Vacation!!

Happy holidays everyone! Alexandra and I finally get to explore the city and spend some quality time together, but we're both suffering from a terrible cold! Mine is not as bad as hers, but we've been confined to my apartment for more than 24 hours, which really sucks.

We went out last Thursday, just the two of us to Hongdae for dinner and a night out on the town. It was Christmas eve and we had dinner at midnight and went to two bars until 5:30 a.m., which is so not like me, but time sort of flew. We had a good time, got into a tiff, got into a cab to take us home. When we arrived back at my house, I told the cab driver that I didn't live here and Alexandra was like, yes you do!! Then I went straight to bed and she stayed up making a list of why we got into our tiff. So when we woke up the next morning she asked me if I was still mad at her and I told her no, then she read me the list, which I can't stop talking about. She says that I have too many rules at my house, which I never noticed I had. So I'm trying to work on that, but not trying that hard.

Last Saturday we went snowboarding two hours away from Seoul. It was a trek and a half to finally get on the mountain, which was all faux snow, but we had a good time. It took me two times down the bunny hill to finally get my snow legs back, and it was Al's first time snowboarding, so she had a difficult time, but she tried her darnedest! I have two huge bruises on the side of my leg from thinking I was cool enough to take off my board while standing on it...I fell right on top of it! Hilarious!

We have become obsessed with finding warm hats and have recently purchased Dunkin Doughnut hats with bears on the sides, where our ears are. They were only $3 or 3,000 won, and now we want these penguin hats that are all the rage from Baskin Robbins, the only problem is that they won't sell them to us, we have to purchase an ice cream cake to get one penguin hat, and the ice cream cakes are at least $20, which economically don't make sense. I mean we could get almost 7 Dunkin Doughnut hats with that kind of money!

Then we went to explore the city with one of my teacher friends, Meghan and her visiting brother Keith, who we have given multiple names since then which include (KeithEKins, Kikers, Kiki and K.K.). We tried to go to Seoul Tower, but it was snowing so much that the taxi drivers wouldn't take us there. So that night we decided to have a dinner at "Pig & Cow" which is just what we call the restaurant behind my apartment because they have a picture of a pig and a cow on it. We proceeded to drink mass amounts of Soju and beer and have a fun dance party. I videoed part of it and may post it, but may not....I still haven't decided.

We've sampled a couple different noodle places and have named them Nice Noodle and Mean Noodle. At mean noodle, when you walk in the door they basically ask you what you want right then and there. The only problem is, I always think that they are asking how many in my party, so I simply respond with two and throw up the peace sign. We found nice noodle the other day and the owner is awesome and speaks English. So far Al and I have been there 3 times in the last 3 days. We tried this awesome seafood noodle soup last night that was really spicy and loved it. It may be our meal of choice and it was only $6. So you can't do better than that. I will promise to start posting pictures of the food, kids, Seoul and whatnot as soon as I take some good ones. Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the holidays! I miss you a bunch!

Seoul Cold!

Bbbbuuuuurrrrr! Its so cold, freezing cold. It hasn't snowed since my first week here, but let me tell you, its cold enough to snow. I have a sore throat and I think that I'm losing my voice, which is really terrible since that is a necessity to teach. I've been gargling with salt water, drinking tea and orange juice, taking vitamin C and cold medicine, and I can't shake it. So last night I tried beer and soju. I mean when all else fails alcohol should kill all of the germs, right?!

I was taken to the hospital last week, for my blood test and urine test. I thought that was all that it was going to be, but boy was I wrong. After I gave my blood and urine, they wanted to take an x-ray of my chest. Then they had a dentist check out my teeth, then they weighed me, measured me, not just my height and took my blood pressure. Then I had to sit with a doctor and go over my medical history, at which point he had to check my breathing by going under the front of my shirt. I was a little weirded out by this, I'm used to doctors going up the back, but when in Rome, right?! My health checked out fine, so that was good.

I started teaching on my own this week. The kids are really cute and smart. Each time I go through a lesson with them, it amazes me how quick they can build on the English they already know. I keep thinking back to junior high and high school and how difficult learning Spanish was for me. They all have a speaking test with me next week, so the past couple of days I've been doing review with them, and trying to come up with games that incorporate vocab and grammar. So that was the highlight of school.

Last weekend was my first weekend out here and I went to another teacher's going away party. Going out in Seoul was really fun. The bar that we went to had dart boards, a pool table, and a shuffleboard table. Oh, and there's no tipping at all here. Not at bars and not at restaurants and everything here is pretty cheap. Food, public transportation, clothes, etc.

I am very excited for this weekend! Its Anna's last weekend (the teacher I'm replacing) and Alexandra gets in tomorrow!!!!! I can't wait! I'm sure that we're going to get into some sort of shenanigans! So get ready for all of the silly stories to begin.

I Made It!

Hi Everyone,

Well, I made it to Seoul late last night. After two long flights, the first one I was sitting at the back of the plane, next to the bathroom, in the aisle seat. Not awesome, by any means. Anyhow, I watched 3 movies on the flight from SFO to Tokyo, Funny People, State of Play, and 500 days of Summer. All of which weren't bad. I didn't sleep as much as I would have liked on the flight to Tokyo, but I did sleep on the shorter flight to Seoul, so that was good. I had this fear the entire time I was on the flight that no one was going to fetch me from the airport.

Luckily there was a taxi driver waiting for me. He didn't say two words to me, but that was fine. I arrived at 10 p.m. and it took about 45 minutes to get to my apartment. The driver had a large GPS with an antenna on it, after a while he changed the GPS to TV mode. So we watched tv as he drove me to my apartment. I thought to myself, hmmmm....we're not even allowed to talk on the phone while driving, and here you can watch t.v. while you drive....yeah, I feel safe!

When we finally arrived at my new home, I met with a guy that works at the school. He showed me to my apartment and told me that he would pick me up at 10:30 a.m. to take me to the school to observe for the day. I was more than surprised that I would be jumping right in. I wanted at least a couple of days to adjust, but I went with it. I woke up this morning at 7 a.m. and tried to unpack a little bit, then I watched some movies I had brought with me. Before I knew it, it was time to go to the school.

The school is about a 15 minute walk from my apartment. When I left this morning, I remember thinking, its not that cold, and I thought that it was going to snow. While I was going through the orientation packet, it began to snow outside, and it looked beautiful. It didn't last that long, and there isn't any snow on the ground. But it is really chilly!

I observed a bunch of classes today and met a lot of the teachers. Everyone is really nice and I can already tell that this is going to be a fun year.

I will keep you posted on the haps, and I'll post some pictures and videos soon, I'm just too tired right now. I miss you all and I can't wait to talk to you! Skype me anytime, I'm 17 hours ahead of you! Love you!

T-Minus 13 days....

I know that its been forever since my last post, but things have been really hectic. I received my departure information last week and since then I've had so much anxiety. I know that I've been preparing for this for the past six months, but now its sooooo close! I leave on December 6th. December 6th is quickly approaching and I'm going to be in another country on the other side of the world for an entire year. That is a lot to wrap my head around. I'm constantly writing "to do" lists at all hours of the day. I wake up in the middle of the night and think about more things that I need to take care of, need to pack, or if I'm going to be a good teacher. But I'm so glad to be going through all of this with Alexandra, that way I don't feel crazy. Don't get me wrong, I know I'm going to have the time of my life, but I also know that I'm going to be crazy homesick for a bit.

On another note, I had two going away parties and both were really fun! I'm so grateful to all of you who came out to wish me bon voyage! And for those of you who couldn't make it, I'd like to share a picture of the fun that you missed out on. Enjoy!

The Korean Consulate Experience

I received my visa number last week and excitedly called the Korean Consulate to schedule an "interview" or so it was called by my recruiter. I spoke to a nice consulate worker who told me to arrive on Monday (today) between 9-11 a.m. I excitedly asked my friend's dad to tag along for some company. Well, it decided to rain today, and the freeways were a mess! It took us almost an hour and a half to get to San Francisco, then came my favorite part, navigating through the city. Needless to say, I got lost and almost got stuck getting on the Golden Gate Bridge, which was not where I was supposed to be. I called the consulate as it was five minutes to 11 a.m. and was told that as long as I got there before 11:30 a.m. I'd be fine. I finally found it, (its in a residential area), and I had to parallel park on a hill between a mini-van and an Audi, which I did perfectly. I raced inside as it was 11:15 a.m., and was asked for all of my documents, which I had ready. In the meantime, my friend's dad (Hank) was making small talk with some of the other people that were there. I literally spent 10 minutes there and it should take two days to process, which works out perfectly as I'm planning to meet up with the old recruiting gang in the city on Wednesday. So, we're leaving the Consulate, and I made a comment on how it would have been so awesome if the mini-van was gone, because I know its going to be tough to navigate out of the spot without "bumping" into their car. Hank helps me by pulling the e-break, while I back up, thinking I had backed up enough, and not hitting the Audi, I get ready to turn the wheel to get out of the spot....then it happens, I totally roll into the mini-van. Well, it gets better, the owners of the mini-van are outside my car and have this look of horror on their face. Then they tell me, "That's my car". I say, ok, just let me get my car out of the spot and we'll see if there is any damage. We got the car out of the spot, and to my luck, Hank had helped these people locate their child inside the Consulate. So they were very nice, said that they understood and since there was no damage let me go without even getting out of the car! That was awesome!

Its almost official, my departure date is December 2nd. The actual flight will be purchased once I get the visa stamp on my passport. I'm really excited and am starting to plan my goodbye party(ies).

Not sure if I mentioned this, but I recently visited my travel buddy, Alexandra in Boston and got to meet her amazing family and friends. I had a great time in New England and am considering moving there once I return from my Korean adventure. I'm also getting excited for my upcoming trip to Seattle to visit Nici and Mike!

Pushed back...

Hey All,

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time, I was without my computer while it got re-vamped at the apple store. So now its better then ever!

As you know, I accepted a position and since then, I have mailed all of my important documentation (like my diploma) to Korea. The school emailed me to let me know that they received my documents and that they are applying for my work visa, but the teacher that I'm replacing has decided to stay a few weeks extra. Which means that I'm supposed to now leave at the beginning of December, which means that I'll be able to be home for Thanksgiving, which is one of my favorite holidays because its all about food!

I have been corresponding with the teacher that I'm replacing and we're going to Skype soon, which is awesome, because I still have a few questions for her. The school provided me with two other teacher's contact info, so I'll be emailing them soon. I'm getting excited and anxious to get there.

In other news, I'm SUPER EXCITED to go to Boston and Maine on Wednesday! I'm super pumped to see Al and meet her parents/friends, not to mention to see the north east for the first time. And I'm so happy to be able to share in Donya and Jeff's wedding. I can't wait to see Maine in the fall. I'm sure there will be stories once I get back! ;)

And I've booked a flight to Seattle for Halloween to see Nici and her Seattle-ites before I leave for Seoul! Just a couple of trips to get my goodbyes out.

I was also pleasantly surprised, but my dad sold his business and is now working for the man who he sold his business to! This was great news because it takes a lot of worrying off of my mind.

Hmmm....what else....oh, I changed my hair again. Its super blonde! Maybe I'll post a pic later.

Accepted!

So I have accepted a teaching position at Gangseo SLP in Seoul!!! Currently my departure date is sometime around November 16th...(this is tentative as it may take a while for the visa to be processed). I was offered an excellent contract, took a couple of days to review it, and then emailed with one of the foreign teachers there. I asked her a ton of questions and she was patient enough to answer most of them. But after reading her responses to my questions, I felt more sure that this is the right school for me. (Although only time will tell!)

Today I've been running around getting things done to get my visa documents together and get my visa processed. I took 3 sets of passport photos, took my background check to get an Apostille, (which is basically a stamp that says its officially from California) and cost an arm and a leg! Now I just have to wait to get my visa number and then schedule an appointment with the Korean Consulate for an in-person interview, which should be interesting...

So now I'm thinking about all of the things I need/want before I leave. Its so tough to plan to pack for all four seasons. Being a native Californian I basically have two seasons Summer (almost year round) and Winter (rain from time to time). So it will be very interesting for me to live and experience the whole snow/winter thing! I'm looking forward to it though.

Now I'm just waiting for Alexandra to interview with a great school in Seoul and accept a position too. Then the real excitement can begin.

Is This The One?!

I declined that offer that I wrote about a week or so ago. Since then I've had a few more interviews and offers. I had an interview on Sunday with a school that has a really cute website. It went really well and I was offered a position with the school. I received the contract and its really good. I asked the headmaster for a current foreign teacher's contact information to ask all the nitty-gritty questions and I'm still waiting for her response. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to accept and I'm really excited about it!! So keep your fingers crossed for me that this is a great school and the perfect school for me.

With the realization of possibly leaving soon, I'm starting to have a little anxiety. I've been thinking of all of the things that I need to do and get before I leave. I'm getting sad to say goodbye to my family, friends and all of the families I babysit for. I know that its going to be a tough transition but I'm looking forward to all of the excitement and adventures to come.

I finished one of my books on Korea, Culture Shock Korea, today. I learned a lot about Korean history, customs and that most of my time is going to be taken up with going out with Korean co-workers. It sounds a little overwhelming if you ask me. I mean, I need my "me time" to recharge my internal battery almost everyday. Not to mention, you're basically required to drink at all social outings. (Should be interesting!)

I'm sure that once I'm in Korea I'll be blogging more, but I encourage all of my readers to get on Skype so that we can actually have regular conversations...email can only get you so far.

Pending Contract

I can't believe that Alexandra and I were supposed to leave for Prague today...its kind of a sad day. Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited about the Republic of Korea and I know that we'll have fun anywhere, but it would be awesome to be drinking Pivo tomorrow.

I've been talking to a few recruiters and a couple hagwons (private schools) via email. I've had two interviews and was offered a job contract last week. I've been researching the school, but I want to take a look at another contract. I was supposed to have a phone interview tonight, with a school that is looking to hire two teachers. And while I did get a call, I don't think that it was the person I was supposed to interview with. It was such an awkward conversation/interview. I only have one other phone interview to compare it with, but it was really short and the interviewer said "like" 20 times. And I thought that I sometimes spoke like a valley girl!

So I have to make a decision on the offer that was made to me last week by tomorrow. Which would mean I would leave either at the end of October or in early November! I just received my official transcripts from UCSB. I still need to obtain a criminal background check, which is going to be so much fun! And did I mention that they want my official diploma?! Crazy!

Other than that, life has been pretty good lately. I've been baby sitting a lot, which is super fun. And hanging out with random friends here and there. I watched The Time Traveler's Wife last week and totally cried my eyes out (great movie). I also saw Inglorious Bastards, which I didn't like. I should have known that it was going to be bloody/gory, but I wasn't expecting it to be that bad!

Well, I'll keep you posted as to my decision on the pending contract once I decide!

Time To Apply

Hi Everyone!

I know that its been a long time since I last blogged, but I was waiting until I got my resume out there.  For the past couple of weeks I've been working on my resume, obtaining my letters of recommendation, taking pictures for my resume, requesting my official transcripts and a duplicate copy of my degree.  Next I need to get a criminal background check and a physical.  But that's on the list.  

Today I spoke to my Asia TEFL advisor and she gave me a lot of information, but the most important was to post my resume ASAP, so I did.  Its up on www.eslcafe.com, and I've already applied to a couple recruiters and received a couple responses.  So there is some promise, but I really need to focus on applying directly to schools.  

I'm planning on leaving in late October or November, since I'm now attending Donya & Jeff's wedding in Maine in October, and taking a flight out to Boston to see Alexandra and meet her family.  Since we pushed back out start date, it really on leaves us with the option to work at a private school (Hagwon), which has its pluses and minuses!  The most positive part is that we'll be working with at least one other English speaking teacher, if not more.  At the public schools its pretty much guaranteed that you'd be the only foreign teacher there.  But the Hagwons will work us or expect us to work quite a bit more than the public schools.  Either way, I'm excited.

I also went on www.amazon.com to purchase a couple books on South Korea along with a beginner's CD and workbook to learn to speak Korean.  I'm sure that its going to be tough, but I'm going to get some basic phrases down!  

Had a great weekend in SF with Nici and Mike.  I got a lot of things on my list that I want/need before I go abroad.  New digital camera, a backpacking backpack and a new purse that has a compartment for my laptop!  Now all I need is a couple converters and I think that I'll be finished purchasing supplies.  

Some other great news....got a bit of a refund on my flight to Prague!  Sure it wasn't a refund of the entire ticket, but I'm getting money back into my account, so I couldn't be happier!  I also received an email from the Asia Program Manager at my online school, which contained a ton of information.  Basically they are helping us secure a job before we go and advising us of what we have to get together in order to get the work visa situation completed.  She advised that it could take anywhere between 30-60 before we leave.  Which is exciting because it gives me some more time here with friends and family!  

Seoul WHAT?!

I know what you're thinking...I though they were going to Prague...what the heck happened?!  Well, a few things...we booked our flights...then I started to freak out about everything.  For the longest time I was overly confident about finding a job, apartment, etc.  Then, one night last week I tried to fall asleep and I started to freak out about everything.  You see, I still have quite a bit of debt that is always looming over me...and making $800/month, not knowing how much rent will be, or how much flights will be when we come home all started to make me worry!  So I wrote Alexandra an email with all of my concerns and she proposed we go to Seoul.  

For the longest time I was anti-going to Asia.  Partly because I want to live in Europe, travel around Europe and just mix in.  Alexandra sent me a posting that showed that Seoul pays for almost everything, flights both ways, a studio apartment, $2000/month with really low taxes.  So I did what I always do, I made a pro-con list for Prague and Seoul and Seoul won!  We're still going to do a bunch of traveling....just to all of the Asian countries (Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.)  

There are a couple of issues with the change... 1. We've already purchased our flights to Prague on www.cheapoair.com, and they are non-refundable flights.  So if anyone knows how I may be able to talk them into giving us our money back or giving us a credit, that would be awesome.  I've already called them, and they told me something like it would be a $350 change fee and our flights were only $400 so it wouldn't be worth it.  2.  We have no idea when we're leaving now.  It takes a while to obtain a work visa in Korea...and I still have to finish my cover letter!  

On a side note, I've been put in touch with people who have lived in Seoul and people who are still there teaching!  So I have a couple "ins" if you will!  Thank you Brad and Annie!  

First in Flight!

We booked our flight to Prague today!  So exciting.  Then we spent like 30 minutes calling the airlines to make sure that we're sitting together.  The whole time I was on the phone with Alexandra and the airlines (1 hour and 15 minutes), I thought that I was talking to her Verizon to Verizon.  The moment I realized I wasn't, I hung up!  That is so many daytime minutes....now I'll have to cut back!  Next we need to book our hostel, since we'll be looking for apartments our first week there.  Should be pretty interesting.  The excitement of leaving is mixed with all of the uncertainties.  

Al posted some questions on a blog cafe and this one guy keeps responding to everyone else who has positive things to responding to Al's questions.  Its like he's a super hater and is trying to dissuade people from wanting to teach English in Prague.  I'm still staying positive, but I hate that I "hear" his nagging voice in the back of my mind.  

On a positive note, I'm going to complete my 20 hours of classroom observation/tutoring on time.  I've been observing at De Anza College and its so much fun.  Its really rewarding and makes me think that I'm doing something that will be so rewarding.  I just hope that we'll have a bunch of interviews scheduled for the first week that we're there. 

The online course is getting tougher.  We're learning grammar, which is tough in itself.  We take the English language for granted.  All of the rules and whatnot are going to be a challenge to teach, but who doesn't love a challenge.  It keeps things interesting...

Learn The Basics

I had quite a busy week...I finally got to observe an ESL class at De Anza College and it was really eye-opening.  The class itself was really fun and the students were really amazing.  They are so excited and dedicated to learning English.  I took a ton of notes and the Professor is an amazing teacher!  She's been doing it for 17 years and she went to Japan to teach her first EFL class!  But she's Czech, which I think is totally a sign.  I learned that most of the De Anza ESL teachers taught abroad for at least a year, and then they came back, got their masters and all got jobs at De Anza. So there's an idea for what to do when I get back, if I'm a good teacher.  

I went to Wicked with my friend Veronnica yesterday, she's also taking the TEFL course and wants to teach in Prague.  While we were at lunch she started telling me all of the Czech words/phrases she knew.  And it sounded fluent to me.  Which made me think...why haven't I gotten a Czech language CD yet?  And do they have one on iTunes?  Well, I looked into the iTunes option, and the reviews were really terrible.  So I checked out Amazon, and it looks like I'm going to order a CD from there....I'll keep you posted on how tough it is!

Alexandra and I still haven't  bought our flights yet, but I'm sure that we will soon.  And one of my new friends offered to throw me a going away party....I'm excited!  

Boston, Here I Come...in 2 months

One step closer to Prague...booked my flight to Boston today.  I'm officially leaving California August 28th!  Al and I want to fly to Prague together, and since I've never been to Boston, we figured that we could squeeze in a mini-trip, and she'll show me all around New England for the weekend.  We are officially leaving Boston for Prague on August 31st, but we haven't booked that flight yet...

The TEFL class was really tough today!  I spent all day reading, taking notes, doing quizzes and writing an essay.  I still have another essay due this week, and I need to do my resume and apply to as many schools in Prague as possible by the end of this weekend!

I picked up another baby-sitting gig, which is AWESOME.  The kids are really cute, a baby boy (19 months) and adorable girl (5 years).  I am so blessed to work with such great families!  But it will be tough to leave them in August!  I'm sure that there are cute kids in Prague, but I'm not going to know what they're saying, unless they say Pivo and vino!

Building Excitement

I started babysitting for a new family today.  I'm trying to do as much babysitting as possible before I leave to save as much money as possible.  I just upped my rates and all I can think is how I'm going to basically doing the same thing in Prague.  The only difference is instead of babysitting I'll be "tutoring" or "teaching English" to people, from kids to adults.  And I'm really pumped for that.  I used quotes because all I'm really going to do is be speaking English with them, just someone to practice their English on, and that is AWESOME.  Of course this is just how I envision it to be.  I haven't finished my homework yet, so I have to get to that now...but I'll be sure to update you with all of the excitement to come.

Link to Al's Blog

If you're following my Prague Blog, you should also follow Al's Prague Blog.  Here's the link:  

http://t-your-blog.blogspot.com 

Prepping For Prague

Hey Everyone,

Since Alexandra ("Al") and I have decided to take the plunge and move to Prague, I've decided to start a blog to keep everyone in the loop of our adventures!  We just started our TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course this week, its been quite interesting.  Al and I aren't in the same class online, which has turned out to be quite funny.  My course is the super over achiever course and the peeps in her course is the slacker course.  The peeps in my course have already finished three assignments and Al's class is just finishing up the first.  The material is pretty rudimentary, we're writing 300-500 word essays then we're asked to comment on two other classmates' essays.  So not too tough, but I'm sure it will get more challenging.  Most of the people in my course are traveling to China, whereas Al's class is mainly going to Spain.  We're the only ones going to Prague, which I think is a good thing, less competition getting a job.  We're trying to contact as many people as we can that are/have taught English abroad....so if you know anyone, please pass along their information.