Hi again! I received my travel information yesterday from a travel agent in LA. I'll be flying on United Airlines to Seoul, through Tokyo. I'm leaving on the 4th of July (sadly, no fireworks for me). Upon receiving the flight info, I went to united.com to try to find out some information about the perks of my flight. Well, you know you're in for a long flight when they are planning on showing 7 movies!!! Actually, I don't think all 7 are going to be shown in a row, but the thought of that makes me groan. The first leg of the flight (New York-Tokyo) is 13 hours and 40 mins. Then, I'm in Tokyo for roughly 2 hours before boarding the flight to Seoul. 2 hours and 40 minutes later, I will have arrived at my final destination for the year.
I'm getting really excited! I dropped off my passport and visa application to the Korean consulate today. I feel a bit vulnerable, as I don't have my passport in my possession tonight (there's a 24 hour turn-around for visas to be entered into passports). So, hopefully there won't be an immediate need for me to escape the country tonight!
The rest of the week, I will be making final preparations to go! I need to stock up on certain items: deodorant, italian spices, tortillas, salsa! I'm also going to get some small food (like granola bars). I have one plaguing thought: I'm going to be getting into my apartment around 10pm, I will be hungry the next morning and have no idea where to go to get breakfast! Yikes!
I recently went to the school's website. I found out there are 2 other teachers that will be starting somewhere around the same time as me. That should be nice - we can experience the culture shock together!
Email me anytime! There's a link at the side of the page to send me a message :)
6.23.2006
Korea Awaits
Hi Everyone!
I wanted to send an update to all of you regarding my plans for the next year. I have accepted a position teaching English in Korea for the next calendar year. I will be leaving for Korea sometime around the 5th of July. Here's a link to the company's website: www.koreapolyschool.com, and a link to the actual school branch: hj.koreapolyschool.com.
I had the choice of a few schools, and this one is the best combination of location, benefits, schedule, and salary. They provide my airfare and housing (which is standard as far as teaching in Korea goes). I'll be working Monday-Friday, with my weekends free. There are only 2 pre-scheduled weeks of vacation a year, but that's Ok :) My weekends can serve as vacation time for me. I'm quite excited about it, as I will be teaching either Kindergarterners or Pre-schoolers in the morning, and then elementary age children in the afternoons.
I'll be living in a town called Hwajung, right on the northwestern edge of Seoul. It's accessible to Seoul on the train, yet it isn't as crazy as living in the city. Apparently, the apartments are larger and nicer than what is typically found in Seoul. We'll see about that :) I don't know my address yet, but I will definitely pass that along once I get the information.
Please keep in touch by email and snail mail (I will probably LOVE packages of salsa and tortillas while I'm there!). If you want to come visit, you're all welcome!
I'll keep you updated during the next few weeks as to the progress. Right now, I have sent my signed contract and the documents required for my visa to the school. They then apply for the visa on my behalf and send me a confirmation number. I then submit the confirmation number and a personal application to the Korean consulate here in New York, where they stamp the visa in my passport. Then, I'm ready to go!
I wanted to send an update to all of you regarding my plans for the next year. I have accepted a position teaching English in Korea for the next calendar year. I will be leaving for Korea sometime around the 5th of July. Here's a link to the company's website: www.koreapolyschool.com, and a link to the actual school branch: hj.koreapolyschool.com.
I had the choice of a few schools, and this one is the best combination of location, benefits, schedule, and salary. They provide my airfare and housing (which is standard as far as teaching in Korea goes). I'll be working Monday-Friday, with my weekends free. There are only 2 pre-scheduled weeks of vacation a year, but that's Ok :) My weekends can serve as vacation time for me. I'm quite excited about it, as I will be teaching either Kindergarterners or Pre-schoolers in the morning, and then elementary age children in the afternoons.
I'll be living in a town called Hwajung, right on the northwestern edge of Seoul. It's accessible to Seoul on the train, yet it isn't as crazy as living in the city. Apparently, the apartments are larger and nicer than what is typically found in Seoul. We'll see about that :) I don't know my address yet, but I will definitely pass that along once I get the information.
Please keep in touch by email and snail mail (I will probably LOVE packages of salsa and tortillas while I'm there!). If you want to come visit, you're all welcome!
I'll keep you updated during the next few weeks as to the progress. Right now, I have sent my signed contract and the documents required for my visa to the school. They then apply for the visa on my behalf and send me a confirmation number. I then submit the confirmation number and a personal application to the Korean consulate here in New York, where they stamp the visa in my passport. Then, I'm ready to go!
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