The loooong process

Becoming an English teacher in Korea isn't just a phone call away... Infact I would say it's closer to 150 emails away. Despite my whining I think I got through it pretty clean and without much difficulty. But the point remains, it is a very long process and it takes a lot of time but I am sure it will be worth it. If you want to hear about it keep reading, otherwise I am sure you could find more interesting posts.

I started seriously thinking about teaching in Korea November 2008 and my first goal was to find out if it is a good decision. Over the next few months I was finding many different people who I met through friends of friends or just very distantly knew them that also had formerly taught English in Korea and I asked them for any advice they could give and if they found it to be a good experience. Everyone I met said it was a life changing, wonderful experience and of course there are many hardships along the way and bummers but overall the advice was to take the opportunity if I can.

Next i started researching how to go about it. I was told all sorts of different methods from former English teachers and I tried to look into them all but in the end I decided I needed a recruiter because there are so many required documents and things that I really needed someone to show me the way. After a month of more of research I found one recruiter website that stood out above the rest because it was very personable and seemed very positive.

http://www.teacheslkorea.com/

Originally I planned on using multiple recruiters but the recruiter I spoke with on the phone named Michelle Laarissa was very kind and seemed to understand my position very clearly so I just went with her company.

Then things started to get rolling, I sent of resume's and photo's and started working on getting my Criminal Background Check. Korean Hagwons don't like to hire too much in advance so I had to wait until Mid April for my first interview. It was very interesting because even though the Koreans are speaking English it is still rather difficult to understand (although I must say, I am very impressed with any Korean who can learn our langauge). I did my interview with the schools director and it was difficult because I had to use the smallest words I could to convey complex idea's. The director was very nice and this was my favorite question:
Director: "What do parents think of you come Korea?" (she had to ask this a few different ways for me to understand)
Dustin: "Oh! (i finally understood), they.. are .. very.. sad.. to.. see.. me.. leave.. but.. happy.. I.. found.. something.. I.. like."

They wanted to hire me in the end and sent a contract but I didn't end up accepting that job because I couldn't speak to another foreign English teacher to learn more about the Hagwon.

A few months later I recieved another job interview which I almost totally blew because it was set for the 21st of may at noon korea time. I did a little research and found the time difference to be 8 hours so I prepared for the phone call on the evening of May 21st right? NOPE; WRONG! There is this thing called the international Date line that puts Korea a day earlier than us. OOps! Oh well it all worked out. I was at a friends house helping him move then I decided to stop of in his bedroom and have a job interview on the phone. I was a little baffled at first but I pulled it together and got the job teaching Elementary/Middle school kids in Ilsan, Korea (little North west of Seoul).

Anyways the hard part is the E-2 Visa for English teachers. Lots of documents and forms are required with an interview at the Korean Consulate. I am soooooo thankful to my recruiters because without them I would be totally lost in this process.

The biggest bummer came in May when I learned of a new Korean Law that requires all E-2 Visa applicants to send their college diploma to the Korean Immigration Office, whereas before a letter from the school and transcripts could suffice. If not for this new law I would have been in Korea by early June. This works out though, I decided I would live at my parents place and enjoy life as much as possible while waiting for my diploma. This is the first summer I haven't worked since I was 15 years old (i may have found some work then too) so it is a very nice little leasurily spell before I enter a completely foreign place.

I hope to get my diploma this week and send it to Korea so i can finalize my E-2 Visa and hopefully get to Korea on or before August 5th. I didn't even try to express all the stress and emotions that goes along with finding the right job and more because they are impossible to express unless you have felt them yourself. The best way to put it is... Tiring. The emotions and stress are very tiring. I am not a very emotional person and I am normally very relaxed but I will say that this was very, very draining.

Despite all that I am still excited beyond measure to get on that plane to Korea. Forgive the long post >.<