I'm not dead, by the way.

The past few weeks have been a little hectic for me. At work, I had to do the summer camps we had on top of my regular work schedule, so I have been an absolute mess for the past while. The extra classes ended on Friday though, so now I can finally get back on track with my life, which means going to bed at 4:00AM and sleeping in until 2:00PM the next day.

Bad news.

I knew that when I chose to work at a hagwon that it might eventually come to this, but I didn't want to really think about it. Starting next week, I will have to start working Saturdays. It's sad to think that today is the last Saturday afternoon that I get to enjoy for at least three months, but we'll see how it goes. It shouldn't be too bad since the classes start in the afternoon and I do get out early on Friday nights, but I won't be taking any weekend trips for a while. At least I'll be saving myself some money.

Oh, those fickle teenage hearts.

While at work yesterday, one of my middle school students was sitting by himself during break messing with his iPod. I took a look at his screen and saw that he was on Kakao Talk, a messaging app that Koreans use. I asked him who he was messaging and he said his girlfriend. I told him that was a nice thing to do and all he said, "Not nice. I quit girlfriend." At this point I couldn't help but laugh. Then I told him that he should have at least called her, but he told me that it would have been too hard and that break time was almost over and that we had to get back to class. I guess he's got his priorities figured out.

Korean kids are ruthless.

I was teaching class the other day and one of the kids farted. It was pretty bad. The entire class spent an entire two minutes blaming each other. They even blamed me, at which point I said that all of them farted and it doesn't really matter cause they all stink anyway. Well, after the two minutes of heated debate, the class decided that it must have been Chris, one of my students, that actually farted. At this point, Chris starts crying. Not bawling in the middle of class, but the minimal tear, head down on the desk crying. Of course, I'm trying to get the class back on task and reading, but of course, one of the kids has to point out the fact that Chris is crying, so all of the other kids have to try and get a better look to see if he is actually crying. I guess it's a lesson learned. Next time this happens, I'll just blame it on the air conditioner or something.

It's nice to be loved unconditionally.

I dropped by my old school over the weekend to drop by and see my old co-workers.  I arrived right before classes ended and while I was walking through the halls, classes pointed out their windows and started screaming my name.  It was refreshing to see that the students remembered me and everything.  One of the students even asked me if I liked chicken (which I someone used to ask me once a week when I worked at Yeonhak) and I almost teared up.  All in all, I'm pretty glad that I've affected their lives somehow and that I'll be remembered by a few hundred Korean kids.

An e-mail from a fifth grader:

Subject: WENDY

hello i'm wendy.(group3) am.....it's ypur email? is it right?

 

I had to make an e-mail account for work so kids could contact me if they have any questions.  This is the first one I've received.

I almost forgot why I wanted to work hagwon in the first place.

Seriously, it was the hours. I'm up right now since I wanted to go over my lesson plan for today, but I don't actually have to be at work until 3:00. For someone who stays up at odd hours, like me, this is so great. I literally could have went to bed at 4:00AM and woken up at noon. Also, there's a 24-hour Home Plus down the street with a McDonalds so now I even have cool stuff to do at that time through the week.

A funny story from orientation

Earlier at orientation today, I said, "If I fail orientation and get sent home, my mom is going to beat the shit out of me." The instructor thought that I said that if I failed that I was going to beat the shit out of her. It turned into a complicated situation where she pulled me aside from class and addressed me about it. I'm still not sure if she actually believes me. It's probably not that funny since she still has the power to fail me.

It's a hard knock life.

So training really began today. It was a little overwhelming, honestly. It isn't as bad as some of the reviews of Chungdahm make it out to be though. The whole program is a lot different than working at a public school. For one thing, the students are going to be a lot more advanced. I'm being trained to teach kids that are in the middle levels of the program and kids that are at the more advanced parts. The stuff that I'll be teaching the kids is way beyond anything that's in the national curriculum. Even the mid-level lessons that I'm looking at are a ton harder than a sixth grade public school lesson. For tomorrow's mock lessons, there's a shit ton of prep that I still have to take care of. I'll probably be up for a few more hours just working on it. It's going to be rough, but I do want to make sure that I look alright on my first day.

As a side note, I got a medical exam yesterday and I apparently have high blood pressure.

This is all happening really fast.

I'm going to the Korean consulate tomorrow to pick up my passport. I'm probably also going to book my flight too. Things are going to go by so fast. I'm planning on leaving the 11th, since I have to be in Korea by the 14th for orientation. After booking my flights I'm going to see if I have enough time to organize something so I can see everyone that is still in Korea before training starts on the Monday. That's still on the bottom of the list of things I need to take care of though. Eating as many burritos as I can before I go is what's really important.

It's about time.

I haven't booked my ticket yet, but I will be back in Korea in under two weeks.  My recrutier said that I shouldn't book a ticket until Chungdahm gets back to me about my visa.  That shouldn't be too long and going to the Korean consulate won't be too big of a hassle.  I am pretty relaxed so far, probably because I've been meaning to go back since the day I got here.  There's still some stuff I need to take care of, but once all that's done, I'm ready to start another year in Korea.

My days in America are numbered.

I've signed my contract and my job is secured. The only thing left to do is wait until I get the documents back so I can get my visa. Then book the ticket there. These next few weeks are probably going to go by real quick, but I'll be glad to get out of bed and start working again. I'm not entirely sure what the training is going to be like and how soon I'll get into the work routine, but I really am looking forward to it. I'm thinking about going up a few days early to just spend some time hanging out. It should just be nice to just spend a few days in Korea without anything to worry about. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few more details by the end of the week so I can start figuring all this out.

Bucheon is a go.

I officially accepted the offer and signed the contract. I was told to wait for my recruiter before buying tickets, but I was told by the hagwon that I had to be in Korea on March 13th for training. I have a few reservations about the job because there are a few negative reviews online, but I'm sure those are exceptions. From what I was told, the Bucheon Chungdahm branch is a big location. The rep said there are close to thirty native English teachers already there, so that will be a little different than I'm used to. It should be good though. I'm just happy that I'll be back in Korea soon sharing a drink with familiar faces. Especially Ryan, who has doubted that I'll be even going back to Korea since the day I left.

Also, as a side note, is there anything that anybody needs from America that I can bring? I left a lot of stuff in Seoul with a friend so I should have a lot of luggage room still. If anything, just let me know and you can get stuff sent to my house here in California and I can bring it over when I leave.

It's on in Bucheon!?

Looks like my recruiter came through and there's a spot open in Bucheon for me. I'll be accepting the offer and everything should work out fine. Seems like everything did work out after all. Actually, there's even another position in Incheon that was worth considering, but but Bucheon is a sure bet. If all goes according to plan, then I will be in Korea by March 13th. Good job me.

I got a contract for Korea but...

I'm turning it down.  It's in Cheongju.  I'm not going to knock on it since I haven't been there, but I'm really intent on this whole Seoul thing.  I'm sort of flexible on it though.  I'm alright with Incheon again or anywhere else in the Seoul metropolitan area, but Cheongju is just too far.  I just e-mailed my recruiter that I won't take that contract, so I'll have to wait and see what she says.  It seems like all I ever do is wait and see what happens.

Another update on the whole Korea thing.

I just got my FBI criminal background check in the mail today. This document was seriously a bitch to get. Anyway, I'm getting it apostilled tomorrow and mailing that shit to my recruiter, so I'm one step closer to getting back to the land of the morning calm. Since there was such a big delay with my papers, it's not definite that I'll be going back this month. My recruiter said either at the end of February or in March. I'm really hoping it's going to all work out. In a month's time, I'm really hoping to be getting settled into Seoul with a bottle of soju in my hand. Either way, since I got the documents, even if this recruiter falls through, I should be able to pick up a job on the fly. Anyway, for the rest of the time that I have left here in California, I'll be spending it mostly on eating burritos and drinking the finest American beers.

But how am I going to make money?

Thursday is going to be my last day at Cooking.com.  It's been a pretty enjoyable time working there, but I'm definitely not going to miss all the traffic I had to drive through.  I still haven't heard when I'm going back to Korea, so I don't know why I decided to quit, but whatever.  I'll at least have some time to do nothing for a while.

Now I'm actually really worried.

It's getting closer and closer to February and with every day that goes by, I get a little more and more nervous. Right now, the issue is getting my FBI background check. There was some issue with the payment, so now it's going to take a little while longer. Another thing is that I haven't heard about placement, which might hinge on me getting that fucking background check done. I'm going to submit all my papers again tomorrow since it's my day off, and hopefully I'll be able to get my ass to Korea without any other issues.

I'll be back in Korea soon.

I just got some of my documents apostilled for Korea and I'm about to mail them in. The thought of getting back to Korea is finally starting to settle in. It's a little exciting really. Granted, I'm not as nervous about it as I was the first time, but now that it's getting closer and closer to February I am getting a little worried. For one thing, I haven't been told where I'm going to be teaching at. Like always, I'll just hope it'll work out.

I called in sick today.

Yesterday, I left work two hours early because I wasn't feeling well and today I just took the whole day off.  The urge to vomit hasn't been too strong today, but I figured a day of rest wouldn't hurt.  Usually I wouldn't take the day off and just struggle through it, but since I have been working so much and the commute is such a pain, I decided I might as well.  Besides, I know I'm leaving the job at the end of January so I don't really have to worry about how productive I look.  That's probably not the best attitude for an employee to have, but oh well.  It's not like this is a career choice or anything.  Now it's time to enjoy the rest of the day resting and watching television.