So my first round of documents are finally at the immigration office in Seoul. Great news. They were received last Tuesday (Monday our time) and it takes "a minimum of one week, a maximum of two weeks" as my recruiter told me. Hopefully it is closer to the one week instead of the two weeks. If all goes according to plan, by the end of next week I'll be in Chicago for my interview.
The interview asks some pretty hard questions: Why are you interested in South Korea (versus another country)? How will your major help you become an effective teacher? How is South Korea different from America? (be specific). What do you know about Korea? What’s your career plan after a visit to Korea? If you don’t have any teaching experience, how do you think you can manage?...just to name a few. I already know what I'm going to say and I already have my examples ready so I don't think it will be that bad.
I am still very excited to embark on this journey. I will finally be able to live on my own (which I've been wanting to do for one year now) and experience that. The apartments are fully furnished with a full kitchen and all appliances, a bed and living room furniture. Usually it's a one bedroom or studio apartment within walking distance of my school. Since Inje is so small - a population of 34,000 - I'm assuming my walk will be minimal.
The apartment is free as well as the round trip airfare. That's a pretty good deal as they pay you a monthly wage on top of that. I think I will be able to do some traveling (hopefully to Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo) and I'll still be able to save money and bring it home. It seems like there are lots of advantages to this program, so I am eager to get over there and start working!
Until next time...hopefully the next post will bring photos of my trip to Chicago!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
It's Always a Production!!
If you have started reading my blog again, you must know that I will be teaching English in Inje, South Korea for one full year. Honestly, I have been applying for jobs since May 2010 because I knew my contract with AmeriCorps would be ending in August 2010; so I thought I would get a head start.
I had four interviews: Bilingual Paraprofessional with the Hmong Charter School I worked at, Associate Educator in Minneapolis Public Schools, Student Learning Advocate in Anoka School District and Manager of Education at Junior Achievement. Needless to say, no one offered me a job. I continued looking, trying not to be discouraged, but the feeling was there nevertheless.
I thought of applying to banks or back to Subway where I worked in college for two years, but neither of those seemed appealing. I want a job in education. I stumbled upon this job of teaching English in South Korea and applied immediately. The only qualifications are having a college degree and fluency in English. Seeing as I graduated and am American, obviously I met qualifications.
I met with a friends of mine from high school that taught one year in Korea while she was back on her break. She loved the job and the experience so much, she decided to renew her contract for one more year. We met for coffee and discussed her year of teaching. She continued to say that there is still an opening with the company she went through, so I also applied to that one. A couple days later I had an interview.
The interview lasted only a 10-15 minutes, just like all the others. To my surprise, at the end the recruiter offered me a job. I accepted.
Now, I'm in the long process of gathering documents, interviewing with schools, more accepting, sending paperwork, waiting, going to Chicago, more waiting, packing, booking a flight, then leaving. I'm right around the first waiting period, then road tripping to Chicago, which is exciting because I have never been there.
That's all I got for now. I will keep everyone posted as it comes. Thanks for reading!
I had four interviews: Bilingual Paraprofessional with the Hmong Charter School I worked at, Associate Educator in Minneapolis Public Schools, Student Learning Advocate in Anoka School District and Manager of Education at Junior Achievement. Needless to say, no one offered me a job. I continued looking, trying not to be discouraged, but the feeling was there nevertheless.
I thought of applying to banks or back to Subway where I worked in college for two years, but neither of those seemed appealing. I want a job in education. I stumbled upon this job of teaching English in South Korea and applied immediately. The only qualifications are having a college degree and fluency in English. Seeing as I graduated and am American, obviously I met qualifications.
I met with a friends of mine from high school that taught one year in Korea while she was back on her break. She loved the job and the experience so much, she decided to renew her contract for one more year. We met for coffee and discussed her year of teaching. She continued to say that there is still an opening with the company she went through, so I also applied to that one. A couple days later I had an interview.
The interview lasted only a 10-15 minutes, just like all the others. To my surprise, at the end the recruiter offered me a job. I accepted.
Now, I'm in the long process of gathering documents, interviewing with schools, more accepting, sending paperwork, waiting, going to Chicago, more waiting, packing, booking a flight, then leaving. I'm right around the first waiting period, then road tripping to Chicago, which is exciting because I have never been there.
That's all I got for now. I will keep everyone posted as it comes. Thanks for reading!
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