Things to do before moving to KOREA!

So now I have all of my documents sorted, my visa finally obtained and my flights finally booked, I guess that’s it right? I can just go now right? Not quite! I still need to think seriously about the things I need to do before I leave the country. So, I thought I’d write a little post about it, because in some respects this part of my journey is just as important as the rest.

There are many things that I have to consider when packing for Korea and of course its not just the packing that I need to consider. Certain things need to be done first. For example, I need to cancel my phone contract...oh wait, what’s that? I’ve already done it? TICK! Next I need to think about contacting my bank and letting them know that I’m leaving the country. I can also assign someone to gain access to my account/look after it if there are any problems while I am gone...Thanks Mum!

After I have done this, I then need to contact the tax office, pension company and government to inform them of my departure so they don’t get confused when i’m suddenly on the missing persons list of whatever government run database they have for workers in this country. It all sounds a little bit complicated but in reality its just a phone call or 700. Easy right? I’m not too sure, but I guess i’ll find out soon. 

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the actual life I will lead over there. Even dreaming about it, but mainly day dreaming about it. I sit there, and I just think. Not just about the potential friends I will meet, or the job that I will be performing (how do you teach again?) but more in fact, about just what it will be like to walk down a street in Seoul and take in my surroundings. On my own, in a place so far away from home, just walking down the street, taking it all in. I wonder what I will see and what I will experience. How people will react to me. What my senses will sense and what other peoples senses will sense in me. Its an interesting thought that I am looking forward to thinking about some more and then eventually putting in to practice. 

But until THEN, let the day dreaming continue...am I awake yet? I’M AWAKE! 

Annyeong haseyo Korea!

So since I announced my news to the world, it has been an emotional few days. I think that’s because I have finally realised that this is actually rather real. Handing in my notice at a job that I actually really enjoy was very difficult, and then telling people was even more so. Every time I walk down a street in London, or meet up with friends old and new, it makes me realise how much I am going to miss it all. It might sound dramatic, but that’s probably because it is dramatic. I know they’ll still be here when I get back, but I guess I have that overwhelming feeling of thinking...well, what if they’re not.

Things change, people change, I’ve changed. I mean if you had told me a year ago that I would soon be giving up my life in the UK and moving to the other side of the world to teach, then I probably would have flicked you in the forehead and said...

...Oh come on! It's a classic!

A lot can happen in a year so I guess what I am trying to say is that I am going to miss it, all of it. I don’t expect things to be the same when I return, how can they be? But I will endeavour to keep in touch with you all and not let things go stale. I guess that’s what I am most worried about if truth be known. So please text me, Skype me, write to me, send carrier pigeon if you really want, and I will do the same. Oh, and if anyone wants to come visit then they’ll be a cold, cockroach filled floor just waiting for you, or a king sized four poster bed with a small mini bar filled with treats (probably the former) Awkward!

At this point I thought I’d mention something other than how I am feeling in this post...because if you’re not going through the same thing and you don’t actually know me then quite frankly, it's dull. So, here’s some useful resources that I have recently found during my time leading up to my departure. Check them out:

Korean Embassy (In London) 

Incheon Airport (If moving to Seoul) 

Long Stay Travel Insurance 

Learn to read Korean in 15 minutes 

Also be sure to go and see your doctor about what jabs you may need. It's different for everyone, but for the record, here in England I needed Hepatitis A and B, Typhoid and a Tetanus booster. I may also need to take Malaria tablets but that one is up for debate.

I hope that’s helpful for anyone thinking of making the same move. For me, it has all happened so quickly. I took the TEFL course just to see what would happen, and I passed. Then I joined a recruitment agency just to see what would happen, and then I got a job. I then signed a contract and got my visa approved, you know, just to see what would happen, and here I am after all of those months of just seeing what would happen... seeing what is actually happening, and its happening... I’m moving to Korea. Without much of a thought of what i’d actually be faced with at the end, I am now at the end and I find myself very much here, wondering how I got here and wondering what will happen next - well I guess we’ll just have to see - so lets see, what happens next...

  Annyeong haseyo Korea!!

IT’S OFFICIAL! I’m moving to South Korea!

Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve posted on here. Apologies to all of you, I have been extremely busy actually sorting out my life! I also didn’t want to post anything online before it was official so let me start this post by saying... IT’S OFFICIAL! I’m moving to South Korea! It doesn’t feel real and after the last couple of months of interviews, visa applications and pure chaos, I can’t believe I am actually saying this all, but it’s true... 

'Somebody's life's about to change' - Jack Dawson Titanic 1997

I’ve always wanted to use that quote about my own life and now I can! SCORE! So it all started at the beginning of December when I had an interview with a school in Anyang, Seoul (over Skype of course). It went really well and I got the job! The best thing about this school is that they want me to focus on the Drama side of things, which means it isn’t straying too far from what I actually want to do, which is fantastic. I’ll still be teaching English of course, but hopefully I’ll also be writing plays and putting on little shows with the kids too, so it’s all quite exciting.

My new City! A Street in Seoul...well, every street in Seoul!

The job itself is from 9.30am - 6pm and I will be teaching Kindergarten and Elementary at a ‘Hagwon’, which is a private school in Korea. My apartment (where I’ll be living on my own - eek) is apparently 1 minute from the school and I’ll be the only foreign teacher there. Obviously I’ll know all of this for sure when I actually arrive. Sometimes you have to take a bit of a risk because you can never know absolutely all of the information for sure, until you actually get out there and see it for yourself.  This is definitely one of the many things I have learnt through this process.

 

Gyeongbokgung Palace (about 40 minutes from where i'll be living).

 
It has been a roller coaster ride of emotions over the last few months and I can honestly say that at times I wanted to forget the whole thing and stay in England. I love my Job and of course my family and friends, and leaving London has been such a difficult decision to make. In some respects I wish that I was running away from something as it might make the whole process easier, but I do know (or at least I hope) that this is the right thing for me to do now, and I am looking forward to it immensely.
 
The thing with packing up your entire life and moving to the other side of the world on your own, whilst starting a career you’ve never really done before, is that actually, it’s rather daunting. I didn’t really want it to be as daunting as it is, and I genuinely expected a feeling of liberation to hit me like a thousand knives at any given moment, but so far it hasn't, however I guess this was to be expected. I’ll just have to wait until I arrive in Korea for that overwhelming feeling to kick in (or not as the case may be). Who knows, all I know for sure is that I have my Visa in one hand, and my tickets in the other, and I’ll be jetting off to start this new chapter of my life on 26th February 2015.

So, if you want to see me, talk to me or just generally throw things at me, then now is your last chance folks. 6 weeks to go...

From TEFL to the Language Show LIVE!

So on Saturday I attended the ‘Language Show Live’ at Kensington Olympia, London. This exhibition was for Students and Teachers a like to find out more about studying and teaching a range of different languages including our very own, English.

The TEFL section was particularly small and the seminars were more specific to teaching the exam side of things (on a specific programme), and did not cater for people (like myself) who just wanted to pick up a few teaching tips. All in all it wasn’t really that well programmed for Teaching English as a Foreign Language, however I did have an interesting conversation with a company called ‘Education First’.  The interesting thing about this company is that you can go off to China for a year or so and then come back to a secure Job in England, at least this is how they made it sound. I am actually considering this, as the thought of being able to come back and have a job here is extremely appealing. However, I haven’t really considered China as an option and I don’t really fancy it next to my beloved Korea if I’m honest. Either way it wouldn’t hurt to have a little meeting with them and look in to this a little more.

In other news this week I have received my documents back from the government, all notarised and aposilled which is great and took a lot less time then I imagined. I'll pop a little email over to the recruitment agent in the US, as its a good idea to stay in touch with them.

As I don’t have much else to report this week, I thought it would be a grand idea to attach some sites that I have found extremely useful through this process so far. So, if you are looking into doing a TEFL and packing up your entire life then have a little read of some of these fantastic and very informative blogs, sites and resources:

TEFL Course 

Recruitment Agency  

Dave's ESL Cafe 

Expat Blogs 

12 of the Best South Korean Blogs 

Enjoy!

If no one hears a phone ring, then does it really ring?!

Yes, yes it does! As I soon found out this week when I had my first call from South Korea….and missed it! A lovely sounding Korean man left a lovely sounding voicemail in an almost robotic sounding American/Korean accent. He spoke with almost perfect English and told me that he had seen my resume and would like to speak with me about an opportunity that had arisen at his school in Seoul next year. He then followed this with… I will email you the details and try to arrange a better time to talk.

The only problem being is that he didn’t leave his name and I couldn’t make out the schools name either. A day later and I still haven’t received his email. I have contacted my recruitment agent but as yet she has not responded. I am in London, England. My agent is in the good ole USA, and the man that left a voicemail (I.E the potential employer) is in Seoul, South Korea. It is hard enough trying to get in touch with people in the same time zone as you, but trying to liaise with 3 different countries is proving difficult to say the least. Hopefully I will hear from him again soon via email and I guess I could ring back but then what would I say? I do not know ANY Korean and do not have his name, I am also slightly reluctant to spend £5000 (estimate) on a phone call to South Korea. Terrible rates…I’m not calling the moon for Pete sake!

 Very different places as you can see!

Excitement fills my thoughts to the brim, but I am also aware of the absolute terror that soon dawns upon me at the exact same time. Especially as I have been told that it may actually be sooner than my expected departure date, which is quite daunting. This was also the first day that my profile had been live, which is of course a good thing as it means people are still interested despite the horrendous video CV I made of myself. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as I had previously thought! Self-criticism is a tragic thing! HECK!

In the last couple of weeks the waiting game finally came to an end (sort of) as I could send off for my Disclosure Scotland Check AGAIN and once again start the document process. This has now been delivered to my solicitors and is currently undergoing notarisation. My solicitor Alison (remember her?) will also be sending this off to the government to get it apostilled which saves me the bother thankfully. Lovely Alison, always helping out the small ‘guy’. She will send this off this week so I should expect to get my documents back within 6 to 8 weeks…hopefully.

I hope this blog isn’t coming across as the most boring thing you have ever read, but I feel it is important to give as much information as possible which unfortunately requires me talking about the dull paper work involved as well as the fun times ahead…and of course there will be fun times ahead (I hope). Here’s a video of a cat playing a piano whilst cracking a nut and wearing a bright green T. 

Better?!

All in all, this week has actually been quite productive but as the weeks go by and I feel ever closer to going, the panic starts to set in. Leaving the place I have laid my 17 hats for such a long time will no doubt be the most difficult challenge ahead, of this crazy, and epic new journey.

Say NO to waiting...

If you know me, and I mean really know me, then you’ll know that I dislike 3 things in life. Waiting, long goodbyes and waiting for long goodbyes. At the moment I feel like all I am doing is waiting, and especially waiting for goodbyes, which funnily enough makes them LONG.

 I am now at the point of breaking. Waiting is driving me slightly crazy and if I have to wait any longer then I will surely forget how to physically move all together. It is as if I am stuck in a huge que at a supermarket, or a theme park, or better yet a doctor’s surgery, just waiting for my time to come around so I can get on with things and MOVE. Days, weeks and even months will go by and I will still be sat here, waiting, or at least that’s how it feels. So yeah, I pretty much HATE waiting.

At the moment I am actually just waiting for the time to pass so that I can once again order my Disclosure Scotland check, and once again send this off to my solicitor Allison, and then of course, to the government.  As I have mentioned before, and as I will mention again, it is important to get the timing of your documents just right. You do not want to be too late ofcourse, but you also do not want to be too early, otherwise you will have to spend out even more money in applying for things all over again. This is the case with my Disclosure Scotland check, so please PLEASE bear this in mind if you are going through this process. Trust me, it will save you a hell of a lot of time and a hell of a lot of money. As I am spending most of my time waiting, this has also led me to spend a ridiculously large amount of time, thinking. Yes, thinking. I thought I’d mention this as no other blogs that I have read seem to. 

Doubts. You will have doubts and it is perfectly normal to have them. This is something that anyone making such a dramatic change in their life will face. Is this the right thing to do? Am I making the wrong decision? Should I just stay here and pursue other interests? And probably the most daunting and doubt provoking question of all… what will I do when I come back? Also the question of what happens if I don’t like it, make no friends and ultimately want to sulk into my own pillow every night for pure dread of doing it all over again the next day. THAT’S IT I’M STAYING! ….No, no you are not.

I have been having these thoughts a lot lately, and many doubts but mainly because I don’t really want to leave the convenience of my comfortable and stable life here in London, and of course my wonderful Family and Friends. But, I have been re-assured by many people that it is perfectly natural to have these such doubts, so if you are feeling the same then I recommend reading more books about your chosen destination, or taking up a new hobby or a new course even. Waiting can be a terrible activity, especially if you’re slightly impatient like myself, when it comes to waiting that is.

So my advice: Fill the waiting time as much as you can, and do not doubt that you will have these doubts themselves. It will happen, and it will be horrific. But just remember, you started this journey for a reason. So say yes to life and continue what it is, that you want to continue.

The word 'Busy' doesn't even cut it!

As promised I thought I’d write a little post about the dreaded Recruitment Agencies. Last week I signed up to two different sites to help me in my quest for a new and hopefully rewarding job, and life in South Korea. I found these by literally google’ing everything. Seriously, I googled ‘Teaching in South Korea’, ‘Recruitment agencies for short people’ and even ‘I would like a job in South Korea…SEND HELP’! As you can imagine everything from the appropriate to the less so came up. Thankfully I also had a couple of recommendations through friends and the various different blogs I have been reading.

With so many different options however, it can seem like an absolute minefield and can be very difficult to know which one to go with, which is why I thought I'd write this little post to try and make it all a bit clearer. I’d say that the most important thing to bear in mind whilst doing your research is just that…do your research! Do it and then do it all over again. Read everything and then read everything all over again. Look at different reviews and read everything on their site TWICE! I cannot stress this enough, as it is extremely important to know exactly what you are signing up to, and on that note DO NOT PAY! A legitimate and trusted agency will receive their payment from the school in question, so if you have to pay then it’s probably not a very legitimate company and they probably do not have your best interests in mind. Remember as with everything in this venture, if something sounds too good to be true - then it probably is.

After hours and even days of searching the internet, my eyelids felt like they would never be able to close again. All I was seeing was a brightly lit computer screen, but eventually I was able to regain some sense of focus and made a decision to go with a recruitment agency called Teacheslkorea. They are an American based company who had been recommended to me by a friend who is currently teaching in South Korea. Having read through the information on their site, I decided that this was the one for me.

So far they have been absolutely fantastic. They have talked me through everything from the visa requirements, right through to which school would be right for me, and have also helped me gain a better understanding of prioritizing documents in regards to the time restrictions they each have. For example, my Scottish Disclosure (CRB check) is only valid for 6 months, which I found out the hard way. The Korean Embassy will only except these within this 6 month period, which means I have had to apply all over again for a new one. So my advice - do not apply for this too early, BUT do not apply too late, as it can take up to 6 weeks to come through, and then you have to get it apostilled of course.

I also chose to go with a second recruitment agency called Flying Cows, who have so far been less than helpful (if indeed there is anything less than that). They seemed to slightly ignore my location request, stating that there are currently no jobs in South Korea but China on the other hand have plenty. Who said anything about China?! They then went on to tell me that they have a suitable job starting NEXT WEEK, and I don’t need any documents and can leave straight away. Really?! 

It was slightly frustrating as I wasn’t looking to move to China in the first place, and I certainly didn’t want to rush into anything. It seemed as if I was just a huge lump of cheese casually moving along a conveyer belt with all the other lumps in line, waiting to be processed and packaged. Whereas Teacheslkorea, told me to aim for a February/March starting time, and ensured me that they would be concentrating on finding a job and location that was absolutely right for me. Once again do your research guys, it certainly pays off.

This week I also had the painstakingly unpleasant experience of moving house, which actually wasn't too bad thanks to some amazing friends and family of mine. I feel at this point it is important to mention that the day to day business of life does still go on, so you have got to be prepared during your TEFL experience to work extremely hard in all aspects of your life, which unfortunately includes mundane things like moving house. The word 'Busy' doesn't even cut it...

Until next time...