Cakes!!!!

To my sister,

I promised you some pictures of cakes in the bakery.  The cakes here are fantastic.  Not just mere sheet cakes with miles of icing and blue or yellow roses, the cakes here have fruit, candies, and characters imbedded in the cakes.  They come in many shapes and sizes and sometimes they not only have characters on them, sometimes they ARE characters. 

 Despite the overwhelming cuteness and prettiness of the cakes, there is not a whole lot of variety in flavors.  Usually you will find just chocolate, vanilla, or tiramisu. Sometimes there is a marble cake or even a green tea or nut cake.  But these are less decorative and usually come as cake logs or cake rolls with a light cream rolled in the layers.  These are pretty good, not too sweet, but with good flavor.

The only other common flavor of cake is the cheesecake.  Nearly every pie-shaped cake is a cheese cake of some kind.  And since cheese here is an import, it is not of the best quality or taste.  Here, cheese of any kind, tends to be bland and plastic-y tasting, almost like eating glue.  There is good cream cheese here, but it is very expensive and is more of a treat than a staple.  And many cheesecakes try to be fancy and use things like gorgonzola or gouda, but the cheese is not great quality and when paired with a bland and flour-y cake batter, it leaves something to be desired.

The tiramisu cakes though, are great.  I had one for my birthday (thanks guys!) and was given the leftovers to take home.  It didn’t last long. 

But whatever your opinion on cake is, these are pretty fun to look at!  Check it out!

Those cupcakes are literal.  Cake in a cup.

A lesson in humility. Or humor.

Dear Mom and Dad,

Well, more for mom and less for dad.  Sorry dad, this may be a topic you are not very interested in.  It’s more for the ladies…

I love going shopping.   And I live in a town that is fortunate enough (read: big enough) to have one of every major department store.  Just one is enough.  I don’t need to remember neighborhoods when asking for Home Plus, or getting confused about which Lotte Mart someone wants to meet at.  But that’s not the story today.  Today's story is a little more personal.

I was shopping for personal feminine hygiene products.  And of course this is Korea, the land of the helpful sales clerk.  There are two main types of sales clerks, when facing foreigners.  The first and most common is the shy “I see you, but I’m afraid to ask you anything.”  They usually smile and keep standing there until you approach them.  Usually these tend to be younger women.  The older women sales clerks, which are closer to the ajumma age range, have the ajumma mentality.  A little abrupt and sometimes overly helpful in a “This is my way, so it’s going to be your way, too.”  I once bought a roll of paper towels because an older sales women stuck it in my basket for me.  I’m not sure why, she was selling mini packaged sausages…

Well like I said, I was shopping for personal hygiene materials, which is not as easy as it sounds in a foreign language.  Luckily most products have some kind of picture on them and you can figure things out from there.  There is some trial and error involved in that, like the one time I thought I was buying travel tissue…  My first visit to a restroom without toilet paper proved me wrong.  "Ooooh-hhooo, Nooo!

Well this time I was in Home Plus, my personal favorite for buying the occasional western food brands that are marginally less expensive than other conveniently nearby options.  I don’t like traveling long distances for groceries, especially without a car.  I can’t cook Korean food very well, and from some of my practice results, probably shouldn’t try until I take some lessons!

Anyway back to the story.  Personal Hygiene aisle in Home Plus.  Not my favorite aisle to be in, especially when the store is busy.  This time there were not one, not two, but three clerks in the aisle.  The first one was the shy one, the third one was at the other end, and the middle one…Oh, the middle one was right where I wanted to be!  Alas, and alack! Woe is me, I want to pick my things and be gone!  I know, generally, what I want, but I think I must’ve spent 5 seconds too long in choosing.  I couldn’t find my usual brand, hence the hesitation. 

Sales clerk approaches, and in Korean says what I guessed was “Can I help you?” I said “No, I’m all right!”  She stayed however and saw what I was studying.  She reached over to a handy-dandy visual guide to products and brands.  On a large card were actual samples of products.  Kinda handy!  The first set of cards was of the normal kinds you find in Korea.  These are usually very thin and practically useless.  I wanted something a little sturdier, so I looked at the next card she very sincerely handed me from where I have no idea.

I cannot describe the unique mixture of nervous astonishment and humor, horror and embarrassment, amazement and wonder, at such an object placed before me and with such concern.  Maybe, it was because I was expecting the next card to be a logical upgrade; slightly thicker, but still the same product. The ‘enormity’ of the situation was perplexing, and although I understand the need for such products and it is a serious thing for some people, the products she handed me were not for that particular serious condition.  This was completely a woman’s product.  And the American nickel glued to the first one, I could not understand the purpose of at all.  The nickel wasn’t used to compare anything; there was nothing it COULD be compared to. It was just there...

There was no logical size gradient, just thin but normal.........and massive!  I don’t think there would be room left for the person wearing them… 

Anyway, I quickly chose the first package I could reach that looked similar to my normal brand, and left.  When I finally opened it, there was a seriously suspicious whiff of curry, before I had a truly vivid flashback to my travel tissue issue…  “Ohhh-hhhoooo, Nooooo!!!!” 

Sports Day

Dear Mom and Dad, 

      A little while ago, my middle schoolers had their sports day.  There were no classes all day that Tuesday, so it was a good thing my first set of classes had a movie day, the day before.  I don’t like having my classes on different lessons.  When we meet only once a week, its next to impossible to get them back on the same schedule.  Especially, since my Tuesday classes seem to miss the most.

     Well, the kids were ready early that morning, and it was quite a spectacle.  They were excited to have that ‘free’ day although none of them would admit it, of course.  Technically it wasn’t really a free day.  It was a bit like the Presidential fitness test back home.  They were being tested on certain fitness aspects, but the rest of the time it was treated as a sports day.  A lot of the contests were treated as a class event, meaning that the entire class participated, and then were scored based on ranking.  They did win some kind of classroom prize at the end of the day.

     Let’s see, what did they do?  There was the class-wide rope pulling contests. There was the  100 meter dash, the 600 meter relay (boys, girls, and boys and girls). There were the three legged races, three-legged relays, jump roping, chin-ups.  Class dodge ball and badminton.  Each grade competed with their grade level, and each class had a ‘costume’ of sorts.  Just check some of the pictures.  There were ‘police officers’ ‘buggy clowns’ stars, polka dots, camo jackets etc.  It was a fun day. 

      I spent the morning outside watching them.  The kids were surprised to see me watching them and some got a little shy to know that I was watching, but they were giggling anyway.  The afternoon, I had some work to do in my office, so I spent about an hour or so upstairs, then came down for the final part of the day.  I thought it was fun!  When I asked the next week, the kids complained that they were sore the next day.  “It’s not fun, teacher!”  I think they were fibbing a bit.  Just check out the pictures!

Later!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As always, the guest of honor

Dear Mom and Dad,

Quick note home since it is the holidays.  It’s funny, but time travels differently here.  It goes really fast.  

But as always, I miss you all very much, even more so, now that it is Thanksgiving. (or the day after in this case!). 

I’m lucky to have some amazing friends (and awesome cooks) here that are not afraid to go all out for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I’ve been very lucky where ever I go to find a handful of very precious and wonderful friends, but here’s where it gets sappy, ya’ll!

Our lovely host - Natalie

Mom and dad, and the family back home, you are the most precious of all and I do miss you today.  Thanksgiving day, we Skyped and talked, and while you weren’t anywhere close to eating your turkey and stuffing, I’m sure I could smell it through the screen. But that’s not the point.  The point is, I think I must be the luckiest person right now, to have you as my parents, and my family as my family, and my friends as my friends.  I don’t deserve any of you, but I’m so very thankful for you all.  Yes, this time of year is hard on many of us ex-pats away from family, but I know I’ve got people here, there, and everywhere, and for that I’m thankful.

Even though you weren’t eating your dinner yet and I was munching on my microwave-able rice, 김, and 고추장. (which I’ve probably spelled wrong, sorry ‘bout that.) my Thanksgiving day was a great one.  My Thanksgiving dinner, with turkey and stuffing and all the works is coming up and it will be fantastically delicious I know, but I enjoyed my rice bowl and seaweed shared online with you just as much!



Happy Thanksgiving and lots of love, as always!

Oh, and there were pies!!!!!!!!!

The dinner crew

Lovely centerpiece lighting

How It All Got Started

 Dear Mom and Dad

Starting a new adventure, the first step's the hardest!

I found an old letter.  One that I wrote just before I left, nearly a year ago.  Wow!  Time really flies!  Last year at this time (November) I was panicking because I still hadn't heard any definite news, and I had just filled out my third application...  I had spent so much on getting the proper documentation, and in two weeks you were about to be woken by a call from the US State Department.  Remember that one?!  The day after Thanksgiving? 7:00 in the morning?

Anyway this letter describes the process of planning, documentation, and mental hamster wheeling for the 6 months before jumping on a plane and heading over the big blue yonder!

Here it is...

     So Korea bound.  Yep, if the final details work out, I'll be in Korea in about a month.  A month!  Wow, that's not a lot of time...

     September rolled around this year, and I've been getting restless.  I love my home town, but it was getting restrictive.  Taking stock, I realized that I had the perfect opportunity to try something I had been thinking in some form for more than ten years.  It was an idea that had been bubbling in the back of my mind, but I had never really had the opportunity to actually try it.

     I love traveling, I love teaching, so what would be better than combining the two?  I had originally considered the Peace Corps.  It was a tempting idea, but not really as good a fit for me as I had thought.  So I went back to my original idea.  Teaching English overseas.

meeting new people, making new friends

     There are a lot of places to teach English, but how to get started?  I did some online research.  But I am a very real chicken (and that's probably not bad) when it comes to blindly trusting what I see.  I need a trusted, personal recommendation.  So, I knew a few people who had done this very thing, some still currently teaching, nearly all in Korea, but a couple had been in Japan, and one or two in China.  I knew that I didn't want to teach in China.  And while I like the idea of going to Japan, there are still some very serious concerns about living in certain areas of Japan, and there is no real way of controlling where you ultimately end up.  For all its other ills, Facebook is a wonderful tool for contacting the far flung.  I got my personal recommendation and a whole list of advice.  Here's how it went.

     I was recommended to the placement agency Footprints.  I applied through them, indicating my interest in teaching in Korea and got an email right away.  Footprints is the largest teacher placement agency in Korea and for many other countries.  There is no money charged to applicants from the agency (no legitimate agency will charge an applicant)  They collect their fees from the schools after successfully placing a teacher in that position.  Or at least that's the deal.

     Ok so this was September.  Looking at the list of documents I needed just to begin to apply was daunting, and the amount of time to get documents returned seemed pretty tight.  Before even hitting submit on my application to the agency, I got the documents that were easily accessible.  Copies of my college transcripts, two recommendation letters less than two years old, and began the search for a law enforcement agency that would still make fingerprint cards.  I hit apply, got accepted, went through my initial agency interview via Skype and went off to search for fingerprints.

     Ok fingerprints.  This was the first problem.  We live in the digital age, right?  Well the FBI biometrics unit wants a physical fingerprint card.  Not digital.  I called the FBI fingerprint unit at the local IU.  Nope, didn't do cards. In fact had no idea of what the document I needed it for even was. Call the local police.  Nope. Call the state police.  Nope, just digital and that was done out at the jail, but they might be able to help you.  Called the jail.  Well, he knew there was a way to do it on the machine, but he only ever processed criminal prints.  Well, the last thing I want is to come up as a criminal in my record check...  Where else?  Where?  Ah, the local sheriff department.  "Uhhh, I think we have some old cards that we can pull out.  Come in at 10 AM and we'll have a deputy help you for $10."  After some practice by both myself and the deputy ( how often do you get "hugged" by a tall, well-built, young,seriously handsome deputy, in uniform no less, whoowhee!)  I had my fingerprint card.

     Time to send it to the FBI.    Now I have had FBI record checks done before.  However, those gave me an "unofficial" copy of my record check, saying my background was clean.  That is for school use in the U.S.  Not good enough for going international.  These things have to be apostilled.  New word of the year.  An apostille is a government-issued document for a government-issued document that needs to be used in a foreign country.  An apostille certifies that the government-issued document is in fact a government-issued document.  As best as I can figure out...

     The record check takes 6-8 weeks, and don't call the FBI before 5 weeks have passed. $18 + $36 for Express Mail both ways.  Oh, and there is a customer service number for the FBI.  Pretty cool, and not much of a recording either.   For a government agency, they were fairly helpful.  Especially when you call them once a week, starting from week 4. (It Works!  I got mine back at week 5 1/2!)

don't be afraid to try new things, sometimes they're super delicious!

     Meanwhile, back in September, I got accepted to the agency (which isn't exactly difficult to do) and had to fill out my EPIK (English Program in Korea) application form.  EPIK is the major English teacher hiring group with the Korean government.  Public school teachers are considered government officials in Korea (there are also private schools - hagwons - that are supplementary to public schools. They sometimes have better salaries, but can be a bit riskier as they are privately owned and there is much less government oversight).  Well my first disappointment came.  I didn't get accepted through EPIK.  No reason given, but it is a first come-first serve situation and it seemed that EPIK was trying to push me towards teaching in primarily Seoul and Busan.  Both MOEs (Metropolitan Office of Education vs. POE- Province/Provincial Office of Education or as near as I can figure out) are highly competitive  for placement and not that many positions.

     Footprints emailed,  not to worry, we have several other places in Korea and we really like your application.  Not sure what that meant, but it was vaguely reassuring.  I think they told everyone that.
I sent back applications for two more provinces and a third was forthcoming.  One of these required a YouTube video introduction of myself.  That didn't go well...  Six hours to make a three minute webcam video.  I am NOT doing that again!

     As an aside, I had to get my passport, and I had to get it in a hurry, for that pesky little passport number.   That number is essential in the process of obtaining a visa.  I've had a passport before, so I dug it out and sent it in.  Getting my passport expedited meant I got my passport in about 2-3 weeks, but it cost.  $170 for the passport, and $18 for Express Mail.  Express Mail gets documents mailed in 1-2 business days rather than 4-5.  Expensive and it adds up fast, but so does time.

Catching the sites, taking everything in

     FBI record check came in, now it was time to send it the the U.S. Department of State to be apostilled and to take my certified copy of my degree to be apostilled at the PA Department of State.  Ok, here was another mistake that cost me time and money, because I mis-read my information packet.  I thought I had to get a certified copy of both my degree and the official FBI record check. $5 a piece, at the local notary.  I traveled to the PA State Department to get my degree apostilled.  What I thought would take forever took less than 10 minutes (I went first thing in the morning and no one else was there) $15 in person.  I sent my certified copy of my record check to the U.S. State Authentications office at the US State Department.  (The Pa State Dept. apostilles state-issued documents only, and the U.S. State Dept does federal-issued documents only) $8 +$36 for Express Mail.

      It got sent back.  Undone.  Phone calls out the wazoo to the US State Department.  Three times.  Twice I was told I would be called back that day.  Twice it didn't happen.  They also have strange phone hours.  Something in the range of 9:30 AM to 11:00 and 2:00-3:30 and only one number actually reaches a person.  Third time I stayed on the line and I got my answer.  It couldn't be notarized.  It had to be the original (that doesn't feel good, sending off an original that takes forever to get)  This was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  7:00AM on Black Friday morning I received a phone call from the U.S. State Department, returning my call, whether it was from either Monday or Tuesday, I was too muddled to find out.  Turns out it is "technically illegal to photocopy the original FBI record check."  I wonder how they get around the fact that I have to have at least four "copies" made in order to accept my position?  Once again $8 +$36 for Express Mail.  They destroyed my first check. A week later, I got my apostille.

     Third application got sent out, and finally a fourth application for a region called Jeolla.  I didn't actually have to fill out an application for that one.  They used the same form as the very first one I'd filled out.  A week later I got e-mailed by my coordinator to see if I wanted to accept an interview for Jeolla POE (JPOE) through EPIK (which I hadn't been accepted into previously, for the metropolitan areas).  I said, yes!!!!!!!

     My interview time was set up for 9:00 PM Wednesday, on one early December evening, on Skype.  I was house-sitting at my sister's, so I got everything arranged, checked my lighting and sound, etc.,  and waited.  Putzing around on the internet around 7:30 PM I decided to check my e-mail.  A very frantic couple of emails from my coordinator said that the interviewers' Skype was down and that they'd call on my home phone, please email us back!!!  Run home, check voice mail, email my coordinator, then panic if they actually get their Skype working, where will I set it up?  My parents were out and I needed to set up a sign for them that there was an interview in process, etc, etc...  I don't deal well with interviews; there is an interview butterfly that sets up residence somewhere around my diaphragm.  Its relatives set up residence in the vicinity of my heart and throat.  A couple of them lodge between my ears...

     The interview went by quickly.  Fifteen-twenty minutes.  Another reason to panic afterwards.  It felt fine, but too short maybe?  If it's by phone instead will it affect me?  Again etc. etc.  A week went by.  I passed!!!

     Now to mail my documents and wait for an answer.  The documents got couriered by UPS (not USPS, it doesn't translate well between postal services)  $120 + photocopying fees $5.  Wait for the answer.

     And at the moment, my final documents are on their way!! Next up is applying for my E2 visa at the Korean consulate, then finalizing flight details and a few other minor things.  Of course all the personal paperwork that goes into being out of the country for an extended period of time! (This was the easiest part!  The Korean consulate was the most helpful agency I dealt with.  Except that I couldn't contact the consulate in DC, but that didn'

 peacefulness

t matter.  I had to use the one in NY anyway)

     If the final details in paperwork work out like it's supposed to, it looks like Korea's where I'll be in a month.  Five months ago at my lowest moment, when I made the decision to apply, while wrapping silverware at Perkins, it seemed like this day was so far away.  Now it's looming closer and closer.  The whole process has been incredibly educational.  And not just for procedures!


     Let's see.  Total cost of documents and postage.  Not everyone will need a new passport, and some fees might change.  And some were unnecessary.  I won't list those!


Documents
Fingerprint card  $10
FBI Check         $18
Notary               $5
Apostille (PA)    $15
Apostille (US)   $8
Visa projected  $45
 Total              = $101
+ Photocopy    $5
Total               = $106

Passport  Only necessary if your passport is expired or has less than 6 months left before departure
Passport         $110
+ Expedite     $ 60
Total              = $170

Postage
Express Mail 2-way   $36 x 2 = 72
Express Mail 1-way   $18
UPS Courier             $120 UPS World Express Plus
Total                         =$210

Total = $316 not including passport.