It's Sunday evening and I'm back at One Tree Hill. It's such a tease to have skype but not be able to use it here. I've considered it, but I feel a little too rude talking on skype while students are trying to study all around me.
This weekend was really fun. After work on Friday we went out to the same restaurant from last week to have a goodbye dinner for one of the guys at the office. After dinner Tyler and I headed back to Sinchon to meet up with some of our friends. We went to a smokey little bar that was located in a basement, and to get to the bathroom you had to walk up a steep staircase and then bathroom was a squat bathroom, ew. My friend Kathy said that in the Philippines (where she did peace corps for two years) all the bathrooms are sqautties (haha, potty but squatty), and let me tell you, they are naaasty. The floor is just covered in piss. Not going back ther e!
On Saturday, Tyler, Matt, Mark and I were invited to a professional Korean basketball game by one of Mark's students. It was awesome. His student gets free tickets through his company. But this is crazy: The student Jae has a girlfriend named Jessica, who lived in California for a couple years, turns out she lived in Albany (the same city I lived in), so I asked where she went to school. She not only went to my elementary school, but she was in my fifth grade class. Miss Wiley! Jessica even still has her old class roster, so Jae was like, "you used to live on Jackson street!" What a small world! I still can't believe that.
The game was pretty cool, we went to Inchoen, which is a city outside of Seoul, probably an hour drive with traffic. We were rooting for the Inchoen Land Elephants. They were playing the Hundai Egis (the top ranked team in Korea) and the poor elephants got slaughtered in the fourth quarter, but in their defense the Egis are like the Yankees or the Lakers. Each team has two foreigners, so there were four really tall african american guys and everyone else was korean and shorter. The players moved so gracefully though, this one guy looked like he floated up to the basket. One of the Elephants is called the Living Legend (I'm assuming their star player) and he was playing really badly, and he finally made a basket but it didn't count cause of a penalty, and he almost lost it. He started pounding his fists on the foam fence around the court, and then burried his face like he was crying. Then at another point in the game, the Living Legend fell down and just laid there, but the ball ricochetted off the net and hit him in the face! He was not having a good day.
After the game Jae and Jessica took us to a Shabu Shabu restaurant that was delicious. We sat on the floor, and there is a big bowl of broth that cooks at the table, and then the staff brings you dumplings, beef strips, veggies, and noodles, all uncooked. then you cook the meat and veggies and they cook really quickly in the broth and are delicious. After the meat,veggies and dumplings are gone, you put the noodles in and eat the soup, and then after the noodles are gone, you add the rice and it turns into a porridge. It's great, not too expensive, and very filling, and I like that there is a special process that you have to follow.
After dinner I took a twenty minute power nap before heading back over to Tyler's to have beer and soju. Matt and Tyler told me about Canada and the importance of patios in bars, and Jae and Jessica taught us Korean drinking games. One game is rock, paper, scissors, and the loser gets flicked in the forehead by the winner, unfortunately for Tyler, Jae was really good at flicking. I declined the offer to play.
This morning I peeled myself out of bed and went to Kathy's for brunch. I brought coffee and milk, but other people brought legitimate food so I enjoyed quite the feast. Bacon, scrambled eggs, french toast, coffee cake, yum! It was a good weekend. Next weekend will be rough because I have to work on Saturday. I'm sleeping early tonight because I didn't sleep much in the past two days.
Over and out, the weekend warrior.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Enjoying some coffee and free wifi
I'm sitting in a One Tree Hill cafe, sipping my "americano" coffee with a side of milk. I felt overly satisfied with myself when I was able to ask for milk "uyu" with my coffee, the little things that are slowly making my life easier are so gratifying. Obviously, the cafe has internet access which is a huge plus, it almost makes up for the fact that a weak cup of coffee costs 3,000 won ($3). The cheapest place I have so thus far to get coffee is McDonald's, at 2,000 won a cup with unlimited cream that does not taste like the cream back home, but tasty none the less.
It's Friday over here and I'm enjoying some time to myself inbetween my morning and evening shifts. I think I might try to do this once a week, come to a cafe and slowly drink my cup of coffee as I take full advantage of the free wifi.
I don't have internet at my apartment yet, and I won't have it for a while. This has been difficult because it hit me how much time I spend on the internet, I use it for communication, information, entertainment and now I feel at a loss of what to do with myself when I have free time that I feel like mindlessly wasting. So naturally, I borrowed Tyler's Simpson's collection and have been filling my spare time with the adventures of Lisa, Bart, Homer, and Marge.
My housing situation is still not completely settled yet. I won't be staying in my current apartment for very long, in a little less than a month I will be moving into Tyler's building which is way nicer than mine and a little closer than mine (okay one half block, but still... it adds up at night and there are no lights! it's creepy). My new building will have heated hallways (fist pump) more privacy (double fist pump) and I'll be living in the same building as two of my coworkers (breakdance).
Last weekend I had just finished my fist full week of work and I started my first night of freedom with a dinner next to work with quite a few of my coworkers. I wish I could remember the name of the dish, but i can't at the moment so I'll just describe it. The tables are big and round with a BBQ in the middle. Each table gets a plate of small cube sized pieces of uncokked steak and cooking utensils. With the meat comes an assortment of "side dishes", noodles, rice, kimchi (duh), vegetables, pickled radishes, sauces, a korean style coleslaw and a bowl of redleaf lettuce slices.
After you cook the beef to your desired char, you place it in the lettuce wrap and then you can add whatever else you want from the side dishes. SO delicious. I was marinating my beef cubes in one of the sauces before cooking them (hopefully that is not some sort of dinner etiquette fauxpaux). It was great, but the bill did end up coming out to 20,000 a person and on my budget, I won't be going there often, maybe a special occasion kind of place.
After that, Tyler, a few coworkers and I took the bus back in Sinchon. [*Bus fares are cheap over here, around 90 cents a ride, which is good bc I take the bus four times a day] We met up with our friends that live in Sinchon at a bar called Ipub, it was Western-ish. The beer was not too expensive, but it's really hard for me to get used to people smoking everywhere. All my clothes reek when I get home. I have a side room in my house that doesn't get heating and whenever I've been around a lot of smoke, I put my clothes in that room for 48 hours. I'm so happy that people cannot smoke in my office.
Saturday we went out in Sinchon again, first to the same bar, and I saw some sleazy American girls being ridiculous, wearing really short dresses (it's freezing over here) and one of them just pulled her dress up over her head. At the bar! Trust me, this place is not like Cancun on spring break, that is very uncommon, do I have to be in the same category a them? Then we went to a Rock bar, which looked like a small guitar hero themed bar. There was a huge projector that played the music video of whatever song you selected with the lyrics displayed on the bottom, with all the korean styled fruity pebbles we wanted (free with beer).
On Sunday I woke up with a sore throat, of course from the weather and not because I went out two nights in a row. I still went against the better judgment I should have had and went to the Seoul National Museum with some coworkers, the museum is free this month. The museum is massive, and we didn't get through the entire place, I might go back some day. But unfortunately, but the end of the day my head was throbbing and my throat was screaming.
My friends Kathy and Tyler were both really nice and helpful about me being sickish this week, which was comforting, and I'm almost back to normal now. i've been popping vitamin C like its no ones business.
I'm looking forward to this weekend, it's a coworkers last day today so we're all going out after work, and on Sunday my friend Kathy is having people over for brunch. I'm sure I'll have many exciting things to report back to you on Sunday evening, I'll possibly make a date with the One Tree Hill cafe again.
It's Friday over here and I'm enjoying some time to myself inbetween my morning and evening shifts. I think I might try to do this once a week, come to a cafe and slowly drink my cup of coffee as I take full advantage of the free wifi.
I don't have internet at my apartment yet, and I won't have it for a while. This has been difficult because it hit me how much time I spend on the internet, I use it for communication, information, entertainment and now I feel at a loss of what to do with myself when I have free time that I feel like mindlessly wasting. So naturally, I borrowed Tyler's Simpson's collection and have been filling my spare time with the adventures of Lisa, Bart, Homer, and Marge.
My housing situation is still not completely settled yet. I won't be staying in my current apartment for very long, in a little less than a month I will be moving into Tyler's building which is way nicer than mine and a little closer than mine (okay one half block, but still... it adds up at night and there are no lights! it's creepy). My new building will have heated hallways (fist pump) more privacy (double fist pump) and I'll be living in the same building as two of my coworkers (breakdance).
Last weekend I had just finished my fist full week of work and I started my first night of freedom with a dinner next to work with quite a few of my coworkers. I wish I could remember the name of the dish, but i can't at the moment so I'll just describe it. The tables are big and round with a BBQ in the middle. Each table gets a plate of small cube sized pieces of uncokked steak and cooking utensils. With the meat comes an assortment of "side dishes", noodles, rice, kimchi (duh), vegetables, pickled radishes, sauces, a korean style coleslaw and a bowl of redleaf lettuce slices.
After you cook the beef to your desired char, you place it in the lettuce wrap and then you can add whatever else you want from the side dishes. SO delicious. I was marinating my beef cubes in one of the sauces before cooking them (hopefully that is not some sort of dinner etiquette fauxpaux). It was great, but the bill did end up coming out to 20,000 a person and on my budget, I won't be going there often, maybe a special occasion kind of place.
After that, Tyler, a few coworkers and I took the bus back in Sinchon. [*Bus fares are cheap over here, around 90 cents a ride, which is good bc I take the bus four times a day] We met up with our friends that live in Sinchon at a bar called Ipub, it was Western-ish. The beer was not too expensive, but it's really hard for me to get used to people smoking everywhere. All my clothes reek when I get home. I have a side room in my house that doesn't get heating and whenever I've been around a lot of smoke, I put my clothes in that room for 48 hours. I'm so happy that people cannot smoke in my office.
Saturday we went out in Sinchon again, first to the same bar, and I saw some sleazy American girls being ridiculous, wearing really short dresses (it's freezing over here) and one of them just pulled her dress up over her head. At the bar! Trust me, this place is not like Cancun on spring break, that is very uncommon, do I have to be in the same category a them? Then we went to a Rock bar, which looked like a small guitar hero themed bar. There was a huge projector that played the music video of whatever song you selected with the lyrics displayed on the bottom, with all the korean styled fruity pebbles we wanted (free with beer).
On Sunday I woke up with a sore throat, of course from the weather and not because I went out two nights in a row. I still went against the better judgment I should have had and went to the Seoul National Museum with some coworkers, the museum is free this month. The museum is massive, and we didn't get through the entire place, I might go back some day. But unfortunately, but the end of the day my head was throbbing and my throat was screaming.
My friends Kathy and Tyler were both really nice and helpful about me being sickish this week, which was comforting, and I'm almost back to normal now. i've been popping vitamin C like its no ones business.
I'm looking forward to this weekend, it's a coworkers last day today so we're all going out after work, and on Sunday my friend Kathy is having people over for brunch. I'm sure I'll have many exciting things to report back to you on Sunday evening, I'll possibly make a date with the One Tree Hill cafe again.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
My first week in Korea, in a nutshell
At the moment I'm sitting on my bed at the love motel in my jimjams and mukluks trying to regain the feeling in my feet. It snowed the first night I got here, but only for a few minutes, whereas today it's been snowing all day, some people even had a snow day today. I was unaware of the multitude of snow that would be gracing Seoul today when I set out for my first day of work this morning in my work clothes and shoes, stockings no socks, sorry mom.
This has been a whirlwind week, so much has happened that I feel like I've been here a month already. I'll attempt to describe it without writing a ten page entry, here goes nothing...
On new years eve my coworker Tyler and I met up with one of his friends from another branch of our company, they went to college together and he is quite new to Korea as well. First we stopped in at a bar in Sinchon (which is where I'm going to be living soon!) called Mint, it was located above a restaurant, up a windy staircase that makes you wonder how someone even happened upon it. It was a nice warm room that was quieter and more laidback than most bars here are, but the coolest part about it is that behind the bar there is floor to ceiling CDs and you can request any song you want (and these places tend to be emptier so you could listen to your favorite songs all night), and there are a lot of bars like this is Korea.
After Mint we went to a place called Itaewon, which is where all the foreingers hangout, and it was quite surreal. I went from seeing less than twenty westerners in three days to walking into a bar that was packed with over a hundred of them. The bar was a Canadian bar and they had a 90s cover band (swoon). They even played Weezer. We met more of Tyler's friend's friends and had some Cass (beer) for the equivalent of $3.
Interesting fact: Hite, which is another Korean beer, has formaldehyde in it, so yeah... not gonna be drinking that one. It gets you messed up! and kills you?
Housing: I hit a little bump in the road with housing, but it's all worked out now. Tyler and I both decided to get apartments in Sinchon, which is a college area and a quick commute to work, right across the street from each other. It'll be nice to have someone nearby in case of emergencies, or if life gets lonely over here. I've been talking to other people at the office and quite a few of them live in the same area so I'm looking forward to that. My apartment is small, but really homey, pretty much exactly what I wanted. I will have a Korean style shower though, which will take a little getting used to. (The snake-like shower heads that just hang on the wall, with no distinct shower area, I'll just be spraying myself, the mirror, the toilet, pretty much everything in the room will get soaked..)
I'm getting a phone tomorrow, which will be nice since I'm moving out of the motel soon and then it will no longer be as easy to get ahold of people as walking down the hall is.
I'm disappointed that hulu doesn't work here, but mtv.com does, so guess what I did yesterday? If you guessed that I watched Jwoow and Snooki getting in a fight another at the Jersey Shore then you're right. ding ding. You can move me across the world, but I'll still watch trashy television.
A lot more has happened but I have to go back to work, I have a split shift so I work in the morning, have a break, and then work in the evening. I'm doing well and looking forward to moving into my cute little studio apartment, I miss everyone back home! :)
This has been a whirlwind week, so much has happened that I feel like I've been here a month already. I'll attempt to describe it without writing a ten page entry, here goes nothing...
On new years eve my coworker Tyler and I met up with one of his friends from another branch of our company, they went to college together and he is quite new to Korea as well. First we stopped in at a bar in Sinchon (which is where I'm going to be living soon!) called Mint, it was located above a restaurant, up a windy staircase that makes you wonder how someone even happened upon it. It was a nice warm room that was quieter and more laidback than most bars here are, but the coolest part about it is that behind the bar there is floor to ceiling CDs and you can request any song you want (and these places tend to be emptier so you could listen to your favorite songs all night), and there are a lot of bars like this is Korea.
After Mint we went to a place called Itaewon, which is where all the foreingers hangout, and it was quite surreal. I went from seeing less than twenty westerners in three days to walking into a bar that was packed with over a hundred of them. The bar was a Canadian bar and they had a 90s cover band (swoon). They even played Weezer. We met more of Tyler's friend's friends and had some Cass (beer) for the equivalent of $3.
Interesting fact: Hite, which is another Korean beer, has formaldehyde in it, so yeah... not gonna be drinking that one. It gets you messed up! and kills you?
Housing: I hit a little bump in the road with housing, but it's all worked out now. Tyler and I both decided to get apartments in Sinchon, which is a college area and a quick commute to work, right across the street from each other. It'll be nice to have someone nearby in case of emergencies, or if life gets lonely over here. I've been talking to other people at the office and quite a few of them live in the same area so I'm looking forward to that. My apartment is small, but really homey, pretty much exactly what I wanted. I will have a Korean style shower though, which will take a little getting used to. (The snake-like shower heads that just hang on the wall, with no distinct shower area, I'll just be spraying myself, the mirror, the toilet, pretty much everything in the room will get soaked..)
I'm getting a phone tomorrow, which will be nice since I'm moving out of the motel soon and then it will no longer be as easy to get ahold of people as walking down the hall is.
I'm disappointed that hulu doesn't work here, but mtv.com does, so guess what I did yesterday? If you guessed that I watched Jwoow and Snooki getting in a fight another at the Jersey Shore then you're right. ding ding. You can move me across the world, but I'll still watch trashy television.
A lot more has happened but I have to go back to work, I have a split shift so I work in the morning, have a break, and then work in the evening. I'm doing well and looking forward to moving into my cute little studio apartment, I miss everyone back home! :)
Monday, December 28, 2009
My first morning in Seoul
Faced with jetlagged insomnia I have decided to be productive about it and write my first blog in Korea. Im sitting at my desk in the Milano motel, which is a love motel. Korea has love motels all over the place, which are cheesy 197o's-esk honeymoon hotels, basicaly people go to them to... be alone, and thats where I'm living for the next week or until I find housing. My room is complete with bed, tv, internet (so happy, my coworkers internet doesn't work) a shower, and little table for two, and of course: perfume, body lotion, neon pink "Am aroma essence hair gel", brushes with someone else's hair in them (no thanks) and condoms. Luckily I packed my own bedsheets!
The flight over wasn't so bad, I got to sit in the emergency exit row which is actually pretty sweet for tall people becuase there was no one in front of me, leg room on a plane=awesome. I was feeling a little sad when I first got on the plane so I distratced myself with hours and hours of free movies on the plane.
At the airport I met another newby for my program (though we won't actually be working together, we're at separate branches) and he was really cool. It was definitely nice to have another person around who was going through the same thing. Neither of us have been to Korea before. Someone from the company picked us up from the airport and drove us to Gangnam where our training will be, the drive was quite long, though the airport is right outside of Soeul it took us around an hour to get to the motel.
We were both exhausted when we got to our rooms but it was only 7:30 and we wanted to attempt to have a regular night of sleep so we went out and walked around the downtown gangnam area. It didn't look a whole lot different than Market street except for the fact that I couldn't read anything. Pictures are going to be so helpful over here. We didn't stay out that long because it was snowing and my new friend was wearing converse (not snow friendly). There are alot of underground tunnels instead of crosswalks and they are like underground mini malls. One weird thing (well maybe expected, but I was still surprised) I didn't see any other foreingers the entire time we walked around!
Today I have job training and then I go house hunting, it's going to be another long day. I hope I find a good place quickly, then I can start getting settled. Well, I'm off! Also, no spell check, so sorry if my writing is ridic.
The flight over wasn't so bad, I got to sit in the emergency exit row which is actually pretty sweet for tall people becuase there was no one in front of me, leg room on a plane=awesome. I was feeling a little sad when I first got on the plane so I distratced myself with hours and hours of free movies on the plane.
At the airport I met another newby for my program (though we won't actually be working together, we're at separate branches) and he was really cool. It was definitely nice to have another person around who was going through the same thing. Neither of us have been to Korea before. Someone from the company picked us up from the airport and drove us to Gangnam where our training will be, the drive was quite long, though the airport is right outside of Soeul it took us around an hour to get to the motel.
We were both exhausted when we got to our rooms but it was only 7:30 and we wanted to attempt to have a regular night of sleep so we went out and walked around the downtown gangnam area. It didn't look a whole lot different than Market street except for the fact that I couldn't read anything. Pictures are going to be so helpful over here. We didn't stay out that long because it was snowing and my new friend was wearing converse (not snow friendly). There are alot of underground tunnels instead of crosswalks and they are like underground mini malls. One weird thing (well maybe expected, but I was still surprised) I didn't see any other foreingers the entire time we walked around!
Today I have job training and then I go house hunting, it's going to be another long day. I hope I find a good place quickly, then I can start getting settled. Well, I'm off! Also, no spell check, so sorry if my writing is ridic.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
4 days until I leave for Seoul
The last month has flown by and my emotions have been a roller coaster of fear, anticipation, excitement, worry, second thoughts, and open-mindedness. After hearing some not-so-stellar, and questionable things about my future employer from past employees I started to get nervous. This year will most definitely be the hardest year I will have worked at this point in my life. I mean, I worked hard at times in college; midterms, finals, and doing applications, but all of those times were intense and far between with weeks of downtime before another rush. In Seoul I will be working essentially from 7am until 9:30pm, one worker wrote an ominous email, "get as much sleep as you can before you get here". Many people can attest that I can be quite grouchy when I don't get my preferred eight (or many ten) hours of sleep, so that will be an adjustment I will have to make.
I still have so many things to sort out before I leave, I have a room full of crap that looks like my closet threw up all over my bed and floor. Everything needs to either be packed, stored or thrown away. Woe is my inner pack rat! I feel pretty confidant with what I packed, I planned for any sort of medical "emergency" I might encounter (because apparently my job does not honor sick days), I have a mini medicine cabinet in my suitcase; pepto, EmergenC, vitamins, advil, sleep aid, earplugs, and the list goes on. I'm sure that if I looked hard enough I would be able to find these items in Seoul, but I also know that if I wake up feeling less than 100% I will be very grateful that what I need is in my room and not on the other end of a treasure hunt through a city I don't know.
My wonderful mother bought me a netbook the other day so that I wouldn't have to get a camera for my incredibly old laptop, and I immediately downloaded skype (which is awesome!) and tried it out with my friend Chris. We talked for over an hour and it was so much better than talking on the phone, I was able to carry my netbook all around the house and show him different things, much more interactive and it'll be great for keeping in touch with people.
Last night as I was seeing some people for the last time, my friend Joshua was talking about his recent adventure to Australia for a job over the summer, and how watching movies and tv shows online was key. He offered to send me some links for good websites to watch videos, to which I remarked, "Oh, I have a hulu account, I'll be watching that all the time."
"It doesn't work outside the U.S." He stated. I was stunned. I had never occurred to me that certain sites were location sensitive. I took the news in a manner similar to a child who had just been informed that Santa did not exist. I have the naivete of an unenlightened computer user when it comes to my knowledge of the internet and its limitations and possibilities.
I have also been successfully procrastinating the packing process, for example: this very moment. I'm off. I'm excited for what my next post will bring!
I still have so many things to sort out before I leave, I have a room full of crap that looks like my closet threw up all over my bed and floor. Everything needs to either be packed, stored or thrown away. Woe is my inner pack rat! I feel pretty confidant with what I packed, I planned for any sort of medical "emergency" I might encounter (because apparently my job does not honor sick days), I have a mini medicine cabinet in my suitcase; pepto, EmergenC, vitamins, advil, sleep aid, earplugs, and the list goes on. I'm sure that if I looked hard enough I would be able to find these items in Seoul, but I also know that if I wake up feeling less than 100% I will be very grateful that what I need is in my room and not on the other end of a treasure hunt through a city I don't know.
My wonderful mother bought me a netbook the other day so that I wouldn't have to get a camera for my incredibly old laptop, and I immediately downloaded skype (which is awesome!) and tried it out with my friend Chris. We talked for over an hour and it was so much better than talking on the phone, I was able to carry my netbook all around the house and show him different things, much more interactive and it'll be great for keeping in touch with people.
Last night as I was seeing some people for the last time, my friend Joshua was talking about his recent adventure to Australia for a job over the summer, and how watching movies and tv shows online was key. He offered to send me some links for good websites to watch videos, to which I remarked, "Oh, I have a hulu account, I'll be watching that all the time."
"It doesn't work outside the U.S." He stated. I was stunned. I had never occurred to me that certain sites were location sensitive. I took the news in a manner similar to a child who had just been informed that Santa did not exist. I have the naivete of an unenlightened computer user when it comes to my knowledge of the internet and its limitations and possibilities.
I have also been successfully procrastinating the packing process, for example: this very moment. I'm off. I'm excited for what my next post will bring!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Shopping Day
Time is running out til my departure and I still have a lot to do and buy. Packing for an entire year is odd because I know that it's inevitable that I will forget at least one crucial thing, and furthermore, how can I predict everything I will want for the next twelve months.
I was hoping that my purchases would not exceed $150, but after buying 3 sticks of deodorant (I need 5) and one opcon eyedropper for $26 (!!) Im starting to second guess my estimate. I still have quite the extensive laundry list of bathroom necessities, and business attire I need. Today Im hoping to find a lot of my list of sale (crossing fingers). I can't believe that I'm leaving so soon.
I'm excited and nervous for the new challenge I'm about to face, the first couple days that I'm in Seoul will be spent house hunting in a city that I don't speak the language. Someone advised me to find my own housing and to not go through my employer because I can save a lot more money, but it will also be much more difficult. I was picking through Craigslist Seoul today and found quite a few cheap places, one was a dorm but I have to share the kitchen and I'm not sure if I can have guests.
I really wanted to get my own place so that I have free range to have people over and get a pet, but getting a room is much much cheaper. I guess I'll see what happens when I get there.
I was hoping that my purchases would not exceed $150, but after buying 3 sticks of deodorant (I need 5) and one opcon eyedropper for $26 (!!) Im starting to second guess my estimate. I still have quite the extensive laundry list of bathroom necessities, and business attire I need. Today Im hoping to find a lot of my list of sale (crossing fingers). I can't believe that I'm leaving so soon.
I'm excited and nervous for the new challenge I'm about to face, the first couple days that I'm in Seoul will be spent house hunting in a city that I don't speak the language. Someone advised me to find my own housing and to not go through my employer because I can save a lot more money, but it will also be much more difficult. I was picking through Craigslist Seoul today and found quite a few cheap places, one was a dorm but I have to share the kitchen and I'm not sure if I can have guests.
I really wanted to get my own place so that I have free range to have people over and get a pet, but getting a room is much much cheaper. I guess I'll see what happens when I get there.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
A little Advice For Future Teachers :)
It's been a while, and I need to get myself into the habit of updating this blog more often so here goes my update... I finally got all my documents in order, sent them over to my employer and now I'm waiting for my visa number to come (14 business days).
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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