GOING ON AN ADVENTURE

Teaching, coffee, and Korea.

[wanderinghobbitses]

Being Abroad While Your Country Goes to Hell

It started, ultimately, with Prince. I’m born and raised Minnesotan so he was more than just a celebrity. He was a part of our history and a member of our community. My co-teachers didn’t understand why I was upset. Then came Pulse. Walking up and finding over fifty people were dead. I had my students play a zombie mingle game to practice their English. What started out as fun ended up with me in tears as I explained why pretending to kill their friends wasn’t okay. My kids asked if I was okay. I shook my head. Prince wasn’t the only one Minnesota lost. Castile was a beloved cafeteria worker in a St Paul elementary school. He was fatally shot after following a police officers instructions. There was no reason for his death. The whole year covered the election, but it got worse as it neared election day. As it went on I saw Trump’s popularity rise. Trump, who had a child rape trial scheduled for December before his party threatened said child with death if she doesn’t drop the case. Who mocked a disabled reporter. Who still hasn’t done anything ethical to show he’ll be a good president. And then he was elected. In response to my outcry I had family members telling me that I was wrong, that it would be okay, and that we should just wait and see. I watched from afar as hate crimes rose overnight and my friends began to have panic attacks as it was now ‘okay’ to be sexist, racist, etc. I keep watching as his presidency takes fold. My life is already made harder in ways is trying to buy a house. Some of my friends in other states have already lost their rights. Many are being forced from their homes. I long to joy the protests while simultaneously wishing they weren't required. I worry about the scandals that are pouring out of the white house. My contract year is up. I'm going home in little over a week. This was not the year to be abroad. Too many times I felt helpless while my country burned. And it's still burning which is why I'm going back. I wish i could stay, but more than continuing life events, I need to add my voice. I need to shake this helpless feeling and turn my country back towards the light.

[wanderinghobbitses]

Adventures in pizza

I’ve officially arrive in Korea. I’ve been here about a month and have been trying to acclimate myself to my new surroundings. Every now and then I will get the smart idea to try to be a fully functional adult and get food from outside my apartment. The first time I managed this, I took the subway for the first time and was able to make it both to and from Homeplus by myself. I was pretty proud of my grocery trip, but I’ve been eating the pasta from it for about two weeks now. Last night I tried venturing to find a chicken place one of the GETs that’s been here for a while had showed me. Thinking I had gone too far down a road and thinking it was a lost cause, I headed to Daiso. On my way home that had I taken a left instead of the right needed to get to Daiso, I would have seen that I was half a block away from the restaurant. Either way, though, I managed to get there. 500 experience points to me.  Tonight, however, has been a challenge all of it’s own. One of the teacher’s at my school showed me a food delivery app and I rushed home excited to try it. After spending 45 minutes on my dying phone, I decided to simply pull it up on the computer. This would make having to go back and forth between translating easier. Fast an hour later, and I’ve gotten my pizza order exactly how I want it. I enter my address that my lovely teacher gave me and hit send.  No more than two minutes passed before my phone went off. There’s a lovely korean woman on the other line and there is something obviously wrong with my order. After fumbling through telling her that I don’t speak much korean, she answered back ‘address, checking, no’. She then said ‘cancel’ to which I glumly agreed.

Devastated, I took to Facebook hoping for help with my order. The previous GET from my school took up the challenge. After an hour of figuring out what my address should be, I finally have the correct format. There is then another half hour of me both putting my order together and coming up with the courage to hit send. I’m generally uncomfortable on the phone, and it’s worse when I don’t speak the same language as the person on the other line. I eventually get the bright idea to write in the prep instructions: No corn please, 

My address. 

Billing address is same as above. Sorry for my bad korean. 

And I hit send. Shortly thereafter I get another phone call. This time from a Seoul number and it’s a man. All I understood was 'pepperoni pizza'. So I said 'pepperoni pizza, yes'. And then 'sorry'. In English said I can't speak Korean. The nice man said something else in Korean with a nervous chuckle, then hung up. I thought that it was strange that a Seoul number had called me, but I thought maybe the guy had just got the phone in Seoul then moved. I also assumed that it was the restaurant calling to confirm my order since I didn’t hear the words ‘cancel’ or ‘sorry’. Turns out that it was Yogiyo, the website I had ordered through, calling me. They had an English speaker call me back. I was thrilled to hear ‘hi’ in response to my tentative ‘hello?’ Paraphrasing, he was said 'sooo, you said you don't want corn, but there's no corn on a pepperoni pizza sooo....you want we just go ahead and order it for you?'  I didn’t even mind that I could tell that he was laughing at me. I was just happy to get my pizza...Four and a half hours later.

P.s. The sauce is a trap.

[wanderinghobbitses]

Coming to terms with being “fat”

In the states I’m no where near what I would consider fat or ‘big’. In US sizes I can range anywhere from a small to a large depending on the cut and whether it fits loose or tight. My once fantastic metabolism has slowed in the years since high school, but the biggest change has been in the chest. My A’s pushing B’s have become B’s sister size C’s. With that, I also have a little pooch that wasn’t there five years ago, but at max I’ve gone from being small to average. For America. 

The difference here is that I’m moving to a country who’s average body type is that of the one I had back in high school. Granted, I don’t miss that body as much as one might think. Yes, my stomach was flat and I was overall smaller, but I was *overall* smaller. That is to say that I like my chest as it is currently, and my face looks better now that it’s rounded out a bit. I’d happily not have my little pooch, but other than that I’m quite content with my shape. Okay, to be honest, I get decidedly upset at the lack of flatness in my stomach, but the pros still outweigh the cons here.

The problem I’m facing is keeping that mentality. I’m not huge in any sense of the word, yet I still find myself trying to work out more as my flight looms closer. Which means it’s already started. Though, to be fair this has mostly been me chasing my white whale of a stomach. I don’t want to get over there and have what confidence I do have completely disintegrate in the face of being the ‘fat friend’. I’ve decided that while yes, I’m going to be bigger than the majority of my peers, that I should keep looking at myself through my own cultural lens on this. I need to remember that smaller doesn’t mean better. And that it certainly doesn’t in my case. So while I’ve accepted that I’m going to be ‘fat’ over there,  I’ll hopefully be able to keep *myself* from thinking that I’m fat. If I don’t already have a complex about it, then it needs stays that way. Wish me luck on pulling this off. I’ll need it.

[wanderinghobbitses]

Freaking out

I leave in a little over a week and I find myself having moments of huge anxiety. I feel like I no longer want to go, but I know that if I didn't that I would regret it for the rest of my life. And in the end I don't actually want to have all my hard work and anticipation be for nothing. I want to go. I'm just freaking out. They never tell you about the freaking out part. I've found that I have stopped trying to learn Korean, stopped watching YouTube videos from other expats, and basically cocooned myself away from it all. I'm spending more time with friends and family. I am enjoying things I know I will miss in an effort to stave off the cravings later. I'm basically taking a mental break from it all. And it's helping. At least minutely. Which might be all I need. I just know that I was becoming overwhelmed with it all. I'm missing people and I haven't even left yet. Hell, I'm missing my partner and we live together. Which is why I've put it all on hold. Other than packing, Korea will happen in a week. Until then I'm decompressing and enjoying the time I have here. And trying not to freak out.

[wanderinghobbitses]

All coming together

After all the stress and running around, I finally have everything in order. My visa arrived yesterday and I was able to find a flight that arrives on the right day for orientation that was actually really cheap considering the prices the night before. I'm finally able to relax a little bit. I even packed a little last night and didn't feel like freaking out. Everything is simply much better now and I can breathe.

[wanderinghobbitses]

Placement

EPIK received my documents on the 11th. Today I was informed that my placement is Daejeon! Which, given that it’s my first choice, I’m pretty excited about it! Only one week to between them getting my documents and giving me a placement? Not bad. Not bad at all!

[wanderinghobbitses]

Documentation Sent!

After months of crazy stress and dealing with government screw ups, my documentation has been sent over and received! Which is great because for a while it was looking like I wasn’t going to be able to get everything out on time. I am now in line for recommendation to be placed and can finally relax for a little bit. That is, until it comes time for me to get my visa. I’m also working on learning Korean in preparation for my departure. It’s not as easy as learning any of the latin based languages, what with the sentence structure being completely different, but it’s fun. I’m finally able to start getting excited! T-minus 5 weeks~!

[wanderinghobbitses]

I got in!!

I found out weeks ago, but have been so busy with work to update. Unfortunately I’m still waiting for the FBI to have my fingerprints in the system. They keep telling me to ‘check back in a week’. A lot of hurry up and wait over here :/

[carrieinkorea-blog]

Surviving Your First Week: Part 2 - Setting Yourself Up

Keep reading

[wanderinghobbitses]

Finished my interview!!

Wow that was crazy and not as detailed as I expected. He really only asked me about three questions that weren’t pertaining to my application. And even those were very generic like ‘what are you doing in preparation for coming to Korea’. Nothing teaching specific really, only making sure that I knew that I might teach older kids. Maybe because I already have teaching experience? I hope it’s a good sign like they already knew they wanted me and that the interview was just a formality :) Happy thoughts!!

[wanderinghobbitses]

I got an interview!!

My interview with EPIK is scheduled for this Thursday at, like, three in the morning. I’m pretty excited!

[wanderinghobbitses]

The adventure begins!!

I guess I’m a bit late posting this but I’ve officially applied to EPIK! I sent my application in on the first and have received the email saying they’ll be scheduling interviews in the fall. I’m pretty excited. I did all the FBI background stuff the day before I applied, so no worries about it not getting done in time. I just had my federal background check expire from my last job, but I’m hoping the short time span between the two will mean this one comes back sooner. I’ll keep you posted!

[chantybelas]

Daegu Survival Guide

So I am updating this post to include many of the new and exciting things in Colorful Daegu. Here we go! Dear Epiker,

Congratulations you made it through the long process. This is a guide answering many of your questions about getting through your first month. This is real stuff. No fluff. And strictly from my own personal experiences and talking with my friends. 

Gifts for Principal etc.

Guess what!? You don’t have to bring gifts. What I would advise is waiting until your first paycheck and then buying a cake or basket of fruit for the lounge. It surprises them and its equal for everyone to share. Sometimes giving gifts can get complicated. You really won’t know how many co-teachers you will have…I have 6 plus other teachers I really like. So, just wait. Fruit or dessert is always nice. 

ARC- Alien Registration Card

If you’re from the USA, this is like your Social Security card. Keep it with you at all times. Or remember your number. This card allows you to get a cellphone and bank account. It takes between 7-10 business days to receive this card after you register a the immigration office. As soon as you arrive in Daegu, tell your co-teach that you want to head over to immigration. Rememebr to take your passport, contract, and a two photos (passprt sized). Now, I did not need my ARC to get a phone or bank account. I just needed proof that I registered for one. It depends on your co-teacher’s “connections”. When you want to buy train tickets to another city you will need this card. To buy concert tickets you will need this card. THIS CARD IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. 

Cellphone

Korea is the land of Samsung and LG, so you will be just fine. Just get a cellphone in Korea! The Arrival Store is too expensive (you can get most of that stuff here for a lot less). Bringing an unlocked phone may cost you too because you have to break your contract and pay money for that. And you get to pick your phone number!! Yippee!

Bank Account

If you are coming to Daegu, you will more than likely be banking with Daegu Bank. Here are some other banks: Nonghyup, KB, and KEB. All are pretty good, however, I have noticed that Nonghyup people have the VISA logo that we Daegu bank people don’t have. Which sucks, cause as you know can’t order from America or anywhere without the VISA logo.

Hours of operation are M-F 9-4:30. 24 hour ATM service. And make sure you get a check card…not just an ATM card. The gray/silver card is the card you want.

 AGAIN It does not have VISA or MASTERCARD on it…just fyi. You can pay bills at the ATM…choose English option…then transfer…choose the bank you want to transfer to (only Korean banks) put in the account number….then the amount…and confirm. DONE. You can set up money transfers to your home bank. make sure you ask your co-teacher for help with this while at the bank so that you understand fees involved. 

Your Apartment

Your landlord may not speak any English. So make sure your co-teacher gets the following information for you.

-How to turn on the air/heat

-How to use the washer

-How to turn on/off hot water

-Internet cost; if you have WiFi

-How bills should be paid

-When your bills will come

-How to contact the landlord if you need anything.

-Trash! how to get rid of it; where to put it. Trash is very different in Korea. You may need to separate it. Also ask where to buy trash bags and the food can. 

Transportation

I suggest downloading the Daegu Bus App on your smartphone or the Naver Daegu Bus App if your Korean is pretty good. Or just use good old Google Maps…type in destination and you’re set. 

Important: Banwaldong and Jungangro are the main downtown areas. We go clubbing here, meet with friends for dinner, go shopping, take Korean classes at the YMCA here. So much stuff here. You will probably spend 90% of your free time here. 

Subway~Daegu, as of right now, has two rail lines. The red and the green.  A blue is being added. You will need a bus card. There are many oprtion for a bus pass which are pictured below…the Yellow pass is the basic Daegu bus pass. The Toppass can be used anywhere…Seoul, Busan, and Daegu. I have not used it in other provinces yet,

There are machines to load the card in every station. Its the “Add Value Machine” Select English for your fist few times.  Some people use their bank cards as their bus card. You can ask for this at your bank when you sign up for an account…and please please please ask them how to load that card using a ATM. 

Buses~ A bit more complicated but remember RED BUSES ARE RAPIDBUSES (see the pic below)

…they get you to your destination a lot faster. And all of them go downtown. 

HEALTH

We get insurance!! Yay!! Ok so for those going to be living in Daegu, Hyosung Hospital is extremely foreigner friendly. Ms. Gu is awesome and there is no wait because hey we are a small population here. Hyosung is the best place especially for women. 

1. Hyosung Byung-won (효성 병원)  Suseong-gu

Ms. Gu: 053-766-7073

OBGYN: 9:00am-8:00pm / IM: 9:00am-6:00pm / PED: 9:00am-7:00pm

2. Fatima Byung-won (파티마 병원)

053-940-7520

9:00am-4:30pm

3. Keiymyung University Hospital

4. Yeungnam University Hospital

 Dentist: Dr. Kenneth Lee

 Banwaldong Station exit 12, KEB building, 7th floor

  053-256-7353

 Glasses/Contacts- Walk into any glasses store. They are everywhere!!!!! 

Bring medicines that you like from home. You may not find them here. Bring a month’s supply or more for until you can find what you need. There are pharmacies literally everywhere, so you can get basic pharmacy stuff.

Women: If you have certain feminine hygiene products or birth control that you use, bring at least 2-3 months supply to get you through until you find what you need. You will need a prescription from a Korean doctor for these pills if you plan to get them here.

FOOD

Shopping: Homeplus, Emart, Daebec Mart, Costco

Or local mom and pop places that will be around your neighborhood. 

Downtown has food galore!! Just be careful about what you eat. Sometimes things are not labeled so please know what you are allergic to. Every week my friends and I seem to find a new place to eat here are some of our favorites:

Traveler’s Bar & Grill $: All American Burgers, Fish and Chips, Vegetarian options, etc. Trivia Night here is awesome!

Seolbing/Korean Dessert Cafe

Mr. Pig $: All you can eat meat!!! Korean Style do-it-yourself BBQ

Little Italia $: Authentic Italian Food + Really Hot Chef

Tara $$$: Indian style Food

Ashley’s $$: Buffet style

Sharonis Resaturant $$: Buffet, Sushi, Pizza, All you need in the world. 

Pan-Asia $$: Food from all over Asia

I would advise you to pick up the monthly magazine “The Compass” for details about restaurants. It also has maps of downtown which you will need for probably your first eight months here. No, I’m serious.

CHEAP PLACES TO VISIT AND HANG OUT

Dalseong Park

Palgonsan Mountain

Apsan Mountain

Duryu Park

Suseong Lake and Park

Feb. 28 Joongang Memorial Park

Esiapolis

SPEAKING KOREAN

You can find survival Korean everywhere online…USE THEM! Know how to say hello, goodbye, and thank you. If you want to take Korean classes there are too many ways. One way is the YMCA. You can join language exchange groups too, one cf which is CulCom. Very easy to find on Facebook. 

REMEMBER, YOU ARE COMING TO KOREA! THIS IS REAL-LIFE NOT A KDRAMA!  

You will be dealing with people staring and touching you. People saying things that will not fly in the US, UK, South Africa, etc.  Be patient, you will find your footing. 

If there is anything you need to know, just ask. We all started at the same place, so we can all help each other. 

[theraviolette-blog]

Applying to EPIK

Today I want to talk about the actual process of being hired as a native English teacher through the EPIK program. I decided I would begin preparations to apply for the program about 6-7 month before my desired start date. I decided I would apply for the spring 2014 start date. The EPIK application process is a long one and I needed as much time as possible to gather all the documents required. I will write about what I remember but for more detailed information about the application process; it can be found on the EPIK website.

The first thing and one that is very important is deciding the method of applying for EPIK. There are two options apply via a recruiter or apply directly through the EPIK website. This is a matter of preference and how comfortable someone is with doing the process on their own or not. Some people may feel more comfortable having someone help them along and double checking things. If this option is chosen it’s important to choose a recruiter with a good reputation. Some people may decide to apply directly which may be harder but will probably be faster than applying through a recruiter because you’ll receive  information back faster. I did speak to a recruiter at first just to check my options but ultimately I decided to apply directly through the EPIK website.

I decided to apply directly because I read through EPIK’s website and knew I could gather all the documents and prepare everything without the help of a recruiter; it didn’t seem like such a complicated process that I couldn’t manage on my own. I also liked that I would receive information faster regarding the status of my application.  I would also have an EPIK coordinator assigned to me if I passed the interview therefore I would still have someone I could talk to if I was confused about anything.

   For the initial application the following is needed: A completed application, essay, lesson plan, and recent professional photo, and two letters of recommendation. This is emailed directly to EPIK. The website and Facebook page will say when they are accepting new applications for the upcoming term. I made sure to ask for my letters of recommendation early and begin preparing my application early so I could submit everything as soon as applications were starting to be accepted.

   I submitted my application in late August and finally received an email in late September informing me they wanted an interview in the beginning of October. They give you a set date and time.  If for some reason they reject your application they’ll still email you back to let you know the status.

   My interview was through skype with an EPIK coordinator. I was unsure of what to expect really so beforehand I went online and searched for other people experiences with the interviews and advice on how to prepare. As for my advice, prepare similarly to what you would for an in person interview. Dress well, have a well lit room, quiet room, have a pen, printed application, be there early, relax, and think about questions you might be asked. For example, if you were hiring a teacher what would you want to know and what qualities would you want. Be honest about your reasons for wanting the job and be yourself.

   The interview: Well, like I mentioned it’s through skype.  My interviewer was nice but seemed serious. He asked many things; from what I recall he asked about my application, lesson plan, reasons for wanting to teach abroad, my qualities, and if I had questions. It wasn’t a bad interview and felt relaxed however by the end I was not sure if it went well or not. I think I only saw the interviewer smile twice the whole 30-35 min. I really couldn’t read his facial expressions. So I anxiously waited a few days to hear back if I had passed to the next step or if I was rejected.

I received an email stating I passed to the next step, who my assigned coordinator was (the person who interviewed me was my coordinator), and all the documents I would need to complete the application process and receive a placement and be officially hired.

   There are many documents needed and it did take months to get some of them so I feel people should begin preparing at least 6 months before their desired start date because you’ll need as much time as possible in case you have delays. Documents: Apostilled college degree, inked signed letters of recommendations, Authenticated Criminal background check from FBI, Printed final application with a passport size professional picture, sealed college transcripts, copy of passport info. Page, photocopies of everything, and TEFL/TESOL certificate (if in progress make sure it’ll be complete by the time you leave for South Korea) bring the certificate with you. I’m American and those were the documents I needed but it may differ for a different nationality. Once you gather everything you mail it to your coordinator I used UPS, some people use FedEx, DHL. Make sure to have tracking on it so you know where your documents are and maybe make it signature required for delivery. I also emailed my coordinator to let him know my documents would be arriving and he wrote back once he received them.

   Once the documents are in South Korea and approved they are ready to be submitted to either a POE or MOE office of education for a placement. In the application there is a box where applicants can put down a preference for province or city. I actually didn’t have a preference and left it up to God. I honestly didn’t want to choose a city or province because I had never been to South Korea so it didn’t really matter. My coordinator would send my application package where he thought I had a good chance of getting a placement. Most people of course want Seoul, Daegu, Busan, and Ulsan, some city areas or bigger towns. Well, my application was sent to Gyeongbuk province.

   Eventually my coordinator emailed me again to inform me I had received a placement for the spring 2014 start date in Gyeongbuk province. I was thrilled because after months of hard work I finally was a lot closer to moving abroad to teach. After someone gets placed EPIK sends over a notice of appointment and contract that is needed to apply for the visa to work and live in South Korea. There are other documents you’ll need to take with you like your Diploma, transcripts, and it may differ depending on location so call the embassy/consulate beforehand to ask what you need to take with you.  Once you have that and your passport you go to nearest Korean embassy/consulate and apply for the visa. Once you have your visa, and plane ticket you are set to go.

   There is a weeklong orientation before you begin work in South Korea. It’s not bad, you meet other new teachers, try new food, field trip, classes on teaching, and you teach a mock class with two other native teachers. After you teach your mock class you get feedback. After the orientation you will receive the official contract you will sign and later give to your school. That’s also when you finally find out your town or city and the name of your school. It’s actually quite exciting because the whole week people are wondering where they will be living with absolutely no idea. So it’s nice to finally know. I was placed in a beautiful city with a lot of history and culture. I am not too far from Busan, Ulsan, or Daegu. So I think I was very lucky. After finding out where you’ll go it’s time for the farewell dinner. The following day you head out to the designated location where your co-teacher(s) or other person from your school will pick you up and take you to your apartment.

[seoulgirl015-deactivated2024112]

EPIK Interview Guide and Tips

When I think about the EPIK interview process, I think about it in four parts: pre-interview, the day of the interview and actual interview, the follow up interview, post-interview. PART ONE: PRE-INTERVIEW For the Fall 2015 intake, EPIK started giving out interviews sometime in mid to late March. I received an e-mail from “DataManager EPIK” with the subject “EPIK Interview Schedule”. The e-mail…

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[seoulgirl015-deactivated2024112]

Apostilled CRC Guide

This may seem like the most complicated document to acquire because EPIK spends about three pages of the Required Documents explanation packet explaining it completely out of order. However, if you break down the procedure it is actually very simple. In this post I break it down step by step in two parts: **Disclaimer: Remember, follow whatever EPIK tells you. Use my guide as a supplement to…

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[chocolateandwater-deactivated20]

Here is an idea I came up with to help my 4th grade students with forming  sentences.

I made 5 columns, as you can see, and I assigned each word a point value. These are words from their lessons 1-8. The object of this game is to make as many expensive sentences as possible. The student with the most “ballerific” sentence wins.

Scoring goes like this: Mystery words…words not on the board…gives them an extra 15 points (per word) and questions an extra 10.  Every word on the board that they use adds up to a total point amount. I USED THESE two EXAMPLE SENTENCEs: Is the cheese pizza under the bed? For a total of ….points vs The pizza is under the bed.

Because my students are low level, I had to play this game in 3 rounds. That way the lower level students didn’t have to compete against the more advanced students.

They loved it! I allowed them to use the dictionary and their notes. You can put them in groups or have them work alone. I gave them 25 minutes to write their sentences, and the last 15 minutes was used for reading sentences and scoring. I also had them say their sentence in Korean for the rest of the class.

 EVERY STUDENT PARTICIPATED ;) AND THAT WAS A FIRST♥ And more importantly, it took the entire 40 minutes of class ^_^