A Year in Korea

drinking with my korean co workers

2010-05-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

Tuesday (5/4) there was a dinner party for the new teachers. My co teacher said I didn't have to go, but I thought it would look bad if I didn't go, and anyway, the person I had a date with that night had canceled. I had heard a lot about after work dinner parties and that there's a lot of drinking and if getting drunk is acceptable here, then I don't mind drinking. Wednesday we didn't have school (Children's Day), so there was no excuse not to drink.

They didn't waste any time getting the soju flowing. My co teacher sent me over to the principal to pour him a drink, then he poured one for me. Then I had to drink with every other old guy who was with the principal. Then it seemed like every other male teacher there wanted to have a drink with me, so I drank a lot more than I wanted to. Eventually me and a bunch of the other male teachers went to a noraebang. They got several women to hang out with us. I didn't really like it. I don't want some woman around who is only there cause she is being paid. I tried to sing a couple songs but I was too drunk, I had never been to a noraebang before, and I couldn't find anything I knew well.

After that a smaller group of us went to another bar and ate some more and drank some more. It was absolutely unnecessary to eat and drink more. I really don't remember much else about the night except that I got lost walking home.

I don't think i did or said anything too stupid and everyone else was pretty drunk too. I heard its ok to get drunk at these things, and Koreans like it, but still I was nervous about going to school Thursday. I was worried maybe I made a fool of myself or something. But just about everyone I was drinking with seemed to be friendlier. The only stressful thing is everyone knows my name and I can't remember anyones name. I was introduced to everyone my first days here, but I didn't remember most of them. Tuesday night I was too drunk to remember.

1st week teaching

2010-05-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

It's my third week here, but only my first week of teaching. It was mostly ok. No major problems. I haven't taught every class I will teach, and I didnt teach any of the teacher classes. A few of my classes were really bad, but most were good.

Making lesson plans is the biggest stress I am having. Today one of my co teachers finally gave me some more input about what I should do during my classes. He is telling me to play games, show movies (whole movies or just small parts?) and play music and give the students the song's lyrics. Have they really paid all this money to get a foreigner at their school just to show movies and play games?

2 weeks done

2010-05-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

I've been here two weeks now. It's gone ok so far. Last week I didn't teach, I was just supposed to plan my lessons, I guess. I didn't get much guidance. And since my co teacher is always so busy it took all week to do what probably could have been done in one day if she would have just talked with me and helped me like she said she would. With other things she is ok. It's just the lesson plans that she has not been too helpful with.

the weekend

2010-05-03T17:04:00.000-07:00

I had a date with another woman Friday. I went to her city and we had dinner and drank soju. It was the first time I have had soju. In the US I rarely drink, but I have heard Koreans drink a lot and I wanted to try soju. I thought maybe we would just have one bottle, but she just kept getting more. We had a couple bottles then went to another restaurant and had a few more bottles. After we were both really drunk we went to a motel where we had unsatisfying drunken sex. I spent the rest of the weekend sick and hungover.

first date in Korea

2010-04-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

I had a date last night. I met her online. She barely speaks English, but I didn't mind cause she was pretty good looking. It's hard to say how things went cause there was such a language barrier, but we have plans for next week.

1st week

2010-04-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

I've been here a week now. I don’t know how this is going to go.
My co teacher is really helpful in some ways. The first two days she helped me get set up with some things and introduced me to the teachers and some students. The next 3 days I had orientation in Anseong-si, which was mostly a waste of time. It seemed intended for people who are already teaching.

This week I have to make my lesson plans. I was hoping i would get some help today, but my co teacher had a full schedule today so I didn’t talk to her much. I wasted most of the day. I just don’t know what I am supposed to do. How many classes will I teach? What is their level? Will I be teaching by myself or teaching with my co teacher? Will I be working with all the English teachers? I just have no idea what’s going on.

I'm in Korea!

2010-04-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

I had to frantically clean up my room and all my stuff and pack the day before leaving. At the end I was just throwing stuff in my suitcases an hour before I had to go to the airport. I took two suitcases packed to the maximum weight, a carry on suit case and backpack both packed to the maximum weight. I still didn't have room for everything, and also forgot a bunch of stuff cause i was so rushed.

no other problems have come up yet

2010-04-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

I am not confident that this will really happen. I have moved someplace new to do something completely new a several times in the past, and it always makes me so nervous and excited, wondering what will happen. Actually I think I have a bit of a problem with that. Looking at my life from the time I finished high school till now I move someplace new every couple years. After a few years someplace I am ready to go someplace new and do something new. So I am hoping that teaching in Korea will be perfect for me since I will only be there 1-2 years. The idea of being completely settled somewhat appeals to me when I picture myself living in an area I like and doing a job I like. But mostly the idea of being tied down with a mortgage, family, and career scares the hell out of me.

I'll be leaving in about a week if everything goes ok.

waiting to leave

2010-03-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today is Monday. I would have been leaving today. I’ve got about 3 weeks till I leave (I hope). I haven’t done much to get ready. I am kind of in disbelief that I am really going. I suppose I should start doing the things I need to do to get ready.

Getting the actual visa

2010-03-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

I picked up my visa today from the Korean consulate. So I guess I am all ready to go, I just need to get my plane ticket and then hurry up and wait.

Once you get the paperwork from Korea getting the actual visa is not a problem. You just go to the Korean consulate and give them your passport and the documents you need and they tell you to come pick it up on a certain date. Mine took two days. If you don't live near a Korean consulate I heard you can mail the stuff to them.

Because I am working at a public school I did not need an interview. When my friend got a job at a privately owned hakwon he had to have an interview at the consulate, but the interview seemed to be more of a formality.

I didn't know what the visa would look like. It's a sticker that takes up a whole page in your passport. It has your name, length of time the visa is valid, when you must enter Korea by, how many entries you can make, your employer, and some other info.

It's a single entry visa, which means once you enter Korea, you cannot take a trip outside of Korea and come back with that same visa. If you plan to travel outside of Korea during your contract you must get a multiple entry permit before leaving Korea. (**EDIT** I have heard all visas now allow multiple entries and it is no longer necessary to get the multiple entry sticker. I have only been told this by a friend, I have not verified it)

I think getting the visa was the easiest and most straight forward part of the process so far.

one problem after another

2010-03-23T22:45:00.000-07:00

How typical of this whole experience so far... I got an email this morning from my recruiter with the subject "urgent." Whats urgent? She wants me to cancel my plane ticket and get a new one for the 19th. The school won't have housing ready for me till that date. They will pay any cancellation fees for me to change my ticket.

I wasn't sure what today's date was, I had just woken up, so I was thinking when is the 19th? Tomorrow or something? Nope, today's the 23rd. So April 19th? I emailed her back and asked. Yes, April 19th. Almost a month from today. I have to wait another month. I cannot believe this bullshit. Actually I guess I can totally believe it. I was thinking at this stage it's set, no changing it now, I got my plane ticket and I'll get my visa Thursday. Apparently for them, its never too late to change things.

So I called priceline.com and canceled my ticket. since I was doing it within 24 hours of making the purchase there were no fees. Which is good cause I don't trust that the school will pay me back for them. I think I forgot to mention that the school had me buy my own plane ticket and they will reimburse me once I arrive. I decided to just go ahead and trust them on that.

I'm sick of waiting. Sure I could use the extra time, but I would rather be totally rushed this week and leave Monday than keep waiting. This really makes me wonder if i am going at all. I mean now the date is set for the 19th, but what will the next problem be?

I got my plane ticket

2010-03-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

So I am going. I applied for my visa and will pick it up Thurs. Got my plane ticket for Monday at 12:25pm. That was the latest they said I should come. They wanted me to leave Friday, but that is impossible, I have too much to do. Wow I guess I am really going. I have so much to do in the next week. I am really feeling stressed.

I'll arrive next Tuesday and well see if they take me to Paju or if they surprise me with a new location.

I can't believe I am really going.

I made a new decision

2010-03-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

I calmed down and said ok to Paju. The recruiter says I should write the school name on the contract. It doesn't make me feel that much better. I mean I still feel that they will switch schools on me if they want. On their copy of my contract school location is still blank. But I really need a job, so I am just going to go and see what happens.

I like to be in control, to plan, to have everything worked out and know what to expect. But it seems Korea doesn't like that attitude. I feel like their goal is to keep me in the dark not knowing whats going on.

Today I will go to the Korean consulate to apply for my e2 visa.

I guess I will be leaving next week. I still expect something to come up and stop it from happening.

WTF?!?!?!

2010-03-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

I got the visa package today. Fucking contract still doesn't show a school name. I emailed the recruiter and asked why, and said I don't feel comfortable taking the job if that is left blank. She says she talked to her staff and found out they had to change schools on me. The school in Icheon doesn't want a male teacher with no teaching experience because it's a girls HS. The new school is a high school in Paju and a "much better location."

I am pissed. My first thought was to just reply telling her to go fuck herself. When were they going to tell me about this? If I hadnt said anything were they going to tell me before I left or just wait till I arrived?

I havent replied to her email yet. I am not sure what to say. I don't want to burn bridges yet, but I do want her to know I am not happy with this. If I wasn't so stressed about money and finding a job. I would just start looking for a hagwon job or wait till the end of summer to apply with EPIK or SMOE. But I really need a job and I need to get out of here.

visa stuff is coming

2010-03-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

I got an email from my recruiter saying the visa stuff has been sent to me and she gave me the tracking number. She said something like I should be leaving for Korea within a week of getting the visa. I have just gotten a new surge of nervousness and excitement. A lot of nervousness.

I have a lot of stuff to do before I go. I am still expecting something to happen to prevent me from going.

contract has been sent

2010-03-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

After deciding on the school the recruiter sent me the contract and said to print three copies and sign all of them, and also print and sign another GEPIK application and send it all to her office in Korea.

Maybe it was a mistake on my part, but the contract had the school info left blank. So I emailed her back and asked about it and asked if it was likely the school would change. She said it wouldn't change, but GEPIK wants them to leave it blank. I'm not comfortable with important info on the contract left blank, but I decided fuck it. I signed it and sent it off. If they switch it on me and put me in what I consider to be a worse location I will cause a problem and I will fucking quit.

The contract should arrive in Korea today.

I made a decision

2010-03-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

I heard back from the recruiter yesterday with three more options. One of them was another high school in Icheon. The other two options didn't look any better. So I said one of the two high schools in Icheon would be ok. Icheon isn't ideal, but I need to get a job and go.

She recommended high school #2 over high school #1 saying it starts in April and high school #1 starts in May. If I take HS #2 I would leave at the end of April. I just replied back to her and said, ok, HS #2 it is.

Wow, finally a decision has been made. I am starting to feel like I really will be going to Korea now. Actually I am getting kind of scared. But still nothing is official, and doesn't the school need to interview me?

Finally offered something...

2010-02-27T18:11:00.000-08:00

Got an email from the recruiter yesterday. I finally was offered an interview for a school in Pocheon. The recruiter seemed reluctant to even offer it, saying she is not sure if I would be ok with working in Pocheon. She also said that GEPIK said if I want a rural area I can be placed right away.

After thinking about it for a day and doing some research on Pocheon I realized I can't live in Pocheon. It caused me a lot of stress to turn down a job after waiting so long, but the place is too small and too rural for me.

She then told me about a high school in Icheon. Not INcheon, where the airport is, Icheon, where.... apparently nothing is. There's a huge difference. Icheon is a city of about 150k people spread out over a large area of land. The high school is near the main downtown area. There's no train, only buses. Its like an hour to eastern Seoul. I'm not thrilled with the location, but I am considering it. I don't know what else to do. I really need a job, but I don't want to make a choice that I will regret for my whole year there. So right now I am waiting on some advice from a friend who teaches in Gyeonggi-do. He is always gone on the weekends, and doesn't reply to emails. Actually he's not that good at replying to emails any other time either. I am hoping he will get back to me before I have to make any decisions.

endless waiting

2010-02-21T14:41:00.000-08:00

I didn't hear from the recruiter on Feb 17th. I emailed her to see if she had heard anything. She said she hasn't heard, but was expecting good news next week.

Good news for who? For her? That her other applicants had been placed? I'm sure she will get good news next week. But will I get good news? I doubt it.

I am now browsing the hakwon listings, but have not applied to any yet.

While I have been waiting I was at least able to substitute teach several classes at the art center where I used to teach. That made me some money. I have also contacted some of my former customers who I told I was moving to Korea this month and said the job fell through, I don't know if I am going, but if I do it wont be till April or May. I got a little work doing that, but it was kind of embarrassing.

I'm still studying Korean daily. Its difficult not having anyone to help me or practice with. I mostly enjoy it. but I study with the assumption that I will be going there soon. If I'm not going all this studying is a waste of time.

more waiting???

2010-02-10T17:36:00.000-08:00

The day I was waiting for is finally here. I finally heard from my recruiter... but still no job. She says the last of the GEPIK head office placements will be announced in one week, Feb 17th. I guess I will wait one more week, then I will have to think of something else to do. Hagwon I guess. I can't just keep waiting. She told me to let her know what I want to do, if I want to keep waiting or not and she can send my documents someplace else... but she's "very positive" about my placement. I'm not positive about it. I am depressed. I want to go to sleep and wake up when things are better.

I emailed her back and said I can wait another week, but it is getting difficult for me to keep waiting. I also asked if she could give me an idea where I ranked among the other candidates cause I was wondering if waiting was a waste of time or if it was realistic that I would get a job.

She replied back, again saying that she is "very positive" about my placement, and that there's still positions available starting in April and May, and many people who have been given positions may have already signed contracts with other schools, so those would open up.

I don't know what to do. All this waiting is making me feel like a chump. I really wanted public school rather than a hagwon. But I need a job. I know getting a job in April or May wouldn't help me out now, but at least I would know when I will be working again.

more delays

2010-02-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

I emailed the recruiter asking about the email that said I had not been placed. Apparently I still have a chance. She says wait till Feb 10th. I will find out on the 10th. Ok. I'll wait another week. However I am feeling kind of like a chump sitting here waiting. If I do get the job it will be ok. But if I don't I am really going to feel stupid for having wasted a few months on this thing. I am hoping this time I really will get an answer on the 10th, but I also suspect I may just be told to wait longer. I suppose I could apply for hagwon jobs if I really don't want to wait.

I am also worried I am just being strung along by the recruiter. I have read a lot of positive things about her company so I am hoping she really believes I will be getting a job soon, and these delays are just caused by GEPIK. I hope she is not just stringing me along as like a back up applicant or something. She has to have some idea how desirable of a candidate I am.

According to posts on Dave's it seems GEPIK has decided to try to get better qualified teachers this year. And some people are posting about how so many teachers have applied this year and there are way more teachers than jobs... others are posting that there's still more jobs than teachers.

I am also reading on Dave's that people are often starting after the school year has started. I thought we had to be there in time for orientation, and start working around march 1st? But some people have said orientation happens several times a year, and you will eventually go to one of them. also many people start later in the semester, and if we are hired it will be after the semester has started and they will want us in Korea asap. Who knows if any of these people know what they are talking about.

I am really stressed and looking for answers I usually don't like to spend so much time on Dave's.

2010-02-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

My Korean ex called me this afternoon. We hadn't spoken since around Xmas time. She hasn't answered the few calls I have made or returned my emails. The calls were made more out of habit that a real desire to talk to her I realized, cause I wasn't so happy to see her calling. I forgot I texted her the other day asking her to call. She said that was the reason for her call. I asked what she has been doing lately. Meaning more like- why haven't you spoken to me in over a month? She said shes been busy and she doesn't really know the answers to the Korean languge questions I emailed her over a week ago. I said I don't even remember what I asked. She told me she met someone, so she cant talk to me at night anymore. As if we had been talking at night at all since like Dec. I didn't really care. I was tired and I realized that I didn't really want to be talking to her at all. Also I felt like she was calling out of obligation, and she didn't really want to talk to me either. I don't care about her. That's not exactly true, I just don't really need to be talking to her. I don't need to be feeling bad about things not working out with her. I can get over her if I don't have contact with her. I don't really want to talk to her till my life has changed. Or I would prefer to talk through email. But she prefers to call. Right now I mainly just want her to answer my Korean language questions I email her. That's all I really want from her now. If she can use me as some one to talk to when she is depressed even though I still want a relationship, then I should be able to use her to answer all of my Korean language questions.

I'm not hired... or I'm just not hired yet?

2010-01-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

I finally got an email from the recruiter. I was so nervous as I opened it. I immediately scanned it for words like "unfortunately," "we're sorry," "thank you for applying," etc, and saw the bad news: I have not been placed. Then I read the rest of the email.

After calming down rereading it and thinking about what it says I guess it’s not all over and done with. But it doesn’t totally make sense to me. They say I was not placed with GEPIK, hence this email. But there are still positions available, and GEPIK and the recruiters will continue to place people. So if they are still doing the placement, why are they sending me this email? That’s what I don’t understand.

Jan 20th, the day I've been waiting for...

2010-01-20T22:56:00.000-08:00

...but I didn't hear anything. Confirming what had been in the back of my mind: that Jan 20th was just a guess by the recruiter. I wasn’t really all that surprised when evening came and I had heard nothing. So I emailed the recruiter to ask if she had heard from GEPIK yet. I figured she hadn't but I just wanted to remind her that I am sitting around waiting to find out if I have a job. After an hour or two she replied back that she talked to someone at GEPIK and they are still working on it, and I would hear something this weekend at the earliest, or next week at the latest. It’s like they just have to keep the suspense going.

This waiting is killing me

2010-01-16T16:53:00.000-08:00

I'm still waiting. There's not much else to say about it.

trying to learn Korean alone

2010-01-06T01:35:00.000-08:00

Still no word about the job.

I have tried to turn up the intensity with the Korean language study. I am reviewing vocab with the Anki flash cards once or twice a day, and I am going through the koreanclass101.com lessons again and I sometimes watch Korean lessons on YouTube. I also got some of the Declan Korean software. I wanted to try out the Pimsleur Korean CDs, but the library didn't have them.

I took four years of Japanese as an undergrad, and one year as a grad student, so I have experience learning a language, but I have never studied a language by myself. Without a teacher directing my study I really don't know what to do. One of my problems is there are too many sources to study from. Free websites, pay websites, software, books, videos... I don't know which are best. What would probably be best would be to just pick one and stick with it, but I never do for very long, so I don't make much progress.

...and waiting...

2010-01-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

Still waiting to hear from the recruiter. I have to admit I am really nervous about this. I think about things like it will be cool to live there, and the things I can do there and it will be fun and a good experience. But when I really think of what it will be like to go into a classroom and be expected to teach it really makes me nervous. I have taught before, but it was totally different from what I will be expected to do in Korea. Most of the things I read about teaching in public schools are not positive, and I keep hearing how teachers are not given much training, and not really told what they should be doing other than "teach English." I am just following through with this because I am hoping that either I end up in a good or at least tolerable situation or that the people who are complaining about their situation are too young and immature, or have some other problem that keeps them from getting along with their co workers. I am worried I will end up in a bad situation and have a terrible experience. I am not the kind of person that can go home from a bad day at work and have fun and forget it. If the job sucks it will ruin my whole life there.

But maybe I am getting ahead of things, I am still waiting to hear if I have a job...

studying Korean

2010-01-03T14:07:00.000-08:00

I'm studying Korean vocab regularly now. I am using the free flashcard software Anki. I like it. I am also using an app on my iPod touch called Word Power. I think my pronunciation sucks since I have no one to correct me. Hopefully when I get to Korea I can make some Korean friends who can help me with that. Studying hangul is part of studying the vocab since all the words are written in hangul. I am not studying any grammar. I don't really know how to study grammar by myself. I am pretty lazy, but having this flash card software makes studying vocab it pretty easy. From my experience learning Japanese, vocab is the most important part.

I don't know what is going on

2010-01-01T16:45:00.000-08:00

December 30th I emailed the recruiter and asked if she had heard from GEPIK. She said GEPIK people are on vacation, and I might not hear till like January 20th. Or maybe earlier since "we" (her and her staff, I guess?) are contacting schools about placement.

Its all about placement. Does that mean I have the job? Or will they place me then interview me? Shit I just want to find out what I will be doing in 2010. Do I have a job in Korea for the next year or will I be back at square one looking for a job?

still waiting...

2009-12-29T23:30:00.000-08:00

I haven't heard from the recruiter yet. She said I'd head about GEPIK at the end of the month. Its Dec 29, I am worried.

glory days article

2009-12-26T22:44:00.000-08:00

I just read a good article on The Art of Non-Conformity website.

what I considered to be my glory days has changed over the years, which maybe means I don't have any real glory days or maybe it means I keep having them? Recently I had already become aware of myself talking about my most recent glory days too much. And I have been trying to stop, but I feel like I still end up talking about them. Part of it involves my old job, and people new to my field often ask about it. That's ok, but the thing I really don't like is I am not super experienced. I only worked at that job for 3 1/2 years. So I feel a little silly being in a role where I am The Authority on that aspect of my field.

I was about to write that I hope teaching in Korea doesn't become my glory days for the future, but that's not exactly true. I hope they are worthy of being glory days, but I hope I don't dwell on them excessively for too long. I'm sure I will. I know how I am.

all the stuff I'm not doing

2009-12-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of stuff I should be doing before I go to Korea. I should be studying Korean. I should be doing some research about how to teach English or activities for during class. I should be trying to learn something about English grammar. Yeah I am a naive speaker, about to take a job teaching English and I don't know anything about grammar. I probably know more about Japanese grammar (my Japanese sucks now due to not using it) than I do about English grammar since I was actually taught Japanese but with English I just grew up with it. So that's something i feel I should be learning about a little.

I should be cleaning up my place. And a lot of other little things I need to do. I have about 2 months if everything goes well, I should be working on all these things instead of waiting till the last minute like I always do. I guess I am in denial that I am going anywhere. I have thought about going to teach English in another country for so long, but never followed through, at this point, even though I have done all this work to apply I still feel like its not going to happen. Plus my life has been stagnating for the past 2 years and I have started feeling like I am not going anywhere. Geographically or with my career.

how to gather all the documents

2009-12-15T22:12:00.000-08:00

This information is current as of Dec 2009, in Illinois.

Criminal Background Check

Outdated info... skip this paragraph...
It has to be done by the state police, not the town you live in. Info about it is on the IL state police website. Its called something else. There are two kind of checks, one that involves finger printing, and one that does not. You want the finger printing one. You can do it the slow cheap way which involve mailing things back and forth, or the fast more expensive way. The fast way involves finding a "live scan vendor" (Google it. I used Accurate Biometrics) in your area and having them fingerprint you. Police told me it would be $30-40. It cost me $40. They will give you a receipt with a number on it. The next day call the state police and request notarized copies (otherwise they will not be notarized and then cannot be apostilled). I asked how many copies I could get, I was told they only do 2. That whole thing only took like a couple days.

2011- As I am getting ready to spend a second year in Korea, you now need an FBI background check. The FBI website is very good at explaining what you need to do. You must be fingerprinted, the police can do it. It was a bit of a pain in the ass doing it in Korea. I'm sure its much easier to do if you are in the US. You will send the fingerprints, some personal info, payment (I cannot remember how much) and a cover letter telling them the background check is going to be apostilled and asking for some one's signature on it (FBI website tells you exactly what to ask for). FBI will return the background check to you, and you must send it to the US Secretary or State requesting an apostille. FBI will not send it directly to the Secretary of State. The US Secretary of State website has a form you must send in with the background check. Cost was $8 per document if I remember correctly. Their site gave a turn around time of 15 days, which was pretty accurate in my case. The FBI background check took several weeks. But I have read on Dave's about it taking months for some people, so get started on that early. Lack of an apostilled CBC just cost me a job, but I will write about that later.

Certified Diploma Copies

Master's degree
I got my MA from a big school. I was able to search their website,for certified diploma copy, and found instructions to get them. They say just send them a photocopy of your diploma. They'll make up to 5 copies for free! The school is in another state, so I called to see if they could send them to the secretary of state (in the state the school is located in) to have them apostilled. They said ok. I also called the SOS to confirm that I could do that. I sent a paper for the school giving them instructions along with the photocopy of my diploma, and an envelop for the SOS with instructions for them and my credit card number to charge me for the apostille, which I think was $5 each. I also found out during the call to my school that its pronounced "apo STEEL" not "apostle," which was embarrassing for me.

Bachelor's degree
I got my BA from a tiny school near where I live. They had nothing about it on their website. When I went to the registrar to request transcripts I asked about the certified diploma copies, woman #1 knew nothing about it, but woman #2, sitting next to her remembered that woman #3 had done something like that before. so #1 went and asked #3 about it, and came back a minute later and asked "is this for Asia?" Yes it is! They know what I want! When I went back to get the diploma copies made, #3 was going to just notarize my diploma. I told her I needed copies, I guess the one time she did this before it wasn't for copies, but it turned out to not be a problem. She copied my diploma, and wrote on the back that its a copy of the original, signed it, and another person notarized it. There was no special paper they copied it on or anything, just the signature and notary stamp. I was worried this one wouldn't be good enough for the apostille cause the copy of my MA was printed on special university paper. But it was ok.

Transcripts

Schools give these out all the time, they are easy to order. My recruiter is telling me I need 3 copies. I don't know why so many. They are $15 each from the school I got my MA from. And free (if you can wait 2 weeks, otherwise $15 each) from my BA school.

Apostille

The Secretary of State does it. There's not much info about it on the SOS website. I went to the Chicago office to have it done. I was worried my BA diploma copies wouldn't cut it, but it was fine. Only $2 per document. The documents need to be notarized first. They must be apostilled in the state in which they were notarized. For example, I got my BA in Illinois, so when I got notarized copies made, I had to get the apostille from the Illinois SOS. I got my MA in Iowa, so when I got my diploma copies notarized by the university, I had to get the apostille from the Iowa SOS.

I felt good when I heard the guy in front of me in line pronounce it "apostle", clearly he is not experienced in these kinds of international processes as I am.

These things were so confusing and stressful when I first started, but now I feel like a pro. I mean I am assuming I didn't fuck anything up.

The biggest stress ended up coming from trying to get a recommendation letter from my boss.

finished with the docs

2009-12-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

I got my background check and diploma copies apositlled today. It went fine. I was worried there would be a problem with something based on some things I had read on Daves. Someone from my state was saying after getting something notarized you had to get something proving the notary was legitimate then get it apostilled. But clearly that person doesn't know what they are talking about. The secretary of state website says documents just need to be notarized before being apostilled,so that's what I did. It was easy. It didn't even take long. Going downtown Secretary of State was the biggest annoyance in the process.

After that I sent everything via Fed Ex to the recruiter. Now I have to wait.

cold feet

2009-12-13T21:23:00.000-08:00

In the past I have always gotten cold feet and never followed through with applying for any teaching jobs. Even though I have wanted to do it for so long I always thought of a reason not to. Now I am finally doing it and I feel too far along to stop now. What would I do if I decided not to go? I'd still be bored with my life, and I'll still be thinking about teaching in Asia and wondering what it would be like. I hate regrets, that's why I have to follow through.

getting the documents

2009-12-11T20:10:00.000-08:00

I had a hard time getting my old boss to cooperate with sending me a signed letter of recommendation. Its like he just doesn't want to listen to what I am asking of him. Today I finally got the original signed letter of recommendation from my boss after I gave him my Fed Ex account number and told him how important it was that I got it by today. So it only ended up costing me like $30 and a lot of stress rather than the cost of a stamp and no stress if he had send it 2 weeks ago like I had asked. He sent 3 copies. These things are fucking precious. It was so hard getting it from him I need to save them in case I need them someday in the future.

I also got my apostilled diploma copies from the state I went to school in. Now all that's left is going downtown to get my other diploma and background check apostilled. I wish I could have done it today, but I was busy all day. Gotta wait till Monday now.

applying with GEPIK

2009-12-07T22:23:00.000-08:00

Since I failed the EPIK interview (I don't care. Really.), I will be putting all my hopes on GEPIK, which is the entire Gyeonggi province. When I first decided to apply I didn't know if I wanted Busan or the Seoul area. Sometimes it's nice to have the decision made for me.

interview fail

2009-12-04T21:02:00.000-08:00

This is how it went....
My interview was at midnight. So all day Wednesday I sat around nervously reading about teaching, about Korea and looking over questions I heard they ask. It was a long day, but finally midnight came. My interviewer was a young sounding North American. It was nice I could understand him easily. I thought I was doing ok, and about half way through he wants to talk about my location preferences. He said I had only listed Busan and Incheon for my preferred locations and asked if I was flexible with my locations. I said it depends on where I would go. Any larger city would be ok. But all the cities are full. Incheon is full and he can "pretty much guarantee" I would not get Busan. Ulsan, Daegu, Daejeon, arent options either apparently. all that's left are the "regular provinces". If I am placed in a regular province I wouldn't even know where I would be in that province till I arrived in Korea. He asked if that would be ok, I said if I was placed in a rural area I would be miserable. I decided I probably shouldn't refuse outright, though I think I made it pretty clear I wasn't interested, so I agreed to talk to my recruiter about the location later. There's nothing I hate more than living in a rural area. So after I found out that was my only option I considered the interview over. My attitude about the whole thing totally changed. Both my tone of voice and answers. "I dunno" almost came out a couple times in response to his questions, but I tried to give some answer. The interview felt like a waste of time after that but I decided I should just try to be professional and finish the interview, even though I didn't care about the outcome.

Found out today from my recruiter that I failed. There was no way I would have taken the job, and I know I wasn't even trying after the talk about location, but still it feels a little bad to hear that I failed. What I am wondering is if I was failing before the location talk? I suppose it would have been better for me to keep doing my best the whole time just to see if I could do well enough to pass. But after hearing I wouldn't get Busan, or any other location I would want I was so disappointed that I just didn't care.

interview in 2 days

2009-12-01T16:21:00.000-08:00

I got my interview date and time. Its in 2 days. Dec 4th 3pm Korean time. That's midnight here. I wasn't nervous about it till now. I need to do some research about teaching methods like the recruiter told me to, and go over the questions people on Dave's ELS board said they were asked. I am confident but still nervous.

GEPIK as backup

2009-11-25T22:53:00.000-08:00

I emailed the recruiter about GEPIK. I said I want to apply in case EPIK doesn't work out. I didn't really understand her response. She said she can promise me placement through GEPIK if I fail the EPIK interview? promise me? Are they desperate? I wanted to apply through GEPIK not so much cause I am worried I will fail the EPIK interview (I am a little worried, but not too much) but because I am worried I will get put in some place I don't want to live. Like anywhere other than Busan or Incheon. I'll go almost anywhere in the GEPIK area, but not anywhere in the EPIK area.

waiting...

2009-11-23T23:32:00.000-08:00

I've done everything I can do now I am just waiting. First, for the criminal background check from the state police so I can take all my documents to be apostilled. Second, I am waiting for my certified diploma copies from my university, which will then be sent straight to the secretary of state to be apostilled there. I should have everything next week if all goes well....

EPIK application

2009-11-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

First of all, I'm really late with applying to EPIK. Second, I don't even have my documents. Its first come first served for placement based on when you can get your docs in, I am told.

Always read all the application information and requirements as soon as you get them. I didn't. I have no idea why, and I have no excuses. Lately I have had a lot of other shit on my mind and this application process has just been more stress.

I got the info from the recruiter, long email with the applications attached. I skimmed it and then sat around wondering if I should apply. I don't want to wait till march 1st to start, what should I do....? After a week of doing nothing I read the whole thing on Sunday, and see the application is due by email to the recruiter Friday Nov 20, less than a week. And I don't even have my recommendation letters. So I have to talk to my references to have them hurry with my letters, and scan them (they asked for scanned copies of signed rec. letters) and email them to me (both of them asked me to write the letters for them). Ended up asking on Thursday if I could have anymore time with the app. She gave me till Sunday at 3pm.

The recruiter said get your criminal background check ASAP cause it takes a couple weeks. "Oh I already have it." Yeah, now I am reading something and it is saying you need a state background check. I keep seeing state, and not local like I had done. Turns out public schools need a state background check. local isn't good enough. Looks like I don't have that background check after all. (**FBI background check is now required for Americans in 2011**)

Saturday night I stayed up late writing the required essay. Got everything finished and emailed it all out Sunday morning.

Monday the next step is to start on the background check and diploma copies. the diploma copies and apostilling are two other things I don't totally understand how they work. I know I should have done this shit when I was planning on applying to a hagwon, but I didn't. I suppose I should have at least figured out what I need to do, but I didn't do that either.

Another recruiter

2009-11-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

I talked to another recruiter, Korvia. Much better than the first one as they actually seem to want to place me. It turns out it is hiring time for public schools, I didn’t know that. So I'm going to apply for EPIK (I think I want to live in Busan) if it's not too late. The deadline is Friday, so I have to get my letters of recommendation and write my essay. I'm also going to apply with GEPIK (Gyeonggi-do). Busan vs Seoul metro. Which do I want? I don't know. Busan is nice. Nice beaches and supposed to be slightly warmer than Seoul. Seoul metro is huge, and that is kind of cool.