It took two flights and more than 15 hours in the air, but I have finally arrived in Seoul. I have been here for less than 24 hours and I'm still trying to find my bearings and deal with what seems to be a huge sleep deficit from my "plan."
Currently I have no internet in my apartment, but I am able to do some things quickly at school here (yes, I am working less than 24 hours after I crossed halfway around the world) on the internet.
Hopefully I will get an internet connection at home and then I can post stuff from my laptop (and some pictures).
Lots of stories about my journey will also be coming as it was definitely an event-filled trip.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Final Thoughts Before Departure
In approximately 3 hours I leave my house for the Toronto Airport. I thought I would share my thoughts at this time.
For starters, in roughly the next 30 hours I will be present on two flights which both will be longer than any other flight I have ever been on (continuously). Being cooped up in a tiny metal tube for so long is likely to be one of the least exciting things I have done (though I was on a train for 74 hours once with only a few breaks and that was pretty neat). About 30 minutes into my second flight I will be farther from where I grew up than I have ever been before. Then I have 11 hours more to fly.
Big changes are not new to me. Every time my life changed (usually because of a new school - though you could argue this is a new school for me too) I have enjoyed the change and have become a different person. After these moments pass it is often hard to look back and understand why I was the way I was. I think that sometime very soon I will experience one of those moments. Life will never be the same.
Change is never easy, even if it is for the best - and this certainly is better than my current situation. Change is even harder when you're not completely sure of what to expect.
On some level I do have some expectations, but most of those are vague. One thing I do know is that the distance from home is likely to be the easier adjustment than my way of life. I am not worried though. What I consider normal circumstances has changed so much even in the last few years that I think I could adjust to almost anything. The speed of this adjustment, however, will likely be a shock to me.
I want to go into this with an open mind and a sense of adventure and exploration (that being said, I won't kid myself: I am not a traiblazer by teaching in Korea; I am following in the footsteps of thousands of others).
It is because of all the above reasons that I have been alternating between excited and scared out of my mind. There are so many unknowns and that is both thrilling and terrifying. I am certainly glad I am not doing this alone (well, I am getting to Vancouver all by myself, but that's easy - I've been there before).
For better or for worse I want to look back on my decision to teach in Korea as a wise decision. No matter how bad it could be or how great a time I have, I will not regret trying. I'd rather know this one slice of life than wonder what it's like.
So here's to big changes and doing what you want to do. Here's to living.
See you on the flip side...
For starters, in roughly the next 30 hours I will be present on two flights which both will be longer than any other flight I have ever been on (continuously). Being cooped up in a tiny metal tube for so long is likely to be one of the least exciting things I have done (though I was on a train for 74 hours once with only a few breaks and that was pretty neat). About 30 minutes into my second flight I will be farther from where I grew up than I have ever been before. Then I have 11 hours more to fly.
Big changes are not new to me. Every time my life changed (usually because of a new school - though you could argue this is a new school for me too) I have enjoyed the change and have become a different person. After these moments pass it is often hard to look back and understand why I was the way I was. I think that sometime very soon I will experience one of those moments. Life will never be the same.
Change is never easy, even if it is for the best - and this certainly is better than my current situation. Change is even harder when you're not completely sure of what to expect.
On some level I do have some expectations, but most of those are vague. One thing I do know is that the distance from home is likely to be the easier adjustment than my way of life. I am not worried though. What I consider normal circumstances has changed so much even in the last few years that I think I could adjust to almost anything. The speed of this adjustment, however, will likely be a shock to me.
I want to go into this with an open mind and a sense of adventure and exploration (that being said, I won't kid myself: I am not a traiblazer by teaching in Korea; I am following in the footsteps of thousands of others).
It is because of all the above reasons that I have been alternating between excited and scared out of my mind. There are so many unknowns and that is both thrilling and terrifying. I am certainly glad I am not doing this alone (well, I am getting to Vancouver all by myself, but that's easy - I've been there before).
For better or for worse I want to look back on my decision to teach in Korea as a wise decision. No matter how bad it could be or how great a time I have, I will not regret trying. I'd rather know this one slice of life than wonder what it's like.
So here's to big changes and doing what you want to do. Here's to living.
See you on the flip side...
Monday, February 25, 2008
Coping with a 10-Hour Time Change: The Plan
Since I decided to teach in Korea, I've known I would have to face a 10-hour time change (well, it would have been 7 had I left from Victoria, but I'm not there right now). With this change looming in a few days I thought I would share my strategy.
Since Korea is behind us (well to be completely accurate, they are ahead, but it's less of a change to make the change this way), all I have to do is gradually stay up later until I have adjusted. This seems easy enough except for a few reasons, the biggest being that if I were to get up at 8am Seoul time, that would be 6pm for me here. Since I have a lot to do during the days here, this was not an option. My flight also poses some challenges for me in that I leave early in the morning for Vancouver (see my flight plan in a previous post).
I have been staying up as late as I can the last few days and trying to sleep in as late as I can. I've been able to stay up until 3:30am so far and am going to try for 4:00 or 4:30 tonight. The plan for tomorrow night is not to go to sleep at all, until I get on my plane in Toronto at 8:30. Hopefully I will be konked out for the entire 5+ hours of that flight. That will leave me waking up around 3am Seoul time. If I nap on the second flight, I should be able to get into a normal pattern. So far the plan has gone well (except me waking up earlier than I would like and being pretty bored late at night).
We'll see if this works well. I probably have to do a lot in Seoul this weekend (like figure out how to get to work, where to buy food, etc.).
Stay tuned to see if my plan works or if I fall asleep at the gate in Toronto and miss my flight to Vancouver.
Since Korea is behind us (well to be completely accurate, they are ahead, but it's less of a change to make the change this way), all I have to do is gradually stay up later until I have adjusted. This seems easy enough except for a few reasons, the biggest being that if I were to get up at 8am Seoul time, that would be 6pm for me here. Since I have a lot to do during the days here, this was not an option. My flight also poses some challenges for me in that I leave early in the morning for Vancouver (see my flight plan in a previous post).
I have been staying up as late as I can the last few days and trying to sleep in as late as I can. I've been able to stay up until 3:30am so far and am going to try for 4:00 or 4:30 tonight. The plan for tomorrow night is not to go to sleep at all, until I get on my plane in Toronto at 8:30. Hopefully I will be konked out for the entire 5+ hours of that flight. That will leave me waking up around 3am Seoul time. If I nap on the second flight, I should be able to get into a normal pattern. So far the plan has gone well (except me waking up earlier than I would like and being pretty bored late at night).
We'll see if this works well. I probably have to do a lot in Seoul this weekend (like figure out how to get to work, where to buy food, etc.).
Stay tuned to see if my plan works or if I fall asleep at the gate in Toronto and miss my flight to Vancouver.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Flights Are Booked!
I have my flights!
According to the itinerary sent to me by my good friends at Canadian Connection, I will depart from Toronto Airport on Wednesday February 27th at 8:30am. I land in Vancouver at 10:40am (local time). I then have an almost 3 hour wait in Vancouver (I've had worse) for my 1:30pm flight to Seoul-Incheon Airport where I will arrive on Thursday at 6:00pm (local time, which is 8:00am in Ontario).
There is much to do in the next couple of days, and I'm sure you'll hear all about it.
Note: the flights are assuming I get my visa from Toronto by the time I leave. With the consulate website being down at the moment, I am a bit worried.
According to the itinerary sent to me by my good friends at Canadian Connection, I will depart from Toronto Airport on Wednesday February 27th at 8:30am. I land in Vancouver at 10:40am (local time). I then have an almost 3 hour wait in Vancouver (I've had worse) for my 1:30pm flight to Seoul-Incheon Airport where I will arrive on Thursday at 6:00pm (local time, which is 8:00am in Ontario).
There is much to do in the next couple of days, and I'm sure you'll hear all about it.
Note: the flights are assuming I get my visa from Toronto by the time I leave. With the consulate website being down at the moment, I am a bit worried.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Getting a Visa (Part II)
It took a long time, but eventually I did get my Visa Issuance Number from Korea. The process has since changed (at least for me) since I last wrote about this. Once I got the number, it was much easier to bring the Visa Application Form (with said number written in the correct space - remember, don't leave anything blank, put "N/A" for anything that does not apply to you), a sealed transcript, a photocopy of your passport information page, your passport, a passport sized photo and $55 in a money order to the consulate myself.
So I got on the Go train and took off for the big city of Toronto (until I get to Seoul, I'll still refer to Toronto as a big city, but I'm sure living in a city of 10 million may change my perception of Ontario's largest city). If you're trying to get to the consulate in Toronto the directions are simple enough. Take the subway to St. Clair Station (the one at St. Clair and Young). When you get out of the subway you will probably be pretty disoriented. The first time, I started walking the wrong way. You want to head toward Yonge Street and keep going until you get to Avenue Rd and St. Clair. The consulate is on the northeast corner of that intersection (if you're really lazy or have never taken it, the streetcar goes from the station to the intersection - it's route 512).
Here is a picture of the consulate:
So far I have been here twice. My first visit was to drop off my documents. This was very quick. I talked to the nice lady and she gave me an appointment to come back for an interview - almost a week later. I had to fill out yet another form (answering many of the same questions I have repeatedly answered over the course of the last few months) for the interview.
When I came back, I found myself waiting in a room with between 10 and 20 others who were also their for E-2 visa interviews. We talked a little bit about what we had been going through the last little bit (the general consensus was that everyone dealt with people who didn't really know what the rules were). I waited a bit but the interview itself was super short and super easy. They asked me: a) my name, b) my birth date, c) my major, d) what age of students I would be teaching in Korea and e) what I knew about Korea. It took probably less than 2 minutes.
I have to wait a few more days to pick up my visa (I can check online to see if it's ready - but right now, that site is not working... this could be bad). So I will have to return to Toronto for a third time.
Keep in mind this is the process for Toronto. The Vancouver process was different (Alex may or may not share her story) and I imagine the Montreal and Ottawa processes would be different as well.
Not much more to do beyond packing now...
So I got on the Go train and took off for the big city of Toronto (until I get to Seoul, I'll still refer to Toronto as a big city, but I'm sure living in a city of 10 million may change my perception of Ontario's largest city). If you're trying to get to the consulate in Toronto the directions are simple enough. Take the subway to St. Clair Station (the one at St. Clair and Young). When you get out of the subway you will probably be pretty disoriented. The first time, I started walking the wrong way. You want to head toward Yonge Street and keep going until you get to Avenue Rd and St. Clair. The consulate is on the northeast corner of that intersection (if you're really lazy or have never taken it, the streetcar goes from the station to the intersection - it's route 512).
Here is a picture of the consulate:
So far I have been here twice. My first visit was to drop off my documents. This was very quick. I talked to the nice lady and she gave me an appointment to come back for an interview - almost a week later. I had to fill out yet another form (answering many of the same questions I have repeatedly answered over the course of the last few months) for the interview.
When I came back, I found myself waiting in a room with between 10 and 20 others who were also their for E-2 visa interviews. We talked a little bit about what we had been going through the last little bit (the general consensus was that everyone dealt with people who didn't really know what the rules were). I waited a bit but the interview itself was super short and super easy. They asked me: a) my name, b) my birth date, c) my major, d) what age of students I would be teaching in Korea and e) what I knew about Korea. It took probably less than 2 minutes.
I have to wait a few more days to pick up my visa (I can check online to see if it's ready - but right now, that site is not working... this could be bad). So I will have to return to Toronto for a third time.
Keep in mind this is the process for Toronto. The Vancouver process was different (Alex may or may not share her story) and I imagine the Montreal and Ottawa processes would be different as well.
Not much more to do beyond packing now...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Why Is English Important?
In all of my waiting (see the post below), I've been trying to broaded the news I read (online). In one of my attempts to get caught up on news in Korea, I found an interesting article about the need for English in South Korea.
To sum up the article (for those of you who are too lazy to click on the link and read it):
- many Koreans are not as fluent as they would like to be in English (as evidenced by many Koreans who work abroad and work with foreigners)
- some are worried about a focus on English (which takes away from the rest of the curriculum and could potentially lead to the eventual demise of the Korean language)
- foreign languages (more than English, though it is certainly one of the more useful ones) are helpful in a world in which barriers to communiction and trade are frequently being broken down.
For my part, I look at my teaching job not as colonialism (which I'm sure is what some people see it as), but as helping the Koreans gain a valuable tool. If Koreans can speak English and Korean, they have tools to deal with more people. If they learn other languages (French, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic), they are even more equipped than the monoliguists who need phrasebooks to have the most trivial of conversations.
The irony is, of course, that while the west supports this teaching of English, we do not teach our children other languages to the degree that the Koreans do (by mass hiring native speakers of a language to teach it). In a world that is largely anglocentric we have not had to do this. One day we may have to learn other languages (my guess would be Mandarin) to communicate with the rest of the world.
Why not start now?
To sum up the article (for those of you who are too lazy to click on the link and read it):
- many Koreans are not as fluent as they would like to be in English (as evidenced by many Koreans who work abroad and work with foreigners)
- some are worried about a focus on English (which takes away from the rest of the curriculum and could potentially lead to the eventual demise of the Korean language)
- foreign languages (more than English, though it is certainly one of the more useful ones) are helpful in a world in which barriers to communiction and trade are frequently being broken down.
For my part, I look at my teaching job not as colonialism (which I'm sure is what some people see it as), but as helping the Koreans gain a valuable tool. If Koreans can speak English and Korean, they have tools to deal with more people. If they learn other languages (French, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic), they are even more equipped than the monoliguists who need phrasebooks to have the most trivial of conversations.
The irony is, of course, that while the west supports this teaching of English, we do not teach our children other languages to the degree that the Koreans do (by mass hiring native speakers of a language to teach it). In a world that is largely anglocentric we have not had to do this. One day we may have to learn other languages (my guess would be Mandarin) to communicate with the rest of the world.
Why not start now?
Playing the Waiting Game
I am starting to get a little impatient and anxious about my job in Korea. According to the contract I signed, I am to start teaching March 1st, which is approximately 17 days away.
In that time I need to get my VISA (approximately a 5 day wait once I get all my documents to the consulate), and then get my flight booke (and who knows how far in advance that needs to be booked, but I imagine it's at least a few days). The problem is that right now, there is not much I can do on my own. I'm just waiting for a response from Korea for a number I need to put on an application form and for my transcripts to come from Victoria (they were apparenly supposed to come yesterday).
At this point I don't think I'll actually get to Korea when they want me there (9 days from now) and I'd be surprised if I actually got there in time for me to start working when my contract starts.
This has been a very difficult time because I'm living in limbo. It's hard to stay motivated and do the other things I need to do when I'm in the dark from the most important details.
So I sit and pass my time reading other people's blogs about the good and bad times. It's really cold and snowy here in Ontario (see picture below) and thus I am not feeling all that up to going outside.
In that time I need to get my VISA (approximately a 5 day wait once I get all my documents to the consulate), and then get my flight booke (and who knows how far in advance that needs to be booked, but I imagine it's at least a few days). The problem is that right now, there is not much I can do on my own. I'm just waiting for a response from Korea for a number I need to put on an application form and for my transcripts to come from Victoria (they were apparenly supposed to come yesterday).
At this point I don't think I'll actually get to Korea when they want me there (9 days from now) and I'd be surprised if I actually got there in time for me to start working when my contract starts.
This has been a very difficult time because I'm living in limbo. It's hard to stay motivated and do the other things I need to do when I'm in the dark from the most important details.
So I sit and pass my time reading other people's blogs about the good and bad times. It's really cold and snowy here in Ontario (see picture below) and thus I am not feeling all that up to going outside.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Getting A Teaching Visa, or How To Spend a Lot of Time and Money and Give Yourself a Headache
Once you get a job teaching English in Korea, the next (and probably most time consuming) task is to get your Visa. In my case, my recruited helped me with this process, though since the rules changed in December, this has often been difficult for all parties involved. We have repeatedly gotten differing information (I'm not sure the origin of this, but I'm pretty sure our recruiter is as much in the dark as I am). Here is a brief outline of what I had to do to get an E2 Visa (to teach):
Step One: Gather Documents
This is a bit more difficult that just collecting things. You will need to get a medical checkup done and this may differ depending on your school. For my checkup I had to have a few easy tests done (colour blindness and sight, blood pressure, etc.) and then some blood tests and a chest x-ray. They test for some pretty scary stuff so sometimes it takes a week to get the bloodwork back. (As a side note, I had been sick a few weeks before my test and had some issues and had to be retested before I was cleard - I am healthy though). Since BC health care won't pay for things if you aren't sick, you will need to pony up some dough (for us it was $65 for the checkup, $65 for the x-ray and the blood work was free) to get this done.
You will also need to get a criminal record check (a vulnerable sector search actually) to make sure you haven't been convicted of any crimes or that you weren't pardoned for any crimes against children (the vulnerable sector). The check alone costs $50. This then needs to be notarized ($10) and sent to a Korean consulate which will stamp it ($2.20). We were in a rush so we sent it next day mail and had to give a return addressed envelope to get them back quick.
You will also need to get passpost photos ($10), your original degree or equivalent (you can get a degree issued from most institutions before convocation if you need it for this purpose - check your records office for more info on this), a photocopy of your passport, a self medical check questionnaire, a signed copy of your resume, and official transcripts ($10).
Step Two: Sending the Documents
In our case, we had to send the documents to the school. This costs about $50 for an envelope that takes about 7 business days. When the school gets the documents they will do something to get you a visa number (I'm not too sure, I haven't gotten to this step yet). You will need this number for step three.
Step Three: Getting Your Visa
Once you get the visa number from your school, you need to fill out a visa application form and send it to the nearest consulate. Give it a few days (I'm told) and call them to make an appointment. Go for your appointment with $55 and they should give you your visa that day.
Sound easy? Well, the required documents kept changing so we had to send off two packages of documents to Korea. The second package is currently en route and hopefully will get there by Friday of this week. This has been a very difficult task (especially because we've had to bus around to do everything and I've been working when most places are open), but hopefully we will both get our visas before we need to fly out of here.
I hope this post hasn't scared anyone away from wanting to teach in Korea. I thought I would be as open about the costs as I could be because it has turned into something much bigger than I had expected. The jury is still out on whether or not it's all worth it, but stay tuned to this space and I'm sure that answer will be delivered in due time.
Step One: Gather Documents
This is a bit more difficult that just collecting things. You will need to get a medical checkup done and this may differ depending on your school. For my checkup I had to have a few easy tests done (colour blindness and sight, blood pressure, etc.) and then some blood tests and a chest x-ray. They test for some pretty scary stuff so sometimes it takes a week to get the bloodwork back. (As a side note, I had been sick a few weeks before my test and had some issues and had to be retested before I was cleard - I am healthy though). Since BC health care won't pay for things if you aren't sick, you will need to pony up some dough (for us it was $65 for the checkup, $65 for the x-ray and the blood work was free) to get this done.
You will also need to get a criminal record check (a vulnerable sector search actually) to make sure you haven't been convicted of any crimes or that you weren't pardoned for any crimes against children (the vulnerable sector). The check alone costs $50. This then needs to be notarized ($10) and sent to a Korean consulate which will stamp it ($2.20). We were in a rush so we sent it next day mail and had to give a return addressed envelope to get them back quick.
You will also need to get passpost photos ($10), your original degree or equivalent (you can get a degree issued from most institutions before convocation if you need it for this purpose - check your records office for more info on this), a photocopy of your passport, a self medical check questionnaire, a signed copy of your resume, and official transcripts ($10).
Step Two: Sending the Documents
In our case, we had to send the documents to the school. This costs about $50 for an envelope that takes about 7 business days. When the school gets the documents they will do something to get you a visa number (I'm not too sure, I haven't gotten to this step yet). You will need this number for step three.
Step Three: Getting Your Visa
Once you get the visa number from your school, you need to fill out a visa application form and send it to the nearest consulate. Give it a few days (I'm told) and call them to make an appointment. Go for your appointment with $55 and they should give you your visa that day.
Sound easy? Well, the required documents kept changing so we had to send off two packages of documents to Korea. The second package is currently en route and hopefully will get there by Friday of this week. This has been a very difficult task (especially because we've had to bus around to do everything and I've been working when most places are open), but hopefully we will both get our visas before we need to fly out of here.
I hope this post hasn't scared anyone away from wanting to teach in Korea. I thought I would be as open about the costs as I could be because it has turned into something much bigger than I had expected. The jury is still out on whether or not it's all worth it, but stay tuned to this space and I'm sure that answer will be delivered in due time.
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