I would like to tell you a story that began about four months ago. Last November I was on a train on the way to my Korean classes, when my phone rang. It was a number I didn’t recognize, but I answered it anyway. It was this Korean man. He asked me if I was looking for a job, and having decided only days before that I was going to leave my current job, I said “actually, yes!” He asked me a little information about myself, then asked me where I would like to teach. I described my ideal school and location, and he said… “Hmm, I think I have exactly what you want.” A week later I had an interview. Two ladies from the school drove all of the way to Seoul to meet with me for thirty minutes during my lunch break.
We decided to hold the interview at a coffee shop down the street from my school. We went inside and they asked what I would like. So, of course I told them. “Actually I don’t drink coffee, or tea.” I was delightfully shocked when one of the ladies replied, “Really? Neither do we!” So we all got hot chocolate and sat down for the interview. They were really nice ladies, and the interview seemed more like they were trying to convince me to come teach at their school than a job interview. After the interview I felt really good about the two teachers I had met, and consequently the school. However, as they were wrapping things up, they added that the school was a private religious school…in fact a 7th Day Adventist School. I really don’t know much about their religion, but they seemed like really nice people. Contractually the foreign teachers are not allowed to drink, smoke, or do anything that would mar the reputation of the school…easy. So the other teachers I would be working with would be upstanding people.
About four hours after the interview, I got a phone call from the recruiter who had made first contact. The two women had been so impressed by me, that they wanted to hire me immediately. The next day I had the contract in hand. I thought about it for about a week, then decided to say yes. The idea of teaching in a 7th Day Adventist school is a little scary. I’ve never really been discriminated against on the basis of my religious beliefs, and a lot of Korean people have very misinformed opinions of the Mormon Church. However, I did a little research, and the standards between our two religions seem similar. There’s even a clause in the employee handbook saying that I must dress modestly. I hope that my religion will not be a problem with them. I feel more comfortable around them, knowing that they have the same religious standards as I do. I hope they will get that same feeling from me.
After I verbally accepted the job, the hard part began. Due to the stupidity of some of my predecessors, immigration laws were changed this past year. Before you just had to supply your original degree, and a state level background check. Because people had been faking their degrees, and committing crimes in other states, beginning in 2011, all teachers entering the Republic of Korea are now required to have a notarized copy of their degree affixed with an apostille (Basically an international notarization), as well as a federal level background check. I was able to secure the degree certificate easily enough. However the Federal (FBI) background check was a different story. I submitted all of the paperwork back in November…I still don’t have my background check. I stressed out about it for a LONG time. Thinking that if I didn’t have it, I wouldn’t be able to stay for my third year. After almost three months of waiting. I called immigration only to find out that because I was renewing a current visa, I wouldn’t need to submit it until 2012... When I told this to my recruiter, he said “oh yes, I know.” I wish he would have told me, then I wouldn’t have had to freak out about it for so long.
Two weeks ago, I gave all of my paperwork to my recruiter, but I still wasn’t sure that everything was going to go okay through immigration without the background check. I’ve been in Korea long enough to know that if one person says something, even if they are in a position where they should know what they’re talking about, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s true. However, on Saturday I went to my new school for orientation. They returned my Alien Registration Card and my passport. Stuck inside my passport on what used to be the last blank page, was a beautiful sticker renewing my visa for 12 more months. I am now secure enough to announce to everyone that I will be staying in Korea for one more year (Don’t ask me about my plans after that).
Now let me describe my new school. This Tuesday, I am moving out of Seoul to a “small” city called 원주(Wonju), population 300,000. It is in the beautiful Korean province of 강원도(Gangwon-Do), nestled amongst some mountains. It’s a really pretty place. The school is a private middle school with only about 400 students. I will be one of four foreign teachers who teach all of the students. Apparently it’s quite a famous private school in the province. The students have all been studying English since they were in kindergarten. Many of them have even studied abroad in English speaking countries. I’m pretty excited to teach them. The classrooms are big and filled with materials I can use to teach. There are even computers and projectors. In the teachers office, I have the same materials at my disposal as the Korean staff does. I feel like I’m on equal footing with the rest of the teachers. The people that met me and gave me the tour were so nice. They took me all over, and seemed really concerned about my feelings. They apologized for the mess of part of the school, and assured me that it would be cleaned up my Wednesday, when school starts. The vice-principal spoke to me entirely in Korean and seemed delighted when I responded in my limited Korean. The reason I decided to leave Seoul was because I wanted more opportunities to practice my Korean. I spent almost all day Saturday speaking Korean.
The vice-principal and one of the English teachers gave me a tour of the town, then showed me my apartment. My new apartment has four rooms…I have a bathroom, a bedroom, a laundry room, and a kitchen. They all have separate doors. It’s like I’m living in a place where humans are meant to live. There’s even a closet, a TV, and…get this…a microwave! I haven’t used a microwave or a TV in two years now. I don’t even know if I remember how to use them. My apartment is on the fourth floor of the building. According to Korean superstition, the number 4 is bad luck because it sounds like the Chinese character for “death.” So, the elevator in my apartment is numbered like this 1,2,3,F,5. After the tour of my apartment, they took me to the convenience store on the first floor of my apartment and introduced me to the store clerk, then asked her to take care of me. It was really cute.
I really like the feel of the place where I’m going to be spending the next year of my life. It feels like the perfect job. This could all change once I actually start teaching, but my first impression was excellent. I’m still a little curious to know how the recruiter got my phone number back in November, but it seems like I needed to find this job. Well. I’m off to try to throw everything into my suitcases…wish me luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment