggage claim.

~2:00 pm and the rest of the evening - Awesome parents helped me out by getting me a hotel room for the night. I cried a little. Discovered pretty much all my jewelry was missing from my checked in luggage, which made me cry some more because those things had sentimental value. Made a lot of phone calls, got re-booked, ate because I hadn't eaten anything except pretzels and a piece of beef jerky since 8 am, posted like crazy on Facebook and went to bed.

*Time Skip*

19th - 20th

8:30 am - 12:30 pm - Made it back to SFO to check-in with Singapore Airlines, get through security and boarded my plane. 

12:55 pm - Take off. No one sitting next to me, which means both armrests are MINE! There's a cute baby in front of me. Pretty quiet as well as his fellow baby passenger (a girl). The baby boy keeps peeking between the seats to smile at me and reach out, so overall actually a better seating arrangement than my last flight and what I would have originally been assigned to had I made it in time for my original flight with Singapore Air.

Meals

We got snacks, lunch, and a light meal. I asked for the gluten free meal because you get a rice cake instead of a roll, which I thought would be better for my stomach on the flight. This turned out to be true, but not how I thought. I got queasy about 6-7 hours in and the rice cake was the only thing I could stomach during the light meal. I almost gagged when I opened the tin foil to discover chicken
and broccoli.

Note: Special diet meals get served first, so you can eat a lot sooner if you ask for one of those. 

Entertainment

The entertainment system had lots of options available. I played some games, used the language learning program to learn Korean numbers and watched 3 movies because I had a hard time sleeping sitting up. I got to watch Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, Windstorm (Ostwind) and The Face Reader (Favorite Korean actor was in this one!)














Overall Service

Soooo much better than Southwest. They offered plenty of drinks, there was more space and the flight attendants were decent. The seats are smaller compared to Southwest, but that was fine for me. The Southwest seats hit the back of my knees when I'm seated, but I have a couple inches in Singapore's seats. They were also slightly more comfortable than Southwest's, especially since I had a pillow and blanket.

6:45 pm 20th - Arrived in Incheon Airport. Followed the crowd through to the train, immigration, baggage and customs. Got some money exchanged, and pushed my heavy load towards the other end of the airport. I heard someone call my name when I was about halfway there, which turned out to be my recruiter! She gave me a hug. I was sweating like a pig from lugging all my heavy stuff, and I was exhausted, but sooo relieved to see a familiar face and to learn that I was in time for the last shuttle!

10:30 pm - Arrived in Daejeon at the orientation location. I was fully prepared to lug my stuff to the dorms, but I must have looked so pitiful with my rolling luggage that wouldn't roll straight and bag that kept slipping off my shoulder because one the EPIK coordinators ended up helping me. I then was asked by another guy later when I just had my duffle bag in hand if I needed help so, yeah, I'm just a damsel in distress here apparently.

Note to self: Start weight lifting, try to pack only one bag next time, and get all rollers instead of just one and a duffle bag.

We only get one key per room, which is to be left at the front desk when both roommates have left the dorms. My roommate finally got into bed around midnight, and I'll tell you all about the next day as soon as I get a chance to type that all up.

Oh, and surprisingly not as cold as I thought it would be when I got here. Other than the foreign words, Daejeon at night almost feels like Flagstaff, Arizona. No snow so far and no rain (thank goodness). I'll keep you posted! Thanks for reading! And sorry there aren't really any pictures on here. I will add some later!

Tax Exemption Terrors - Form 8802

Taxes confuse me. There are so many forms, enough rules to fill a library and plenty of ways -- I feel -- to screw it up. So, when I was told that I should get started on the whole process to get a residency certificate so I could be exempt from Korean taxes while teaching, I sort of panicked.

To start you need to fill out form 8802, which is the form to request another form (6166).... whaaaat? How many forms are there going to be and am I going to be up to my ears in paperwork after all of this?

Turns out, it's not all that complicated or frightening. All you need to do is get a little help. I was directed to this blog post by my Korvia recruiter, which simplifies the whole process pretty well. It is a little out of date, however, so I'm going to go through the changes here in my blog post and share some resources.

First, you can find the form instructions here. And you can access the 8802 form here. The IRS website isn't all that organized, in my opinion. They have links that take you in circles and I finally had to search for "8802 instructions" in order to find that page. Ridiculous.

Even more ridiculous is some of the wording on this website, but I won't get into that now. That's a whole rant on its own. Instead, let's move on to the things you should know that have changed since "The Agony of IRS Forms" blog post was published, or just something I thought I should add.

1. The form now has a total of 12 lines, not 13. Don't panic, there aren't any pages missing.

2. For the perjury statement, things have changed. As an EPIK teacher (or any invited teacher coming to Korea, I think) you should be writing something like this:  

Countries other than Japan: [Insert name of individual and TIN] was a U.S. resident within the meaning of Article [20] of the U.S.-Korea treaty (including, in some cases, physical presence in the United States) immediately before entering Korea. The assignment began on [date] and ends on [date]. Article [20] of the U.S.-Korea treaty provides a [2 or 3] year exemption from income tax. 

Again, I had to go searching for the Article number, just like the instructions, but I've inserted the correct number here so you don't have to go through the same search process as myself. If you're wondering where I found the information, check here.

3. User fees are $85 per application. This increased April, 2012.

4. Mail:

Mail or Private Delivery Service

Send Form 8802 and all required attachments to this address only if you paid the user fee by e-payment.

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Philadelphia, PA 19255-0625

Private delivery services cannot deliver items to P.O. boxes. You must use the U.S. Postal Service to mail any item to an IRS P.O. box address.

Once you've mailed it off, the wait-time varies depending on when you've sent it. I mailed mine in late November, got it back late January. So, about 2 months. The form is very simple. It's funny how the IRS, a group I consider to be long-winded and confusing, would send me a form with ONE sentence on it, stating that I am a resident of the United States of America.

They might as well have sent it on a post-it note. 

Double-Check The Inbox

I checked my spam folder last night, so I guess you could say I'm getting pretty anxious to hear something.

They said they'd mail stuff out this week so... fingers crossed because it's already Wednesday!

Meanwhile...

Work, EPIK pre-orientation, nervous pacing... I have been stretching out my time watching the pre-orientation videos because I know that if I finish them all before I get my email from Korvia, I'm probably going to listlessly wander around with no motivation to do anything else. THAT would be bad, especially since I needs mon-ay.

Again, fingers crossed! 

Update:

Just like magic, I've been notified that my packet is on its way. I got the tracking number and it looks like it's either at the airport or on its way out of Korea as I type this. Yay!

Now I just have to make sure the visa form is filled out correctly, which means calling the consulate. Wish me luck!

The longest month of my life

Hey Emily, when are you heading to Korea?

Well... here's the thing. I don't really know. If the pattern continues, I might hear that my documents (contract, NOA, Info, etc.) are on their way by Tuesday. Unfortunately, EPIK keeps giving us different time estimates. Mid-January, late January, the end of January. After looking through some posts on Facebook, I figure that all of these dates are correct.

Some EPIK applicants have just BARELY received notification that they were accepted to the province or city of their choice. If you've already taken a look at my past posts, I've known which city I'll be going to for almost a month now. That puts me ahead of some applicants in the paperwork process. It's likely that they will try to send out documents at the same time for every accepted teacher, but I'm going to be closer to the top of that pile than to the bottom.

So, let's hope I get my documents (or at least notification that they are on their way) by next week.

That would be an awesome week. I've got some other terrific stuff going on in that week, so why not make it even better?

So, what step are you on and what's next?

- Pass EPIK interview
- Notification of city/province placement
- Wait for EPIK documents <------
- Apply for E-2 visa
- Buy plane ticket
- Fly to Korea
- Orientation
- Start Teaching

Wish me luck!

Do's and Don't's of EPIK Interviews

I passed!




I'm super excited and happy to say that I have officially been notified that I passed the EPIK interview. That means I'm moving on to the next stage, and then hopefully the next. I'm not really sure how many more steps I have left. Send documents, wait for them to verify and review, sign a contract, get hired, get a visa and buy a plane ticket... something like that.

So, what did I do to successfully pass?

The answer is kind of difficult to give. Part of it is luck, but most of it is preparation. Let's go over the preparation part:

1. Have a professional appearance: This tip applies to pretty much all interviews. If you're a girl, make sure your top is conservative and simple. Avoid red -- blue is the typical go-to color for interviews. Keep makeup simple, and your hair nice. No need to get elaborate. I definitely didn't.

2. Look at the camera: My interview was through Skype, and while I thought it would be hard to look into the camera rather than at my interviewers face, it was actually easier than I thought. I put a sticker next to the camera, but it turned out I didn't really need it. When I'm thinking about what I want to say, I like to sometimes look to the side rather than directly at someone and so it ultimately worked to my advantage.

3. Smile and be friendly: Okay, so your interviewer might not look up at you much or respond that well to what you're saying -- Don't worry! Personally, my interviewer was friendly, but some people have crashed and burned because they felt like they needed a positive response from the EPIK interviewer. Keep your smile on as much as you can, and say thank you at the end of the interview.

4. Have a simple background: Not sure how much this affects the outcome of your interview, but I just had a plain white wall behind me. Some say too many objects in the background can be distracting, but a messy room or naked roommate (someone failed an interview because of a naked boyfriend wandering past near the end) might be deal-breakers. Who knows.

5. Talk slow (not too slow) and clearly: Pretty simple. Nerves can make you mutter or ramble, but just keep in mind that your interviewer might not be able to understand you that well if you do so, which equals a bad outcome. 

Interview Questions?

I can't give you any specifics, and everyone gets different questions, but I can tell you a few things. (Disclaimer: A lot of this is personal opinion. I have no way of knowing exactly what works, but this is just what worked for me.)

1. They WILL review your EPIK application information, so make sure you remember what you wrote down.

2. Make sure you know what EPIK stands for. If you don't and you fail as a result, it's your own fault. Read EPIK's website info while you're at it.

3. Keep your questions to a minimum and general. EPIK doesn't like it when you ask tons of questions, especially if they are questions that could be answered by your recruiter or are best answered later. They can't tell you about the school you're going to be hired by because it's likely they don't know where you're going to be placed yet. I asked my interviewer if there was anything that I should know or might not expect as a foreign teacher in Korea, which was a good move for me because it really got her talking and allowed for me to slip in one more positive blurb to show that I was hire-able.


Okay, there it is. Some basic info and advice. I'm so excited about all of this!

If you have any questions, comments or maybe want to make a contribution to my adventure, please feel free. Comment below, click on the gofundme button on the left... whatever you feel like.

Thanks for reading!

EPIK Applicants Kill Trees

I think half my brain is already in Korea. This has to explain my tendency to begin a thought and then have it peter out before I even figure out... yeah.

I think that I have just been distracted while focusing on getting things DONE. I've had editing to do, my EPIK application to send, gathering proper paperwork and more. Meanwhile, I'm anxiously awaiting the start of my TEFL course (starting next week!) and then this picture shows up on EPIK's Twitter and Facebook:

See full tweet here.

Do you know what that stack is? THAT is a stack of already processed applications sent in directly to EPIK. Yowza! I know that each application consists of at least 10 pages -- hopefully more, because they ask for quite a few things to be included -- but that is a mighty tall stack. And how many of those applicants have more experience than me, a higher GPA, or know how to charm an interviewer better than me?

I have been told that I am a decent applicant, but I still feel nervous. Another part of me, the part I really should not be listening to, secretly hopes that half the applicants are super picky about their placement and don't want to go where I put as my preference. But, let's face it, the city I want to go to is pretty awesome. The more and more I learn about it, the more I want to at least take a trip there if not live there for a year.

I'll talk about my preferred placement in more detail later -- maybe when I find out where I'm actually being placed. I feel like I shouldn't talk about it here just yet, just in case I jinx myself or something.

If anyone has questions or comments, please leave them. I will do my best to answer.

Toodles!

Getting things done... sort of...

How do I describe how I feel right now?

Let's see... I feel like I've just leaped off the diving board. I haven't hit the water yet, but there is no going back. And, depending on the trajectory, wind speed and possible freak accidents where I perhaps collide with fellow diver I didn't notice, I could be hitting that water a lot sooner or later than I anticipated.

Yeah, that's how I feel...

Now that I have confused you, I will explain why I feel like this today. I have my EPIK application filled out (hopefully correctly), I have a photocopy of one recommendation letter and the physical copy of another (both of which are missing one small element that they require, eek.).

So, now I'm waiting for a number of things to arrive in the mail, and for all I know they could have been sucked up into a black hole and will never actually get to me. That, or they could show up tomorrow and all my under-the-surface panic attacks would be for naught. 

Pray for me. Wish me luck. I think I need it this week.

*UPDATE*

All is well! I am such a worrier. Got what I was waiting for in the mail and all of my paperwork is in order.

Be Brave in the Face of Adversity

I had a crummy morning yesterday, but I learned some valuable lessons from it:

1. Being polite in the face of hostility is the way to go.
2. You don't have to take hostility alone.
3. You don't have to take hostility at all.
4. Virtual hugs are awesome and always welcome.
5. Dancing like a crazy person to some music for a while makes me feel better.

Also, I noticed today just how much I've changed when it comes to how I react to unpleasant situations. I used to internalize it so much that I would eventually shut down, or explode. I have learned to channel it into more productive things, which means I got a lot more done, including figuring out the whole lesson plan part of the EPIK application.

Yay!

I have also learned how to talk more about the things that upset me. Whether it is through prayer, a friend, or family members -- do it. I chose all of the above. Let the emotions work their way through your system, because bottling them up makes them fester.

Just don't channel them towards anyone in a vicious way, because I think that's what happened to me...

Thank you to those who helped me feel better! A great big thank you! I am grateful to have you guys in my life.

And now, a song. Enjoy!

This is a blog update

So, I don't really have much to fill an entire blog post with this week, so I'm just going to keep this short and sweet, like me. *cough* *cough*

I'm working on filling out all the sections of the EPIK application right now, and waiting for my recommendation letters to arrive. Meanwhile, I'm taking on more jobs (both paying and volunteer), which are keeping me busy. I feel like I've been living inside a bubble this week, a busy and "what am I gonna put in this part of the application" bubble.

So, progress:

Application - Still need to finish the personal essay (1st draft nearly finished) and lesson plan (Worrying about this because I want it to be good).

Rec. Letters - Waiting.

FBI Background Check - I feel like I sent that through a black hole, but I might have a status update in a couple weeks.

Other stuff - What other stuff? I can't even think past the next few days right now.

That's it. Questions? Comments? If you have any, send them now or I might never write a blog post about them. Details or otherwise.

Thanks for reading. I'll keep you updated with anything that pops up.

Korvia Interview

First, I got my passport today. Yes! Only took about 2 weeks!

Second, after lots of thought and endless amounts of videos/posts/blogs, I decided to go with Korvia Consulting to help me find a job in South Korea as a teacher. I sent in my online application at the start of this week, and they contacted me soon after. I was surprised by the email, because they took the time to calculate my time zone for an interview time. They are in Korea, I'm in Arizona -- big time difference. They were an hour off, but the fact that they did that extra step made me feel pretty good about my decision.

For those who do not know what Korvia is, it is a consulting agency who works with some of the more common teaching programs in South Korea. They work with public schools, and they make sure that you get all of your paperwork in correctly. They also provide support, like helping you transition into a new culture, connect with other teachers who applied through Korvia and offer a free phone until you can get your own.

The interview I had with them Thursday night was my first of hopefully about two that I need to go through to hired. Korvia becomes a third recommendation when you apply through them. You need two recommendation letters from an academic or work related individual, but Korvia looks at your resume, asks you some questions and then sends off their impression of you and a recommendation to your potential employers.

I didn't really know what to expect from the interview before it happened but here's what did happen: We talked for about an hour, there was a lot of laughing, and we went off topic a LOT. So, hopefully that is a good thing. The agent I spoke to was very nice. She seemed impressed by a lot of my answers to her questions, but I'm not completely sure. She reassured me that she saw no reason why I shouldn't find be hired. I told her I was pretty flexible, adapted well and I was genuinely interested in learning a new culture. I also seem to have given the right answers to the questions concerning teaching children. Hopefully...

The Korvia agent talked about how competitive the job market was, especially for EPIK (the program I'm applying to). She saw no reason why I shouldn't be hired, but she did say that it was first come, first serve. She also suggested a few things, which I will be considering to improve my chances.
 

I marked on the questionnaire she sent me that I didn't have any Korean skills, because I really don't. I see being able to form a sentence as basic, which I can't do. What I do know are a few words here and there, and I know about half of the Korean writing system (Hangul) without having to stare blankly at it for a few minutes. Still learning how to read it faster, which is a good thing to learn so I don't look like a crazy foreigner, staring intensely at a sign and sounding out the letters like a 4-year-old.

When it came to that part of the interview, the Korvia agent told me that she was really surprised by pronunciation of a province I had mentioned earlier when asked about locations I might prefer. I realized later that I had no idea whether or not that was actually the correct pronunciation, since I'd never looked up the name in Hangul. I suppose I've become more familiar with it than I initially realized, and I might just be able to indicate that I have some Korean language skills on the application form.

What Korean words do I know? Well, I know a basic greeting, how to say thank you, sorry, ask for water. I know how to say tree and can name some fruits... So, if I ever need to apologize to a tree, I'm all set.

Now that I have done the interview with Korvia, I need to prepare my application to send in later this month.

Things I need to finish:

 - Application
 - Lesson plan (part of application)
 - Personal essay (also part of app)
 - Receive recommendation letters (expecting one very soon, yay!)


There is more to do, but much of it will be done later and would stress me out if I thought about it now. I'm also starting my TEFL course at the end of this month, and planning to volunteer to help tutor ESL students soon as part of my practicum experience. I think I have one location where I can do this, so things seem to be going well.

Fingers crossed!

Fingerprinting Is NOT Fun

I went to my local UPS store to get my fingerprints for the FBI background check request. Immediately, I grew nervous when I discovered that there would be little guidance and that there is a very small margin for error. I was under the impression that they literally guided your hand. That didn't happen until the very last finger, and only because I'd had to do it over and over again.

Fingerprinting is hard.

Fingerprinting is not fun.

Fingerprinting sucks.

I went through about 3 fingerprinting cards and a pile of white stickers before the UPS worker said it looked like it might work. Might work? Might? What if that might is a might 'bit too much on the "might not" side.


Around this point, with my fingers covered in black ink like I'd just decided it would be a good idea to dig into the wound of an orc, just to see what happened, the finger-scanning option was looking very nice.

It would have cost a little more, but it's faster, less messy and tends to be more accurate. Also, a local company that does the electronic fingerprinting offers a re-scan for free if things go wrong.


I was nearly done, though -- I had all my paperwork with me and was ready to mail everything out. I just had those two pesky fingers that refused to roll and press my fingerprints just right to pass inspection from the UPS worker and his superior. I was going to do it even if I felt like just sitting down on the spot, and crossing my arms as a signal of surrender and frustration (not a good idea, since I still had ink on my hands).

So, I stuck through it, getting a little edgy as I went along, but I pulled through. There will be plenty more stressful moments ahead of me but, I have to say, this one was probably the most frustrating because it seemed so simple until I found myself covered in orc's blood ink.

I got my paperwork mailed out at least. Let's just hope that I didn't mess up, which would mean starting the whole process over again...

Funding, background checks and paperwork -- oh my!

Image courtesy of 

Gualberto107 /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I feel like my head is ready to burst at the moment and the first thing that came to my head was, "Hey, I should write!" The second was that I should go play this zombie trailer park game I like for when I need a break (I have that open in another tab).

I have been collecting information for my teaching abroad adventure. I have watched soooo many videos and read so many blog posts in the last couple days. Kimchi Teaching has been really helpful, and the information I gleaned from a number of random videos have made me feel a little less stressed about getting all my ducks in a row.




What I have done so far:

- Recommendation letter requests
- Ordered official transcript (I'm gonna need at least 2, apparently...)
- Started my gofundme page
- Gotten 1/2 my needed vaccination doses

Right now, it's a bit of a waiting game. I have 2 promised recommendation letters, which I will be receiving as soon as they are written. I've met some wonderful people, both academically and professionally, who are fully willing to help me with my next big adventure (Yay!).

Which brings me to another topic -- I was wavering with my decision to teach abroad for a while before I decided to do it. I've been considering the possibility for over a year now, but if I'd actually made this decision back then I wouldn't have had one of the recommendations I have now. I'm grateful for what hesitations can bring me and also grateful that I finally made the decision.

Now, these are the things I want to do and might have done within a few weeks or so:

- Get my passport renewed
- Send out background check request (need, need, need, to get the FBI seal and the signature of a division official on that)
- Notarize copy of diploma (need to get that apostilled, but I'm probably going to wait a bit)
- Decide whether I'm going through an agency or not


I occasionally go into panic mode, thinking about all the things that I need to get done. I have to remind myself that worrying won't make the process go any faster. I have to just start from the beginning and work my way down the line. There's no use worrying about or thinking too much about things I can't even do right now.

*sigh*

In the meantime, I'm spending my time collecting paperwork and information. I'm also working (You know, 'cause I kind of need the money. At least I'm doing some interesting work right now.) and developing new products for my Etsy shop.

I'll keep you posted on any mishaps and/or great successes in the next week or so.