My flight is booked, visa in hand, and I'm nearly packed!
I fly out on August 16th and arrive late afternoon in Seoul on the 17th. I will be flying with Jetblue and Asiana Airlines (free alcohol!).
I'm a bit overwhelmed with excitement, nervousness, and the stress of packing of course. I should note that while packing I steered clear from packing items in 4 since the number 4 is considered unlucky in Korea and a few other Asian countries. Below is a list of what I am packing for the next year using 2 checked bags, 1 carry on, and a backpack:
- 1 suit
- 2 casual suit jackets
- 6 business/casual dresses
- 3 long skirts
- 3 knee length skirts
- 5 jeans/slacks
- 2 leggings
- 2 rompers
- 3 shorts
- 2 light cardigans
- 5 yoga pants
- 15 various casual/business tops
- 3 workout shorts
- 5 t-shirts
- 5 long sleeve sweater tops
- 3 camis/tanks
- 3 jackets (warm yet waterproof)
- 10 pairs of shoes (2 running shoes, flip flops, sandals, flats, sperrys, rain boots, warm boots, leather boots, heels)
- 2 scarves
- 1 pair of gloves/beanie hat
- 2 swimsuits
- 22 undies
- 5 bras
- 10 socks
- 5 sports bras
- hair accessories/ jewelry
- Important info folder (various important documents/copies)
- Macbook/camera/ipod
- various chargers/adapters
- alarm clock
- umbrella
- towel
- 3 books
- purse/computer purse bag/cross hiking bag/small camelbak
- gifts for teachers/principles/students (Florida hats, Bath & Body works, small liquor bottles, starbursts, USA pencils, stickers)
- toiletries! (all the normal stuff but extra toothpaste, deodorant, hair detangle, razors, face wash)
Thats about it or close to it at least. I may have either overpacked or simply packed the wrong things who knows! I attempted to pack mostly clothing items that could be used professionally to school but also clothes for the outdoors. The next time I post I'll officially be in Seoul! After 7 months and waiting...I'm finally on my way to Korea!
Monday, August 10, 2015
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Hello South Korea!
Herro! Heres to starting off a new blog as I begin my teaching adventure in South Korea!
For the next year I will be teaching English as a foreign language to students on Jeju Island South Korea! I'm overly excited for the big move! I will be using this blog to document my experience teaching and traveling throughout South Korea. Please find the pictures, videos, about me, resources, and contact tabs at the top of my blog. My writing isn't perfect and I tend to write as I feel. Please enjoy, comment, email, and mail me! :)
I've been asked multiple times about why I want to teach in South Korea and how I was able to get a teaching job in Korea. Let me start off by saying I DID LOTS AND LOTS OF RESEARCH and you should too if you're interested in such. I will keep this aspect of my blog short as there are many other sources online to learn about the process. My search started nearly a year ago after reading various articles about teaching English abroad. I ended up taking the Oxford Seminars course in January of 2015 to become certified to teach abroad. Oxford Seminars put me in touch with various recruiters depending on which countries I was interested teaching in. I originally had my eye on teaching in Western Europe but after much research I learned that South Korea has a great program called EPIK (English Program in Korea). This program is through the Korean government and would place me to teach in a public school. The EPIK program includes a orientation training program, roundtrip flight, furnished apartment, monthly pay, bonus, paid time off, pension, medical, and a few other things that would make my transition as a foreign teacher better. After learning more and more about the Korean culture and getting more excited I decided that this is where I wanted to teach. My recruiter, Alistair with Korean Horizons, has been such a great help to me in advising, preparing, and completing the long application process. I would highly recommend going through Alistair if you are looking to teach in Korea! The application process is very long and stressful at times but Alistair was always very prompt and elaborate in his responses to my questions. Under the resources tab you will find various links that were helpful to me during this 6 month process.
I'm now preparing to take off to Korea! In mid August I will fly to Seoul for orientation. As of now, I'm starting to pack my bags!
For the next year I will be teaching English as a foreign language to students on Jeju Island South Korea! I'm overly excited for the big move! I will be using this blog to document my experience teaching and traveling throughout South Korea. Please find the pictures, videos, about me, resources, and contact tabs at the top of my blog. My writing isn't perfect and I tend to write as I feel. Please enjoy, comment, email, and mail me! :)
I've been asked multiple times about why I want to teach in South Korea and how I was able to get a teaching job in Korea. Let me start off by saying I DID LOTS AND LOTS OF RESEARCH and you should too if you're interested in such. I will keep this aspect of my blog short as there are many other sources online to learn about the process. My search started nearly a year ago after reading various articles about teaching English abroad. I ended up taking the Oxford Seminars course in January of 2015 to become certified to teach abroad. Oxford Seminars put me in touch with various recruiters depending on which countries I was interested teaching in. I originally had my eye on teaching in Western Europe but after much research I learned that South Korea has a great program called EPIK (English Program in Korea). This program is through the Korean government and would place me to teach in a public school. The EPIK program includes a orientation training program, roundtrip flight, furnished apartment, monthly pay, bonus, paid time off, pension, medical, and a few other things that would make my transition as a foreign teacher better. After learning more and more about the Korean culture and getting more excited I decided that this is where I wanted to teach. My recruiter, Alistair with Korean Horizons, has been such a great help to me in advising, preparing, and completing the long application process. I would highly recommend going through Alistair if you are looking to teach in Korea! The application process is very long and stressful at times but Alistair was always very prompt and elaborate in his responses to my questions. Under the resources tab you will find various links that were helpful to me during this 6 month process.
I'm now preparing to take off to Korea! In mid August I will fly to Seoul for orientation. As of now, I'm starting to pack my bags!
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