Visiting Mrs. Lee

One Friday, I was going downtown to Sangdong when Mrs. Lee volunteered to drive me. On the way, she struggled a lot to say that she's inviting me to her house, if I don't mind. It's just a simple language barrier, mind you, but this took a whole fifteen minutes for me to understand. I said I'd be happy to.

I was going to do this on Sunday after coming back from visiting my friend, but I ended up staying around half a day longer, and didn't have the energy to go visit Mrs. Lee's house when I got back. Not to mention, when I was walking from Sangdong to the elementary school where I live, the principal picked me up and offered me a ride. He also offered me dinner, and I didn't refuse, and there was something to do Monday after school, so I had to postpone visiting Mrs. Lee's house until Tuesday.

We met at the library after school, where I met an art teacher. Mrs. Lee dropped her off at Sangdong, and then went to another school, the Daedong Elementary School, to give money to a friend and have her deposit it in the bank she works at, and then also to drop her off. Then there's one more trip to a separate bank before we get to her house, by which time it's really dark.

She lives in an apartment complex. We climbed four flights of stairs to get to a door where she pushes up the keyhole, enters a password, and the door opens automatically. Very advanced, since I'm so used to basic keys and bolt locks. We enter, and I do the traditional Korean take-off-my-shoes before stepping inside ritual. I put down my bag, and take off my coat, when she asks me whether I am sportsy. I tell her I run and do yoga. She goes, "Yoga! No wonder you're so slim!" She tells me to lay down on the couch, on a massager, because she notices that my neck cracks ocassionally. I am grateful for this.

I become more relaxed. It's a really nice house, fairly big, mainly because it's so well decorated. On the wall above the couch is a glass panel of rock collections, a Japanese art where specifically shaped rocks are matched to variously shaped wooden stands. I find out later that it's Mrs. Lee's father's. There's a piano to the left of the rock collections, and some musical instruments inbetween, including three guitars (one electric), and a small set of drums.

There's a running machine to the left beside the window, a tv stand with two more rock statues, the TV and the phone behind me, and the kitchen far off to the right. The doorway is to the right of the couch. Mrs. Lee serves me some plum tea, which is the most sour and relaxing tea I've taken, what a weird combination. After my massage, she serves me this purple colored rice with sesame while asking about my family, and telling me about her church members and children.

She tells me to go back to the couch, and proceeds to make Korean styled tortillas, which are wraps made of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, mayo, and honey mustard. She also prepares the rest of dinner. When I tire of the massager, I get up on the livingroom floor and do my yoga stretches. I realized how desperately I needed them.

Field Day II

At least I thought we were finished. When I asked Mr. Jeong whether I can go home early, he declined, saying that there was a company dinner that I had to go to. So after the parents and kids all left, the teachers packed up in a car and went to this restaurant fifteen minutes away by driving. It was Friday, and I wished I could go hang somewhere else, but ... what can you do. So we all showed up, and I was driven by the librarian. We all parked, went in, and took off our shoes.

I sat next to the fourth grade teacher on the left, librarian to the right. We sat cross legged in front of a low table, and it was a few minutes before the waitress came to give our table the food. There was live octopus, sashimi, some noodles they called japchae and stuff. But I barely remember the food, because of what happened next.

After a parent gave a toast to the school for being successful, everyone drank, and I had to too, even though I keep making clear that I get trashed beyond easily, and it's generally not a good idea. So I drank, and got red in the face within a flat five minutes, only to be remedied later with rice and hot fish soup. Before that, though, Mr. Jeong talked to the second grade teacher and they toasted again. She made him stay in the same place, even though he wanted to go back to his wife. Then because he's drunk, he started telling me that he thought I was ignoring him because he was bad at English. And that he was mentally comparing me with the previous foreign English teacher, at which point I tell him that everyone's been comparing me to her, not just him. He paused, at which point I looked up struggle in the Eng-Kor dictionary and showed it to him, pointing at myself. He said he was beginning to understand, and I was a little tired and overwhelmed by mostly the sohju but also what he said, so I couldn't stop myself, bowed and went off to cry.

Someone noticed, and then in a few minutes, everyone knew that I was crying. And they were all asking why, and trying to comfort me, which actually made it worse. It was so very embarassing. And I felt bad that the principal came over and started comforting me more, saying how it's all a lot to get used to, Asians should stick together, that he was honored I'm working at his school, and ... a lot of flattering stuff I felt I did not deserve. Especially since I'm still learning to be a teacher.

One of the special education teachers drove the principal and me home. I was tired, embarassed, largely overwhelmed, and just emotionally drained. And I tried my best to pretend none of that happened the next time I saw all of them, which was Monday. And thankfully, they were all eager to pretend nothing happened, too. Over the weekend, I approached Mr. Jeong to tell him there were a lot of things I couldn't explain, that I'm sorry, and he gave me some grapes. An awkward man who I can't hate, I guess.

Field Day

While the kids were really excited to be able to be outside for an entire day without having to sit and learn anything new, parents and teachers were told to arrive at the school early to help set up. My specific orders were to be there at 7:30am. Since I live less than five minutes from the building, and inside the official boundaries of the school, this isn't a problem.

When I get there, some of the 4th graders were clustered around the prizes, one of which is a bunch of fake knives that retract. Later I find out that the adults can get gift certificates to the local marts and shopping places. SoRa comes to cling to me, saying she's cold, so I mention that her hoodie is zippable, and proceed to zip it for her. Then another kid wanted to put on a jersey - he's about 7 - but he doesn't understand how to, so I tell him to raise his arms and I pull it over his head.

I've been there for five minutes when the person in charge of me for the day, Mrs. Lee, showed up. I think she thought she was going to pick me up at the apartment, but I was already there. She was relieved when she saw me. I met a few of her church members before sitting down at a tent they prepared. My duties for today were to hold the finish line and stamp the winners. I ended up just holding the line, and Mrs. Lee did the rest. I socialized with various people, where the 4th grade teacher was saying he was cold, and I said he can get a jacket, and he said he was a young man and didn't need a jacket. xD

There was a table of refreshments that included orange juice, rice cakes, grapes, and hot water to maybe mix with coffee or be by itself. There was a sort of pagoda between the school and the gym lot, so all the dignitaries and sponsors sat there. The parents got to get on the field and support their children directly, as well as participate in events. Everyone was very excited, the atmosphere was very fun and bright.

Around midday and a little bit later, Mrs. Lee the librarian and I held up the finish line for a few relay races, one that had parents and one that didn't. Then we went to the library, where Mrs. Jeong was taking care of her kids. She and Mrs. Lee are friends, so they talked and I kind of went away for a while, since I wanted to look at children's books and was very tired. The kids roamed around. Then Mrs. Lee summoned me to go with her to the science lab, where we started to set tables for lunch, starting with pouring the fish soup into the hot pots and then lighting the heaters beneath them.

Lots of kimchee were spread out over different little dishes, because there seems to be at least six types of kimchee. There was also rice, and grapes, and nuts, and cabbage, and different spices (most of which have a red and spicy tinge to them). There were six tables in total, and Mrs. Lee and I, along with the two secretaries, covered them all. We were finished for about five minutes before everyone came pouring in. The kids ate in the classrooms with their parents, so this room is mainly for the teachers and any dignitaries who may come.

I sat with the vice principal, the vice secretary, the librarian and the maintenance guy at a table to the side. Apparently, the librarian revealed that she thought I was a lesbian the first time I met her (what did I do wrong?). Then the vice principal said that he was a single man after he got a hug from a student and teacher, and I asked whether they were parent and teacher. He somehow thought that I meant whether the student was his kid. Apparently, he really like Chaplin and is quite a comedian. I found that the vice secretary is very good at English. The conversation was just ... well, weird.

The same four of us who set the meal up were going to clean up. This was time when the kids had already finished, so they had a dance to show off, which the teachers practiced for like two or three weeks. I was wiping up the counter and watching that, when I screeched because there was a centipede six inches away. The librarian and secretary came to see what's wrong, and while the first woman killed the bug, the second woman was laughing at me. She told me I had a good personality, and I took that to mean that she thought I'm cute, and I told them that I thought they are good people too.

After we were finished, we went to host the last few races, watch a few things, and then it was soon over. I was glad, because while the lunch was interesting, the rest of the day I felt kind of bored since I didn't get to participate in field day itself. It was still good to see, because my own elementary, middle and high schools never held an event like this, since there was not enough room in the city, and it was probably fairly hard to organize.

Being An Alien

Some time ago, as per immigration office procedures, my coteacher drove me to the nearest hospital - which turns out to be like two towns over. Long drives like that accentuate the awkward relationship between my coteacher Mr. Jeong and myself, because on the one hand, he doesn't want to get too friendly (it's fairly conservative here) - being a husband with a young wife and two kids - but on the other hand, it gets really awkward in silence if no one says anything for more than ten minutes.

So we arrive at some place called Siheung, and that's apparently where the hospital is. I follow Mr. Jeong around, because I can't read any of the signs or understand any of the people, so I can't sign in and listen to instructions on my own. So he asks at the info desk, and then we go up an escalator to the second floor, where he looks for the occupational health department. He fills out the form for me, asking for my blood type and other vital information.

We make small talk over food and whatever else comes to mind. It occurs to me that this guy is closer to me than my father ever will be. It makes me sad and a little wistful.

I feel displaced, somewhat lost, but not bad. First they take my blood pressure and temperature. They take an X-ray of my lungs and spine. I had to pee in a cup, awkwardly carrying it back out until I put it in a tray, where they tell me to make a fist. I watch them draw blood through a syringe, wondering why blood bubbles when you take it out like that. It's more crimson than cranberry juice, almost maroon.

Because they can't make me understand in their language, they have to show me, but pointing, poking, prodding, guiding me in the right directions. Next time, my coteacher still has to hand in my alien registration papers.

Festivities in Seoul

Besides December - when the big event of the month is Christmas - there seems to be an outing for the school within the first or second week of each month for the fall. In October, this was the Seoul Festival.

A small handful of parents came to help. The teachers made sure all the kids and themselves went to the bathrooms before everyone piled into a presumably rented bus for a three hour long ride. During this time, I was speaking to the person who I thought of an amusing fellow teacher who speaks broken English and Mandarin, Mr. Se, and the librarian. The librarian Mrs. Lee needed his help to translate what she was trying to say to me. They reassure me that they are on my side, said they wanted to be friends, and that they are rooting for me. I am grateful. It occurs to me once again that these are the barriers that language can present when everyone is not versed in the same one.

This is what it is like to in essence be born again in another country. This is what my parents went through when they immigrated to America - until a reliable relative introduced them to Chinatown, where they can ask around about everything in the native tongue.

When everyone was let out of the bus, we went through a small labyrinth of a park where many men in dark suits stood. "They're the president's guard," Mrs. Lee explained. We never saw the president. Instead, the kids went with their respective homeroom teachers to the portion of the festival named Safe Seoul, where policeman, firemen and other public service agents presented the benefits of safety in a fun and cutesy manner. There were maybe up to fifty tents spread out sporadically over a large flat baseball stadium sized area. Mascots included The Mask, two man sized pink and blue inflatable pigs, a guy in a robot suit with stilts inside, among others. After taking pictures with their classmates and teachers, the kids were led around to the booths.

The medical booth consisted of CPR dummies with an explanation of what someone should do if another person is unconscious. The firemen had a truck instead of a booth, wherein the kids climbed the ladder onto a type of water slide, and slid down. The street safety had a drawing of the crosswalk, where a traffic cop talked about the walk and stop signs. There was also an alarm booth, where kids distinguised between fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, and the emergency evacuation alarms. A guy in a wetsuit pretended to be drowning in a tub while the kids were supposed to toss him a lifesaver. This was a lot to organize, and it was very impressive.
Lunch was a picnic with many korean styled sushis, with spiced vegetables as a side dish, and chopped up fruit.

Next were the schools' presentation booths, sectioned off in another area. As my school is an elementary school, the kids mainly looked at middle schools as their next step, though we saw many middle schoolers looking at high schools as well. Most of the middle and high schoolers were taller than me, so I felt a bit stunted. Here were the activities that elementary school prepared for kids from all the schools. Our school had a soap making table, whereas some of the other schools had projects with plaster models of the islands around the area, lip balm making, handbag decorating, and a ball made of plastic packing strips.

After this moderately tiring activity - you try running after students when they're excited about something - there was either free time, or we could follow the first grade teacher, who led us around in the museum part of the Korean Broadcasting Station. The exhibits separated by different genres and age group, so the basement was about how technology for cameras, tv, and microphones advanced over time. Then the next floor was about cartoons, the next was about live action kiddy shows, up until the final floor, which was about dramas set in the traditional ages and classics.

This was the last event of the day, after which time, we were all packed onto the bus and driven back to the school. A teacher made a small fuss over the kids putting their snack trash in the backyard/gym area, but since they told me not to worry about cleaning up, I went back to my dorm/apartment and disappeared for the rest of the day.

Moments

No matter what language they're speaking, or which country they're in, kids are still kids.

The ground was wet from rain yesterday, so I didn't take the third graders out for gym. However, there is a room sized porch attached to my classroom, so I took them out there. Lining them up, I gave them a random work out involving punches, kicks, elbows, and touching their toes. Now they know what left and right hooks are, and also what uppercuts are. The ironic thing is that I can't realistically fight for shit, but I like to think of them as my pokemon - while they're not pocket sized, I reserve the right to breed little monsters.

A few of my sixth graders came to visit me after class for the heck of it. They started playing with sharp things on my desk like scissors and box cutters. And then they revealed that they REALLY like anime. We went through a good portion of the list: Dragon Ball Z, Sailormoon, Naruto, Bleach, Haruhi Suzumiya, Doraemon, and others. It dawned on me that cartoons are intercultural.

So I designed a word search for afterschool one day for them, and had a list of words for them to look for. It was getting really loud. Then they started forming teams, and used umbrellas to keep out others not on their teams. I confiscated the umbrellas, but admired their competitive spirits anyway.

Soccer is a really big thing here. Now those who know me know that I'm far from athletic. But their enthusiasm bleeds, so I try things out anyway. On the one hand, I'm not good at all. On the other hand, I'm twice the size of an average kid, so when I block, I pretty much knock them down. I also tried playing catch, and while this is with a tennis ball and not an actual baseball, I felt good for not completely throwing like a girl anyway. The vice principal was happy when I said I'm a Boston Red Sox fan, and that my favorite player is Big Papi. I guess the nickname doesn't stick much here, cuz it took him a minute to think of who that is.

I'm starting to learn more about their pop culture purely through the references that Mr. Jeong uses in his classes. There's a lot of comedy, they like Borat, and Michael Jackson, and there's a lot of food references as well. One of the most famous male comedians here apparently has a signature big bowl haircut and specializes in cross dressing. I think I've seen some of their skits on tv

Curriculum

So my schedule goes something like this.

I teach "morning English" every day of the week, twenty minutes before actual classes when I think of a simple game for kids of all ages involving English. So far, I've only come up with a song to sing, Hangman, Simon Says, and because Friday I was feeling lazy, I just let them watch Looney Tunes instead.

Then on Mondays and Wednesdays, I teach gym classes. So far, I've had them play tag and soccer, and haven't thought of anything much else yet. Mr. Jeong says that I should go by the textbooks and use English to teach them stretches and strengthen them through obstacle courses, except that I'm not sure how to go about that, so I will need to think of something soon. Monday's three periods are for grades one through three, whereas Wednesdays are for grades four through six.

There's also the afterschool activities, but these are kind of casual, no one really cares what I do with them, so sometimes they convince me to let them go outside, or just hang out, or something or other. But I also try to have them review the things they learned throughout the day through word games and such.

The goal is to have conversational English, so there are a lot of skits and role playing. The more talented ones can memorize the lines and act them out immediately, whereas most of them read them out loud from the "script". To make things fun, multimedia is almost always used - from sing alongs to memory games with prizes to whatever else we can think of. The main classes are through Mr. Jeong, so I don't actually assign homework - and this is perfectly fine with me.

Coteacher

After obtaining Korean currency, I rented a phone to call my only contact in South Korea - waking him up at about 6:30 to 7 in the morning. He reminded me that there are internet kiosks that I could use, so I went to one, checked my email, and sent out a help email telling my recruiter that I'm in South Korea now - please pick me up. She replied a moment later, thankfully, which means that the friend I phoned originally would not have to pick me up after work. It turns out that my recruiters basically forgot about me. So then there was nothing to do but sit and wait.

Meanwhile, I ate the food that I procured in order to get change to use the internet kiosks - a Japanese styled rice ball and some coconut juice. People came and went. I managed to calm down, since I had called my friend because I plugged in my laptop to try to find an internet connection and send out an email that way, but my laptop died a total of three times. In a panic, I had asked to use the laptop of some Cantonese people from Hong Kong nearby, effectively mooching off of them for a few minutes. They were kind enough not to completely mind. Three hours later, Daniel the recruiter arrived.

He quickly piled me and my luggage into his car, and drove forth. I talked a lot during this time, because I thought he was my coteacher, and also, it was a concerted effort to relax more. We got to Daenam Elementary School within a few hours. He picked my luggage up and settled me into my room, and then introduced me to everyone relevant, including my coteacher, Mr. Jeong. At that time, I was a bit tired, and couldn't absorb any of it. Anyhow, that day I didn't need to teach anything but the afterschool class for the first to third graders.

While settling in, I received a phone call from whoever asking for Daniel. I thought that Mr. Jeong was Daniel, and so asked him to answer, interrupting his class. For some reason, I also jumped to the conclusion that it was his wife on the phone. This greatly displeased him. I can't really explain this behavior, except to say that my travels had left me disoriented. Anyhow, Mr. Jeong had a talk with me later, and we had that sorted out.

I had no idea what to do with the kids during that afterschool time. It was a source of stress for me, so I overprepared. I had them read a dialogue about McDonald's, whereupon they agreed, but also protesting that it was an afterschool program and so wanted a game. I took away their distractions - cell phones, stuffed animals, caps - only giving them back at the end of the day. The morning English periods were a source of stress for me too, so the first morning, I had them sing "Good Morning", which struck me as very awkward. It will take me another evening and a half to get used to these proceedings.

Flight and Arrival at Incheon Airport

All the secondhand knowledge from all the books in the world about South Korea couldn't have prepared me for this experience.

It was a good thing that I decided to go to Logan at least an hour early, because the line to check in luggage was long, and also, the attendant had me rearrange my stuff so that one luggage would weigh more, and I wouldn't have to pay for one extra luggage. Then there was some question as to whether I would have to buy a return ticket because of the country I am going to, but they verified that I didn't have to, and I was very relieved. Then it was time to go through security, and I had to part with Jere, mom and Annie.

I went to the right gate right away. Though I had expected to board the plane an hour later, the flight was delayed two times, so I ended up waiting two extra hours. During this time, I settled the butterflies in my stomach, drank water, ate a snack, and read a good portion of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". When it was finally time to board the plane, you can imagine my impatience.

My seat was next to two Korean American girls from Chicago to Incheon. I guess that they are going to visit members of their families who have no immigrated. It seems that they didn't know each other, because between the three of us, very few words had been exchanged. We all slept a lot, and occassionally watched the mini tv imbedded into the seats in front of ours. There was Karate Kid, Jackie Chan's version, a movie with Jennifer Aniston in it, and a lot of other not-too-memorable stuff.

The stopover at Chicago separated the gates to other American places from international places, so that I had to walk around a lot to find a whole other terminal. This includes having to take a train, and then having to eat a Starbucks pastry and waiting many hungry hours on the same bench. Starving and being very sleepy aren't a very good combination.

When I finally arrived at Incheon airport, checking in was easy because I had all the documents ready. Then baggage claim was also relatively easy, mainly because an old man decided that he will help me arrange the luggage on the cart so that they won't fall. Then I found my way outside to the next area of the airport. The next few hours will be pretty much spent waiting and anxiously hoping that there will be someone to pick me up.

The History of EPIK

As with any job, a person must study up in preparation to meet new challenges. Usually, I would research a company based on its history, its current projects and goals, and then all the press involved with that. If I were really bold, I might go interview someone who is working at the company now over a cup of tea or email someone who has worked at the company in his recent past for a few quick pointers.

Before I jump ahead of myself to record my secondhand textbook knowledge about Korea, it's nice to take a step back and first go over the program and school I am working with.

Through EPIK (English Program in Korea), established between the allied nations of the United States and South Korea, I am working specifically for the Daenam Elementary School in the Daebudo county, in the city state of Ansan, part of the Gyeonggi-do province/region roughly in the northwest of South Korea. (From a random scene in the HBO series The Wire, a commander cop told a street patrol cop that that's the first thing someone should know about his given situation - the very specifics of where he is.)

EPIK has a good fifteen years of history so far, though it is still somewhat a recent development. As with many international efforts regarding education and globalization, the initiator of these actions was Peacecorp, starting in 1981. The South Korean government determined, while working with Peacecorp, that having their youth learn foreign languages and be exposed to the cultures of other countries are important goals. EPIK was established in 1995 as its own organization; however, it became jointly operated by Korea National University of Education and National Institute for International Education (NIIED). In 2007, EPIK fully transferred to NIIED, which is a branch of the Ministry of Education Science and Technology. Since then, they have only gotten more organized, hiring and training more people. For more, see EPIK's Wikipedia page and its more-direct sources.

Daenam Elementary School offers first grade through sixth grade. It's a seaside building in a relatively small town, with the main attractions being malls, the beach, seafood and small resorts. I'll write more about this later when I have pictures for you. So for now, it would be easier to take a step back and look at South Korea - the country as a whole.

I was using Culture Smart!: Korea, by James Hoare as a first reference, but EPIK also has its own little booklet to pass out when training Guest English Teachers (GETs) during orientation called Living in Korea: A Guide for EPIK Teachers. (While I've mainly been talking about EPIK, I'm actually working for GEPIK, which is the branch of EPIK specifically for the Gyeonggi region, but most or all of the rules and procedures are the same - just clarifying that now.) The second source is very useful for specific information and the appendix of terminology in the back because of the Korean terms as applied to daily school life.

All of this will be especially useful when your recruiter asks about a phone or Skype interview. She's going to prepare around ten or so standard questions for you about your experiences, why you want to teach, why you chose Korea specifically, how you will interact with your coworkers, so on and so forth. The more you know, the more prepared you will be to formulate your answers to these questions based on your personal experiences. =)

Visiting the Consul

Hello! Visiting the consul comes only after you've gotten your VISA number from your recruiter. He may also have given you a form to interview with the consul and instructions on where to apply for your proof of residency. The proof of residency is for tax form purposes, but you can worry about that later.

After you fill out the form to interview with your consul, prepare:

• some money (about 60 dollars is a good bet)
• another copy of your university transcript
• your passport, and
• a passport photo

to include with the VISA application. If your recruiter didn't give you the address for the consulate, you will have to look it up on Google - type in your home city, the target country, and "consulate" (eg. Boston South Korean consulate) and search results should show their website, if not their address. Their address should be found either on the Home page or the Contact Us section, though there's a good chance that the site may be in a foreign language.

Since I reside in the Boston area, the Korean consulate that I went to is in Newton. This is their website. Because it's all in Korean, I could not access any of the forms that were on the website, and had to go visit in person to get anything done.

I had to make two or three trips. First, they had me fill out an application on site. Then, when they realized I didn't have an appointment, they sent me home with a health form to fill out and come back the next day at 10:30am.

2nd trip: When I did that, they asked for the passport photo and $45 in cash that I didn't know I was supposed to have, but decided to interview me anyway, because I sincerely apologized for being late as it was a really rainy day and the bus (there were only 2 bus routes to that address) ran 15 minutes late. So the interview was very short, where the consul asked pointed questions about why I wanted to be in Korea specifically, why I wanted the job, about my experiences, my family and my health. Then they sent me to the nearest CVS - with a Google map as a guide - to take a passport photo and obtain $45 dollars in cash to pay them for this procedure. When I returned with the desired items and dripping from the rain, they gave me a receipt and told me to come back 2 days later to pick up my VISA.

3rd trip: When I successfully did that, my quest was finally completed, thankfully.

I felt like I spent a lot of money, because each bus trip one way was about $3 in cash so I had to go to the ATM a lot, having gotten used to just using the debit card. Overall, it was $18 in bus fare plus $45 for the transaction, that's $63, plus $10 for the passport photos, and $2 for the ATM fees when I didn't have cash on me, the total rings up to a solid $75 dollars. However, most of this was because I was drastically unprepared for this visit - my recruiter didn't tell me anything about how to get a VISA, just sent me the form for interviewing with the consulate, so after reading this, you should come by fewer obstacles!

And Now To Wait

After sending all of your documents to your recruiter, assuming that she doesn't find anything that you missed and have to correct, you will now wait. You're almost done! There are only a few more steps to this process before you're set to fly to your designated country to work.

During the wait, you would be wise to do a little more research on the country where you will be staying. I will be staying in South Korea, so I got my hands on this book and a Korean dictionary. The Culture Smart series is great for me because I'm awkward enough in settings where I have a good idea of the customs, so reading up on them beforehand makes it less likely for me to embarrass myself completely.

There are other cultural sources to rely on aside from books. For example, Youtube can provide examples of music from that country, or maybe even short documentaries from people who have been there before. Google can bring up blogs from other people who are also teaching abroad, where you can read to compare and contrast their experiences. From here on out, aside from the final bit of processing to go through, it becomes a rather anthropological experience.

There are other things to plan as well. For example, if your recruiter has told you when to be at the designated country, now is the time to book your flight. Planning ahead means you have the time to compare prices and figure out which airline is the best for you, and whether it will be a direct flight or you will be making a stop in between. It's generally cheaper to use an airline that's native to the country. For Korea, I bought my ticket using the Orbitz website with Asiana Air, choosing a direct flight because it will save time. Considering it's a 13 hrs flight, you can also plan on getting some reading material or games to pass the time.

As I mentioned a few paragraphs before, there's also a tiny bit more of paperwork to do once the recruiter gives you your VISA number. That will be what my next entry is about.

I also used this time to tell everyone concerned where I'm going, why and to say my goodbyes. I reassured everyone that I will be coming back, and it was kind of heartrending all around. My words here cannot justify the depth of the emotions to be felt: how much I will miss everyone, especially my boyfriend, and my anxieties and excitement concerning the future. I feel alive.

College Diploma and Transcript

It takes a college degree to be an official teacher. That is, if you're going to be paid for being a teacher, then you're probably going to need a college degree. I'm going to assume you have a college degree, and therefore a diploma. Now we're going to talk about how to get a duplicate diploma if you lost yours, and how to retrieve an official academic transcript.

I also just realized that I wrote the previous entry assuming that everyone would know where their diplomas are after they graduated. But if you couldn't get the copy of your diploma notarized and apostilled as suggested in the previous entry, here's some information about how to get a duplicate diploma.

Your college or university registrar takes care of all the information regarding diplomas. They have records involving when you were there, what courses you took and when you graduated, so getting a duplicate should be no problem as long as you pay the fee and fill out the right forms. For everyone who went to my alma mater Umass Amherst, you can contact them through the information to be found here.

The same office also takes care of your transcripts, so this is a one stop shop and you don't have to go far. There's also usually a form involved when requesting transcripts as well. They ask for your name, address, date of birth, student number or social security number, and when you attended school. The transcript request form for Umass Amherst students is here.

It takes about two weeks for them to get copies of your transcript and mail it to you. When you get it in the mail, DO NOT OPEN IT. For the purposes of applying for your teaching program, you may notice that they ask for an official sealed transcript. I made this mistake once - if you open it, the record is no longer valid, and you'll have to send for another one. They probably just want to make sure that you didn't tamper with the courses you took, your GPA or your grades to satisfy their requirements or something.

Notarization and Apostille

As mentioned before, this entry will be about your state level criminal background check and the documents you will need from your college and university as part of your recruiter's application for an E2 visa for you to teach abroad in a foreign country.

While the process varies by the state you live in, you can retrieve your criminal background check for Massachusetts at the Criminal History Systems Board. If you scroll down to the middle of the page, there is a subtitle that says "Requesting Criminal Records" and then under that, "I Want to Request My Own CORI". Whether you click on adult criminal history or juvenile criminal history depends on your age. (I knew someone in high school who went to teach English in Mongolia for a summer, so this job opportunity is available to minors - the main difference is that younger people are only allowed to do this in the summer for school reasons.)

Either link will take you to a form, which you will print to fill out. The second page on of the form for adults is titled "Affidavit of Indigency" which basically means a fee waiver, so you only need to print those pages and fill that out if you cannot pay the $25 dollar fee. Again, specifics vary according to state. IMPORTANT: DO NOT sign the form yet. This note does not apply to the juvenile form.

After you filled it out to the best of your ability without signing it, you will prepare a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE). SASE means that you take a long white envelope, the kind for business letters, and write your name and address in the center of it, then put a first class stamp on the top right hand corner. Write a check or money order for $25 if you can afford it; if not, the Affidavit of Indigency will waive it. Put these aside in a safe place.

Now, do you have your diploma on hand? If not, then you should contact your college's registrar for them to pull up your information and they should be able to print another one for you. You'll need to prove your identity with a license or student ID, as well as pay them. The information for Umass Amherst alumni is here.

If you do have your diploma, take that and your filled-but-not-signed criminal background check form to the local town or city hall. Show the clerk your form and ask for notarization. You will swear an oath as per her instruction, and then you can sign your form, and she will stamp it with something like this. After she is done with the form, you can ask her to photocopy your diploma and then notarize the copy. In Massachusetts, each notarization costs $3.

When you are ready to mail it, write your name and address on the top left corner of a manila envelope. Then address the envelope to your state's criminal systems board; the address should be on your criminal background check form. Now put your signed and notarized criminal background check form into the envelope, along with that SASE and your check or money order (unless you filled out that Affidavit of Indigency, then no payment). Send this out. With first class or priority mail, it should take them about a week or two to send back your criminal background check using your SASE.

When you get your notarized criminal background check - if it's not notarized, make sure to call or email your criminal systems board - it's time to apostille both the copy of your diploma and your criminal background check. You can do that in your public records building, which is usually located in the capital of your state. The specific addresses are right here. An apostille is a gold stamped sticker, and should look like this. For Massachusetts, it costs $6 to stamp one document.

These two documents are now ready to be sent to your recruiter. It's up to you and your recruiter whether to send all the documents at once, or to send them one or two at a time. I sent mine in all at once to save on postage, but mistakes are less noticeable and harder to correct if you do it this way.

Official Documents

So we were talking about the decision making process up through the point where we initiated contact with a recruiting company for a specific program. Once you've received a response from the recruiter, your application process has officially started.

There's going to be a list of official documents you'll need to procure. While there may be slight variations based on the country and program, most of it is fairly similar. The recruiter will need all of this information to get you an E2 visa; while you're busying putting together this portfolio of your identity, he will be effectively marketing you to various schools associated with the teaching program, based on your resume and photos. So here's a list:

resume

casual photos, 2 or 3

passport photos

passport

college transcript(s)

copy of diploma

letters of recommendation

criminal background check

application

contract

The smart way to edit your resume would be to Google some tips. Action words are encouraged. Put relevant experience first. Keep everything up to date in terms of locations and contact information. Make sure the layout looks neat. Check your grammar.

If you need it, the passport should be the first thing you work on, because some countries take a really long time to process one. According to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, it takes about six weeks. However, since there's so much paperwork involved, I would suggest giving it more time in case something gets written down wrongly. The same site I linked to has instructions in terms of what kind of passport services you need. The recruiter will need you to scan the passport's first page once you receive it, and send it to them.

Then, I suggest going after the letters of recommendation. This all varies depending on how much experience you have, which dictates the number of coworkers or supervisors who would be willing to write you one. The program where I applied, EPIK, required official organizational insignias at the top of the letters, so I had to relay that to my professors. There are also some organizations that plainly don't write recommendation letters - Target Corporation is one of these. This step comes in second, because it's the least structured, and depends mainly on your contacts.

Your college or university website should have instructions regarding how to retrieve copies of your diploma and transcripts. Criminal background checks vary by state, so you can Google your state's official website for that information. I'll dedicate the next entry on just these two documents alone.

While you can usually get the application and contract of your chosen teaching abroad program on the site, sometimes these forms are subject to change, so you should ask your recruiter about when to submit these.

Thanks for reading me!

Working Abroad: Why and Paperwork

While there are plenty of blogs via the net about people's adventures and sights once they reach their destination, there's no such information about the process of everything before getting there. I would have found this data really useful, so for anyone who's thinking about going abroad, this is the right place for you. I'm here to add a voice to all the pages about teaching abroad that are made by recruiting organizations.

So why do you want to work in a foreign country?

My reasons were heavy, but simple. I could be staying at home with my partner, relatively near my parents and sister, working a retail job. But I graduated at the end of 2009, and by 2010, millions of people are jobless. I worked at Target for a year, searching for another opportunity the entire time. When I started to apply for a teaching job abroad, these are the things I was thinking about.

I would be away from my partner and family for several months to a year, depending on the contract for the program and recruiting company. Am I okay with that? I risk being distanced from people I care a lot about, and not liking the new environment where I am stationed. On the other hand, I get to explore and be immersed in a new culture, exciting just because it's novel. It would be international experience for my resume, and would change my outlook on many subjects. So is the risk worth the potential gain?

Once I thought about that for awhile and made my decision, the research began. I was lucky, a friend referred me to this program because he's in it and patiently answered a lot of my questions. Still, the other question I was answering was, which country should I work in? I've never traveled for work before, so I was mainly considering "First World" countries, places where the quality of living wouldn't be too drastically different from Boston, Massachusetts, in the USA, where I'm from.

At first I considered China, but the quality of living there is lower, so then I chose South Korea. Next up is choosing a program suitable for you. Many of these programs have pages online where they advertise, so some facts to look for are:

a. length of contract (months? a year?)

b. room and board provided for? if not, how much?

c. wage and salary pay

d. benefits

Once you've decided on a program and recruitment company, contact them (usually through email) and the application process begins. The program I am with is called EPIK (English Program in Korea) through the recruiting company English World.