Seoul it is!

Apr 30, 2009 14:07

Or Busan or "big city," at any rate. I talked to my "teacher rep" this morning, and pretty much said I'd like to be put down for Seoul. She said actual rural postings were pretty rare; most "small city" slots are for cities of about a million people or less. Which is... not all that rural. At all. For comparison, Hakodate has a population of about 300k. And that is definitely a city.

So thank you for everyone's input! In reality even before talking to her I had basically decided on big city based on what you guys had said. I think there should be ample opportunity to travel around while I'm there, so I can spend some time in the country as well.

Since these schools don't recruit 'til really last-minute, and since I listed my availability from October 20, I probably won't hear from any schools 'til July at earliest. It's seriously crazy how last-minute they run. They'll interview you about two months before you go, then if they decide they want you, they initiate the visa process, which you have to squish into those two months. The teacher rep said you could literally be interviewing at the Korean consulate the day before you're scheduled to fly out to Korea. O.o (This would suck for me seeing as the nearest consulate is in HOUSTON.)

So really I have nothing to do until then. The website said to prepare early though, so I've been diligently gathering my transcripts, and, now to my chagrin, my criminal record check as well. I went to be finger-printed but wound up having to call the DPS to have my record check tagged for notarization since the fingerprint place had no idea what they were doing. Whatever, I straightened that out this morning before the teacher rep called. Then, she tells me record checks have to be less than 6 months old by the time you reach Korea. T_T Which means, that if I am not in Korea by October 28, my record check will be no good. So, to be on the safe side, I'll probably have to pay another $27 to have it done all over again in June-ish.

So much for planning ahead.

Whatever, I'm excited! Time to learn Hangul!

travel, korea, work

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