Zero Hour

It has been several days since my last post, and a lot has transpired.  I am currently spending time in good 'ole Bucktown, visiting with family and friends, getting ready to leave tomorrow--wait, say WHAT?  Leaving TOMORROW?  Oh my...where has the time gone?

Nine months ago when I first got the whole process rolling, going to teach in Korea was more of an abstract concept.  It was something that was going to happen a long time in the future.  Now it's here, and the nerves have finally caught up with me.  Thursday night I got the jitters and couldn't sleep, so instead I just stayed up 'till the wee hours of the morning trying to pack a year into a couple of suitcases.  I won't know if I have suceeded until I arrive in Korea and it's too late to repack.  Even as I write this my heart is beating a little faster than usual at the thought of boarding that plane in the morning.

One thing that has helped me to keep the anxiety at bay has been to stay as busy as possible, and there have been plenty of things to do to help with that task.  Last Sunday my home church, Bauer SDA, threw a going away party for Lindsey and me.  It was a very humbling experience to see the great turnout, and it reminded me just how blessed I have been during my time in the Grand Rapids area.  Everyone was so wonderful, supportive, and generous, and the love I felt from my church family and other friends was overwhelming.  I praise God for all the care he has shown me through them over the last few years.

This week I spent some time with extended family, hung out with some school friends, and tried to organize all of the stuff I will be leaving behind.  Yesterday I had the fun opportunity to introduce my mom, dad, grandma, and aunt to Korean food at a cute little food establishment in South Bend called Sunny's Korean Restaurant.  Sunny, a native of South Korea, cooked our food, personally served it, and still found time to explain the dishes and teach us a few Korean words!  It was a fantastic experience, and I highly recommend her restaurant for a unique culinary experience.  As my grandma put it, "if all Koreans are as nice as she, you won't have a bad time at all, will you?" 

Today something pretty cool happened.  I went to church with my dad at PMC, and as I was walking out of the sanctuary after divine service, I overheard someone speaking Korean (I was actually pretty psyched that I could even recognize it as Korean).  I turned towards the voice and there was a young lady talking to an older gentleman.  I asked her if she was Korean (just to make sure, you know), and she said that yes, she was.  Then I just blurted out, "I'm going to Korea tomorrow!"  Her excitement at that statement matched mine (phew!), and she asked me what I was going to be doing there and for how long.  When I told her I would be teaching with the Sahmyook Language School, the man, who had overheard our conversation, smiled, handed me a business card, and said, "Wonderful!  Be sure to come visit us."  The girl leaned towards me, pointed at the card, and said, "that's a good connection!"  Then, in the rush of foot traffic headed out of the church, we were parted, and I saw them no more.  I looked down at the card in my hand and glanced at the title.  It said "Head Chaplain, Sahmyook University." o_O

Well, my next post may very well be from the airport in Chicago during our layover, or, in the event I cannot find access to a wireless network, South Korea!  Please pray for me as I begin this new adventure.

Ch-ch-ch Changes

I’m homeless. 

Well, not really, but it feels like I am.  For the first time since I went away to school, I do not have my own apartment.  My life is in two places, and I am in a sort of limbo between them.  Right now I am staying with friends while I substitute teach in GR.  Next week I’ll go back to my hometown to spend my last few days in the states with my family.  It is sooo weird not having a home base!

I have begun packing, and my goal is to travel to Korea with only one checked piece of luggage, one carry on, and a backpack as my personal item.  Typically people move to another country with at least two checked bags, but I don’t feel like shoveling out the extra cash required to do so.  Besides, now I won’t feel so bad bringing back a second suitcase of the things I will have accumulated during the course of a year in another country.  So far I’m doing pretty well…vacuum bags are pretty awesome inventions.  It is just a challenge to anticipate everything that I could possibly need to take.  I am relatively certain I will be able to buy shoes, since I understand the cutoff for women is around size 8, and I am a 7.  Not so sure about clothing, though.  Here I am a fairly trim person, but over there, I am plus-sized!  This is going to be interesting.


11 days 'till take-off!

The Process

If you ever plan to teach in South Korea, I sure hope you enjoy paperwork. No, seriously, it will make everything so much easier.

I cannot speak for other programs, but the program I am working with, Korea SDA, happens to be part job and part mission work, so I had to go through a very lengthy application process.  First, I filled out an interest form with a recruiter (I also had the option to do this online).  Then I was contacted for a phone interview with a representative from the language school in Korea.  When all the preliminary requirements were completed, I received instructions detailing what steps to take next.  This is where it all got very stressful and confusing.  I had to simultaneously begin three separate application processes:  one was the SDA Language school application, another was through Adventist Volunteer Services to receive General Conference approval, and yet another was with the Korean Consulate to obtain an E-2 teacher’s visa. Each of these applications included its own sub-application and mini mountain of paperwork.  There is no use trying to describe all of what I had to do, so I will just make an organized list below for your viewing pleasure:

Korea SDA Language School:

            Appendix Form

            Teaching Contract

            Health Statement

Adventist Volunteer Services:

            Online application

            Health Certificate

~signed by a medical doctor or registered nurse

            Beneficiary Form

            Release of Liability Form

            Reference forms (3)

            Preparation for Mission Online Course

~completion of twelve lessons covering twenty-eight chapters of Passport to Mission, eight reflection papers, an area study, and discussion board posts

                       

E-2 Visa Application:

            Visa Issuance Number

Application Form

Official Transcripts

            Updated Resume

            Notarized Copy of College Diploma (with attached apostille seal)

Notarized Official FBI background check (with attached apostille seal)

                        ~submission of application, fingerprints, and processing fee

            Copy of passport signature and photo page

            Passport-sized photo

            Visa Processing Fee

The ironic thing is that the Korean Consulate has just this year introduced an expedited application process for U.S. citizens going to South Korea, so this is actually the “short list."  It's funny, the list as a whole doesn't look like much when its all laid out like that, but it represents something that has occupied much of the last six months of my life.  Whew!

If you do happen to be interested in teaching in South Korea, you can visit SDA Language School website, or research some of the other available teaching programs such as EPIK or GEPIK.

Ouch!

My arm is still smarting from the shot I got yesterday.  Argh.  I do not like shots...but who really does?  I suppose compared to how it used to be for me when it came to getting shots, they are a rather pleasant experience nowadays.  After all, I'm no longer expending all that energy trying to dodge the needle (although it still takes some willpower to resist doing so).

South Korea being the highly-developed country that it is, there are no vaccinations required to travel there.  However, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention does recommend a pre-travel health screening to determine whether certain vaccines might be advisable for an individual prior to their departure.  In my case, I needed to get up-to-date on some routine vaccinations.  The CDC also recommends vaccines in the case of an outbreak of a disease such as Typhoid or Japanese Encephalitis.  If I travel to other countries in Asia, as I am planning to do, it is likely that I will need to get additional shots.  Great.

Now that those shots are behind me, I'm focused on immune system boosting.  Lots of exercise, fruits, veggies, and Vitamin C in my future!  Learn more about natural immune system boosting by clicking here.

The Waiting Game

As I write this I am exactly one month from my departure date. Part of me is so eager to go to South Korea that it seems an eternity to wait, yet I know time is going to fly by as I try to be as ready as possible for what awaits me there. For a little while there was a chance my friend Linds and I were going to leave before the end of September due to some sort of teacher shortage, but as it turns out, we are on as originally planned for October 16th.

I have, in many ways, already “checked out” here at home.  My apartment is in shambles from the moving process, the impossibly huge amount of paperwork has been submitted, and I have informed pretty much all necessary persons that I am leaving.   All there is left to do is wait.  Ah, the Waiting Game.  Why do they call it a game, anyway?  How does one go about winning said game?   I haven’t felt this way since I was six years old on Christmas Eve, suffering from the annually chronic ailment of “eager anticipation.”  Back then, the only cure was to somehow fall asleep until morning, and that is not really a realistic option in this instance.  I wonder, is it strategic to try to ignore the fact that I am looking forward to this new adventure, or does refusing admit that I am waiting mean that I am disqualified from playing the game?  I’m probably overthinking this.

From a more rational perspective, I know that I need this interim period in order to study Korean, pack, say proper goodbyes to everyone, and spend some preparatory time in prayer and Bible study.   I also think it would be wise to check my expectations, as I know they are likely under-informed and inaccurate.  This will help me to cope with culture shock and avoid disillusionment when confronted with things that do not match my assumptions concerning them.

Unfortunately, even understanding all of this doesn’t really help with my impatience…so I’m going to sing a little song (my typical way of handling most situations).  It goes like this:

 ♪ Have patience, have patience, don’t be in such a hurry

 ♫When you get impatient you only start to worry

 ♪ Remember, remember, that God is patient, too

             ♫And think of all the times when others have had to wait for you

You can listen to it by clicking here.  It's kind of a blast from the past.

안녕하세요

Hello everyone,

The title of this post is written in Hangul, the Korean alphabet. The romanized way of writing and pronouncing it is "anyong-haseyo," and it is a way of saying, "how do you do?" in Korean. It's actual meaning seems to be somewhat contentious, even among the native Koreans I know. It is somewhere between "good day" and just plain "hello," I think. Whatever the translation, I say it to you whole-heartedly!

I've been thinking and talking about starting this blog for a few months now. The title functions as my prediction of what the experience of teaching English in South Korea--and trying to learn Korean at the same time--will be like. It will probably be the case that much of what I try to communicate to others will be "lost in translation," as will much of what others attempt to communicate to me.

Anywho...at long last, introducing Laura's Korea Blog! Just one more blog in a long line of blogs completely dedicated to teaching abroad in South Korea. How can mine possibly be any different from all the rest? Well, I'll tell you one thing: none of the other blogs were written by yours truly. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...