Changing Schools- The Paperwork

As I was talking with schools I was interested in working with last year, one company gave me notice that I would need to have two documents: one for immigration, and one for the company. The one for immigration is the Letter of Release, and is required to change your visa over to a new employer. The one for the school is the Certificate of Employment, and basically just proves to the school that you aren't lying about previous work experience. I guess enough fibbing throughout the country in various fields prompted that such a form be produced by workers. It's standard for Koreans and foreigners in the country to provide it when asked. 

Now, the school I signed the contract with did not request the Certificate of Employment, but I will obtain it anyway in case I need it in the future. (They did provide me with the Proof of Employment paper needed to change my visa to the new school, though.) The forms are so similar, too, that I might as well do them both at the same time!

Let's talk about the paperwork, shall we? The appearance of these forms is not standard. The information it contains, however, is. For the most part. I searched online and found that there is a skeleton of necessary information. I will write them below. I recommend writing it in both Korean and English. As you are in Korea, the Korean is most important.

For the Letter of Release (이적 동의서):
(This can be used when breaking your contract, too, while allowing you to seek work elsewhere.)

Name (성명)
Nationality (국적)
Passport Number (여관번호)
Addresss (주소) -your address
Telephone Number (연락처) -your telephone number
** I also included my foreign registration number from my ARC and my date of birth.

At the bottom, you will need a statement similar to this:


"I hereby grant the transfer consent of the above named person as of <ENDING DATE> who has been working at <PLACE> since <STARTING DATE> as a Native English Teacher."

"위 사람은 <PLACE>에서 20__년 _월 _일(the starting date)부터 원어민 영어 보조교사로 근무하고 있는 자로 20__년 _일 _일(the ending date) 이후 이적을 동의합니다."

Then, you will need the date the form was signed, followed by the name of your workplace and its address and contact information.

At the bottom, you will need the name of your principal or manager, along with their signature and seal.
Don't forget the seal!!!

Here's a sample I made in case you are a visual person like me:

For the Certificate of Employment (재직증명서):
Name (성명)
Foreign Registration Number (외국인등록번호) -ARC number
Address (주소) -your address
Position (직위) -probably Native English Teacher (원어민 영어 보조교사)
Period of Employment (재직기간) -year / month / day - year / month / day
Use (용도)- Employment (고용)
**Again, I also included my date of birth.

Similar to above, you will need a statement giving something like this:

"This is to certify that the above mentioned person has worked for this school."
I currently have not put this into Korean, but I will update this when I have.

And then after, state the date the form was signed, followed by the name of your workplace and its address and contact information (copy and paste, baby).

Finally, again, you will need the name of your principal or manager with their signature and seal.
The seal is important. It means the document is real.

Visual aid:

And that's it! I've read that some schools ask for 400 won, as this is a form of legal work. So if you do get asked, it has happened before and that is why. Also, it's less than 40 cents. So just do it.


I did find a pretty interesting website while looking for what I needed in these forms. It's called EFL-Law. Maybe you've heard of it? It gives you advice on situations that may pop up, what you should and shouldn't see in your contract, info on visa runs, and much more. Check it out if you feel so inclined! :) I used this website as a reference for the Letter of Release form, so it's definitely handy. ...If you can navigate it.


If you have any more questions, please let me know! I can also send the sample forms via email or whatnot, if needed.

Take care xoxox

Back to School

...for two weeks :)

After the end of my super fun English camp that ran for two weeks, I jetted off to the States to visit friends and family. It was so great to see those I could! (I love you!) Although, it felt more like a vacation than a trip home. I mean come on! 50 degrees in January?! South Carolina was beautiful, but I did miss Detroit, the businesses, the faces, and knowing how to get places. On the upside, though, they have Piggly Wiggly stores.

Getting back was quite an adventure, too! Getting yelled at in the airport for arriving at the gate after they shut the door, staying with a girl vacationing in Korea at the airport until she found her friend, getting off the bus waaay too early with no money left on my transportation card (a kind bus driver let me on for free), and then carrying all 55 lbs of my luggage home from Sopoong Terminal after not sleeping for 28 hours. 

But now I'm back in chilly Korea, unpacking and packing while trying to decide what I need for the next 20 days before I move into some new apartment I have yet to find. Because realtors will be showing off my current place to future tenants, I'd like to get as much as possible cleaned up and packed or put away... The idea of strangers walking through my house, especially as messy as it is currently, just unsettles me.

So I'll be busy, but I expected as such. I'm excited for the new changes! Just keeping my fingers crossed hoping that everything falls into place :)

Thankfully, it more so outside of my current job that I'm busy. For the next two weeks we'll be taking it easy. Having fun, teaching, playing games... Nothing too terrible. And I just have two more after school classes... I'm really going to miss these kids! Although I'm saying this after them being on vacation for a month and not having taught them again yet. Haha I'm sure they'll be good.


That's all I'm up to these days. Hopefully soon I'll have something more exciting to write about (like a new house)!

xoxox

New Year, New Place

Happy New Year, everyone!! I hope you've enjoyed January so far~

Also, it's very strange that we've had such a mild winter. I mean, I know it's only January, but we haven't really had any snow. It hasn't been nearly as cold as it was last year, either. But who's complaining? Not this girl!

You know, I was really excited to go to the south this time because Detroit was about the same temperature as Korea last time. But. The weather... It got so bad!! What is happening to the Midwest?! Can't I just go someplace nice and around 50-55 degrees?

Oh well. It will be so lovely to see my parents and best friend again! I'll be in the Carolinas the last two weeks of January. It'll be interesting to see what there is in terms of entertainment and shopping/thrifting. And food! New Years diet resolution doesn't begin until AFTER I get back from the States.

This year is full of new places, it seems! This week I'll go and sign a contract with my new school in Seoul, which means finding an apartment in the city. New school, new home. Moving... I've already started to sort through my things and I've thrown out a mountain (or large desk drawer) of paper. I am a pack rat. I have been saying this to myself out loud in order to curb this behavior.

I am a little nervous about finding a place, though. The rental system here is a little bit different. You pay quite a large sum for deposit ($5,000 - $10,000) and then the usual rental fee of $500 - $800. Of course the type of apartment you have and its size dictate how much rent you pay, too. And the area. I will start looking soon. I feel that it's best to go visit the area I want to live in and see which neighborhoods I prefer. Then I'll go to a realtor and have them show me around. I actually found some helpful articles about renting in Seoul, so here's the first and the second. There's a pitch in both of them for some "helpful" what-have-you, but it costs money so I wouldn't bother. I didn't.

I'll post again after I've gone through the process. I'm curious to see if I can find a nice place with a low deposit. Paying off my student loans feels awesome, but it also means I don't have the cash lying around to pay such a huge sum. And my Macbook went and black-screened on me. Living is so expensive. At least my healthcare here is socialized- efficient and cheap.

I had to go to the hospital last week for a health check, actually. But it's very different from getting one back home. For the hospital I went to, which is seriously quite large, you go to an area and fill out part of a form. You pull a number and walk up to the counter when your number shows on the screen. The you go and get changed in the women's area, leaving your stuff in a locker. It's not a gown, either. Just a wrap-shirt. Then you proceed to go around different stations in the hallway-like area and the people at each station fill in the results on the rest of the form you started earlier. You put the form in a box near each station for the busy ones and they pull the forms when their pile runs out and call you up to that area based on when your form was put into the box. Then you hand in the form and change. Then you're done. Simple, fast, and not unpleasant. I need to call them, though, and make sure I paid.... Haha, I still hate hospitals. Took them three times to check my heart rate and get a result that didn't make them think I needed to be on hypertension medication.

It's been a busy month, this January. I'm currently halfway through teaching English Camp. Just the rest of this week and next Monday left. The first five days were monster-themed. For the last five days I'm going to do a mystery-spy theme. It's been a lot of fun :)


Anyway, I should get back to planning. I have a PowerPoint to make!


Take care, everyone! And I'll see you soon, America~ (Please ease up on the weather. xoxox)

Job Hunting

With November approaching, it's time to start looking for jobs in Korea! I know Japan typically posts jobs and ends deadlines during the month of October, and while there are a good deal of jobs posted for Korea during the month of October, many of them are for positions beginning in November/December. Still, since I've decided to move to a different school, I've been looking at several job boards trying to nail the perfect job!

And so what I would like to do is share with you the sites that I've been looking at. Two years ago I went through a great recruiter, Korvia Consulting, and I'm so happy I did! But now that I'm trying to get a job with an international school, or a school with an English immersion program, I'm taking to the job market alone.

If you are in Korea and looking for a new job, maybe these boards can be of assistance to you. The same goes for those of you outside of Korea, too, of course! Many recruiters also post on these boards in case you decide to go through a recruiter to find a job.

Happy hunting! :)


First- here is a great site I found for Japan:  GaijinPot - You can search by industry and location! You put all of your information on the site to make your CV, and then apply to jobs directly on the site simply by choosing to send them your already made, online CV. So nice~


Now, on to Korea:
Dave's ESL Cafe - I look under the job description link for who is posting the job (school, recruiter). There is also a section where you can post your resume!

I Love ESL Korea - This is one of my favorites to look at because the website design is clean and organized. You can search for jobs by age (adults or kids) and location, as well as post your own resume.

Planet ESL - This site lists jobs with their start date right next to the header, and I find that really convenient.

Korea Job Finder - I'm also quite fond of this site. It's updated frequently and the presentation is nice. You can also post your resume on the site, and search for jobs by location or full-/part-time.

ESL Fish - Now, this site is not updated as often and that is really too bad because the site functions are pretty cool. You can refine your job search by location and pay, as well as post your resume.

Here are some others, though they are not updated as frequently as the above. I still like to check them all ;)
Work N' Play
ESL Jobs Korea
ESL Jobs Now

There's also this one - ESL Employment - but I HATE the website layout so I never use it.

And Online TEFL, which allows you to check available jobs throughout many different countries.



I've tried out some others, but they didn't work as I wanted them to, or they sent me emails for jobs in Utah. And I have absolutely no desire to teach in Utah.

With some of these sites, however, your email is visible as it is how potential employers can contact you. So I take that into consideration when choosing which email address you supply :) (The plus side is when you get funny messages from people asking you to move to a different country and be paid six grand every month to teach a family.) Still, some of them keep your information hidden until you're interested in contacting someone!

If you have any other job sites for teaching abroad, please share them!!

Kyoto and Osaka 2013

Japan, Japan! I finally went to Japan! Two weeks ago...

But we saw temples, shrines, and statues. We ate takoyaki, okonomiyaki, ramen, yakisoba, and sushi. We drank beer and sake and danced with some cool kids to The Flaming Lips and Pavement. Oh, and we saw a couple of national treasures that I studied at university. It was a pretty awesome trip.

Since I left work early and my work is near Gimpo Airport, I just hopped on a bus to Gimpo and took the airport express train. It's fast, clean, and quiet! I took Peach Airlines over to Japan. Anyone who has lived in Korea and looked into traveling to Japan can attest to the fact that they're consistently one of the cheapest airlines available. And they're no United, either. ;)

It's a pretty quick flight, too. You're up in the air for about an hour and a half (Incheon Airport to Kansai International Airport). Kansai International is on a man-made island with a few hotels and a shopping plaza. While on the island you can purchase train passes from 2 to 4 days unlimited on the JR line trains, or something called an ICOCA pass, which honestly I have no idea about. If anyone can enlighten me on the matter I'd appreciate it! We went with the 4-day pass, which runs 6,000 yen (a little over 60 bucks). Unfortunately, travel in Japan is expensive. Thankfully, though, we only needed trains that cost 210 to 250 yen. There were some that cost 700! I mean you might as well take a taxi at that point.

We spent two days in Kyoto and walked around a lot! Kyoto is such a large city. And a really awesome one, too. It so easily and beautifully blends the old and the new. You could be walking on a main street with a bunch of shops and a convenience store, look through a break in the buildings and catch a glimpse of a pavilion. There's the food market, Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Pavilion), Ginkaku-ji (The Silver Pavilion), Fushimi Inari, Todai-ji, and so many more famous, outrageously beautiful places!

Here are a few Kyoto photos:

In Kyoto we stayed in a really cute, cozy, and friendly hostel just outside of the city near Uzumasa Station. The hostel's name is Bola Bola, and I definitely recommend it! Here are some pictures:

After two days in Kyoto we headed to Osaka! Osaka has an even more modern feel, with tall, elaborate signs and advertisements adorning the streets. You can escape it and tuck into the side streets where the billboards disappear and find yourself a few clubs, strange bars, and more kind people. That's one thing I really loved about going to Japan; the people are so nice! Anywho, this is what I mean about Osaka:

Banaaaanas. Now. The food. Regrettably I did not take pictures of everything I consumed, only of the okonomiyaki, which was quite delicious. The food in Japan was really great! And mild. The spiciness of Korean cuisine was absent in most of what I tasted. Like how Korea uses the pepper paste in a lot of foods, there was something similar in the sauces for the takoyaki and okonomiyaki. Takoyaki is a ball of batter with some octopus inside, which is then cooked in a special pan and topped with this sauce, some tempura, and green onion. Okonomiyaki is like a pancake, or 전. Looking into it I learned that okonomiyaki can be translated to "as you like it". There are many ways to make this pancake, so it seems quite fitting! But at the base of every okonomiyaki is some cabbage and some batter. Then you can add some egg, meat, seafood, bean sprouts, or even throw some noodles on top! Yakisoba is the fried noodle dish, and also really delicious. Apparently it migrated from China to Japan, but I'll eat it and enjoy it either way! Since it's the only food picture I have, please enjoy looking at this picture of a piece of okonomiyaki:

It was a really nice trip! I want to go back and see so much more!

I'm sure I'll visit again soon <3

Fall Sentiments and Job Hunting

I've been putting off admitting it for years, but now I must. Two weeks ago I was complaining about how hot it was, and now I want to comment on how cold it's getting! Granted it's not particularly cold, but there has been a 15 degree (F) drop between these two weeks... So here we go: I am sensitive to temperature. My younger self that ran around in the snow wearing flip-flops would be ashamed.

But I don't mind too terribly, sitting here eating a donut and sipping on hot coffee. Although walking into the bakery as they pulled the donuts out of the oven and smelling that delicious smell more than tempted me into buying one- it made me wish I was back home on my way to a cider mill. Orange and red leaves, hayrides, caramel apples... Oh, what I wouldn't do for an actual donut and some hot cider right now!

That will have to wait a while longer, though. I've decided to stay in Korea for a third year. I know telling people this has prompted the question of if I'll ever leave, but I still think my answer to that is a definite 'yes'. I would, however, like to try working at a different school. I have loved working here! Everyone has been so kind to me and so considerate of me, but because I am a foreigner with only so much time here I want to try living somewhere else. Not too far away, though! I'm looking around Seoul, which is going to be a bit difficult with the public school job cut-backs, and the influx of highly qualified teachers. I wouldn't mind working in other parts of Korea (in fact, sometimes I think I would prefer it), but the type of job I want is more abundant in Seoul.

So, of course, I've been working on my resume like crazy! I've had some friends and my folks look over it, too. Do you ever feel like a child when writing your resume? The first time I re-opened my resume I think I laughed... Here's to hoping it's improved.

Another gem of job-hunting is the professional photos! My co-teacher is so sweet and searched for studios around my house where I could have my picture taken. I went to Cle Studio in Bucheon near City Hall, and they did a great job! After sitting down and taking your picture they have you sit down in the front where you can watch the person photoshop your picture. It was like watching magic. I mean, I knew that such people existed, but to actually watch the entire process was so impressive. She was so, so fast! I came out looking quite a bit different, and I'm not sure how I feel about that in a photo that's supposed to represent me for a job (It's normal to attach a professional photos to your resume here), but it's most certainly not an ugly photograph. The entire process took maaaybe 30 minutes? Taking several photographs, choosing one, editing it, printing it, cutting them, paying for the services.... All of it. 17,000 won (~15.50 USD). The girl actually spoke really great English, too...

With my shiny new resume, super shiny new professional photo, and a heart full of determination, I go out into the job-hunting frontier once again. Keep your fingers crossed for me! ;)



xox

I Love Busan (Part 2 with some Daegu)

It's September already!

Haha, I think that every time I wake up, it's a different month. For those who've been wondering, I am alive! I haven't been showing my face much these days, but the weather is no longer a weapon of destruction so I'm crawling back out :)

But, man, does time fly. I went to Busan and Daegu during my summer vacation, but now it's already getting close to Chuseok! Still, I was able to see new things this Busan trip AND it was my first time visiting Daegu. So even though it's been a little longer than I'd like, I'm going to write up a post about the trip.

Firstly, there are a few ways you can get to Busan. By bus, by normal train, and by fast train (KTX). The bus and the normal train cost about the same from here in Bucheon, and the supposed time it takes is about the same, too. This time we went with the train. Firstly because my boyfriend, who I traveled with, lives in Seoul and getting to the Bucheon terminal takes him longer than it takes me to get to the Seoul terminal. Secondly because trains don't have traffic. (The KTX may be nice, but it costs twice as much so we passed on that option, too.)

During my last trip, my friend and I traveled along the coast, essentially. We hit Gwangali and Haeundae beaches, saw the Busan Tower and the markets.

But this trip we kept inland a bit more. We visited Beomeosa Temple, which is gorgeous and located next to Geumjeong Fortress, which we weren't able to see, regrettably. There are so many well-preserved (and newer) temples to see. If you happen to go here, you will likely see those doing a temple-stay, children with some group being instructed by the monks, and people giving their prayers. It's such a serene place, covered with Korean pine trees and bamboo. There is also an area of large rocks you can climb up to the northern fortress gate, or if you're like the people we passed, you can stop when you've found a nice rock and have yourself a little picnic. We stopped climbing when we realized it was getting darker and that we would like to get back down. The view is stunning, too. You can look out and see beautiful glimpses of mountains and the surrounding area.

We did venture back out to the coast afterward for the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, another gorgeous temple but quite a bit smaller. There were also tonsssss of people at this temple. The best things about this temple, in my opinion, are the round pigs, the giant golden Buddha, and the view looking at the temple from a little farther away. There is a path along the shore starting from the foot of the temple area that leads you away toward a fisheries museum. In getting here, we took the subway as far as we could and then hopped on a bus that brought us close to the temple. From there, you walk for about 10-15 minutes, and then you're golden! I wanted to mention the directions, because we happened to walk along the coastal path, up to the fisheries museum. Then we kept walking up and turned left out of the area, somehow leading us right back to the bus stop. Somehow we managed to make a circle, but I was so amazed and so thankful. I made the mistake of wearing peep-toe flats on this trip, so the walking and large rock journeys were quite hard on the tootsies.

We did go to Haeundae beach that evening, and it was clothed in its usual company of buskers, magicians, couples, friends, and families. I always love the beach until I'm covered in wet sand. Well, I always like the idea of going to the beach more than actually being at the beach. It's a beautiful area, though, and that makes up for the awful magic tricks and sand in your shoes. Complaining about sand in my shoes always reminds me of Rocket Power...

Anywho, after the beautiful Busan adventure it was time to hit Daegu! Again, you can take a bus or a train from Busan to Daegu. Againagain, we took the train! It wasn't a bad trip at all from Busan to Daegu... Although it was really hot, I liked Daegu. Daegu is my boyfriend's hometown, so we were able to navigate it easily and meet up with some of his friends. Around city hall, there is a shopping area with a wide pedestrian-only street running down the middle. I was particularly fond of this because they had organized the street into districts based on what shops sold. All the jewelry stores were grouped together, all the shoe stores, all the make-up stores... You didn't have to run to opposite ends to check prices and availability at a different store. Sooo nice!

We spent most of our time in a different area, though, where there is an abundance of art supply stores and music stores. Heaven. Not to mention the coffee shops! We also visited a really lovely university campus, as well as the Catholic church in the area. They are both beautiful areas that are great for a stroll, especially when school isn't in session.

Another famous area we went to was the Kim Kwang Seok (a wonderful musician) street behind the markets. Unfortunately the markets were closed, but the murals were really cool! We sat down on the prettiest bench and listened to one of Kim Kwang Seok's songs. Some of the murals were funny, inserting him into a classical painting, while others were portraits or lyrics.

I had a really nice trip! I think it's always good to see different parts of the country I live in. Although the Busan accent really hurt my brain if I tried to listen while people were talking. But hearing my boyfriend speak to his friends in a Daegu/Gyeongsan-do accent was one of the cutest things ever.


So that was my trip! If you have any questions, feel free to ask :)

xoxox