Getting There

A little less than a year ago I was introduced to someone who would help change my life. I didn't know it then, nor did she. We met by chance at a mutual friend's birthday party. We got to talking and she told me about how she had taught English in South Korea. The whole night I thought to myself, "wow this is so cool! How can I do that?" We got in touch after that and she generously answered my many, many questions about living and working in South Korea. I sucked up all the information that I could from her and did lots more research on my own.

Of course I had the typical doubts and questions one would expect from someone considering such a major life change and for awhile the whole process took a back seat to me finishing my degree, road tripping across the US with my best friends, and the archetypal post college move back in with the parents (thanks mom and dad). But a few months ago I really started to turn my dream into a reality. None of the stateside jobs I applied for panned out, and even if they had I wasn't really that excited for any of them. I had always wanted to travel the world. I was young and unattached. Why not go for it?

I enrolled in an online program to get my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate from University of Toronto. After I completed the course things started moving quickly. I got in touch with a recruiter, had a few interviews with schools (some of which were shorter than the amount of time it took to actually schedule the interview in the first place. Coordinating two different time zones and two different schedules is difficult!), talked with other foreign teachers, and just like that I had a job. The few weeks that followed were some of the most stressful of my life. Getting all my paperwork sorted out and having to deal with two different governments was very painful, but I'll save those gory details for another post.

On Saturday February 21, plane ticket and passport in hand, I kissed my mom goodbye and boarded the plane. Eleven short hours later I was in South Korea. Luckily I like movies. I watched three while in the air. By the time I landed it was Sunday night. Being in Incheon airport was very surreal. I was more than a little out of it, but somehow managed to make it through immigration, collect my bags, go through customs, exchange money, purchase my bus ticket to Daejeon, and call my boss using a Korean payphone. At this point I'm pretty sure I was running on pure adrenaline, just focusing on the motions and trying not to think about things too much. Another two hours on the "Airport Limousine" (airbus), and I was in Daejeon, my new home for the next year.

bibimbap on the plane

My boss and the school's general manager collected me and my baggage at the bus stop and took me to a motel where I would be living temporarily. As teachers' contracts expire they move out of the school's housing and new teachers, such as myself, move in. However there is sometimes overlap because not all teachers are hired at the same time, hence the need for temporary housing. I'm told this is pretty common, not just at my school, but others as well. My boss explained how to access the wifi (gotta love the 21st century where this is everyones first question) and wished me a good night. He told me to get a good nights rest because I would need to be ready at 9am for my health check! By this time it was close to midnight KST and I was incredibly disoriented from jet lag and changing time zones. I emailed my parents to let them know I arrived safely, took a shower, and fell straight into bed.