Back on Korean Soil

My flight back was pretty good and I have to say Singapore Airlines is up there with Korean Air as my favorite. There was one slight issue during the flight, that was my cough. I couldn't help but do it while on the flight and apparantly the woman sitting in front of me did not find it amusing. Yet she alerted me of this towards the end of the flight. She asked me if it was contagious and I gave her an honest answer that I didn't know, since I didn't visit a doctor. Well, she didn't like that and expressed this quite forwardly. I didn't know what to say to her accept I was sorry.
JH picked me up from the airport and I have been staying at his house ever since. I will move in to my new place tomorrow around 4pm, and I am very excited. From what I gather it will be kind of spacious and in a good neighborhood.

In the meantime, I am visited a doctor. He said that the cough probably will take a while to go away but take the meds he recommends and if it persists to come back for x-rays.

Staying at JH's house is interesting because for one it is the size of a shoebox. His mom is staying at her boyfriend's house just to accomadate me. Yes I know how nice this is of her and should think of a way to genuinly thank her. (BTW if there are spelling errors it's because I am using my bf's computer and the spell check doesn't seem to be working.) His sister lives in his house too and she has been sweet with me here. Even helped me clean some of my sweaters and hang them up to dry.

Coming back to Korea after a 3 month stay at home, was long enough for me to feel like I hadn't been here in a while. Although I feel like I am having that "first time here" culture shock it is being blanketed by "oh yea...Korea is like that" feelings. I did miss Korea and all its greatness and pitfalls, though.

I am looking forward to starting the new job, but feeling nervous for the start of the semester with first graders. I know I just need to be myself and take things as they come along. But I am going to be really busy with moving in, unpacking and getting ready for work real soon. Actually I want to get busy with all this as I like to organize and prepare myself for stuff. Also I would like to get to the point where things are settled down so that I can start seeking out a Korean study group along with everything else I want to do.

:) Glad to be back.

FBI Christmas Present

I haven't mentioned it, but when I got back from our vacation in SF my FBI background check was waiting for me. It was a great Christmas present as it put my worries to rest. As soon as I got it I packed it up with a cover letter and sent if off to the Secretary of State to get the apostille seal.

Since this was my second time doing this process I thought I would share with you guys the results. The result page is kind of different from last time,  since I requested the FBI to put their seal on it. The new FBI background check result page looks very official. Below for you is my scanned copy, with of course the naughty bits blurred out.

As you can see it looks very official and certainly a lot better than what they use to give out, which was your fingerprint page with the stamp "NO RECORD".

Along with this document was a letter telling me about their new process and why they don't issue an apostille, but where I could get one.

In "official" speak they basically tell you to send your document off to the Secretary of State following their guidelines to get the apostille.

The big question for some is, "How long does it take to get the FBI Background Check back?" To put minds at ease this part of the process, from FBI receiving to coming back in my hands, took about 9 weeks approximately. Keep in mind this was during the holiday season so they likely had a few days off here and there.

I still feel it is important for anyone who is at a point in the Korean job market, whether thinking of renewing or transferring, to go ahead and get this document. You really never know if your school will 100% resign you or whether transferring will go smoothly. If you know your job is coming to end in say 2 - 3 months go ahead and work on getting this document. (It's good for 6 months anyways!) For sure it will make things easier if you get into a situation where you have to get a new visa.

Anyways, I hope this stuff helps other folks out there and I will let you know when I get the whole thing back with the apostille (about another week and a half).

The Great Vacation: Cable Car

For the last full day in the San Francisco area I planned that we would go over to Berkeley and see the campus. But I knew JH needed to do some jean shopping and San Fran had a major Levi's store. So we ended up shopping and then heading to get in line for the cable car.

I guess no trip to San Francisco is complete unless you ride the infamous rolling cable car. These beauties are unique to San Francisco and do make for a fun ride as they go up and down the hills of the city.

...using rail cars that are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required.

But this attraction is definitely a tourist trap and we fell right into it on that day. We ended up waiting nearly two hours in line, just to get on one of them and find out our driver was a bit of a jerk. The line waiting was amusing, as many cable cars would pass by us and local panhandlers brought the entertainment.

 JH...the very patient tourist.

Once on it you enjoy a ride that takes you past several different neighborhoods. We took the line that rolled by Lombard street (that crooked one) although we couldn't see anything because cars were in the way.

 However, it offered other great views of downtown and reminded me of how small San Francisco actually is. Before moving to Korea I use to work at an office near the TransAm building (the Pyramid one).

We ended up at "The Cannery", which was a pier area further down from Fisherman's Wharf. It had a dock where you could walk out and take a look at some ships.

It was a good spot as it allowed JH to finally discover the "Golden Bridge". 

It seemed like we spent all day waiting in line for the cable car, but the reward at the end of the line was pretty nice.

 We caught a glimpse of Alcatraz Island.

We headed out of the area and hopped on a local bus that took us into North Beach (the Italian side of town). There we relaxed and had a scrumptious dinner over some wine and beer.

After a little dessert of frozen yogurt we headed back to the hotel. The bus ride took us through Chinatown, which looked like it was packing up for the day. I believe JH really loved his visit to San Francisco and the sites I took him to see. Trust me, there was a whole lot more I could have shown him and that we could have experienced. But I think, because of my background in the city, he was able to enjoy himself a lot.

The next day we left San Fran and headed to my dad's home, so stay tuned for that.

In Between Places

Since Thursday I have been staying at my friends house down in Bundang (an area of Gyeonggi-do that is South of Seoul). She had a family emergency and so had to go back to the States for a few weeks. I will only be down here till Monday but I thought I update you guys in case you are wondering what is up with me.

It has been interesting staying at her home because she is a veteran resident here in Korea and has 2 kids and a hubby. The kids are...well...mix-race.

It makes me wonder about the "what-ifs" in life. Like what if I were to have mix-race kids. I wonder which culture they would feel more keen towards. Overall though I feel that if they were raised in Korea their childhood experience would likely contrast the kind of experience I had as a kid. I don't know whether to feel good or bad about this. I am sure they would still be kids exploring the world. I guess it is all something to think about. Yet I don't see myself having kids anytime soon so thank goodness they are just thoughts for now.

Another trade off of staying in this family's house seems that I wake up a little confused. Since they speak English and the house feels well American like I think I have started to feel like I left Korea and am back in America. Of course that blows away when I see stuff around me in Korean. But it is making me a little discombobulated at times.

In school news I sent in my documents at the beginning of last week to be processed. That means in about 10 - 14 days I will be heading off to Japan for my visa run. I am going to stay in Osaka and explore the Kansai area. Sure I could go to China or Thailand I guess but I kind of like the no-jet-lag feeling of going to Japan.

All right well today is Saturday and JH and I are meeting to see a movie and do some shoe shopping. For some reason the shoes I like to buy are a rare find out here but nevertheless I am not going to give up. haha~ darn shoe shopping ;)

Things End Things Begin

Yesterday I went on a fun roller coaster ride as I got an offer for a private public school in Nowon but after some thinking decided to stick with Yongin.

I was so stressed out the past few days having made my choice with Yongin and then wondering if I should check out another school. It was tough falling asleep last night as my body was all shook up from the stress.

Not to worry, though, I slept well afterwards and had a fun dream too.

Now I am excited for the next months to come. I will have November off as I will be in between contracts. JH and I are going to go put a deposit on a goshiwon this weekend up in Seoul. Then I guess it is packing time.

I am starting to wonder what I will do with my free November. Leaving my current school I am coming into a lot of money. What with pension, severance, deposit return and a flight ticket sum I am going to be looking at a fatter bank account. If you know me then you would know that I don't usually spend money on myself. I do plan to send a chunk to America to pay off some debt that I would like to get out of the way. As for the rest I will probably save it for my next vacation and maybe buy some shiny new toy. Who knows, right?

Also I am pondering about things I would like to see or do while I am free. Maybe take the KTX to another part of Korea and explore it for a few days. I don't know, but if any of you want to get together lemme know for I will be available to travel.

It's come down to the part where my kids at school know I am leaving. They seem sad and express that they don't want me to leave. But I am sure they understand the cycle. I bought a little notebook for the new teacher and wrote in it my tips and instructions for his new job. I hope it comes useful to him. Otherwise he will have a free notebook.

All right well time to start packing up and getting ready to live in a goshiwon (very small space).

Said Yes

It was a fun trip into Yongin today seeing the school. I was skeptical whether I would say yes or not until I saw the housing. I am just going to briefly sum up for you what I learned about the school and housing:

School:

• There is no English classroom, instead you go the homeroom class and teach there. They expect to build an English class room next year.
• I teach 2nd, 5th and 6th grades only.
  
• Teaching hours = 25 (3 extra hours of overtime)
• Schedule is heavier than I have been use to, but I can take on the challenge.
• No after-school programmed classes to plan for.
• New coteacher is a very experienced and focused person. She told me exactly what she will expect of me. Planning for classes will be done together and I should teach 80%. I agree with her and I believe I am capable of teaching more on my own.
• Location is about 20 minute walk from the housing.
  
• I share a teacher's room with another Foreign teacher and coteacher.
• Doesn't start till December.

Housing:

• Inside a modern building with a security Ahjusshi (man) at the entrance.
• I didn't see my exact room, but an example of what I will be getting.
  
• The officetel is separated into two rooms. One big living room type space with the kitchen in it, then the bathroom in the middle, then an extra small room near the entrance.
• The building is shaped like a triangle. One side looks out onto a busy street. The long side looks out onto a small river/creek, and the short side looks out onto a gas station. Guess which one I want?
• House includes a washing machine.
• Across the street is a huge Lotte Mart.
• Area is suburban with mostly housing surrounding it. Not much "Downtown" stuff until you walk a ways to where the subway station is.
  
• Seeing the house sold me the position and it was a done deal.

I haven't signed anything yet and am still in the process of figuring out the visa stuff. It's complicated since I extended my visa into November and the job doesn't start till December 5th.

For now it is time to start packing because no matter what I will be moving out of here on October 31st. Possibly moving into a goshiwon in Seoul, while my stuff is stored at JH's house.

I am nervous, excited and feeling anxious all at the same time. I just have to believe in myself and my choices and live them out.

Eastern Adventures

Last Friday I left work and took the train up to Seoul. There I met JH for dinner and a little visit with his old school pals. It was fun to sit at a table with all male Koreans while they tried hard to talk to me in English. Mostly they just made jokes, but it was very warming to have this experience. Also it was great to get to know some of JH's friends.

After socializing we headed out towards where Ocean World is because the next day JH needed to visit a work site there for his job. JH works for a ceramic tile company and usually makes trips out to new development sites where the tiles are being delivered. Even though it was cool and rainy when we got there I could see some people having fun inside Ocean World (which is a water park).

Behind the trees you can see the new condos the resort is building. 

 JH finished within an hour and since we were half way to the East Sea we decided to head out that way.

We arrived in Gangneung and went to the Sun Cruise ship, which is literally a life-size cruise ship plunked on top of a sea-cliff. Inside it caters to weddings and events, there is a restaurant and souvenir shop. JH told me a little about the history that it was made from real ship parts. And along the outside of the ship there are sculptures.

Inside the "moat" there were wishing bowls that granted different types of wishes. Some for more wealth and others for a fruitful life.

 

We went inside and made our way to the restaurant. The interior was beautiful and the view immaculate. One's hope for a great menu were high, but it seemed the menu was atypical of a Korean fusion restaurant. 

I ordered the grilled salmon steak, which came out to be all right. The vegetables were obviously heated up from being frozen and I had a feeling the salmon wasn't fresh too. But hey one can't pass up enjoying a nice meal by the sea with your sweetheart.

We finished lunch and went to the souvenir shop and then a walk around the deck. Afterwards we found ourselves in a small cafe and had a piece of cake. 

The weather was starting to turn on us so we figured it was a good time to leave the ship and try to get to the beach before it rained. On the way we went through a few of the sculpture parks.

Here you can pretend to make yourself into a stamp. I felt a little shy because for one people already stare at me because I am a foreigner and two they were going to stare at me for being inside the stamp sculpture.

 

But I had more fun at another sculpture park where there were over sized hands and circles. 

  

From the sculpture park you could look out on the Sea and also see some Korean Army guys on their post. JH told me they are looking out for North Korean submarines. It felt a little creepy and odd to be standing near cheerful sculptures while on the other side there were soldiers with guns pointed eastward.

We headed away from the ship and went to a beach nearby. But the weather beat us and soon enough it was pouring rain so we headed home.

On the way home we passed a museum warship. JH told me that it was a North Korean ship that they captured and thus turned into a museum. We wanted to stop and take a look but I was already feeling the car trip haze.

 

 

It was a fun getaway and reminded me that there is still so much to see in this tiny country.

Job Hunt Update: So since last week a few things have happened. The job for Paju dissipated as the recruiter never heard a response back from them, which was fine by me since I am shooting for the Bundang area anyways. Speaking of which I currently have two offers for Yongin and all in the same neighborhood. So we will see which one pulls through. As for Guro in Seoul I didn't go to the interview because I figured it would have been a waste of time and traveling, since I wasn't going to really say yes. So I called the recruiter to let them know ahead of time. With these offers for Yongin I am hopeful and would like to see what kind of housing they would give me. Well we will just have to see!