1 week to-do list!

I BOUGHT MY PLANE TICKET!!!!

I think. The nameless Korean man on the phone said I did. $790. Sheesh. All because my parents wanted me to fly out of Portland instead of Seattle.

But no worries, I'm out of here in one week! There are four main things I want to accomplish in that time.

1. Get my suitcase under 40 lbs.
Yes, I know the rule is 50, but you musn't forget that I am very small, and 50 lbs is more than half of my weight. In Mexico my suitcase was only 45 lbs, and I was running alongside the conveyor belt trying to pull my suitcase off until someone decided to help the poor tiny white girl. I do not want that experience again, especially with my permanently damaged wrist.

So yeah. One suitcase, 40 lbs. I'm not really bringing anything anyway.

2. Learn Korean
This may come as a surprise to you, but I do not actually know Korean. Pretty much all I can do is say hello and type my name in Korean (Xpfjs). I apologize for deceiving you all.

However, I recently learned from watching Korean dramas that 'YAH' is HEY. So I know what to say if a creeper follows me home, or when someone emotionally turns and walks away from me.

3. Get taller
One of the reasons I went through AT in the first place was because of the career fair at my university. A man was there recruiting for Hess schools in Taiwan, and as I was asking him questions he eyed me up and down and condescendingly asked if I would be able to control a classroom full of students. I informed him that I taught teenagers in Mexico and did just fine (although 'fine' may have been a bit of an exaggeration).

I decided that man was a jerk and said goodbye. I headed to the next stall where there was a girl with a simple poster board that said "Adventure Teaching in Korea." She was nice, and kind of short too. I talked to her, and she told me I would be amazing. So I applied. :)

I have a lot of worries spinning through my head right now, but one that is probably unique to me is that people (aka, my boss and other teachers) will judge me on my lack of altitude. As always. I am terrified that I am going to show up and they will wonder why this teenage student has come to teach for them.

I don't think height really has anything to do with how well a teacher can control a classroom. I mean, the intimidation factor only gets you so far. If I have trouble controlling these kids, it will be because I'm a bad teacher, not because I'm short. :D

Still, it would be nice to reach 5' within the next week.

4. Remember how to teach children
Hahahah....so Mexico was over a year ago, and I have been out of school for what feels like forever. At this point I am entirely convinced that I have forgotten everything I ever knew about English and how to teach it. I don't even know where my textbooks are, although supposedly I do not need any.

For this, I don't really know if there's anything I can do. I just hope that when I'm in front of the class with a textbook in hand, it will all come flooding back.

I hope they listen to me. :/


At any rate, I leave September 7th. Wish me luck!

Concerning Time Travel

Making travel arrangements is a bit complicated with the changes in time zones.

Korea is 18 hours ahead of Washington State. I think. If I'm wrong about that, don't hate me.

But basically, if you add four hours to our time and change the A.M. to P.M., that's what time it is in Korea. Tomorrow.

So while AT is trying to make travel arrangements for me, they essentially have to send messages back in time to me, so the message arrives a day before they sent it.

Contrarily, when I send an email to Korea, it goes to the future, meaning in a split second it arrives 18 hours after I sent it!

This can be problematic for making deadlines.

For instance, I spent all day refreshing my email to see if they had decided on my plane tickets yet, forgetting that most of my day is their early morning. Not until 1:00 AM my time, which is late-ish afternoon in Korea did they send me a travel itinerary.

The payment for this itinerary is due September 1st. At first I thought, that's fine, I have a couple days. Then I realized that if it is midnight oN the 31st now, then in a few short hours, it will already be the 1st in Korea!!!

AHHHHHHH!

So, without having time to see if I will even be able to get a ride to the airport on the day they chose, I hastily replied saying it looked great!

I don't even care if they're making me take a 50 minute flight from Portland to Seattle. Whatever!

18 hours later (2 minutes) they praised me for my speedy reply and informed me that the traveling agency would call to make payment arrangements early in the morning.

...But if I hadn't been awake at 1 AM to reply to their email, what would have happened? September 1st would be long gone before August even ended!

:O

Time travel is dangerous.

Use it well!

(sorry for the sleepy ramble...)

VISA UPDATE

I have it.


I'm not sure what I imagined a visa would look like, but it turns out it's a sticker on the first page of my passport.


A big sticker.


:) <---- (Happy for sticker).


Now, I am merely waiting to hear about plane tickets. Could be leaving in 1-2 weeks!


:D <---- (Happy for no more Battle Ground).

How much does it cost to go teach in Korea?

On websites of agencies that recruit English teachers overseas, there are 3 main points they advertise:

1. Gain Teaching experience!!
2. Adventure! Travel!! Experience Culture!!!
3. MAKE MONEY with ANY DEGREE!!!!!!

While those first two points are what attracted me to teaching overseas, the third one is what steered me towards Korea.

Things that KOREAN recruiting agencies advertise:
You can go teach overseas with NO EXPERIENCE!
You will receive FREE HOUSING.
The school even pays for your PLANE TICKET!
Korea also offers new teachers more than ANY OTHER COUNTRY!
You can even save enough to PAY OFF YOUR LOANS!


However, what they do not advertise is the financial investment you must give to the process.

I really hate the process.

Here is a summary of what I have spent so far. It could differ from state to state, and would have been slightly less if the FBI hadn't messed up.

Gathering visa documents
Notarized copy of diploma.......................................$40
Apostille for diploma from WA Sec. of State.....$15
4 Passport Photos......................................................$10
Fingerprint cards......................................................$20
FBI Background Check..........................................$18
Apostille for FBI Check from Dep. of State........$8
Official transcript...................................................$10
The visa itself...........................................................$45

Mailing this crap around the country
USPS Priority.........................................................................$25
USPS Express (for when I was running out of time)....$80
UPS my documents to Korea.............................................$65

Oh, and by the way...
You need to buy your plane ticket, which will be reimbursed with your first paycheck.
Also, since you won't get paid for a month, you should take $500-1000 in cash (converted to Korean won) to survive the first month (buy cell phone, apartment supplies, etc).

So, is teaching in Korea a good way to pay off student loans as advertized? Only if you can scrape up enough cash to actually GET THERE! :)

Taren's Korea Trip FAQ

You all ask me the same things.

Q: What are you going to do in Korea?
A: I will teach English to small children.

Q: What grade will you be teaching?
A: Theoretically I will be teaching ages 8 to 12 in small evening classes outside of their normal school day. Yes, I am aware that this could be very sketch.

Q: Why Korea?
A: Why not?

Q: North Korea or South Korea?
A: I hate you.

Q: Where in Korea?
A: Jinju. Yes, I know you've never heard of it.

Q: I bet Koreans will be the same size as you, huh?
A: No. I am still miraculously short. (see below)



Q: Can you speak Korean?
A: Yes. I can say 'My name is Xpfjs,' and also that I am not an elephant.

Q: How long are you staying?
A: One year. No, I will not be coming back for Christmas.

Q: Won't you be lonely?
A: Yes, because you will all forget to email/skype/im/facebook/google+ me. :'(

Q: What made you want to do this?
A: I forget.

Q: Do you like Korean food?
A: Dunno. Never had any.

Q: Who else is going with you?
A: ME!

Q: When are you leaving?
A: DAFsdkfahsd;fklasdjdklfjsi;whsdflydas;dlkasjdaskldja;dwijioyqen,cvnxuoieyqwiyqiuwbsk

Waiting, Part II

I did it! I got all of my papers to Korea, AND I completed them correctly.

Unfortunately now, I just have to wait for the director of my school to submit the papers to immigration. Once he does that, I wait for them to send me a visa number. THEN I can go to Seattle and apply for a visa.

There is so much that could still go wrong. I hate having my life in someone else's hands!

In the meantime, the only thing I could do was call the Korean Consulate to confirm which papers I need to bring when I get my visa.

Great, more phone calls.

I found a phone number for the one in Seattle on the internet, and swallowing my phone anxiety, dialed the number.

A robot answered, as expected. Usually I'm slightly relieved when a robot answers, because that means I don't have to talk to a real person right away.

Unfortunately this robot only spoke Korean.

I waited a few minutes (it was probably only 30 seconds) to see if they gave a "For English, press 1" option, but they did not. I hung up in a panic.

Those of you who are familiar with my phone paranoia will not be surprised by the illogical conclusions my panicked mind came to.

I must have called Korea! This wasn't the Korean consulate at all! This was a place only Koreans are supposed to call!

I did another internet search, and confirmed that I was being ridiculous. I had indeed called the correct place for visa information. There is no reason why there would not be someone who spoke English there.

It took me 10 minutes, but I finally gathered enough courage to try again. I promised myself I would not hang up until someone answered, Korean or American.

I called again, and listened to the Korean robot for about 10 hours (probably 2 minutes). Then the robot said, "For English, press 1."

Feeling like a paranoid idiot, I pressed 1.

Someone who spoke English answered the phone, I got my questions answered without incident.

It helped that she didn't have a stupid West Virginia accent.

Phones are the devil.

I remember my first phone call.

Her name was Whitney, and she was in my Kindergarten class with me. My only experience with phones up until then was when my parents made me talk to my grandparents on the phone. I hated talking on the phone, not because I disliked talking to my grandparents, but I found phones very stressful to use. Sometimes my grandparents couldn't understand me. And sometimes I couldn't understand them. And sometimes you both run out of things to say! Why do parents put their kids through the stress of phone calls before they have enough common sense to just say goodbye and hang up?!

At 5-years old I already hated talking on the phone, and had no desire to expand my social network beyond my grandparents. Unfortunately, that all changed one evening.

'Ta~ren, you have a phone call~.' My mother interrupted my Lego-building in her sing-song voice. She entered the room grinning proudly.

Bewildered, I could only manage a 'W-What?!' before she forced the phone into my hand. Immediately there was a pit in my stomach, as I realized that I now had to say hello, without even knowing who was at the other end of this blasted invention.

I shifted the phone into my slightly less sweaty left hand, and took a deep breath.

"He-"
"Hello?" I nearly jump out of my skin at the voice from the other end. It seems to be a girl, though I have no idea who.
"Hello?" I responded, just to confirm I was there.
"Hi." said the voice. This does not help me. Who is this?!
"Hi." I say, my heart rate increasing.
"How are you?" says the little voice. Is this a joke?! Why won't she say who she is?!
"Fine." I say, and then not being able to take it anymore, "Who is this?"
"Whitney," says the little girl. That's weird, I think to myself. I didn't know we were friends.
"Oh. Why did you call me?" I was awkward and blunt, even as a child.
"I just wanted to talk to you." What the heck. My heart melts at this now, but at the time I just thought she was crazy.
"Why?"
"I just wanted to talk to you."
...
...
"Oh," I finally manage.
...
...
"What are you doing?" Relieved that she finally broke the silence, I let go the breath I was holding.
"Nothing." Looking back, talking about my Legos might have been a better way to go.
"Why did you call me?" I ask again. I hope my eloquence has improved since I was 5.
"I just wanted to talk to you. Bye!"
"Bye!" I say, relieved that it was over.

I didn't really become friends with that girl, and I was glad she never put me through that again.

People have expressed jealousy over my ability to recall events long past, without realizing that my memory is completely involuntary. I don't remember where my mother said she was going when she left this morning, but I can recall every stressful experience with a phone I've ever had.

I don't know whether or not poor Whitney was to blame, but as I gathered more memories of phone conversations throughout my life, my hatred for them has only increased.

I hate how when talking on a phone you always feel the need to talk slightly louder than normal so that the other person can understand you.

I hate because of the time delay, you sometimes both end up talking at the same time. And then you stop, and but they don't know it yet because of the time delay, so they stop too, and then you start talking, but then they start again too...AHHH.

I hate when you call someone and one of their family members answers and then they ask who you are.

I hate when you don't understand them and have to ask them to repeat themselves.

Caller ID doesn't help, either, because sometimes someone else uses that phone to call you, and then it's confusing.

And then, when the phone number is unlisted, you take a huge risk answering.

It could be a salesperson and I have to rudely hang up on them and feel guilty the rest of the day.

Or worse, what if it's a wrong number, and I have to tell them that it's a wrong number? What if they don't believe me and call again?

Or even worse, what if they have an accent I can't understand AND it's the wrong number?

I get sick just thinking about it.


How does this relate to Korea or the Visa Process?

I had to make a lot of phone calls, most of which resulted in me hearing things I did not want to hear.

As a result, my hatred of phones is as strong as ever.

I have therefore made a decision to NOT purchase a landline or an international calling card while in Korea.

If any of you want to talk to me, there is e-mail, Facebook, Google+, Skype and of course, Blogger.

So you two people a year who actually call me will have to DEAL WITH IT!




Korea update soon.

Why I hate the Department of State

This is a continuation of 'Why I hate the FBI.' I couldn't bring myself to tell the rest of the story until now.

Anyway, after the 4:30 AM incident happened, I patiently waited for 5:15 so that I could call the Department of State at 8:15 their time. Some of you may be wondering why I didn't just go to bed and set an alarm to go off at 5. At the time I made the decision to stay up, my reason was that I am horrible at arguing when I am groggy from sleep (remember 8:00 AM-FBI-Department-Store-Analogy-Guy).

At 5:00 AM though, I could not remember this reason at all, so I attempted to keep myself awake by rocking back and forth on the floor (which is where I was sitting, as I sold all of my furniture because I thought I was going to Korea).

I rocked so much, that I didn't notice it was time to call until 5:19.

Here is a brief summary of my phone experience.


*phone rings*
Voice: blrlkehaf;dklffhaf
Me: uhhh...?
*hold music*
Me: Oh...cool! I'm in!
*phone rings again*
Voice: Hold on I need to make the other phone stop ringing.
*click*
Me: Eh? Ohhh...kay? Did you hang up?
Voice: Name?
Me: Uhhh T-a....(I spelled my name)
Voice: And you want a status inquiry?
Me: No, I want an apostille...OH, I MEAN YES. A STATUS INQUIRY. (I'm really tired).
Voice: Country you will be traveling to?
Me: South Korea.
Voice: Address?
Me: (I give my parent's address)
Voice: Okay, I will let them know you requested a status inquiry.
Me: Okay! Thank you very much! So -
*click*


I'm not sure what was supposed to happen next, but nothing did.

I wasn't worried at the time, though. It was 5:25 in the morning, and was at that level of sleepy where everything is hilarious.

I laughed for about 20 minutes over the fact that I couldn't tell if I was talking to a robot or not. And honestly, I'm still not sure.

My laughter gradually turned into slight panic. I wondered if I should call again, but instead made one of Emily's spicy ramens. Then everything was funny again, and I laughed myself to sleep.

Meanwhile, Adventure Teaching emailed me and said I'd be fine, as long as I got my papers in two weeks. I don't think they quite understand what I am dealing with.

I've tried calling the Department of State again, but I just can't get through at a reasonable time. Also, their hours are listed as 7:30 - 2:30, but a machine almost always says they are closed. Also, sometimes they make you leave a message, and they do NOT call back.

Why is our country so difficult? Why does the US take months to do something that takes other countries 3-4 weeks?

Why, oh why, ancestors, did you not immigrate to Canada instead?

Or Korea?