1.5 Months in Korea

Lack of updates, but I will try to make up for it now!

After living here for close to 2 months I can tell you that I am definitely lucky with my placement, I am within a 10 minute walk of: the school I teach at, the bank I set accounts up with, a huge medical center, and tons of great restaurants! And I'm a 3 minute walk from a major department/grocery store and the subway station.  Here is the building I live in, and what I see when I look out my apartment window:

Late August and early September marked the beginning of my year long teaching contract with Wonmuk Elementary school, seen here:

A narrow 5 floor building, there are quite a few students in the school, probably around 800 or more. I get to see around 500ish students, teaching 22 classes split almost evenly between 4th, 5th, and 6th grade.  I think they are amazing, and many of them seem to like me as well. There are about 30 or more 5th and 6th grade boys that have decided my name is "handsome," which they proudly announce to me as often as possible!  Here is the view out one of the 2nd floor windows of the school on a rainy day:

I taught for almost a month before receiving my first paycheck and flight reimbursement, which was also contingent on successfully receiving my national foreigner ID in Korea.  This precious item is referred to as an ARC, or Alien Registration Card.  Obtaining it involved dealing with a horribly busy immigration office, and then waiting for a couple weeks to pick it up, all the while praying that it wouldn't get misplaced or lost.  Without this card, a foreign teacher cannot be paid.  Here is the card in all of its glory, I was so relieved when I finally got it!

I got a really bad cold in the middle of September, and am still dealing with a lingering cough.  I feel really stupid for not just going to see a doctor, considering I am so close to an excellent medical center.  I have also heard that with the national insurance I have through my school, I would only pay around $5 to see a doctor and be given shots/medicine.  At this point, however, it is almost completely gone.  Considering the duration, I probably had bronchitis, but it looks like I fought it off naturally.

It's easy to feel isolated here due to the language barrier, but I am doing my best to stay positive. I am enrolled in a once a week Korean language course that meets for a couple of hours on Saturday, and I am starting Taekwondo classes this Friday.  The Taekwondo classes will meet on Mon/Weds/Fri at night, and I am incredibly excited for them!

My role as a GET (Guest English Teacher) has been shaped by my school, and truly there are many other foreign teachers in public schools with EPIK that have completely different work situations than I do.  I find myself in a situation where I have 3 co-teachers, all of which are very supportive and kind.  A typical day of work for me involves teaching around 3-5 classes, and then having around 3-5 hours of office time.  Office time consists of sitting at a computer in a cubicle and planning activities/lessons/etc for future classes.  Teaching varies between my classes, because each of my co-teachers has a different style.  In some classes I find myself taking more control, while in others I play more of a supportive role.  Overall, I think given all my classes during the week it balances out to me teaching about 50% of the time, which is how its supposed to be since I'm co-teaching.

I think I'm starting to really acclimate to all of these huge changes in my life, and I'm looking forward to improving my teaching skills and bonding more with my co-teachers as the months go on.  I will now leave you with a series of random pictures with brief explanations, and hopefully I can commit to making more frequent posts that aren't such large walls of text :).

The extent of my fridge decor at the moment, those two beautiful people are two of my best friends, Eric & Alexis, I miss them!

This is an example of "Konglish," and it is easy to find it on people's t-shirts, billboards, TV, and well... everywhere!  I actually find it quite endearing, and this is one of my favorite examples :).

I'm no electrician, but it feels like this arrangement of power lines and cables right by my school could have an improved design... what do you think?

I took this picture right outside the Samseong station while on my way to watch a profession Starcraft 2 match. (Starcraft 2 is a strategy game played on PC)

This is what the studio looks like for the GSL, the premier Starcraft 2 league in Korea.  I have always dreamed of visiting this in person, and have had the opportunity to do so 5 times already since I've been here. It is incredible!

Shopping is pretty popular in Korea, and they like to make the stores pretty impressive looking.  Here is a rather large department store next to a Seoul subway exit.

Here is a large Costco building being dwarfed by surrounding mega buildings.  I did shop there and it was basically a clone of the Costco's in America, but with higher relative prices (in my opinion).

I took this picture on the Seoul subway while crossing the Han river which runs through Seoul. 

Homeplus, the major department store right by my apartment, has a mall-type food court on the first floor.  This meal was about $6, and was completely delicious.  It came out sizzling!

This is called Yukhoe Naengmyeon, which translates to raw beef cold noodles.  I'll admit it wasn't the best thing I've had so far, but I didn't get sick from it either.  Also, the plate to the top left is dried whole anchovies coated with a sticky sweet sauce. They were pretty good, actually!

This was a tasty meal I had at a mandatory workshop which was held for all the native English teachers in the Dongbu district, which I am a part of.

In the same workshop, we got to paint lotus flowers on wooden circle blocks.  The design was already traced, and we had about 10 colors to choose from.  I wasn't too happy with mine, but it is at least one of the few decorations in my apartment.

I attended a fun cultural event where we made some food, and also tried on traditional Korean clothing, called Hanbok.

This is the National Museum of Korea, and is an incredibly large and impressive building!

I think this was my favorite exhibit in the museum, very stunning in person!

A view of how massive the inside of this museum is!

This is Seoul tower, I took it while taking a nice long walk after Korean class one Saturday evening.

This was taken in Itaewon, which is the area in Seoul with the highest population of non-Koreans.  This particular stretch of road is beautifully decorated with many flags above the street.

Here is one of my 5th grade students in an after school class.  Intimidating, right?

 

I introduced a reward system for students in my 4th grade classes where occasionally I will hand out a "film ticket" to a lucky student who wins an activity, and after class I will record them doing something and then edit it with special effects.  Here is the first round of videos I made, the students seemed to really enjoy watching the final result.

This is what internet is like in South Korea.  This costs me $30 a month.

 

Hope you enjoyed ^^, look forward to more updates in the future!

My Apartment in Seoul

I am very lucky to have a large apartment, which is due to the fact that I am living in the north-eastern outskirts of Seoul, where housing is less expensive.  I am still right next to a subway station, which is the ultra-efficient and cheap transportation choice for almost everyone in this city :).  Enjoy the short tour!

Orientation

I have been in South Korea for two weeks now, and they have been jam packed.  I can't decide if it feels as if I have been here for just a few days, or a few months, things have been intense.

Orientation was incredible and it made me thankful that I applied through EPIK to teach at a public school rather than being thrown into a Hagwon (private English school).  The orientation site was held at Daejin University, which is located in a beautiful area of the country, with picturesque mountains and lush vegetation surrounding the campus.  It even has a reconstructed temple site located in the same vicinity, which was incredible to explore.  I made many friends at orientation, and was able to share a dorm room with Alan, who I have developed a strong friendship with as well.

The orientation schedule was hectic at times, but was filled to the brim with high quality lectures, fun activities, and enormous amounts of useful information.  Everyone was given a thick couple hundred page orientation manual that correlated to class-style lectures, and it's a powerful reference guide that I am thankful to have.  For me, what truly stood out above everything else was the passionate leaders of the orientation.  I was fortunate to be chosen as a class leader for the sub-group I was a part of, and was chosen alongside one other girl to give a speech at the closing ceremony of the orientation.  I used the opportunity to retell my humorous story of getting lost, while attempting to parallel the inert kindness I received in that situation with the passionate work of those involved with the orientation.  Here is the speech, courtesy of my fellow teacher and friend, Alfred: 

Alan and I in our dorm

The men's dormitory

One of the many statues on campus

Campus at Daejin University

Temple located right next to campus

Inside the temple area

Stone waterfall area near large stone steps

There were about 300 teachers total, this is just a section of the guys.

Most of my core group from orientation!

Beauty in nature!

Field trip to Seoul

Field trip to Seoul

Field trip to Seoul

Field trip to Seoul

Museum in Seoul

A day of extremes.

I have now experienced my first day in Korea and the travel leading up to it, and I think "roller coaster ride" is the best way to describe it.  Well then, here is the last 26ish hours of my life:

It starts out with waking up at 5:00am and being taken to the SAC airport by my awesome sister Nikki, but we were both pretty out of it after a night of visiting and delicious spicy food and wine.  Everything goes smooth, I check my bags and a fly to Seattle, and the easy part is done.  In the SEA-TAC airport my abysmal sense of direction caused me to walk around an extra 45 minutes for no reason, but with the help of the internet and a nice man working at the airport, I managed to not exit the security clearance to try to check in with Korean Air (all I had to do was sit by the gate in the first place to check in).  So yeah, that was aggravating, but then I made a new friend. :D

I was really just minding my own business, but a guy in a suit obviously needed a place to charge his laptop and I offered the one that I was sitting by.  Slowly our conversation developed, and over the next 2 hours we got to know one another and spoke a bunch about Korean culture, American culture, and all sorts of things in between.  His name is Lee and he travels all over the world working for a company that is involved with Hyundai I believe.  I was happy that he was impressed with my knowledge of Korean history and the culture, and we shared e-mail addresses and are going to meet up in Seoul when I get all of my logistics (school placement, new apartment, etc) figured out.

Unfortunately our conversation was cut short by the boarding of the plane, and so I stepped into the unknown cabin that would be launching me off to Korea.  It was actually the best service, cleanliness, and accommodations in a plane that I have ever had.  Every seat had a TV with a remote control that was also a game controller, and you could watch movies, listen to music, watch television shows, or play games during the flight.  Every seat was given a blanket, pillow, toothbrush, eye mask, and water bottle from the start!  The flight attendants were abundant and every 10 minutes I would have to say no to another offer for food or drink.  Unfortunately it was still a 12 hour non-stop flight, and I had not done one of those before.  I wasn't able to sleep more than 5 or 10 minutes, and so I played a ton of Tetris, and even got in the top 8 scores by the end of the flight, woohoo.  After what seemed like an eternity the flight finally was over, and so I found myself at the Incheon International Airport, a HUGE place that is the stuff of nightmares for directionless people like me.  Luckily I connected with Lee when the flight ended again, and he helped me make it to the emigration area before he had to go.  That is when the fun really started to ramp up :P

So I get my bags, and then I realize that altogether they weigh about 80 or 90 pounds, which ends up being not fun to carry around the huge airport looking for a bus terminal that I can't find.  After finding an information desk, I finally find the bus (or at least I think I found it?), but the driver didn't speak English and I never heard the speakers call out the stop that I was listening for.  So I get kicked out of the bus on its last stop, and I'm on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone (I don't have a sim card yet), and I'm still carrying 90lbs of luggage.  Needless to say it wasn't fun, but after dragging my luggage through the dirt for a while I found a little group of food stands. Unfortunately none of them spoke English, they seemed really intent on helping me.  His son called a taxi for me, and even though it took 2 hours to show up, I enjoyed making conversation with body language.  I even received some food and drink, yet they wouldn't accept a small tip for the help they gave me, so I went on my way and after a 30 minute taxi drive (it seemed like the bus never even got close to the destination), I finally made it to the guesthouse that I'm typing this from right now.

So I've been awake for like 27 hours now, and its time to crash.  Tomorrow I'll travel to Daejin University for an 8 day orientation before I am finally placed into an apartment and school somewhere in Seoul.  I haven't even been into the heart of Seoul yet, although I'm rooming right now with a cool Irish guy named Alan that is in the same teaching program I am in, but is being placed in a different city.  He explored Seoul today and said it was amazing.  I can't wait!

Thanks for reading this wall of text, and I promise there will be pictures in the near future :D

Why I am leaving the U.S. to teach in South Korea.

In four days I will be in South Korea, preparing to attend an orientation for my new job: teaching English to elementary school students in a public school!  It is a 1 year contract, with an option for renewal.  Am I excited? YES

Some people have asked me why I chose to do this, and in the spur of the moment it is hard to deliver a perfect response.  Let this be my attempt to convey my reasoning for such a big life change:


1.  I believe I have found my career path.
       I have made of lot of random, arbitrary decisions in my life.  I have a B.A. in Economics, simply because I knew I should get a degree and it was an easy and convenient choice.  I enjoyed very little of my Economics coursework, my favorite classes at U.C. Davis were a poetry writing class, game theory, calculus, and upper division literature classes.  Yet throughout my education, I began to realize it was absolutely crucial that I would be passionate about my future career.  The truth is, I was unable to find the passion to pursue law school (my original intention), and things began to get kind of scary.  But from working in a direct sales position and at a bank, I started to realize something.  It is the teaching aspects of a job that I truly enjoy.  Encouraging and educating my co-workers gave me a great sense of pride and helped me stay focused in jobs I would have otherwise despised.  And so when I discovered this opportunity, things really clicked for me.  It may not be as lucrative as certain business oriented jobs I could have pursued, but that leads me to my next point...

2.  For me, positively impacting others in a direct and tangible way far outweighs monetary gain.
       I can admit that several years ago my primary objective was making a lot of money, even if I ended up in a career I didn't really care about.  I'm not sure if it was working in banking, becoming more frugal, or speaking to friends and family, but somewhere down the line that changed a lot.  I think that whether people like to admit it or not, the average person ends up being negatively impacted by wealth.  Whether it is the people who mess up their lives after winning the lottery, the proven facts that people in lower income brackets donate a higher % of their income than those in higher income brackets, or society's general obsession with materialism, the facts are abundant.  This isn't to say if you are well off you are a bad person, there are plenty of great people with superfluous wealth.  But the point is, I will be happy being someone that never truly accumulates that much material wealth, but is instead enriched by the work that I accomplish and the impact I am able to make on others.  But why am I going to Korea to begin teaching...?

3.  Teaching in South Korea appeals to me on many levels, ranging from superficial likes to lifelong aspirations.
       Sometimes its easy to say that I'm going to South Korea because I enjoy watching Starcraft II (a competitive strategic computer game that has high levels of competition in South Korea), but in the scheme of things that is merely a superficial like.  Would you believe me if I told you, a couple years ago I spent hours reading about Hangeul (Korean language system) and became fascinated with its logical form and unique history, despite knowing nothing about Korean culture?  Coupled with the fact that I have held a sincere lifelong aspiration of becoming bilingual, the opportunity to begin my desired career in Korea began to intrigue me quite compellingly.  Years before that I discovered Kimchi, and instantly fell in love with it, despite all of my friends and family thinking I was crazy at the time.  In fact, during my first experience with Korean BBQ I was already wondering why I didn't live in Korea :).  Another aspiration I have had is studying a martial art, and what better place is there to study Taekwondo?  Beyond these conveniences, I have always admired elements of the Eastern mindset, with less focus on the individual, and more on tight-knit families and social well being.  To live and work in South Korea is such an incredible fit for me-- truly when I discovered it my internalization of all of the above came to me like a blinding light.  And ultimately South Korea has allowed me to jump into all of this very quickly and put these theories to the test.

What about after the contract, what then?

I plan to spend at least two years in South Korea, because I will be putting a great deal of time into learning the language, and it is unrealistic that I could achieve what I want in only one year.  I do not know what the future will hold, but it is plausible that I could stay longer in South Korea, and just as likely that I could pursue continued education in the U.S. or Korea to either continue teaching in the U.S. or teach at a higher level in South Korea.

Well that's it then.

My bags are packed, my mind is open, and my stomach is prepared. :)

       

Guide: Ordering Foreign Currency vs. International ATM Withdrawals!

I spent so much time searching for a comparison between the two that I have reached the point where I can finally provide the following information, which hopefully will be useful to any U.S. citizens who are deciding whether to convert USD before traveling or use their debit card in a foreign ATM!  First lets consider the following:

1.  Fixed and Variable costs

With foreign conversion you tend to run into a fixed costs (ATM surcharges, shipping fees, etc) and variable costs (FX fee, Visa/MC fee, buying/selling rates).  As you can imagine, this means you tend to get less value out of smaller dollar amount transactions, and vice versa. 

2.  Foreign transaction fees

Many people aren't even aware of this, because it can be hidden by your financial institution.  Whenever you use your debit or credit card and make any purchase/withdrawal either in a different currency than USD, or outside of the United States, you tend to pay a conversion fee.  Most major banks charge around 3%, whereas your smaller credit unions tend to be in the 1-2% range.  There are even some institutions which waive the foreign transaction fee entirely.

3.  Visa/Mastercard's conversion rate

The Visa/Mastercard rate is between 0.0% to 0.5% worse than the interbank rate posted on Google and other websites.  Today, for Visa, the rate for withdrawing KRW with a USD debit card is about 0.12% lower than the market rate.  Meanwhile the rate for withdrawing CAD from with a USD debit card is about 0.22% lower than the market rate. (http://usa.visa.com/personal/using_visa/consumer_ex_rates_us.jsp)


The following compares USD to KRW (money used in South Korea) and USD to CAD (money used in Canada) in the amounts of $100, and then $1000 converted, using ForEx conversion, debit withdrawal with typical fees, and debit withdrawal with reduced fees.  Data is based on today's rates using Google reported market rates, 07/28/2013, and based on Bank of America's foreign exchange rates for today, which I have found to be very comparable if not better than other major U.S. bank rates. The ForEx conversion assumes a $7.50 fee if the quantity ordered is less than $1000 USD.  The typical debit withdrawal method uses a 3% conversion fee and $5 domestic ATM fee, a $5 ATM surcharge fee, and assumes the Visa/Mastercard rate is 0.5% less than the interbank rate on Google.  The reduced fee debit withdrawal method only assesses the $5 ATM fee from the machine itself and the 0.5% Visa/Mastercard conversion.

  *The Total KRW and CAD columns include all associated fees.

ACU stands for Associated Credit Union.  They offer a debit card with no international transaction fees and no fees for up to four ATM withdrawals per month.  They are based out of Georgia but allow any U.S. citizen to join.  There are other banks that offer the same level of service, but I decided to go with ACU.

As you can see, even with a bank that charges a 3% conversion fee and $5 access fee abroad, in Korea you still are better off with a debit withdrawal compared to ForEx conversion.  You may only save a bit on a $100 conversion, but you save over ₩30,000 on a $1000 withdrawal.  For CAD, however, you actually lose a bit on the $100 debit withdrawal, and only save about $7 CAD on the $1000 withdrawal.

The true potential savings can be seen if you utilize a financial institution with no foreign transaction fee and preferably no domestic assessed ATM fee, like Associated Credit Union for example.

In that case, and compared to ForEx conversion, you will be saving over ₩9000 on a $100 withdrawal, and over ₩68,000 on a $1000 withdrawal.  With CAD, you will save $7 CAD on a $100 withdrawal, and over $43 CAD on a $1000 withdrawal.

Important Notes:

A debit card isn't fool proof, it is always advisable to have backup solutions.  On one hand, you don't want to carry $1000 in a wallet that could be lost or stolen, but it is advisable to have multiple cards and bring some USD or foreign currency to minimize risk.

Buying foreign currency from a large bank will always give better rates for the more commonly traded currencies.  It is why the above data shows you will lose money using your debit card to pull $100 in CAD from a typical fee bank versus taking the ForEx route.  I have noticed that for a currency like CAD, Bank of America's rate is typically 3-4% worse than the market rate, whereas for KRW, their rate is usually 7-8% worse.  But once you are getting above $200+ USD equivalents, I believe the debit withdrawal method will always be superior.

Avoid dynamic currency conversion.  This is when either an ATM or merchant tries to charge you in USD, doing the conversion for you.  That conversion has a hefty fee built into it, and you will end up cancelling out any savings you are getting from using your card in the first place.

Understand that withdrawing money from a credit card will always be considered a cash advance, and your financial institution will most likely charge you a fee of at least 3%, and the balance will begin accruing a higher interest rate with no grace period.

I guarantee this posting is not error free, but hopefully it sheds some light on the topic for you and will help save you some ₩ or other currency in the future :).  Happy travels!

Its completely official now

I just received this lovely work visa for teaching English in a public school in Seoul, South Korea.  It took about six months to get it.  A great place for this blog to start!