Pop goes my world

This past Tuesday, our long days of orientation finally came to an end.  We were going to meet our Korean co-teachers and be taken to our new homes and finally unpack.  Living out of a suitcase for 3 weeks isn't as much fun as it sounds (and it doesn't even sound that fun) and I was quite keen to put all my stuff away and set up my new home.

I think every one in the hotel conference room was very nervous, both the foreign and Korean teachers.  Who were these people we are supposed to work so closely with?  Will they make our lives great or miserable for the next year? 

And there was still the question of where are we living.  They say all good things come to those who wait.  Finally, after months of anticipation the moment had arrived.  As mentioned previously, I knew that my school was near Inha University.  I didn't know, though, if that meant I would be living near there too.  We were told some teachers may have to commute up to 40 minutes to get to their school.  It turns out my commute is a 10 minute walk up the street.  Which I think I'm pretty happy about, though ask me again when it's raining or freezing cold.  The neighborhood seems to be very trendy; a very university type area with lots of cafes.  To be honest, I haven't had a chance in the last few days to explore the area more but I hope to do so with one of the other teacher who was place near me.

So great, a good area (although not particularly close to the "going out spots" in Incheon, but cabs are stupid cheap here so it shouldn't be too much of a problem, right?), but what about the apartment???  Well...like I said, the area is good. :-P

My apartment, or should I say "apartment" is very much a traditional Korean apartment - the kind I saw on Youtube videos in the past.  Meaning, it's teeny tiny.  When I arrived, with my two 50-lbs bags, I had a small bed in the corner (with no bedding), a wardrobe closest (with no shelves or hangers) a desk that wasn't set up and both a bathroom and kitchen sink that leaked.  Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled.  I still had to go and visit my school and register with the Immigration office, but all I could think about was all the things I was going to have to get in order to make this place a home.  Thankfully, my co-teacher brought me to Homeplus (Korea's answer to Walmart) and I loaded up on the essentials: bedding, toilet paper, hangers, etc.  Sometimes previous teachers will leave lots of useful things for the new teachers that are taking over the apartment.  I had no such luck.  He left me with next to nothing: no plates, forks or glasses.  All I had was a pot, a pan, a cutting board and knife and a toaster (and I don't even like toast).  I had no place to put my folded clothes and both the bed and computer chair were/are wildly uncomfortable.  So, I made a 2nd late night run to Homeplus (thankfully, they close at midnight).  It's amazing what a little organization can do for the mind.  Once I bought things that started to make me feel more comfortable (ie bags unpacked and put away rather than in the middle of the floor), things started to take a better shape.

Here's a quick tour of my pad:

The bed area

The entertainment/work area

Sitting on the bed looking into the "kitchen" & apartment entrance

The "kitchen" - if you're asking "where's the fridge?", please see previous photo

Bathroom & laundry doors

The bathroom/shower

The laundry closet

I won't lie here.  Once I was alone in my new apartment that first night, I cried.  I felt so overwhelmed and alone and scared.  Thankfully, I had internet access in my apartment so I was able to call Fabian and my mom to have them help relieve my anxiety and tell me that it would be ok.  I was seriously this close to saying "Nope, sorry, I can't do this".  But with the help and support of the other foreign teachers who are having the same experience as me, in addition to my family and friends back home, my confidence is coming back that I can in fact do this.  I was thinking about it the other day, and in some strange way, I feel like I am doing this for my future kids: so that I can focus on them and not have a nagging thought in the back of my mind "I wish I had done ____ when I was younger"; so that I can share my worldly experiences with them and enrich their lives; so that when they are going through hard times in life, I can tell them about my hard experiences and help them through their troubles.

Now that the bubble of orientation I had been in for the last week is gone, reality has taken over.  It is scary, certainly, and there are times where I feel like I can't take it.  The culture shock has already started to hit me.  I will rely on you, my friends and family and general readers, to help me keep going through this wild adventure.  All supportive comments are greatly appreciated!

It's all in the preparation

After a week and a half of orientation both in Seoul, I can not tell you how excited & anxious I was to finally find out details about my new life here in Korea.  What grade(s) would I be teaching? Where will I be living? Is my apartment bigger than a shoe box?

Last Thursday, we met our coordinators for our respective areas and found our school names and where they were located.  Finally, it was confirmed to me that I was teaching elementary school.  Great!  It was my first choice (I'd rather not deal with the raging hormones of teenagers).  Next, I found out that it is near a university here in Incheon.  That's cool.  But there was still the nagging question of "where the heck am I going to be living?"  It was a question I'd have to wait another 5 days to answer.

On our last morning of our EPIK orientation in Seoul, 18 or so other teachers and I got to preform for the rest of the 200+ new teachers.  While they had been learning Korean over our few days there, our small group was selected to learn how to play Korean traditional drums.  It was actually pretty fun!  Here's a video of our performance and a picture of me all kitted out (NOTE: while you can't see me in the video as I'm blocked by some one, I'm the one that says "Drumming's cool, drumming's wild - let's play drums Gagnam style!")

*Thanks to Cory for filming and posting this!*

Sitting on the floor (especially cross-legged) gets harder with age

Since the teachers at the schools in Incheon were only finishing their contracts on the 29th of April, and ours started on April 26th, there was no place for us newbies to teach or live.  So, we got a bonus 4 days of orientation that was Incheon-specific.  Some of it was really helpful.  Some of it was clearly time filling.  But, all in all, I'm glad I went through so much orientation.  It gave me a chance to get to know the other teachers I would be seeing & hanging out with regularly in the city, in addition to getting to know the city itself better and learn a few useful Korean words/phrases.

My new stomping grounds!

We also got the chance to go to one of the rural islands near Incheon and see North Korea from across the river!  For those that know me well, you'll know how excited I was by being so close to such a foreign and isolated land.  We went to a peace monument/museum and looked at exhibits (all written in Korean) and read (or at least attempted to read) about people's wishes to be reunited once more.  They also had those viewing stations where we could pay 50 cents to get a close up view on the other side of the river.  Of course, I did it, but as I looked at the desolate land in front of me, I felt very odd.  I felt like I was spying on these people.  Like I was at some kind of side show where everyone gawks at those who are different. 

North Korea

View from across the river

Through the viewfinder!

We were about 2.3km away from one of the most isolated countries in the world!

That said, I should also mention that I did not in the least feel tension or fear to be there, so close to "the enemy".  It just felt normal, like there was no division.  If you didn't see the barbed wire fence on the drive in, you'd have no idea you were in a technical war zone.  It certainly doesn't feel like it, no matter what the media tells you.

Getting to know the others who will be working in Incheon has been a Godsend too.  We've bonded well over soju drinks and norebang.  They will be part of the crutch that helps me get through the hard times of this year.  I'm glad to have had more time to get to know them well.

And then came Tuesday, and everything changed.

To be continued...

Learning how to teach is dangerous

In my last blog post, I mentioned that I am currently at teacher orientation in Seoul.  It's meant for all of the teachers who are part of EPIK (English Program In Korea) from across the country.  It's been a great way to get to know people and make new friends to visit in the coming year.

First and foremost, it's been a really great way to learn how to teach ESL.  Each day, we've had great lectures on everything from how to plan a lesson, to how to work with co-teachers, to how to do a great power point presentation & game.  I've found it all immensely interesting and informative.  (I certainly hope that I feel the same way in the coming weeks!)  Some teachers at the orientation have already been here teaching in their schools for a few weeks, but for whatever reason or another were only able to do the orientation now.  That means they went into their teaching jobs without any formal instruction from the Korean government. It's all sink or swim.  I feel grateful that I am not in their shoes.

But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and so our long days of lectures are sporadically mixed with a bit of fun.  We got to watch a group of professional taekwondo-ers do some pretty amazing jumps, kicks and board breaks.  On tuesday, we got to try our hand at the same thing, although to a far less spectacular fashion.

Kaaahhhhh!!

I even did something I never in my life thought I'd be able to do.  I broke a wooden board.  Yes, a real, solid  wooden board.  What's that you say? Pics or it didn't happen?

Post-break!

We had to write down our wish for our time in Korea on our boards.  If we broke it, our wish would be granted.  I cut mine straight down the middle.  BAM!  I still might not be a black belt, but I think this officially makes me some one not to mess with! ;-)

***As a side note to Dan, Taekwondo means: "Tae" bottom half (kicking, jumping, running), "Kwon" top half (punching, striking), "do" philosophy of martial arts, a balance.  Homework complete!***

And....go!

안녕하세요 (hello) from Korea!

After a wonderful vacation in some amazing places with Fabian, I have now arrived in Seoul Korea to start my orientation.

But before I tell you about my arrival here, I'll wrap up the last few days we had in Istanbul.  On our "bazaar" day, we haggled hard and got some pretty Turkish style plates and of course the requisite magnet (for me) and shot glass (for Fabian).  After our shopping day, we took a $2 ferry ride to the Asian side of Istanbul and enjoyed wandering the interesting street markets.  So now Fabian can say that's he's been to Asia and we can both say that we've been to a rare intercontinental city.  Check that off the bucket list!  The following day we visited Topkapi palace, which was interesting, but I think Fabian thought it was better than I did.  We also explored the modern and trendy Beyoglu area, and took a lovely tour of the Bosphorus. On our final day together, we checked out the beautiful Cora church and ancient city walls before we met up with two of Fabian's friends from Ottawa who are currently posted at the Embassy in Ankara.

Despite the wonderful time we had together in both Istanbul and Switzerland, it was so, so, SO hard to say goodbye to my Fabian at the airport.  As expected, I cried.  Alot.  I had to apologize to the girl sitting next to me on the plane for crying so much.  But, mixed with the tears was a sense of excitement and pride.  This is what I wanted to do: live in a new city, a new country.  Mixed with fear and nerves, was joy that I am living my dream.

Touring the Bosphorus - I miss you already, my love!

Fresh off the plane from Turkey.  Anyonghaseyo Korea!

So far, I have to say the experience has been great!  Once again the flight with Turkish Airlines was great (I guess there is a reason they have been voted twice as Europe's best airline), my bags arrived intact and my clearance through customs was quick and painless.  I had a driver waiting to pick me up at the airport and brought me straight to the orientation center.  I arrived as the welcome dinner was in full swing, but I wanted to change and take a quick shower to freshen up before meeting all my fellow teachers.  So, I found my roommate, a nice Irish girl, so I could get into our room and sort out my things.  She invited me to join her and some of the other teachers for a drink at a local bar, and I gladly went so that I could get to know people.  Why not since I wasn't all that tired?

The bar we went to had a "self service" feature where they had all the bottled drinks in fridges and you just got what you wanted and paid for everything when you left.  Pretty handy, although my drink wasn't really all that cheap ($6 for a vodka cooler)...maybe I'll stick with soju from now on since it's supposedly much cheaper!

Here in the orientation center they seem to try to give us newbies a "gentle welcome" to the country.  The breakfast this morning was very western (bacon and eggs) and there's even a "north american style" outlet in my room!  I also haven't seen any kimchi yet.  The water taps are opposite from ours (push the tap down rather than up to turn on), but aside from that, everything's pretty much the same as here.

Every one's been very helpful and friendly and welcoming and I've had a chance to talk with a number of teachers who've been here for a while and it has calmed a lot of my worried and makes me even more excited about this experience.

Today's first item of the day was the full-on medical check (everything from hearing and eyesight, to blood and urine tests and xrays), and in a short time we have the official opening ceremony for this orientation week.  It promises to be a great way to start my time in Korea!

The pre-adventure adventure

When my trip to Korea started to take shape last November, I immediately started to look at flights to get me there.  As a neurotic planner and travel nut, it is in my nature to start researching flights and trips as early as possible, always trying to find the best deal and the most exciting route!  When I came across a fantastic deal with Turkish Airways, which would not only cost me less than my flight allowance budget, but would also permit me a stopover in Istanbul (a whole new city and country to visit), I was chomping at the bit!  I spoke to Fabian about my find, and we decided why not make a holiday out of it so that we can make a quick stop in Switzerland to visit his family (a mere 2.5 hour flight away) and spend a few days exploring the city together?  One of his great passions in life is history, so to experience the richness of this ancient city is definitely in his "Top 10" list of places to visit.

And so, here we are!  9 days into our 12 day trip through Europe (and part of Asia)!  Sadly, that means we only have another 3 days together before we see each other again in January - a very long and lonely 8 months from now (SAD FACE!) :'-(  But, we've tried to make the most of our time together.  As mentioned, we were able to spend almost a week visiting his family and friends in Switzerland which was wonderful.  This was my second time meeting his family, and they are just as nice as the first time I met them last year - maybe even nicer! :-)  We had many laughs playing games with his mother, sister and nieces (I can't recommend Mow enough as a great game for all ages), a wonderful night with many of his oldest and dearest friends, and of course, ate more delicious food than I probably should have!

We also made a special effort to do some wedding planning.  We have decided that given our mutual love of the mountains, we would get married in Switzerland!  Details are still not firmed up, but we're aiming for summer of 2015, which would give us time to save money and plan together after I get back from Korea.  We met with a wedding planner, and looked a few venue sites, so things are promising and moving along well for now.  Given that we're so far from the date and we have a lot of other things on our mind now (like travelling and my move to another country), we'll be able to sort things out in the weeks to come.  Having spent the day driving through the beautiful, mountainous area of Valais though is always a pleasure.  How can it not be when you have a great view like this while drinking your chocolate milk?

The "black triangle-shaped" mountain in the middle is the Matterhorn!

We arrived yesterday in Istanbul and immediately hit up the shops for many free samples of Baklava and Turkish delight.  The weather has been pretty cold, grey and windy, but this is easily remedied by eating more free samples of Baklava and Turkish delight.  I have been pleasantly surprised by the food here in Turkey.  Having been to the sole Turkish restaurant in Ottawa only once, I didn't think there would be so much great food.  But so far, I've really enjoyed our meals.  Another not so pleasant surprise I've found being here is that the cost of things are higher than I'd thought they'd be.  That's not to say that things are necessarily expensive (after coming from Switzerland, nothing is "really expensive"), but they're much more comparable to prices in Canada, which, for whatever reason, I didn't expect.

Regardless, we've had a good day and a half so far, and have seen the whirling dervishes, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Baslisica Cisterne, and the Hippodrome.  

The view from our room at the wonderful Sultan Hill Hotel

Inside the amazing Hagia Sophia - unfortunately half the room was blocked off for renos, so it was only half as amazing as it could have been, which is still pretty amazing!

The eerily beautiful Basilica Cistine

Outside the Blue Mosque

We also went for the required Turkish bath, one must experience at least once in a lifetime.  It was really quite something.

Tomorrow is "Bazaar day", where we will visit both the Grand and the Spice bazaars.  I really look forward to seeing all the colours and smelling all the strange and wonderful scents...and eating all the free samples of baklava and turkish delights!

A farewell to home

Today is the big day!  Today is the day that I leave Ottawa for the next 14 months!  Filled with excitement, nerves and the worry that I've forgotten to do something, I've been up since 4am.  After a 5 hour packing session on Friday, I am ready to go, but as always, I have that dreaded "I feel like I forgot..." feeling.  Of course, all of my to do lists items are checked off, but I suppose it's inevitable.  Today, Fabian and I will take trains, planes and automobiles to get us to our first stop on my journey to Korea: Switzerland!  (yes, I'm taking the long way 'round)  Stay tuned for beautiful mountain scenery!

This past weekend was filled with both tears and joy.  In addition to it being my last weekend in Ottawa, it was also my 30th birthday.  Both of these reasons were, of course, enough for celebration, but add on my recent engagement, and you've got yourself a great happy birthday/going away/engagement party!  I am grateful to the 40 or so friends who came out to celebrate with me!  I will miss them all very much!  In particular, I am thankful to my Fabian for helping organize the event, and to my great friends Allison and Chris, without whom the party would not have been as awesome as it was!  A highlight of the night for many was the photo booth that was set up.  Thanks to Allison's seemingly bottomless tickle-trunk, many great moments were captured!  See for yourself:

A night full of laughs, and even a couple "special guests"!

Gangnam style! 

Lucky me, even Psy made an appearance!

With the good, must come the bad, I'm afraid.  I cried many times this weekend while saying goodbye to so many special and important people - my mom and family who came up for a birthday brunch, and my many friends. I know I will see them all again soon, but it's always hard to say goodbye.  Thank God for Skype!  I'm not convinced I would be able to do this adventure without technology.

As I take this next step in my journey, I have thought about some of the things I feel that I will miss.  Obviously my family and friends are at the top of the list, but I realized the other day that I will also miss some of the even more basic things of my life like asking a shop keeper where to find a particular item.  I don't know how to say "where's the toothpaste?" in Korean.  Or sitting in a waiting area and understanding what people around me are saying.  These are the things I both look forward to experiencing and dread all at the same time.  It's a strange feeling.  And of course, the food.  I will miss our food.  Sure, I like bulgogi and bibimbap, but those that know me well, know that when I love a certain dish, I stick with it. Sadly, there will be no midnight poutines in Korea.

I will miss my home here in Ottawa, with its history and culture and small town feel, with big city amenities, but I know I will be back.  In the meantime, I am excitedly looking forward to new views, new places and new experiences!

Love & marriage & kimchi

In my last blog post 2 weeks ago, I talked about the many changes going on in my life: the passing of my cats, the ending of my job, the moving from my home.  Little did I know I should have waited another few days to post that write up of big changes because another big change was about to happen.

Fabian liked it, so he put a ring on it!

Fabian proposed, and of course I said yes!  We had been talking about our future for quite some time and we've both thought from very early on in our relationship that we were the right ones for each other.  We have so much in common (from both hobbies and interests, to the important things like beliefs and values), but when we differ on things we are always able to respect each others differences and find a compromise where we can both be happy.  I knew that an engagement was coming at some point, but I really didn't know exactly when.  Not being one for surprises (I'm too much of a planner to enjoy uncertainty), the knowing it was coming, but not when was fine for me!   He did a good job too: a romantic trip to one of our favourite little inns in the area and just before going down to a very nice dinner, he asked me to be his wife.  I couldn't stop smiling the whole night.

And of course, the ring!  It's a vintage style, with an emerald as the center stone, surrounded by diamonds.  It's so elegant and delicate but unique at the same time.  I just love it!

I'm grateful to him for proposing before I left.  While it would have been very romantic to have done it while we were in Switzerland or touring Hagia Sofia, we're now able to celebrate this moment with all of our family and friends.  Celebrating a year later, while doable, would have kind of sucked all the newness and excitement out of it.  

One idea I had had about my upcoming time in Asia was to have a wedding dress made while I was over there.  I mean, the tailors in Hoi An alone are famous for their work.  But I also wanted to have the quintessential mother-daughter bonding moment of wedding dress shopping.  So, thanks to Fabian's proposal timing, I asked my mom, grandmother and great aunt to come to look at wedding dresses with me and just get an idea of what looks good on me (often what looks good in a picture or on a hanger looks very different when on a body).  After trying on a few different dresses, I tried on one that changed everything.  It was elegant and glamorous, with just the right amount of drama and sexy.  As my mom said "Andrea, it's just so you".  Even though it was nothing as I imagined it to be in my mind when I thought of my wedding dress, I knew it was the perfect dress for me.  My mom asked me how I would imagine Fabian reacting to seeing me in it, that's when I started to cry.  That's when I knew it was the right dress - I knew he would love it.  After we all cried a little (yes, that does happen in real life, and not just on "Say yes to the dress"), I made the very extremely impromptu decision to buy it.  I was in a state of shock for the rest of the afternoon.  Who plans to move to a foreign country in just a few weeks but buys a wedding dress as a last minute purchase?  Crazy ol' me, that's who!  Of course, since I know Fabian reads this blog, I can't post details about the dress, but I promise in due time to post proper pictures.

So I suppose you're wondering, how does this all change your plans for Korea, Andrea?  Well, to put it simply, it doesn't.  I am still going.  The proposal was not Fabian's desperate ploy to try to get me to stay.  It is a show of our commitment to each other and to making this work.  Now, whenever I am feeling sad and alone and am questioning the 10,000 km between us, I just need to look down at my hand to be reminded of  the wonderful man I have waiting for me, patiently, at home.  And when I go to leave and say goodbye to the (hopefully) many wonderful friends I make while in Korea, I will also look down at my hand to have those feelings of sad goodbyes replaced with the excitement of my reunion with him.

So while some of the wedding planning is underway (we have a general idea of where and when - details TBD), our engagement will be a bit prolonged because of my trip.  On the bright side: lots more time for planning! Coincidentally, one of my favourite hobbies!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

For years, my life felt static - my job was the same, my home life was the same - I felt like I was in the same place I was 5 years ago. I had seen many of my friends get married and have kids, move abroad and just move into the next phase in their lives.  I admit I was envious of their progression in life.  For all my complaining, 2013 has certainly delivered on being a year of major life changes so far!

I found out at the end of January that my two cats, Bubbles and Moosh were much sicker than I realized. I had brought them in for their annual check up a couple of weeks before bringing them to their foster home (a great couple agreed to look after them while I was in Korea).  They were both diagnosed with serious illnesses.  I was in shock to say the least.  I had known for some time they weren't in the best shape, but I did not expect the severity that was reality. 

I struggled for a while to decide what to do: get them treatment and hope they get better, or say my final goodbyes to them while we're all still together? I had to make the agonizing decision that it was in their best interest to say goodbye.  I knew their conditions would worsen once their lives were turned upside down.  A new home and losing their "mom" would put a stress on them, would be that much harder for their foster parents (they didn't sign up to look after 2 sick cats!) and would be so painful for me to watch from afar, when I know I would want to be there with them as they struggled to just survive.

R.I.P. my two little guys

 Bubbles 2000-2013

Moosh 2002-2013

**Photos courtesy of Matt K.**

I am forever grateful to the Bytown Cat hospital for their home care service.  They were able to come to my home and save the cats the stress of travelling in their final moments.  Saying goodbye to them was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but I believe it was the right decision.

I had mentally prepared myself for months to say goodbye while I was gone overseas, but I just thought it was temporary.  I my mind, they're just at their foster home and I'll see them later.  The constant realization that they're not there and I'll never see them again has really been the hardest part.  It's like a reoccurring brick wall I hit every time I think about them (which is a lot).  After having them in my life for over 10 years, it was a real blow to lose them. Their deaths was the first time I experienced real grief.  I don't look forward to more losses like theirs.  

While I had said a tearful goodbye to my boss in December of last year, I didn't feel like that part of my life had ended just yet - I knew I would still talk to him regularly, just we had always done. The death of the cats were the first real big change I would experience this year.

I was glad for the timing of my impending departure: I packed up and moved out of my apartment just days after the cats' deaths.  I couldn't stand being in an empty apartment without them.  I had always planned to live with Fabian for my final two months in Ottawa (to spend as much time together before I left), so really, the timing of it all worked out well.

Last week was another big change: the end of my time at the Senate.  It took me days to go around to say goodbye to all the staff that I had worked with over the years.  I did my best to say goodbye to them all personally.  It certainly was bittersweet - I was looking forward to a new challenge but I know I would also miss the place I've loved working for the last 10+ years.

Now that I'm unemployed for almost 2 months, I find myself spending time with friends, preparing for my trip and obsessing over completing the Aeroplan Star Challenge (if I can do it, we'll be able to fly Fabian over to visit me in Asia twice!)

My life has been anything but static in 2013.  My job is gone, my home is gone, my two guys are gone.  They're all changes both good and bad.  I can only imagine what other changes this year will bring for me!  I can only hope for more of the good!

Working girl

Jobs.  We all need them.  Those that don't have them, want them.  And those that do have them, are usually looking for a better one.  As my boss's retirement approached, I was constantly getting asked what my new job would be.  Even when I said my plan was to teach English overseas, I would regularly be asked specifics about a job I hadn't even started to look for.  For months, a guaranteed question in every conversation I would have with my mom was "did you find a job yet?"

I had heard and read a lot about the great demand for English teachers overseas, so I wasn't really worried about finding something in the end.  I felt it better to take my time to prepare, in what I felt to be the "proper way".  I wanted to get my TEFL teaching certificate first, then sort out exactly where I wanted to go, and then I would worry about finding an actual job.  The first two steps took a bit of time (see previous post for my story on those), but finally in November I was ready to tackle step three.  I've previously gone into why I've decided to do this, but now let's talk about the how. 

Over the summer, I met many people who shared their previous experiences of teaching in Korea with me.  All of them had been good.  When I asked them how they found their jobs, most just told me that they had looked online (places like Dave's ESL cafe and the like).  I had looked on the job board on that site and was completely overwhelmed.  I didn't know what offers were considered good, which were bad, which came from reliable companies, or which from the shady places you read about on the net.  During one of these conversations in September, I was speaking with a friend who had previously gone over to teach in Korea and he recommended Canadian Connections to me.  They are a recruitment agency based out of Toronto that deal exclusively with teachers going to Korea (and not just from Canada, so don't let the name fool you!)  I read over their website and looked at some of their online videos.  Seemed like an ideal way to really kick-start this adventure.  I thought with their experience and contacts, they would help make the job search and everything leading up to actually starting the job much easier to manage, and hopefully much less stressful.  Turns out, I was right!

I sent them my ESL teaching-geared CV (it's meant to be a different layout that your standard CV), within a week, I had had an interview with one of their recruiters and had 4 job offers by the following week!  I considered them all carefully, since they each had their own pros and cons.  To live in Seoul but work in a private institute or live outside the big city but work in a public school?  Ultimately, I made my decision to be at a public school just outside of the capital in Incheon - Korea's 3rd largest city, home of the country's major airport.  Being 3 times the size of Ottawa, and only a 1 hour subway ride from Seoul, I thought this was the best option for me.  So, as of April 21st, that will be my new home for a year!

For those considering teaching in Korea, I do recommend Canadian Connections.  They've been great to work with and have been very patient with all of my questions.  I also recommend taking a chill pill while going through this process. It can take a while for the paperwork to go through and no matter how organized you are, there's only so much you (and the recruiters) can do.  Right now, I'm playing the waiting game for my contract to come in.  I had sent all of my documents in back in December hoping to speed up the process, but so far, no such luck.  I just hope it comes in soon!  Once it does, I have to go to the Korean Embassy to apply (and get) a work visa.  All this before I leave in just over a month! 

It's so hard to believe that I have such a short time left at home!  I will miss my friends, family and Fabian - indeed my whole life here in Ottawa - so much while I am gone!  I hope to spend as much time with them as I can before I leave!  They say time flies when you're having fun.  This one time, though, I hope that expression doesn't hold true!

Why Korea? You don't even like kimchi!

In my previous post, I talked about what prompted me to decide to move to Korea.  My job of 8 years was coming to an end, and I felt I wanted to experience something different.  Having been in the same job since I graduated university, I felt that I learnt all that I could from this position; I didn't feel challenged by it anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the job, my place of work and heck I even loved my boss!  But when I can fill out a travel claim in my sleep, it's time to try something different, don't you think?  I knew working for another Senator wasn't an option.  Not only would it mostly be doing the same things, I'm not sure I would have found a Senator that was as great a boss as my previous one.  No offence to the many great Senators I've gotten to know over the years, but my old boss was a truly great man.  I think they would agree with me too - every one always loved him.  Over our near decade of knowing each other,  we had gotten to know each other and our families quite well.  He certainly has become like a father figure to me.  I have tremendous admiration and respect for him and I know that that won't go away now that I no longer work for him.  I will always be grateful that he took a chance on a very young and inexperienced fresh-out-of-school girl to essentially run his whole office.  It was a big leap of faith on his part, and I hope that I did my best for him.  I certainly hope that I can one day come back to the Senate under a different role in administration because it has become like a family to me.  I will miss walking into Parliament and feeling the history and privilege of just being there.  But just as a baby bird must someday leave the nest, I had to spread my wings a try something new.

When beginning my research into teaching abroad, one of the first things I looked into, was getting a TEFL certificate.  While some people I spoke to said it was unnecessary  I thought it was important for a few reasons:
1) Having no experience teaching made me nervous.  Sure, I've done lots of public speaking and am very comfortable talking to people, but having to create and execute an actual structured lesson plan? Nothing.  So, while not as in depth as an actual teaching degree (by far! this was only a 60 hour in-class, 40 hour online program) I thought it would be a good "crash course" on how to teach.
2) Both of the programs I was looking into offered help with finding an overseas teaching job for all of their graduates.  From everything that I saw and read, finding a job in Korea (or anywhere for that matter) is stressful at best and extremely overwhelming.  Job boards are filled with ads and it's difficult to know exactly where to start.  So if some one was going to offer to help me, of course  I'd take them up on that offer!
3) Usually having a TEFL certificate, again while not being a Bachelor of Education, shows the employer you're serious about the job and will help when you get hired when you have zero experience, and might even push you to a higher pay bracket.  Of course, for some people doing this, money isn't everything.  Not that it is for me either, but a girl's got bills to pay!  Being able to live decently and have a bit of money to put aside at the end of the month was important to me, so this little piece of paper just helped me that much more.

After a few weekends this past summer, I had my certificate in hand and was ready to start the official job hunt.  But where did I want to go? China? Japan? Korea?  The answer was still a question mark at that point.  I had been on vacation in China the previous summer and really loved it so it was high on the list.  I had been to Tokyo briefly and thought it was an interesting option too.  To make a decision, I had to ask myself why I was actually doing this.  Why did I want to give everything up for a year, and move to the other side of the world?  This was an important question and one I've had to remind myself of the answer many times over the last few months as the nerves have started to set in.

I want to move and teach overseas because I want to have a different experience.  I want to experience living in a different country, in a different culture, with different challenges.  As strange as it sounds, I even want to experience culture shock. (Please remind me of this statement when I am sad and questioning my decision to move overseas and want to come back early!)

Of course, all of the countries would easily meet all of these criteria.  I was interested in each of their cultures, although admittedly, I love dim sum and sushi far more than I like kimchi.  In the end, my choice of country boiled down to the benefits.  Each country will fly you there and back.  China and Korea both provide free accommodation to their teachers, Japan gives you an allowance and you're on the hook for the tab which can eat into your savings when you're in one of the most expensive countries in the world.  China pays about half of what Korea does, so in order to save a bit more money, Korea won the battle for my new home.  Since the decision was made, I've done all that I can to embrace the Korean culture: taking language lessons at the Korean Embassy, dinners out at local Korean restaurants, and had a 4 hour marathon karaoke session Korean-style (isn't karaoke the national sport over there?).  I hope that doing these things to prepare will lessen the severity of my culture shock that I know is inevitable.

Every one I've talked to who has gone over, and everything that I've read online, has told me that there is a pattern that happens when some one moves to a foreign culture:
Phase 1 - the honeymoon phase, where everything is exciting and new.  I've been told this may last for the first few months after my arrival.
Phase 2 - culture shock hits, you're alone in a strange land and all you want is to be home with everything familiar.  I've been told to keep myself busy when this stage comes, as sitting at home sulking will only make it worse.  I've also be advised to avoid alcohol and becoming a regular at the local ex-pat pub during this time as some who have never left this phase congregate there and will try to bring me down with them.
Phase 3 - acceptance of the life and culture of this new land and the ability to enjoying it for it is: a beautiful experience.

I fully expect to go through each of these phases, and I'm sure it won't all be easy or pretty.  I hope you, my friends and readers, will all be there to experience the highs and lows with me!