A Message from some 5th Graders

So, the 5th graders are finishing their unit for the phrase, "Can you join us?". In this unit, the students learn a song using the phrase, and have changed the words for all of you...

The lyrics are as follows:

Come on everybody, let's go to Korea! Oh yeah!

Can you join us? Can you, can you join us? Oh sure!

Can you join us? Can you join us, Kayleigh's friends?

Oh sure, sure, sure.

How about you? Can you come to Korea? Mm-mmm.

We want to meet you, please come here soon!

Life here is good. Everyone is getting ready for the Christmas break, which begins after this week. Students don't have to come back to school until Feb. 2. However, many parents sign their children up for English or Math camps, so students don't usually get that whole time off to slack off. I am teaching 3 weeks of winter English camp. 2 weeks will be at my school with students that I already teach, and then one week of camp will be with the Office of Education, where they will send a bunch of foreign teachers to a University, and students will come to stay for 2 weeks and take about 8 classes during that time.

I do get some vacation time, though- I'm leaving on Christmas Day for Beijing for 5 days, which I am so excited for! Then also, I have the last week of January off. I was planning on going to Malaysia with a few friends to do SCUBA certification, but it turns out that it will be monsoon season at that time, so we've had to cancel. So now, my boyfriend and I are looking at either going somewhere new in Korea, or maybe taking off to Manila or Taiwan.

I'm really excited to head off to Beijing for Christmas. My goal was to make Christmas this year feel as little like Christmas as possible to avoid some homesickness. I think that a trip to Beijing will help me succeed in that goal. Also, without snow, it hasn't really felt like Christmas, so that helps!

Well, I hope that the Christmas season is treating you all well and that you're looking forward to a bit of time off to celebrate!

Take care!

Anticipating Nov. 4

Let's talk about submitting an absentee ballot from Ulsan, South Korea. My ordered absentee ballot never arrived from the Secretary of State, so I filled out the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot online and printed it out. The FWAB came with some reasonable directions- not too intensive. Also, I was lucky enough to discover the Express Your Vote program, where FedEx payed to ship my ballot in one day, free of charge. Genius.

Here's where it gets interesting, though. To take advantage of the Express Your Vote deal, I had to get my ballot to the FedEx office by the 29th. Ulsan has one FedEx office, located in Nam-gu (the downtown area). I live about a 45 minute bus ride from Nam-gu (if traffic is good), and FedEx closed at 6p. So I left school directly and began my journey. I attempted to just hop a cab from school, since I figured it would be far quicker than attempting to get a bus ride in. I got into the cab, with a map for FedEx (in Korean, may I add...). The driver took a look at my map and gave me a big whopping, "Mullai-oh." (I don't know.) Super, let's try cab #2. Another fatty Mullai-oh. Perhaps cab #3? You guessed it... Mullai-oh.

So I ran to the bus stop in a frenzy, figuring that maybe if I get closer to the correct area, the cab drivers would have a better idea of what my map was indicating. I was greatly fearing that after all of this, I would arrive at the FedEx office too late. I arrived in Nam-gu, hopped into a cab and gave him my map, and got another super Mullai-oh. At least this guy had a navigation system! So he plugged the address in and off we went.

When we arrived at the supposed destination, there was no FedEx in sight. So I called the cab quits and figured I would be better off walking than paying him to drive me around. After a few minutes, I realized I would have no luck so I stopped into a restaurant and asked the owner-in the best impromptu Korean I could muster- if they knew where the FedEx on my map was. The woman of the business left with me to find it. After asking another pair of restaurant owners, we finally found the FedEx- in an absurd back alley, really nowhere near the downtown area you would have guessed it to be in. Super. At least the ballot got mailed and I actively participated in democracy once again. (After experiencing this, let me tell you that all of you who are at home and can vote easily have no excuse for not doing so!)

This election has got me thinking: I've been dealing with homesickness really well, I believe. I very rarely get feelings of homesickness, and when I do feel it, they're really more pangs of missing people. (Or massive Chipotle cravings!) These last couple days have been a little rough, though, I will admit. With the election a mere day away, I've started to really feel like I'm missing out.

It's sort of like I've been living this campaign for all these months, and now I'm not present for the final thing. Weird, I know- but it's really created more homesickness for me than anything else since I've been here. I know that many of us foreigners here will celebrate well if we see an Obama victory- but I get this big feeling that we'll be missing on an amazing moment at home.


Let America Be America Again

by Langston Hughes

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!

Sarangbang

One of the joys of my job is my afterschool class, Sarangbang. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, I get 13 5th and 6th graders from 6-8 p.m. We have a text that we work out of that teaches phrases like, "What will he do?" "He will go swimming." We also have a reading curriculum where each week, we read one story on Monday and Tuesday, and then on Thursday they have a reading quiz. (This week it was Goldilocks.)

However, the real joy of Sarangbang is that I am the head teacher in this class, and therefore, get to do whatever the frick I want. This has yielded some interesting results, since I have had no prior teaching experience, but it has also yielded some purely joyous moments.

Last week, I did an exercise with my kids were I wrote Who, What, How, Where, When, Why on the board. Then, the class had to give me an answer to put under each of these column headers. I would then create a story using the answers they had given me, and they would repeat the story back to me in their own words. Here's what this activity yielded:

First, we have, "Miss Kayleigh will fly using her wings to Seoul tomorrow to see her father." Second, "Mrs. Nam (my coteacher) will run to Beijing right now using pigs legs for the Olympics." Third, "Kim (a girl in class) will fight right now in Miss Kayleigh's home, using her head because she is happy." And lastly... and get ready for this one... "Big Bang will sing right now using spoons in the English classroom for Miss Kayleigh's wedding." I'm sure there's no doubt in your mind that the kids lost their minds over this one! Ever since this episode, I have been lovingly called "Big Bang's Wife"... and insult was added to injury when my cell phone accidentally rang in the middle of class a couple days later, because what is my ringtone? None other than Big Bang. Perfect.

One of the favorite activities for my Sarangbang class is a review game where 3 students stand with their backs to the board, I write a vocabulary word on the board, and then their teammates have to take turns describing the word, in English or Korean, until their teammate can guess the word behind them. (My coteacher monitors the Korean so that they don't cheat!) This game was working reeeeaaaaally well, until one little smartypants figured out a new tactic:

If you couldn't tell what was going on- the boy in the middle, Rooney, figured out that it's not exactly cheating if you spell out the word on the board using other English words. Sneaky little guy... you hear me reprimand him with, "No acting," because they're supposed to be using only words, not writing the letters in the air... sneaky little guy!

Finally, one of my favorite moments happened with one of my Sarangbang students during the school day. We were teaching the sentence, "What's he/she doing?", using a cheer. The cheer went, "Nami Nami, Sis Boom Bah," or, "Jinho Jinho, Sis Boom Bah,". Nami is a female character from the curriculum and Jinho is a male character from the curriculum. We split the class and told the girls to cheer for Nami and the boys to cheer for Jinho. All of the sudden, Justin, from my Sarangbang class stands up and says, "But I love Nami!!" Classic.

Justin

So, there's some Sarangbang stories to warm your heart- I'm sure more will be on their way!

A Month and a Half

So, I have been quite neglectful with this blog! I deeply apologize! To attempt to summarize the last month and a half would be absurd, so let's just start off here:

Things You Find in Korea That You Wouldn't/Can't Find at Home:

1. Murses.

They're everywhere- the Male Purse. Walking down the streets, on the busses, while riding scooters, etc. And not only do men here shamelessly rock the murse, they rock their murses in designer style... Coach, Louis Vuitton, Dolce and Gabbana, and Prada all have a clientele base in the murse sector.

2. Epidemic Pop Music.

Can you say Haru Haru? Cause every citizen in this nation sure can! Within my first week here, I was overwhelmed by this song and it's constant presence in every aspect of Korean life. Children sing it in the schools, it plays in the shopping malls, on the radio in taxis, simply everywhere! However, I have also been reeled in by Big Bang's smash hit- so much so, that when I was given a free ringtone with my Korean cell phone, what else could I choose besides Haru Haru? (You, too can enjoy the madness: http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=76v7ogxeNvo)

3. The Need to Sometimes Just Smile and Point.

One of the joys of being illiterate. On more than one occassion, I have been at a restaurant with other foreign friends and been handed a menu with no pictures. The only thing to do at this point is find something in your price range, smile and point. This has yielded different results: one time we were brought this absolutely amazing spicy pork rib soup- soup that I could probably eat every day until I die. On another occasion, however, me and two people from my apartment building were brought a whole fish to pick apart and a dish of some sort of bug.

4. Your Marital Status/Relationships Being on Display at all Times.

Nothing makes a Korean feel more uncomfortable than a single person. It for this reason that one of the first questions you will always be asked is your marital status and whether you have a boyfriend/girlfriend. (Example: I was at the doctor and the x-ray technician asked me only 2 questions: 1. Where are you from? 2. Are you married? Nothing about why I was getting x-rayed.) I don't know about men, but for me, the closer I get to a Korean, the more often they tells me that I need a boyfriend. The administrative ladies at my school are persistently trying to set me up with this guy who also works in the office. My vice principal saw me walk past this guy in the hallway once and said, "You two, perfect! Future! I see it!"

5. Crazy Sea Creatures in the Grocery Store.

I'm from a absolute in-land state and have long been convinced that some of the funkiest things on this planet come from the ocean. However, now that I'm living in a coastal city on the other side of the planet, I've had to get used to the idea of people plucking these things from the water and boiling them for consumption. They are available in the grocery store in their whole form- octopus, eel, squid, and some more unrecognizable critters. In general, I try to stay away from that area of the meat section because I just get too skeeved out at the thought of someone bringing one of them home to serve up.

6. Bastardized English Everywhere.

Clothing, store fronts, food/product packaging, you name it. People love to conjure up some random English words and throw them on everything. Daily, students show up to school wearing shirts that say things like, "NOTHN RHYMES WITH PIRATE", "When be full of dream", "Kitty is my lover", or "Relaxes: No Lots of Cry".

7. Absolutely Absurd Driving.

What do you get when you combine two way streets that are really one way streets with cars parked on both sides, bus drivers who think they're driving scooters, scooter drivers who follow no laws whatsoever, and zero police enforcement? You get an idea of what the roads in Korea are like. I have seen two people hit by cars- both just gathered their bags, put their shoes back on and kept on walking like nothing happened.

8. Offensive Mystery Smells

You're walking along, with your nose minding its own business, when all of the sudden you are smacked in the face by the strange combination of sewer, fish and poo. 3 steps later, it's gone. Where did it come from? How, pray tell, was it created? Will you have to face it again? No one really knows...

9. No Shoes = Service.

The only thing more wrong to a Korean than a single person is wearing your shoes indoors. Whenever you enter a home, school, some businesses, or any traditional restaurant, you must take your shoes off at the door. At school, students and staff have to have special indoor shoes that have never touched the ground outside. It's a pretty obsessive ritual, but I suppose that a country with mystery smells must have some pretty rank stuff on their ground.

10. And Finally.... The Last (and Most Important) Thing That You Can Find in Korea, But Not at Home.......

Kayleigh.


I miss you all and hope you're doing well! Take care!

I'm Here!

Alright, finally got a chance to get online! I haven't been to a PC Bong (Computer Room) yet, but I did find a wireless connection in my apartment that I am mooching off of someone- it's slow, but it's free! So, here's what's happened so far... I flew to Tokyo, then flew to Busan. I arrived feeling totally gross and ready for a shower! Scott Kim was waiting outside of baggage claim, and so all of us teachers met up very easily and waited for our busses. We were all bussed to Ulsan and then picked up by our co-teachers; My co-teacher's name is Nam Seona (her first name is Seona (pronounced "sone- ah")- traditionally, Koreans put their family name first), and she is very very very very sweet! She brought me to my apartment last night and got me settled in a bit.

At the same time, I met my landlord and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Jung (Chung?) They are so nice and welcoming- a quick story about Mr. Jung must be told... When I first arrived and we were getting me settled into my apartment, Seona was translating between Mr. & Mrs. Jung and me. (Nam says her English isn't very good, but I have not had any troubles understanding her, and I keep telling her that her English is much much much better than my Korean! This seems to make her feel better and makes her laugh.) So anyways, Mr. Jung was explaining my appliances through Seona, and at one point during the explanation of my thermostat, he looked at me and said, "You must push this button". I said alright and nodded my head and he smiled a HUGE smile and grabbed his heart- he was so ecstatic that I had understood him!!! Ever since then, he has been using all the English he can muster! Mrs. Jung suffers a bit more with English, but she is very dear.

So, right now, I am staying in an apartment on the 3rd floor- However, I will be moving up to the 4th floor by the end of tonight, right next to Mr. and Mrs. Jung. That apartment is slightly bigger, but it's not quite finished yet. The apartment building is very very nice... I am so happy with it. All of the appliances are brand new- washing machine, fridge, stove top, etc. The whole place looks like it has gone up within the last few months- it's very beautiful. When you get to my apartment building, you face two sliding glass doors. You have to enter your code to get them to open, or you can call up to the apartment that you are visiting. When you do this, there is an intercom that beeps in the apartment and you can let people in through this. Sounds pretty standard for an apartment, right? Wrong. These intercoms are video intercoms! There is a camera on each panel, so when someone beeps, you see who it is, and if you answer it, they see you downstairs! Also, my doorbell has this same feature, so if someone beeps my doorbell outside my front door, I see who it is before I have to open the door! Pretty fancy.

Today, Seona picked me up at 10 am and we ran some errands. She showed me how to get to the nearest bus stop and she told me which bus numbers will take me to school, she showed me how to get to the bank and the post office, we got a bus card for me (They're really cute- they go on your key chain or cell phone and you tap them against this electronic box when you get on the bus- you pre-load money on them at convenience stores).

(My bus card)

Then we went to my school! The bus stop drops me off about two blocks from the school and then I walk in through some more narrow streets. On the way in today, there were kids walking up and down the street and Seona would stop them and say the equivalent of "This is your new English teacher" in Korean and ask them to say hello... etc. Once we got into the school, I was introduced to the administrative staff who had organized my living arrangements, so I said a huuuuge thank you, because I LOVE my apartment! I was also introduced to the Principal and the Gym teacher/Head teacher. When I met the principal, we all sat down at a board-room style table and were served green tea. The principal doesn't speak English (Or at least wouldn't to me), so Seona translated. He said he was worried about me getting lonely and that he knew that I would have difficulties. I told him that right now I am just so excited to be here, so he shouldn't worry too much!

In the school, Seona took me to what would be our room- I found out that I will be teaching 4-6th grade with Seona, and then I will be teaching 3rd grade with a homeroom teacher. Then, in addition, I also will have work on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays; I will be doing a class from 6-8 p.m. for 15 students with Seona, and Fridays I will do one class for teachers in our school. (It might be kind of akward to teach my co-workers, but I'm sure it will work out!) So, once we were back from the school, Seona helped me bring my two heavy bags up to my new apartment so that they will be there when Mrs. Jung finishes putting in the appliances today. I am getting a brand new fridge, washing machine, stovetop, sink, and then they are supplying me with a microwave, rice cooker, electric hot water pitcher, and a toaster! Also, my bed is like, a queen size bed!!! Definately bigger than my one at home- who woulda thought?? They are pretty hard (just a mattress on wood), but when I woke up today, my back felt surprisingly nice!

Soooooo, now I'm sitting in my temporary-apartment listening to the street outside and typing away. My goal is to walk to the convenience store down the street that I got breakfast at, and try to find a second meal. After dinner, maybe I will go upstairs and start to unpack to keep Mrs. Jung company while she installs things. Tomorrow, Seona is picking me up at 11 a.m. and we are going to go shopping for groceries/apartment goods... so there's the sitch, take care all, and keep in touch!

4 days and counting

Well, I am on the tail end of my time at home. I booked my one-way plane ticket about 2 weeks ago, and then kind of forgot about getting things done for a while. That seemed like a big enough step at the time. Now, however, I am reaching the realization that there's a good handful of little details to take care of within the next few days.



Among these little details is packing- the end-all of annoying tasks to be completed. As we speak, I am washing up my clothes to seriously begin the job, however, the entire prospect is just so ominous. I can check two bags- 62 linear inches each, and 50 lbs. (70 if I want to pay an extra $50... we'll see about that). In these two bags needs to be clothes for all 4 seasons (yes, Korea has a winter), toiletries for a year, shoes (supposedly my size will be hard to find- and my feet aren't even that big!), gifts for my co-teacher, principal, etc., and all those fun miscellaneous things like a jar of peanut butter (apparently, not a commodity to be found abroad), spices (supposedly they flavor everything with chili powder), a few books, bed sheets (fitted sheets not to be found in Korea), and all those other little odds and ends that you need for living during the course of a year. A good friend of mine, who has been living abroad in Russia, advised to pack everything you think you need and then take out half because you won't need it, however, this is so much more easily said than done.



Also, my boss has been out of town for the last week and has left me in charge of the store, so I have been working a decent smattering of hours. It is good, in a way, because it has kept me from reaching panic-mode by giving me something else to focus on and stay busy with, however, I feel that I am very close to the realization that I don't have nearly enough done.



Amongst all of this, though, I have had some time for some fun. I had my birthday/goodbye party almost a week ago (my birthday and my departure are separated by about only a week). I had a good gathering of friends and family gather, and it was wonderful to see everyone together one last time before I take off.



Also, I get to have one last hoo-rah tomorrow, when I get to go see the Backstreet Boys at the state fair!! A really good friend was going to go to the concert on a weekend home from grad school, however, the trip got cancelled and she had to unload a ticket on a lucky recipient... me!



Buuuut, anyways, just a few more days and I will be outta here, so stay tuned, cause more excitement should be showing up here really soon! I leave you with this cherished image:

Backstreet's back, indeed; Happy Birthday, Laura!

The Visa Has Landed

After receiving my official contract and notice of appointment from the Metropolitan Office of Education, I sent off my documents with my visa application to the South Korean Consulate in Chicago. After just a few short business days, my visa has officially arrived!

Next is the flight... I have been in contact with the travel agent that my recruiting agency recommends- Flight Centre. My flight has been narrowed down and now I just need to get it booked to get that price locked down before fuel costs get any worse!

This weekend I got to go to my college town and see some people, which was so nice. Kind of a last hoo-rah. I met up with a friend named Sarah who just got back from a year in Russia, and she was full of helpful tips such as... Bring mouthwash/toothpaste with flouride in it! Not every country puts flouride in the drinking water like the U.S., and consequently, she came back with a large handful of cavities... No fun. Also, pack everything you think you are going to need, take out half of it, and then you'll have plenty! (That one will be tricky for me- I'm a classic over-packer.)

Sooooo, that's a glimpse into the current situation- it will be exactly one month from today that my flight leaves, and I'm sure that month is going to fly by! (Pun definately intended.)

The Waiting Game...

So, all of my documents were couriered last week, and received in South Korea last Friday (according to FedEx). So, likely, they were not viewed until last Monday, US Central Time. I received an email saying that my documents have been received by my recruiter's Korea office and that they have been forwarded to the Ulsan Ministry of Education. "It will take some days for them to review your documents. We will let you know of any updates soon."

So now I wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Once they do review my documents, they will be sending me back the contract and Notice of Appointment so that I can apply for my visa. (Yes, redundant- I know... but it's really the only news I've got!)

Actually, I stand corrected- I have been in contact with an über helpful person. I got in contact with her through her blog: aliainkorea.blogspot.com. She has been kind enough to answer the plethora of questions that I emailed her- and with great detail! I have got some definite peace of mind since she has taken the time to quell my questions.

Also, my recruiters have taken the time to create a Facebook group for all of the people who have accepted contracts for Ulsan so far.

So, that's the news for now. I realize this is a bit dry, but come August, this thing should start getting packed with fun info!

Making Progress

Well, the plans are coming along. I'm still in the thick of gathering the rest of the needed documents to courier over to Korea. In that package is going to be:

Two letters of recommendation
A letter of good health from my doctor
Two sealed transcripts
My formal application
My resume and a cover letter
A criminal background check that is notarized and apostilled
A sex offender check
A copy of my diploma that is notarized and apostilled (and this is a story within itself...)
Photocopies of the information page of my passport

I have gathered almost all of these, and am just waiting for the doctor letter (although I have already had the physical), the letters of recommendation (I have been assured that they are on their way from both people), the sex offender check, and the diploma...

The story with the diploma is that they are not scheduled to come in the mail until August. I called good ol' SMSU and had to figure out an alternate plan for this. I was told that for $20 I could get my diploma expidited. I arranged for this, but was told that it could take up to two weeks for it to get shipped from Jostens, the diploma people. That put my diploma as getting shipped out by June 27th. However, my courier package is supposed to be in Scott Kim's hands in Korea by the 27th. To put some added pressure on this, I learned that the diploma couldn't be shipped directly to me- it has to be shipped to SMSU and then overnighted to my house, putting it in my hands at least a few days after the 27th and in Scott Kim's hands far later than that.

Sooooooo, I called my recruiter and asked whether it would be better to send my package without the diploma, and then send the diploma as soon as I get it or to wait until I get the diploma and then send everything. He told me just to hold onto everything until the diploma arrives and that he would put a flag on my file stating to the Korean people that everything is on it's way, just delayed.

So, if everything works out as planned, the package will be on it's way the week after next. Once that package is couriered to South Korea, the school I will be working for will send a package back containing my official contract and a Notice of Appointment.

The next step will then be heading to Chicago to the South Korean Embassy. I will give them the contract signed by me and my employer, my Notice of Appointment, a sealed transcript, my passport and the fee for the visa.

I am unclear about whether or not there will be an interview at the embassy- from what I understand, people who are to be working in private schools go through an interview, and those to work in public schools do not. So, according to that, I will not have to go through an interview.

After that Chicago visit, I wait around for my passport to arrive back at home in the mail with my visa attached. If that all goes well, I am set to arrive in Korea on August 27th!




As far as the flight goes, I have learned that I have to make sure that I fly directly into Busan, South Korea, and that all of my connecting flights before that final landing are outside of South Korea- the reason being that my school will not reimburse me for domestic flights. Sooo, for example, a flight that I'm looking at is from Minneapolis to Seattle to Osaka to Busan.

From Busan, my school arranges for transportation to Ulsan, where I will be living!

The Beginning

Well folks, recently I have accepted a position to teach English in Ulsan, South Korea. Probably a bit shocking to most of you, since less than a month ago, the plan was Cleveland, Ohio... but those curve balls of life have altered the course!

Right now, life is filled with two basic things: Paperwork and Dunn Bros Coffee. When I'm not barista-ing it up at DBC, I'm doing one task or another that is all building up to couriering all of my paperwork to Korea in order to get my official contract for my visa.


Once I've got my hard-copy contract, it's off to Chicago (where the nearest South Korean embassy is) to file everything for my E-2 visa. And then, in a few weeks, with visa in hand, I am off to Ulsan by August 25th.


I am navigating all of this with the help of a couple recruiting agencies. I started out with Pegasus recruiting, which I encountered at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities job fair. Once I interviewed with them, my application was sent to the Ministry of Education in Korea and I was referred to work with Footprints Recruiting- a buddy to Pegasus. Since then, I have been coordinating all of this with Footprints, and they have been über helpful.


That's about all the news for now... some Ulsan pics follow. Enjoy.