Tag Archives: preparing for Korea

Last Minute Prep and The Flight

08 Friday Apr 2011

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I know I promised all of you that I would blog about my adventures and keep you up to speed.  At first, there didn’t seem to be any time, but then it felt that I had too much to write, and that very fact was far too daunting for this teacher to face.  I think the only approach here is to write several posts at once.  Good thing I’m an early riser.

Last Minute Prep and The Flight

In order to get here on time, Rena told me that I needed to get my Visa ASAP..  This meant I had to drive from Indy to Chicago (about a 3-hour drive, so really not all that fun) in one day to drop off the passport and have the interview.  Thanks to the GPS, I got to Chicago with no trouble.  Once I got there, I found out that Rena had sent me an outdated form, so I had to re-fill everything out there.  And one of the questions was asking me my employer’s birthdate.  I just barely knew the man’s name!  I left that blank, and evidentally, doing that didn’t hurt my chances of getting my Visa.  My interview was at 10:30am, but it didn’t start for about an hour.  I was told that the interview was a 5-10 minute thing, but once I got in the room with a few other applicants, I found out why my interview was so late.  The consulate asked everyone their names and why they wanted to go to Korea.  Then he stamped our passports.  Done, right?  No!  He had a transcript of a radio program, and he wanted us to translate some of it for him.  He particularly had a difficult time with the idioms and slang we use.  That took a bit of time.  We already had the stamps we needed, so we weren’t sure if he was testing our English knowledge or if he just really wanted help with his own knowledge of English.

The passports were supposed to be ready by 3pm that Friday, and my flight was early the next morning.  Joy.  I was pleased to get there and find my passport ready.  I was sad that I couldn’t enjoy as much of Chicago as I wanted, but I needed to get back so I could pack.  I didn’t get back home until about 9pm, and then came the Ordeal of the Packing.  Trying to fit everything you think you’ll need for a year abroad, when you aren’t entirely sure what’s available in the country to which you are going.  I wound up not sleeping at all that night, as I spent the whole night putting things in my bags, taking things out of my bags, trying to rationalize what was needed and what wasn’t.  Not fun.  Everything did get packed though.

I headed out of the house, with the family in tow, at about 4:30am.  When I checked my bags, I discovered that one was 49 pounds, and one was 51.5 pounds, and the limit is 50.  Luckily, the employee at the counter decided to cut me some slack and not charge me a fee for an overweight bag.  No one in the family cried, at least not in my presence.  We said our goodbyes, and then I had to go through security.  I went from Indy to Chicago (I was JUST there!!) to Seattle to Incheon, South Korea.  The flights were long, but no longer than they were anticipated, which is always appreciated.  Since I didn’t sleep the night before, I spent most of my time on the flights sleeping.

We landed at about 6pm (Seoul time), and I spent quality time in the Immigration line.  I grabbed my bags, which luckily all present and accounted for, and then I met my driver, who spoke no English and had my name spelled almost correctly on the sign he held.  He ran a few red lights on the way, but I later discovered that all drivers do that here.  I expected to be dropped off at the school to meet my director, but he dropped me off at the 6 Motel instead.  There, the director was waiting for me, as well as three of my new co-teachers.  They were nice enough to haul my 50-pound bags up the stairs to my room.  And then the Korean adventures began!

Prep Time

02 Saturday Apr 2011

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(This post was originally published on my old blog on Feb 1, 2011.  I’ve re-posted it here, since it’s informative and not boring at all.  Enjoy.)

The process for applying to teach English in Korea is, quite frankly, a pain in the butt. I am fortunate to know a couple of people who are teaching there, and one of them put me in contact with his recruiter. Rena Kim works for ESL Park, and she’s been an enormous help in getting my requirements fulfilled. I first filled out an application for ESL Park. (To anyone who is interested in applying- give me your email address, and I’ll put Rena in contact with you.) Rena called me for a quick interview the next evening, and she sent me a list of the required documents.

1. The Criminal Background Check (CBC)- State background checks used to be considered good enough for this process, but recent changes require a federal background check. You will need to get your fingerprints done. If you’re not sure where to go, give your local law enforcement agency a call, and they should be able to direct you. It only cost me $3 to have that done. Then, go here to fill out the forms and authorize payment. Make sure to have it sent directly back to you. For the reason, just put that you want a visa to travel to Korea. Otherwise, they may want to send it to Korea instead of back to you. Then comes the waiting. My recruiter warned me that it could take three months to get the CBC back. Mine only took about 6 weeks.

You will then need to get your CBC notarized and apostilled. Any notary should work as far as the notarization goes. An apostille is like a notarization, but it is recognized internationally. It makes the document extra official. You have to send your CBC to Washington to get it apostilled, and it could take about three weeks.

2. TWO Copies of Your Diploma- Only one gets sent out to Korea with your other documents, but you need to have two copies notarized and apostilled. I was able to get mine notarized by someone at my bank (make sure that the notary dates the notarization!), and then I took them to the Secretary of State in Indiana to get them apostilled.

3. Copy of Passport- This was easy for me, since I already have a passport. This can also take a long time to process if you don’t already have one. Don’t send out the actual passport! They just require a copy of the page with the photo.

4. FOUR Passport Photos- Why do you need additional photos when you already have a passport? I don’t know. Rena told me that I could scan the photo from my actual passport and print out 4 copies. I didn’t, because my photo is so horribly washed out that I wonder how someone specifically trained to take an important photo for an important document could botch it so badly. It got me to Italy just fine a few years ago though, so I guess it works. I went to Walgreens to get some new photos. It cost a little less than $20 for four photos. It was quick and painless.

5. The Contract- You have to send in the copy of the contract that your recruiter sends you, with your signature on it.

6. Health Certificate- Rena emailed me a Health Certificate to fill out and sign. I am not sure what could set you back, as there’s nothing seriously wrong with me. Physically, anyway. I read a blog by someone in Korea who has diabetes, so I guess that’s not a problem that would prevent you from teaching. On a side note, he commented that the meds he needed were considerably cheaper in Korea.

I sent out my documents last week, and my departure depends on how quickly they get my visa in order. Rena seems to think that I will be leaving around the 21st of February, but it could be a little later.

Oh, and you don’t need to know Korean to teach there. They recommend that you try to learn Hangul, their alphabet. Knowing that should be a big help in learning the language. I’m slowly learning it, and I’ll keep you posted on what sources I find the most useful.

For those of you who are on the fence about teaching abroad, I highly recommend that you get your CBC done. If you decide in the end that you don’t want to do it, you’re only out the $20 for the prints and CBC. If you decide you do want to do it, and you haven’t gotten the CBC done, you have to wait the two or three months, and then wait even longer to get it apostilled.