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.

Chrysanthemum festival

Dear Mom and Dad,

   I thought I should tell you about a local festival that happened a couple of weekends ago.  My town had a flower festival in the main park.  My friend Sarah from England called me up to see if I wanted to go.  This was the week of my open/recorded class and I had a cold, but I was also very stressed out about the class.  So of course I said, sure I’ll go!   

We left about 6 PM and found our way to the park.  Our driver along the way held a long and drawn out conversation with us that took all three of us the entire drive to figure out.  It had something to do with subways, London pickpockets, and Manchester United Football Club.  

LED fountain

 Poor Sarah.  She doesn’t like football all that much.  Football being soccer in 99% of rest of the world.  Because the foot actually touches the ball - semantics-wise, it just makes sense. But, “I’m English.”  brings the response “Ah! Manchester United!  Good! David Beckham –handsome.  Park Ji Sung – Korean!”   But still it’s conversation. Conversations are great!  Soccer is big.  

“I’m American” Gets the response – “Oh! New York!  LA Dodgers?”   *Sigh*  Sorry!  I can’t help you there!

Piggy tail!

When we got to the park, we immediately got all excited to see the streets around the park lined with food and game tents.  We went past a dart balloon tent and of course had to try.  We split six darts and managed between the two of us, to hit not a single one.  So we wandered on, and came to the colored fountain which was on full display for the festival.  We ‘Ooohed’ and ‘Ahhed’ and got a few obligatory pictures before moving on.  

We came to the flower displays and the park was covered in different designs and colors of chrysanthemums.  At night it was especially beautiful with all of the lights strung throughout the flowers and the park itself.    There was a large cartoon-y pig statue, with the cutest little curly –q tail, and a baby piglet on its back.  We just had to rub the tail for good luck, you know!  That was what we said anyway!  

in the LED tunnel

Wandering on we came to a tent that had these really cool LED lights in the entrance tunnel, all lit up and pretty.  Then we got inside and it was a vendor tent selling industrial LED lights.  Yeah, we turned around and scurried out.  But it was so small and open spaced we couldn’t do it gracefully.  We weren’t the only ones doing that though, so that was better. 

handkerchief dance

We found  a concert in the park.  A couple girl groups were dancing routines to popular songs, before a couple of belly dancers came on stage.  The audience was enjoying the performances, but the men in the audience really became lively at that.  You could see a few wives/girlfriends getting a little huffy.  The male/female proportions became a little skewed for about 10 minutes or so.   I saw one young gentleman practicing in the back.  His girlfriend was not impressed.  

After that a traditional Korean handkerchief dancer came on, and that moment was over.  We left just as a Korean Oldies singer came on stage, and the audience, which was made up of mostly gentlemen and their wives in their 50’s and 60’s, began singing along. 

 We headed out to the stalls along the park.  But they were mostly closing by now, though we came across a couple still open.  Some stalls were selling flowers; I bought some dried Chrysanthemums for tea, Sarah got some handmade soap.  We had a discussion about some dried herbs we saw.   A young Korean man was almost appalled when we got excited about seeing cloves and said that we use it in food.  “No!  For smell! Don’t eat!”  Sarah tried to explain “Christmas ham!”  I chimed in “Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie!”  He laughed, but still said “No, only smell!”  Maybe they treated it with something, that couldn’t be eaten?  

We continued to wander and found the game booths again.  We tried our hand at the balloon darts for a second time and between us got 2 balloons this time.  I forget what prize we got, if we got anything at all.  Then we came to the air gun booth.  

Sarah got the bright idea, “You’re American, right?”  I’ve never shot a gun before in my life, so of course we had to try it.  My first round, I got two bulls-eyes and three in the next ring!  The other one was still on the target but not as good.  Of course the target isn’t that far away.  I won an arm/neck massager/clacker thingy.  Then a Korean man who was watching wanted to teach me how to shoot the air gun his way, so I did another round.  All men in Korea must serve in their military, or by giving some kind of service to the country, so of course, they all think they know guns quite well.  And here was a foreigner trying out a game, and it was a woman shooting, at that! 

It was one of those moments where we got ‘taken –in –hand” and taught by the entire crowd that quickly formed to watch.  For a few minutes we were THE entertainment of the evening.   Everyone had advice, none of which apparently matched, and some good natured discussion went on.  I, of course, understood none of it, and just continued to do what I was doing in the first place.  But Sarah thought it was hilarious to see an American taught how to use a gun by a Korean man.  

When they heard I was American, they of course thought it was funny too.  Perceptions are tricky things, you know?  Either way, I did better before my ‘instructions’.  I still managed to do well enough to get a prize, even though my ‘teacher’ was arguing with the vendor that I got three bulls-eyes.  I didn’t, but I have NO idea how to say I didn’t get a bulls-eye.’  I got three just around the center.  The rest were scattered around the target.  I think my ajussi ‘teacher’ wanted to teach me some more, but the crowd had gotten too big.  Time to go!

Moving on, we went to get something to eat at one of the lesser populated tents, and along the way a couple of younger guys came up to us to give us another prize from the air gun tent that they won. (It was a stuffed puppy finger puppet)  Sarah did a quick exchange and gave them the rubber ducky that we got.  I think they really didn’t want that either.  We certainly didn’t!  

All the flowers are lit up!

Kimchi pancakes and jook (soup)hit the spot on a chilly night and then it was time for ho-dak.  Twice.  We sat and munched on our sweets and chatted for a long time, sitting on the sidewalk.  It’s a great thing that two girls can safely sit and talk on the sidewalk at night, and not be disturbed, other than passers-by asking where we were from.   The night was chilly, and the ho-dak was hot enough to burn fingers, but it fit the festival mood.  All in all we had a great evening, just wandering, low-key.  

Chat again soon!

Birthday Surprise

Dear Mom and Dad,

       You were worried about my birthday, if I got a cake or if I got to celebrate it?  Well, here is the answer!  

      So, my birthday was a couple of Fridays ago (already, whoops!)  The day started off like any other.  I woke up and went to school, but since it was my birthday, the school called off all classes for the day.  Yep, yep that’s right!! I’m so special that school is cancelled for my birthday!!  Ha ha, not really, I’m just reveling in idealism, lol!

      Actually there were no classes Thursday or Friday, since the kids had their talent show on Friday afternoon for their parents.  They were showcasing their afterschool club activities for their talent show.  They all performed as a class, most at least once, some were in a couple of acts.  You could tell which group was performing what act, since they were in costumes and the costumes and costume themes were recycled from group to group.

magic - 4th and 5th grade

taekwondo - 3rd and 4th grade

ballet 3rd and 4th grade

     There was dancing, skits, magic, ocarinas, a guitar performance, traditional Korean drum performance, performance jump-roping, and ballet.  The kids were absolutely thrilled to see that I came to watch them and as they passed by me in the back, the little ones would greet me with a wave of the hand that shook themselves all the way to their toes.  The older ones did a good impression of an excited fish with a fin in an electric outlet.

dance -  6th grade posing

     A couple of the parents greeted me as they passed by on one of their many trips through the back to get pictures of their kids outside.  The kids would pose as a group outside the gym right after their act and the parents would all rush outside to get pictures and hand out bouquets of flowers and lollie-pops.  The kids did a really good job and they were cute in their costumes and so excited to perform, there really weren’t any overly shy ones.  The kids all seem well adjusted to being on stage and performing in front of a crowd, especially the MC kids.  All in all they did a great job.  At least I thought so.   *Proud teacher grinning in the back.*

guitar and singing -5th  grade

     Since there were no classes on Thursday or Friday, it worked out really good for me, since I had to re-do my lesson plan and materials for my open/recorded class this last Friday (for the following week).  I had made up all the materials and detailed lesson plan was written up for my one co-teacher’s class, who had originally agreed to hold the class with me.  Until I got in to school on Wednesday that week, that is.  Suddenly she was too busy to help me.  This was strange to me, since we would be teaching together the next week anyway and I was doing all the work for it as well.  But, oh well, it’s kind of a roll-with-the-punches situation at times.  So I had to re-do everything before Saturday.  That was another headache, but also another story…!  Anyway, some of my 6th grade boys heard it was my birthday, and just as I was about to yell at them for getting into my desk and on my computer, they pulled up the “Happy Birthday” song (K-pop version, of course, lol) on the computer and promptly got shy and ran out

Gorgeous Korean painting by my friend Lee

     Well, that evening I had Korean lessons and my friend Olivia had asked earlier in the week if she could take me out to dinner afterwards for my birthday.  I’d almost forgotten about it by then, but class went well and afterward we caught a cab back to my neighborhood and walked along the street.

Tiramisu birthday cake!  My favorite!

     I didn’t know where we were going until we got there.  We were going to our Diner’s Club’s favorite restaurant in Iksan, a small Italian restaurant called Puritani, a sweet 7 table restaurant that has the best steaks in Iksan, and maybe in just about anywhere. It’s a three course meal with salad, pasta/pizza, and steak, with your choice of cola, juice, or house wine that is all part of the meal set.
   
  It is topped off by Korean style dessert, which is choice of coffee, juice, or ice cream, and this time it was fresh hot macaroons.

     But that was not the extent of the surprise.  I walked in, Olivia making me go first.  And as I turned the corner, there they were!  Some of the closest friends I’ve made here, waiting to surprise me!  Balloons, champagne, cake, and some of the most thoughtful and delightfully special gifts a person could ask for!  Being so far from home, these wonderful people made my day!

The gang all together

Love ya'll!