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.