Finally Going to Leave for Korea

This entry marks the beginning of my adventure to the Land of the Morning Calm. I've been going through the process of finding a school and securing an E2 Visa for about six weeks now and I finally have a departure date, next Monday the 20th of April. I have a lot on my mind that I've been wanting to get down in a blog but it was important for me to get a departure date before I started this publication. For this initial entry I will cover my reasons for going to Korea, the process of finding an employer and getting a visa (for any future ESL teachers out there), and what I am doing to prepare for the trip.

My personal motivations for seeking employment as an ESL teacher in Korea are numerous but are not of an exceptional nature, by which I mean they are likely no different than the motivations of individuals who have found themselves in a similar position. I graduated from West Chester University over four months ago with a B.A. in English and in the period since then I have not really accomplished anything spectacular. In honesty, I've spent a great deal of time frequenting bars, playing video games, half-completing ambitious writing projects, and trying to find purpose in menial places. I've kept my college job delivering pizzas in order to support my dilatoriness lifestyle, but I find that it offers little in the way of personal accomplishment. Which brings me to my primary reason for wanting to teach in Korea: self-satisfaction.

I'm young, I have an education under my belt, and there is little to hold me back. I want to do something with my life that I can look back on and be proud of and what better job for that than teaching children. I've always been great interacting with kids and I know the joy that being a mentor can bring. Seeing that look of realization on their faces after spending hours trying to teach a concept, being able to goof around like a kid again, knowing that you've made a positive impact on a child's life no matter how big or small. These are but a few of the reasons I think I'll make a great teacher and I can't wait to dive in head first.

I also crave adventure. I love West Chester, Pennsylvania and it is a town that I know I will love to come back to one day, but at the moment her small-town charm has become increasingly monotonous. In actuality I haven't spent much of my life outside Pennsylvania. Sure there's been a couple road-trips and vacations but never really an opportunity to immerse myself in a foreign culture or gain a new perspective on life. What I really want is to be thrown into the cauldron, to discover something new everyday, to actually struggle to accomplish things I take for granted in my peaceful, yuppie, suburb. But why Korea? Well, I have friends in Gwangju at the moment and they absolutely love it. Also, like many people who are seriously considering Teach ESL I have taken it upon myself to read innumerable blogs from people in Korea and rarely have I come across the reflections of someone not enjoying themselves. It is a nation rich in ancient culture, known for great food, and it is central to many other enticing Oriental countries. It is my hopes that, for better or worse, this blog and the numerous anticipated adventures detailed within will serve as an accurate medium for informing future seekers of substantial perspective alteration.

The most practical reason for seeking employment in Korea (and I'm sure that I am not the only ESL teacher-to-be who shares this sentiment) is financial in nature. It's no secret that the global economy is in recession and in my part of the world jobs for English majors aren't exactly growing off trees. I've submitted a score of resumes and applications but the fact is that companies just aren't doing a lot of hiring. I did spend two months as a Private Investigator, which is a really cool job title to throw around at social events, but the work itself was little more than sitting in a car staring at peoples' front doors. The monotony was overwhelming. But then I heard that I can be a millionaire (in Korean Won of course) in an exotic land, with the majority of my expenses paid for! After some quick calculations I realized that I could pay off my student loans in a little over two years. I was sold.

So I'm sure a lot of people are curious as to the process of securing a job and actually going over seas. Well, like many things, it started with a Google search. After some perusing I came across teacheslkorea.com. Of all the sites I came across, theirs was the most professional, organized, and answered all my questions. Usually if a site looks that good then the people behind it mean business. I was right. Minutes after contacting them I received an e-mail from Dan, himself a veteran ESL teacher. Over a period of six weeks Dan worked tirelessly to find a job that suited the criteria I was looking for in a foreign occupation. Sure there we're some hiccups in the process but Dan was always able to quickly iron out problems and respond to all the retarded questions I had. He would never hesitate to give me a call to make sure I was comfortable with the contract I was signing or to reassure me about miscellaneous issues. I was a little disappointed that my first two picks, Ulsan and Yeosu, didn't work out, but I was finally lined up with a promising position working at public school in Suwon, right outside of Seoul.

After the contract is signed the process for the E2 Visa is taken over by Aggie. She's really friendly and just like Dan responds to e-mails almost instantaneously. This process requires one to Fed-Ex a bunch of documents to the school including transcripts, passport photos, and your ORIGINAL UNIVERSITY DEGREE. I was a little nervous about that but what the hell, so many people before me had done the same and everything looked legit. I was kind of taken aback that mailing a package weighing less than a pound to South Korea cost over $60. I guess that shows my ignorance regarding matters of global commerce. The E2 Visa is a bunch of boring red-tape. The worst part is obtaining a criminal background check which I ordered from my state police for $10. After taking a week and a half to arrive and coming back squeeky clean I had to pay another $10 to have it notarized. Then I had to drive two hours away to my state capital of Harrisburg (which is actually far more beautiful than I expected and offered a lovely afternoon perusing a free museum) to have it apostilled. I still don't get the point of having something apostilled. Something about making a document legal outside of the US. Basically you just give them another $15 and they put this fancy gold foil stamp on the front. Anyway, after all of your documents are in Korea they sit in immigration for a couple of weeks before Aggie e-mails you more documents and an E2 number from the school. Then you have to fill out an E2 Visa application (don't forget to put the E2 number at the top) a medical statement form, and some other stuff before taking it to your nearest Korean Consulate. Mine was New York City.

So let me just say that I really dislike New York. Sorry to any New Yorkers reading this but I guess I'm just not hip or forward thinking enough to fit in there. If you can live in that city for more than a week you have far more patience than I. My girlfriend and I decided to take the train and make a day of it. The train ride up was nice and we slept most of the way. Upon arriving at Penn Station we began the 24 block walk up Park Avenue to the Korean Consulate. I was well aware ahead of time how expensive this city can be and we agreed that we would prefer the exercise over paying for a cab. En route we were distracted by the Empire State Building and decided to go up to the observatory to share a kiss but wait...$18/person to ride an elevator to the top of an old building. When I was a kid you could go up for free. WTF! So we continued our walk to the Embassy bad mouthing capitalists the entire way. Since we had time to kill we decided to stop at a little coffee house and hang out. Admittedly, we're both kind of coffee snobs and if I was going to over pay for anything, it was going to be good freakin coffee. We ended up paying $30 for coffee and orange juice but I have to say, it was money well spent. The coffee was some of the best I've ever had, the orange juice was fresh squeezed, the service impeccable, and more importantly, access to a clean, accommodating restroom.

So after dickin around the park and doing some window shopping I showed up for my appointment at the Korean Consulate half an hour early. I handed my yellow envelope of documents, wrinkled from being tucked in my inner coat pocket all morning, to a nice young secretary on the beneficial side of a bulletproof glass cubical. She glanced breifly at what was in the envelope before opening an electronic security door and leading me back to a comfortable window office. I had to assume that the smartly dressed Korean woman sitting behing the giant oak desk was the Consul herself. I took it upon myself to make introductions because the Consul sat me down without so much as a word, or even looking me in the eyes. I was consistently left with the impression that I annoyed her, a notion that left me puzzled as I am in fact, irresistibly charming. Dan warned me that she would ask me a lot of questions about drug use but she primary used the interview to remind me how unqualified for the job I might be. She kept saying things like, "Oh, I see it took you four and a half years to graduate college. Isn't it supposed to only be four years?" and very sarcastically, "What makes you think that YOU could be a teacher?" After fifteen minutes of demoralizing me she finally gave it up, though very reluctantly, "Oh, I suppose you can have a visa." Thanks nice Consul lady.

So we were just about ready to get out of there but I couldn't resist whaling on this huge gong in the lobby, much to girlfriend's embarrassment. Luckily my ambient antics served to summon an Embassy librarian who turned out to be the friendliest person I'd met all day. She seemed genuinely interested in my upcoming adventure and took it upon herself to send me on my way with an armful of quality Korean literature. I tried to explain to her that I would not be coming back and could therefore not return the books but she said I was welcome to keep them if it would help me on my way. What a sweetheart! If a quarter of the Koreans I meet over the next year happen to be as nice as her it may be the best decision of my life.

So now I have five days to pack up my junk, tie up any loose ends, and say my good byes. One of the first things I did was to chop off my gorgeous locks and shave. Check out the before and after shots.



I also downloaded a copy of Rosetta Stone Korean but gave up on that within an hour. I speak pretty good restaurant Spanish but Korean is a whole other ballpark. I figure I'll be doing a lot of pantomiming. Also spent a whole day going through my closet and wardrobe, throwing clothes together and packing stuff up. I needed another suitcase and the first place I went was an Army surplus store. You can keep your $400 designer suitcases with the lazy-ass wheels. I bought an Israeli military issue duffel bag seven years ago and it doesn't have so much as a tear in it yet so I figured I'll go the same route for my second bag. $25 scored me a durable, olive drab bag with shoulder straps that not only holds a ton of stuff and is built to last, but it looks cool too. Picked up a couple suits as well.

Then came all the bureaucratic crap. Called the bank to notify them I would be doing transactions from over seas, canceled my car insurance, dealt with some tax exemption paperwork, and then hired a lawyer to represent me in some speeding ticket case in New York from months ago. Just another reason to dislike New York state. Get a speeding ticket in Pennsylvania and it says right on the citation how much it is. Send in your $150.oo bucks or however much it is and it's done with. Get a ticket in New York and they won't even tell you how much it costs. Plead guilty and it'll range anywhere from $300-$400 plus points on your license as well as this BS driver responsibility tax which charges you $150 every year for three years. Plead not guilty and you have to hire a lawyer for $250 just so they can reduce the charge to a $100 misdemeanor, but hey at least you don't get any points. Either way your still paying hundreds of dollars to some corrupt legal a**hole. Yeah yeah, I know I'm getting off topic but maybe I'll inspire some of you to do yourselves a favor and just avoid New York State completely if you can help it.

Dang, I'm feeling good about this blog already. I'll probably add a little more in a few days as I take on the continental United States and the Pacific from 30,000 feet. Hope you've enjoyed reading.