I have some advice for anyone else who is planning on going to SK to teach, hopefully my experience will help your process run smoother. First, the documents that you will need to get your visa;
Your diploma - not a copy of it, the physical diploma.
Criminal Background Check with an apostille
A photocopy of your passport picture page
5 passport photos
A signed health form - your employer will send it to you
2 signed contracts - your employer will send it to you
The diploma: if you went to one of the UCs, like I did, you will not get your diploma until four months after your graduation, and the registrar does not offer rush deliveries anymore (thanks UC!!). This is problematic if you wanted to go to SK sooner, because unfortunately you must send them your diploma in the mail, no exceptions. It sounds a little sketchy to send your diploma overseas but I just insured my package at the post office and it worked out fine, and well, you don't really have a choice ...
Criminal background check: I went to a local livescan place and got my fingerprints done, it took a couple minutes and ten dollars, then a couple of days for the report. After I got my results I had to get an apostille from the secretary of state. I don't that far from Sacramento, so I just drove to the Secretary of State building to get the apostille, and it was really quick and easy and the people were really nice. If you can go in person, the process is a lot faster than mailing it in.
Passport: make sure you have a current passport, or you'll have to get a new one. Do NOT send your passport to your employer, just photocopy the page that has your passport number and your photo on it.
Photos: since passport photos come in sets of two, getting five can be a bit pricey, the cheapest place to get the photos that I found was Costco, 4.99 a set, as opposed to 15.55 a set at FedEx or UPS.
For more info: http://www.koreainsider.com/korea-visa.html
My job is scheduled to start Jan 3, 2010-Jan 3 2011. I will likely fly out right after Christmas, which is exciting and also a little scary. I'm glad that I'm going to be able to spend the holidays with my family, especially because I probably won't see them for an entire year!
I'm turning into a bit of a beer snob, and apparently SK is no Belgium, so I've been doing some research to try to find cool pubs in Seoul. The most promising pub is one called Three Alley Pub in Itaewon-Dong, it looks really cool. travel.yahoo.com gave it a 6/6 stars, and the reviews said it has; pool tables, great english speaking staff, dart boards, and TVs for watching sports.
Right now I just want to make a few solid connections before I leave so I'll know a couple people when I get there, wish me luck!
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