My 24

After flying into Incheon and transferring to Daegu, I found myself in a car with the owner, Jin, of the hogwan driving to Sangju. Travelling through mountains and forests with the occasional small village, I was told many times by the owner that Sangju was “bery, bery small!” It was here that I encountered my first, of many, culturally shocking moments: In order to show me how to use the seat of the car, Jin reached across my legs to use the electronic seat adjuster…his face literally inches from my crotch. The New Yorker in me wanted to toss him off, but the traveler within allowed the obvious foreign behavior. Round 1 I’ll give to Korea for my unpreparedness.

Finally, after a little over an hour (the speed limit was only 80 km/hr), I arrived in a bustling, yet manageable, city. Sangju’s population is roughly 200,000 people, so it is comparable to Poughkeepsie or Middletown, but squished into a much smaller area. Jin, parked his car between the hogwan and my apartment (literally a 2 minute walk if I zig-zag). First, Jin took me inside to meet the President of the school who also doubles as his wife. Jin and I sat at opposing sides of a large, rectangular school desk all while his wife brought us coffee and remained about 2 meters from the table at all times. Jin’s English was far from good and his wife’s English was much worse, but as I soon learned, both were probably superior to most people in the city.

After our coffee, Jin took me to the local E-mart where he was kind enough to buy me lots of bread, milk, orange juice, drinking water and, the all powerful, Ramen noodles. I was able to whip out my only Korean phrase, gamsa hamnida, aka ‘thank you’. At this point, I am starting to think that Jin was not trying to be nice to me as a foreigner, but strengthen our relationship as a teacher at his school. At this point I was the most tired I may have ever been, Jin knew this, and yet he wouldn’t let me go to sleep.

Jin led me into my apartment building and helped me drag my luggage to the third and final floor to my door. He opened the door, led me inside, dropped everything off, gave me a quick tour and then sat on the bed with me and decided to try at another conversation. Although I wanted nothing more than to sleep, I surprised myself with my ability of exuding raw patience and understanding. Jin was doing nothing more than what came natural to him in his culture and I completely understood this. Round 2, I am taking for myself.

After Jin left, I was finally able to prepare myself for bed. However, I was unable to just lay down and go directly to sleep, because things needed to be unpacked. I had just taken a 19 hour trip around the world, I was jet-lagged as hell and I still needed to prepare myself for sleep. Damn.

Honestly, my sleep was terrible. The bed has literally the hardest mattress known to man. I think instead of metal springs, Korean tradition says to use granite filling. On top of that, I was becoming slightly anxious that I didn’t have use of the internet or a phone. In fact, I still don’t have use of either, however day 1 was so amazing that I am much more comfortable being alone in a foreign country.

My eyes were open at 7am, but I finally made it out of bed at 10am. I unpacked my sundries and took a liquid nitrogen shower. I say liquid nitrogen because I didn’t (and still don’t) know how to use the knob that controls air temperature and water temperature. It’s all in Korean. Regardless, I got dressed and decided it was time to do some exploring. I was told that I would be picked up for lunch by Jin at noon. I walked around a very limited area of Sangju, doing my best not to get lost or run over on the busy city streets. I found that Korean use of the car horn is as liberal as a tree-huggin’ 1960’s hippie. My first trip out into the streets of Korean alone was a very uneventful one, although, people love to stare at the only Westerner in the whole city.

At noon, I returned to my apartment and waited for Jin. When he arrived, he picked me up in his car and we drove to a very nice upper class restaurant. Jin ordered for both of us, as I have no idea how to read Korean. Fearful that my plate would most literally be alive, I instead saw to my delight a bun-less burger with a few sides of yellow corn, rice and macaroni salad. Joy! The generous portion size was as delicious as the meal. Unable to finish, I asked Jin if it would be rude if I didn’t complete my meal. He said that traditionally it would have been, but because these are modern times it is completely fine. I was glad, because I would have had to really pack it in to finish.

After lunch, Jin dropped me off at my apartment where I waited an hour for 3pm, which is when I was told to report to the hogwan to meet a few teachers who would give me a tour of the city. At 3, I wandered over to the hogwan where I met the talkative Seung and a very quiet Korean girl who asked me to call her Bella. Both had told me that they were very unfamiliar with Westerners. Nonetheless, the three of us left to tour the city, where I saw the Bank, a fast food place, a few bars, bowling, karaoke clubs and many convenience stores.

After our tour, Seung and Bella took me to a local bar to have a few beers with them. A few drinks quickly turned into 20 drinks, which somehow turned into an English lesson. I can now say from experience that Asians truly can’t hear the difference between ‘R’ and ‘L’. Needless to say, we had a great time and I made a couple new friends. Seung told me to refer to him as Hyeung, meaning big brother and Bella as Deuyng Zhu, meaning little sister. I also learned that Koreans will order a bottle of beer for each person at the table, but they only open as many as they need to fill their small highball glasses. And also that someone will always pour and fill your glass whenever it gets close to empty. I think it’s so they have no way of counting how many beers each person had.

It was here that I encountered my next large culturally shocking moment: the bathroom. I only needed to go number 1, but when I walked into the bathroom there was only a urinal hole in the ground. It was like a small urinal that was dropped into the floor. I thought, “whatever,” and just went for it. It worked! All was right with the world, except I had no idea how to flush it. Long story short, I ended up leaving the yellow to mellow. Round 3, I’ll reluctantly give to Korea. P.S. They most certainly had toilet paper.

The end of the night ended very nicely. We all said thank you and bowed to each other while shaking hands. I think it was a meld between Korean and American culture, but I am not really sure at this point. Both, Seung and Bella, led me to my door and said goodnight and told me that I was to report at the school at 1pm on Monday. Day 1 was completely amazing…except that I was told that I have to wait until Monday for Internet access. So I’ll leave it at that and say sorry to my worrying parents, even though when they read this I will have already spoken with them. What an eventful day!

The Flight To Remember

A brand spankin’ new plane, a pillow, a blanket, a headset, a touch screen LCD screen, on demand movies so current I don’t think Blockbuster had these and, to top it all off, a seat that reclines both the seat and headrest providing an immense amount of leg room. Oh, right, I also was given a ‘traditional’ Korean meal which included some beef, mashed potatoes, an assortment of veggies and fruit, some shrimp in some scallop sauce, a glass of wine (included in the meal), a soda (Coke ‘light’, 100% of the real Coke flavor) and, when the meal was finished, some Lipton yellow label tea. Flying first class definitely has it’s perks, but I wouldn’t know because I am flying economy.

I am currently flying at 32,000 feet at 533 MPH and there is nobody to my immediate left. Yeah, even more leg room (the man sitting two seats to my left celebrated a little before takeoff). All of the announcements from the captain come first in flawless Korean and then in broken English, but still quite understandable. And although, my personal interactive map tells me that the plane is somewhere over the Hudson Bay and that we will soon be entering the Arctic Circle with slightly over 11 hours to go, I am unbelievably comfortable.

So far, I’ve only watched The Hangover (Grandma, you would love it), which I have seen before, but it went perfect with my beefy Korean combo meal. In fact, I was just handed a fresh glass of orange juice by a smiling flight attendant. I think it goes without saying that Korean Air is the way to go.

Unfortunately, Steve was given a ticket by his hogwan and therefore we are not on the same flight together. I can only hope that he is experiencing half the service that I am getting. Furthermore, I do not have a power outlet, although there is a USB outlet which allows me to charge my Ipod. And if that isn’t a heartbreaker, this surely will be: I don’t have access to the internet. Boo-hoo, right?

Although, I still have a long way to go and by the time I post this I will have already been in Korea for some time, I wanted my flight to be documented as well as possible. I am hesitant to give a shout out to family and friends because I don’t want to leave anyone out and make them feel bad, but you know who you are and I will talk to you soon. However, I will break my own rule and wish Marissa, my sister, a Happy 20^th Birthday. I didn’t mean to steal the thunder of your birthday, it was just a coincidence, but I am sorry and I love you!

I’ll keep in touch with everyone the best I can. I miss everyone and I will update everyone with a grounded message as soon as I know which end is up…it’s 6am in Korea while I am writing this and it still feels like the middle of the afternoon to me. Damn.

The Visa: Update #3 AND Final USA Post

Alright, so the time has finally come for me to leave the country. After revealing the punch line let me do a rewind of what occurred for this to have happened.

After having sent over all the documentation needed for my visa, immigration processing only took one week instead of the expected two weeks. I was given a visa issuance number by the Korean government which allowed me to finish the final process of visa application: asking nicely at the Korean Consulate in NYC and also taking an ‘visa interview’ with a consul.

Having travelled down to the city (my dad decided to come along with me too), we made our way to the Consulate’s 6^th floor visa processing office. Unfortunately, when I got there a very soft spoken Korean lady told me that I needed to have an appointment for the interview. “Is there any way you could take me today?” I said. They promptly took me immediately (HOLY LUCKY!).

I was then led through a few hallways to the consul’s office, which was furnished much like a living room with a desk. I was asked the same very generic questions I was asked on my phone interviews to the schools. “Why do you want to go to Korea?” “Do you have experience teaching?”…etc. At the end of the interview the consul told me to have a nice stay in Korea. I guess that means he’s letting me go.

The same soft spoken Korean lady, who was able to get me the interview, then handed me a receipt to pick my passport up the following day. It was Tuesday, I had to come back Wednesday.

Wednesday rolled in and I (this time alone) made my way back down to the city to pick up my passport and visa. I literally walked into the visa processing office up to the counter, handed them my receipt and then handed me my passport. It takes about an hour for me to get into the city by train and getting my visa couldn’t have taken more than 45 seconds. What a trip!

Upon arriving back home, I got in contact with my agent. She initially tried to have me leave earlier in the week, but I asked to have the date to push back to Thursday, October 29^th. Conveniently, it is also my sister, Marissa’s, birthday. What a gift that is for me to give her. My agent called the school and they agreed to pick me up at the airport, so I scheduled my flight right there on the spot. My flight time is set for 1:40 PM in the afternoon.

Now, for those who are unaware as to how far away Korea is from New York, the time difference is 13 hours (soon to be 12 hours during US DST, which Asia does not partake in). That means that my 14 hour flight into Seoul, will actually take 27 hours off of the clock. I leave at 1:40PM on the 29th and don’t arrive until 5:20PM on the 30^th. Yeah, it’s long.

So as of now, I trying to compile a list of what needs to be packed and what amenities I need to bring and what can be bought there. And additionally, I need to say goodbye to a number of people. So my next 6 or so days will be really, really busy.

Wish me luck, because this is the last post coming from Chester, New York, USA!

The Visa: Update #2

Four trips to Albany and two packages mailed internationally containing all of my vital information later, I’ve finally gathered all of the necessary documents required for my E-2 visa. Luckily for me, everything seems to have arrived in Korea in time. However, unfortunately, dates from this point seem to be irrelevant. I’ve told so many people that I am leaving the country mid-September, then mid October, then October 30^th and now for the final update: I’ll be leaving the country at an undetermined time. Because visa processing can take up to two weeks, my school said that my contract period will begin the first day of teaching, whenever that happens. This time my uncertainty only ranges a few days rather than a few months, so I guess you can say that I am thankful for that. Truthfully, I just want a concrete and booked flight date. I am getting kind of tired of telling EVERYBODY a specific day and then having it constantly changing. I’ve decided the only way to combat this is to not say anything until I have a plane ticket in hand. Current leave date: There is no current leave date. Best guess: Sometime in early November.

The Visa: Update #1

So as it turns out part of the information that I sent the Korean government was not the correct information. Along with all of the documents I had sent, I also included a local criminal background check. However, because I don't have a criminal record, the police department gave me a letter stating I had no convictions. This local criminal background check was altogether the wrong document that I had needed to send. What needed to be sent was a state-wide open record review.

I spoke to my agent and, although I sent the wrong information, I still am able to send the open record review with plenty of time to be cleared for a visa. Today, I made my third trip to Albany to try and resolve my visa issues. At the DCJS I spoke with a man who was unbelievably accommodating regarding my position and short deadline. Sidenote: it normally takes 7-10 business days to complete a open record review, Santa Claus at the DCJS could have it in 1-2 days.

Unfortunately, after the open record review is mailed back to me I have to make a fourth trip back to Albany to put an Apostille stamp on the letter from the DCJS which recognizes it as an international document.

In order for me to have all of my documents on time to get my visa, they need to be in Korea by October 12th. Although I am cutting it short, SO FAR, everything seems to be working out in my favor.

Cross your fingers for me.

The Visa

The all powerful E-2 working visa. It allows me to legally work in Korea for up to 12 months. It requires a full disclosure of personal information. And it all can be rejected by the Korean government just because they feel like it. Their government reserves the right to deny a visa for any reason. They wake up on the wrong side of the bed....REJECTION. That simple.

I sent in my application for my visa today, so all I can do now is wait and see. Your move Korea.

Acceptance

My hunt for finding a job was not as easy or as quick as I thought it would be. I spent an entire month applying for positions, which at first started very casually. However, once the job offers were not flying my way, the applications became a bit more frantic. Every moment that a new job was posted on a number of international job forums, I was ready to send my resume and photo. I must have applied to nearly 150 different schools and not a single one would grant me the opportunity to even interview. Disheartening, I know. Japan was turning out to be more of a white whale then I had expected or even wanted it to be. Instead, finding a job was like finding the perfect pumpkin in a giant patch to carve into a jack-o-lantern, it’s there, but you have to make damn sure that you look hard to find it. What I had to realize that my perfect pumpkin was in a different patch all together.

I expanded my search because Japan was not providing the results that I needed in a reasonable time frame based on the effort put forth. Steve, my aforementioned best friend, teaching and travel buddy, had to do little to convince me that our search was not going well either. Our new found focus would now be focused primarily in finding a position in South Korea.

Now, what must be understood is that Korea was not a random choice. Both Steve and I had sent a single application there while we were still in the phase of applying to teach in Japan. And both of us had heard back from and gotten interviews from schools. Another factor involves the amenities that Korea offers which surpass that of nearly every other school in most other countries. Aside from decent wages, schools offer flights, housing, partial medical, severance pay and 5 weeks paid vacation (Only two of the five weeks vacation are by choice, the rest are Korean national holidays).

And so I began applying with the same fervor that I had spent getting a job in Japan. It felt strange. It was like I was cheating on something that I had committed myself to. Only this time, things started to happen much smoothly and much more quickly. Steve and I decided to expand the search on September 1st and already by September 7th I was involved with a number of schools. The biggest reason being for the quickness of the process is that I applied for the help of a Korean agent, a service not readily available in Japan. What the agent would provide me with is a language bridge between myself and the Korean hogwans (schools) as well as a number of private job opportunities. It is a free service that is provided by the hogwans to help overseas applicants, such as myself, find a job much more easily.

Well, it worked.

My new agent, Julie, who lived in Korea, found me a number of jobs to interview with. My first interview was quite an interesting experience. I spoke with Julie on the phone, who had great command of English, so I dim-wittedly assumed that my interviewer, who worked in a hogwan that taught English, would have equal understanding or better. I think I gave away the ending here. The man I spoke with was very difficult to understand and I had asked him to repeat himself a countless number of times. Although in an ESL handbook I had acquired described similar cacophonous experiences, I continued to think that an ESL teacher should be able to understand any amount of broken English. I thought that I had bombed the interview.

Afterwards I received an e-mail from Julie, stating that the interviewer was very impressed with me and was looking to offer me a job. Ah…really? After my first interview I had only taken one more on the phone before I received the contract for the first position, confirmed that the hogwan had a good reputation, asked Julie a bunch of questions and then finally accepted the position in a city called Sangju.

Although, I had flip flopped my decision a few times regarding where exactly in Korea I wanted to be (a metropolis or a big city), my final destination of Sangju is a city with about 150,000 people and located about 30minutes by train from a metropolis known as Daegu (3 million people).

Now that I have accepted a position, there are still a few things that I need to get taken care of before venturing off to live in another country. Right now acquiring my teaching visa and buying a plane ticket are my main concerns. My contact begins November 1st, which means my tentative departure date for my 15hr non-stop flight to Korea is October 30th. Look at that, I’ll be home for my sister’s 20th birthday.