Archive for ‘August 2009’

So it looks like due to a slow Visa process, my overseas adventures are going to get a bit delayed. After I got my contract, I sent all of my paperwork to South Korea to be processed over there. From there I should be getting my Visa Issuance number any day now. BUT along with getting approved in South Korea, for some reason I have to get approved in America. Why they can't just do it in one country, I don't know. I think the Koreans are purposefully making this as difficult as possible to get over there. First, it cost me almost $30 just to send my documents over there. And now I have to make my way to the Korean Consulate... in Seattle. Heaven forbid there be one in Oregon!! Which, side note, last time I checked, the Portland/Beaverton area had a TON of Koreans here, you would think there would be a consulate here as well. But I guess not.

Anyway, I called the Korean Consulate to see what kind of documents I need to bring. First, it's going to cost me another $45 to get my paperwork processed here. And I found out that they only interview for Visas twice a week (makes a lot of sense, huh?), that you have to do the interview in person (because spending the money for them to see my shinning face makes all the difference), and that all interviews for the month of August are booked, and the September ones are going fast. This is good, seeing as how I'm supposed to start teaching on August 25th. AND I still have to wait while the Korean Consulate in Seattle processes my Visa, which could take 1-3 weeks. SWELL! So I guess it's all touch and go right now. No clue when I'm actually leaving. But my faith in governmental agencies in America that handle my paperwork leads me to think that it's going to be a while. Maybe Mary/Grace/Ginger were all right and it's a sign.

Backup plan: move back to Pittsburgh and live with Grace until I can put in for the public schools in March!

It is official, I have a job in South Korea!

I had an interview last week with a school just south of Seoul and they have chosen to hire me. I didn't want to say anything early and jinx myself because I hadn't received the contract yet. But now my contract is signed and all my paperwork is on its way to South Korea so I can get my Visa.

I will be teaching at a Hagwon (private school) named EG Language Institute in a city called Yongin. Most likely I will be teaching kindergarten classes, with the possibility of helping with TOEFL preparation. TOEFL stands for Test Of English as a Foreign Langauge. Basically if you're a student in South Korea and you want to get into any sort of university, you have to pass this test. I'm also pretty sure that most Americans couldn't pass this test, it's that intense. My housing and airfare are going to be paid for, and a get a bonus at the end of my one-year contract. The hours are going to suck at first, Monday - Friday, 2pm - 10pm. The level at which these kids value education would put most other countries to shame!

Here is the general breakdown of how the country is organized and where I'm going to be located. The Republic of Korea is broken up mostly into provinces and metropolitan cities (8 and 6, respectively), which are on par with each other and are based on population. There is also one "special" province and one "special" city. What's so special about them, I don't know. For example, Busan is a "metropolitan" city, Seoul is a "special" city, and Gyeonggi is a province. Provinces are further divided into cities, counties, districts and neighbourhoods. Again, the division into certain sections is based off of population.

When you're reading a Korean address, you can tell which is the city, province, neighborhood etc. by the suffix that follows each. A province is called a "do", a city is a "si", county is "gun", district is "gu", a town is a "eup" while a township is a "myeon", and finally there is a neighborhood which is a "dong". But note, not all of these have to be present for every location, some areas are not part of a "gun" or even a "eup" it all depends on the location.

I will be located in Gyeonggi-do (province), Yongin-si (city), Giheung-gu (district), Jung-dong (neighborhood). You can check it out here on GoogleMaps. From what I can tell, you're supposed to reverse the order when reading it, so you start with the smallest entity, dong, and work your way up to the largest one (like an American address). When it comes to autonomy, I'm not positive how it all works, but from what I've read, a dong is the smallest governmental entity with any sort of power and autonomy.

The city that I will be in, Yongin (sometimes written as Yong-in), is located about 25 miles south of Seoul and has a population of just under 800,000. I think the Jung-Dong's population isn't too bad, so it would be like I'm stuck in a sardine can. The city is also on the Subway line to Seoul, so it would only be about a half hour trip to get into the city which is nice. Yongin-si is also the home of South Korea's largest amusement park, a place called Everland.

My official start date is the 25th of August, which means I'll be arriving right in the middle of monsoon season, that should be swell. That is my start date, as of now I have no clue as to when I will actually be leaving, and I'm assuming its dependent on how fast I get my Visa and my plane ticket. But I'll let you know when I know!