For the past few months I’ve been sending documents back and forth, here and there, to different people. I’ve gotten farther than I did last time. I’m excited!!!! I’m going to start again working on my travel blog. I’m debating on whether I should make one on Blogger or on Wordpress. Decisions, decisions.

I had a jolt of reality today when I found out that EPIK is now accepting applications. I sent an application to Korvia (a recruiting agency) about a couple of months ago, but I haven’t heard anything from them so I’m going to give them a call on Monday to make sure they have my application. If not, I’ll just apply to GEPIK or EPIK directly. In the mean time, I need to work on my cover letter and personal essay, get my passport photos, get my FBI background check and a ton of other things.

The biggest thing I’m doing is working on getting my TEFL certification. I’m doing it online because I couldn’t afford to take actual classes. It’s a good thing I took a Teaching Academy class in high school. The TEFL course is more of a refresher for me than anything else. The English grammar portion is also a refresher. Because of my past experiences with editing for writing classes as well as editing newsletters at my previous job, I was  beaten in the head with a grammatical rule book.  Today, I finished two modules and I hope to finish two more tomorrow.

I think now is officially the no turning back point of Operation Getting Employed in South Korea since I’ve invested a nice chunk of change to this endeavor.

I signed up to Korvia Recruting Service today, meaning that I’ve taken the first step towards getting a teaching job in South Korea. I’ve been working on gathering all of the documents I need and I still have a lot of things to do. I hope that the weather here stays clear. This winter has been erratic, one day we’re snowed in and the next it’s spring time.

So I talked with my mom today about going to teach ESL in South Korea for a year before going to grad school, which I thought would be really hard. I didn’t want to just up and do it without her blessing because I know how it’s going to be difficult for my folks to let me go like. I’ve never been away from home. However, she’s okay with it as long as I make sure that I can get everything I need there. YAY!

Of course, over the next few months things could change a bit, knowing her. But, I’m going to go over all the information with her about the hiring process and all that stuff so she knows. I kinda had to exaggerate how much I would get paid (I said I’d get $2000 a month, but really it’ll be more like $1800 (if I get a teaching job with GEPIK, touch wood). Now I need to talk to my loan counselor at my alma mater and a few of my former profs to get letters of recommendation.

So I have decided that next summer, I want to teach in South Korea instead of Japan. Basically it boiled down to practicality. I like both countries a lot, but judging from what expats had to say and the information that I gathered from recruiting agencies, it is easier to get settled in South Korea than in Japan. First of all, schools pay for your air fare to Korea and will help you with air fare back (I think they actually pay for that too, but I don’t remember). Secondly, the school will also find you a place to stay and you don’t have to pay for rent. There are other things that you pay for like utilities, but rent is covered. Thirdly, the cost of living is lower than in Japan and the pay is pretty good. Since I am kinda tight on money and will have to start paying my student loans up until the time I leave, it will be a nice way to save money, or, at least, to continue to pay my bills back at home.

The downside, I’ve heard, is that foreign teachers tend to be treated with more respect in Japan than in Korea. However, what has been said is that if you come in serious about teaching, then that attitude generally shows through and you can have a better teaching experience.

I feel more comfortable with this decision because it’s less that my folks have to worry about. However, my mom is just not happy with this at all. I’ve mentioned this a few times to her and she just tunes me out. But, I feel compelled to take this opportunity, and that’s what I’m going to do.