Done and Done

So I FINALLY sent my docs away to the land of the morning calm.  I went on Friday to the Korean Consulate to get the copies of the my degrees notarized but stupid me forgot the transcripts at home so I was only able to get my police check notarized.  So I went back on Monday after quadruple checking that I had everything I needed.  I was really lucky because the four numbers ahead of me didn't go up so I was in and out in fifteen minutes.  On my way home, it started snowing up a storm.  Getting everything together and making sure they were printed, signed and in the envelope took way longer than I expected and so I didn't have time to FedEx them on my way to work...due to reeeeeeaaaaaalllllllly slooooooooooooooow driving.  So instead I took 'em today!! Yipee!! They are out of my hands and soon to be in South Korea.  I'm a little worried that I forgot to send something or that I missed a page of signatures or something... I guess I'll find out on Friday which is when it's supposed to arrive.  Until then, I'll just wait and tutor.

Friday plans

So tomorrow is my day off work - yipee!! But it's going to be a busy one.  My criminal record check came in and I scanned it and emailed it to my reps and for a second they were like oh no this isn't the right check.  But then they said that this should work as well.  I plan on getting all my docs for Korea notarized which I wouldn't think would take that long...but I could be wrong.  Then I'm going to the Korean Embassy somewhere downtown so they can check over all my stuff...and hopefully they like it. And once that happens I can finally FINALLY send my stuff to Korea. We're moving at a snail's pace...but we're moving!!

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

I feel like I’m in Limbo.  I mean I know I have the job and I accepted the job but I’m just waiting on the paperwork so I know when I’m leaving and I think that will make it feel more concrete.   My current boss still doesn’t know and I think that’s just something I’m a little worried of doing which is letting her down... but I’ll get over it. Right now I’m just waiting on my Criminal Record Check.  When that comes in I'll have to get that notarized along with my BA degree and my Master's degree and then I'll be off to the Korean Embassy.  I just want to know when I’m leaving...I think that’s when it will really set in.   For now I’m trying not to tell a lot of people until I leave.  I was able to connect with some lady in the city I’m going to – Anseong.  She gave me some great advice and made me feel at ease about coming.  She told me that the teachers at my school are great (Yippee) and that they usually throw a welcome dinner for new people which is pretty cool.  I guess til I know everything is definitely on course I’ll keep doing what I’m doing here.

Update!

So the past week has been mind boggling and extremely fun. Tuesday. Feb 2 was the night of the interview with the Korean School (it was two people – I didn’t catch who the first one was but the second person was my coteacher).  The interview went well – they asked what I’d do in certain situations and a little about what I know about Korea and the culture and why I want to teach there.  The interview lasted about 20 minutes or so.  The next morning I found out that I got the job.  I told them I would reply on Friday because I was shocked.  It’s like the thing I wanted to do is finally happening.  I mean...Oh My God...if I accepted I’d be flying literally halfway across the world to teach in two months.  That would mean in April I’d be leaving my friends and my family to a country I’ve never been to with people I don’t know.  I talked it over with my family who had good insight but I knew that if I didn’t do this I would regret it. Friday was the day we were leaving to Windsor for Marise’s shower.  Knowing I’d be out of town I accepted.  On the way to Marise’s bridal shower in Windsor I broke the news to Ann and Karen who made me know I made the right decision. By the time we got there everyone on the trip knew.  It was a great weekend hanging out at Marise's shower and drinking lots of fishbowl drinks, casino-ing (which really I suck so I shouldn't be going) and shopping in Michigan.  Throughout the weekend I'd be doing whatever we were doing and then suddenly I'd remember that I am going to Korea and my heart would beat faster.  I am excited for the next two months and I just hope all the paper work goes through ok without any delays. 

I'll let you know!!

Nerves

So I've been thinking of teaching abroad forever! And I always thought I'd end up doing a stint somewhere in Africa. But then life happened and I got sidetracked...and then this tiny little dream of mine got pushed to the back burner.  Then a few months ago, after researching and talking to a few friends I decided to take a look at teaching English in S.Korea.  It's one of those things where you say you'll do it...but you can't actually imagine it happening anytime soon.  So anyways I ended up filling out an application and sending in a few documents and pretty much waiting to see if the time I wanted to start was gonna work...and well tomorrow I have an interview with a school that is willing to wait for my start date.  Thats good that they want to wait for me. So tomorrow is my interview and we'll see how it goes.  I'm a little nervous just b/c its an interview...and not really sure how it'll go down...so we'll see.