Hi, Korea.

Extending Your E2 Visa in Korea.

Please note everyone's situation is different and regulations are changing all the time. Just thought I'd put this stuff up here because there's confusion about it amongst my coworkers and friends that teach here. Hope this can help out a bit.

I got my visa for another year here. Seoul Immigration required a photocopy of my contract with my school, a health check, criminal background check, my passport, W80,000, two types of academy business registration, a reference letter, and my Alien Residence card.

I got the health check done at Saint Mary's. Lots of running around all over the place there but it was much cheaper than the other places I looked into.

I got a state criminal background check but had to go to the US Embassy and have them vouch for me about having no criminal record.

W50,000 was for multiple entry and W30,000 was for the new visa itself. You'll have to go downstairs to buy stamps for it.

Your school should help you along a bit but it's a bit complicated.

Make an appointment at the Seoul Immigration website if you're short for time.

Here's Your Future

English Spectrum and WorknPlay are the best sites I've found for finding part and full time jobs teaching in Korea. Worknplay used to have a ton more but then the economy got worse and they started charging a bunch for employers to post ads on there.

Anyways I've spent some time on these sites cuz I'm now officially back on the trading block ie lookin for a new job.

FSO Test

I'm going to take the Foreign Service Officer Test in early March. I finished the application finally, they wanted 6 references! I realized filling out the app was just as much for me as it was for taking the test. There was a personal narrative section where I had to type out my thoughts in regards to my life experiences. I hadn't thought about what I've been doing recently in that much detail. Needless to say much of what I put on there related to my time in Korea and how it has made me better. I don't know of anyone who has ever taken the test before. I'll write here about how it goes. I saw sample questions and they look like they'd own my face though.

Believe Dat.

So I was trying to get a job with the US government. It's incredible the amount of jobs available with them, in all locations. They all require that you apply for them over the Internet, from the $7 an hour jobs all the way up to over $200k a year. Interesting to note that most of the Korean posts are for Osan or Kusan. Yep, the Yongsan base must be on the way out, they don't seem to be staffing that one too much.

Anyways take a look at the USA jobs site and see what you can find. They're quite particular about requirements and as one may guess it seems like it should be all done by the book. Having done some military service or be already working for the government seems to help alot too! I think to make it work for me I'd have to head back to the States and start some trainee job.

There's always the Foreign Service. I am applying for the test and that seems like a long shot too. It's just nice to know that there are options out there.

The Man Comes Around.

So I'm teaching kindergarten in the Seoul area. Alright so far, tiring but sometimes pretty fun. Got to take some pictures of the kids (cute) and school (big money) so I can put them on here. Quite a responsibility for my 23 year old person being the sole caretaker of 7 year old kids 5 hours a day... might not be a perfect fit for me but I'll take it. They cry, they pick their noses, they hug me for no reason. I'm with the same kids each day, every day... I'll miss'em whenever I go.

Trying to figure out how much I want to pursure studying Korean. My level is at the point I can survive but if I want to reach the next level I'll have to step it up. But on the other hand I really want to learn Spanish before I settle back in Florida so...

Anyways, Corea is cool (ugh).

The good, the bad, and the... I'm not sure.

The lame and inevitable list of things that are good, bad and the I don't know whether it's good or bad has arrived. We all know things are done differently in the next household down the street, let alone in another country. Being fortunate enough to be able to experience another culture for months at a time has been great. I'll just try to sort my thoughts online here, there are decisions to be made!

The good.
I've made good friends and met really nice people through my local church. I'm not sure exactly where I stand on religion but I do know that I look forward to Sundays. The biggest reasons to stay.

I'm in Korea. Radical.

While not the coolest thing to do, being employed does have benefits. Like when I'm hungry and need money to eat.

I don't need a car here. I would, of course, need one at home. Unless I chose New York or someplace like it to live. Not likely.

Along this thread, I don't want to go home and start racking up bills (car, rent, insurance) and obligations (like a job!) so that I'm in a hole and it'd become financially difficult to pick up and leave again. Say... next spring I want to visit a friend in London for a month. What, my new boss won't let me take 1 month off after working for 6 on the job? Or say I want to live in Mexico for 2 months learning Spanish. Or return to Korea 2 years down the road for 6 more months (maybe half a year is a good time limit for such things, personally).

So... I could lease a car (expensive?), sign a short rent (possible?), and get a temp job (wish me luck). Hmm, no clue what kind of job that would be, either. I still have no experience being part of the American labor force, I delayed that for a year by coming here. What's it like to live in a small American city, paying your own rent? So that possibility interests me, the grass is always greener...

The bad.
It's harder to eat healthily and excersize here (in my case).

On the flip side, I miss a good hamburger and ESPN.

Disrespectful kids. Somedays I wish I never began to learn Korean. It's something that's easy to laugh about with friends, but having it happen to me for the 1000th time and so on wears on me. Yeah, funny thing about kids is that they're in every country. Kids are great, funny, energetic and all that. Definitely. But... edited. I'm posting 99% of my truth here for everyone to see. Sorry, I have some mildly interesting pictures in earlier posts if you look around a bit though!

The I'm not sure.
Stop staring at me, please. Stop pointing at me, please. It's because of the color of my skin, first and foremost. I can even tell you that I've seen 4 foreigners in the past month. So that's why they stare, I'd be curious about the unknown too. But my personal tolerance of it has been wearing thin as of late. I'm not blaming anyone for it, and I knew it was going to happen. It'll be nice to go into a store when I go home and people will barely care that I'm there.

The whole attention thing is in the I'm not sure catergory because plenty of great stuff comes about from it as well. Nice Korean people, everywhere. All the time. Simply because of how I look. I'm guessing they're happy/interested/amused someone not Korean is around. That's what I can gather from my friends.

Why did the taxi driver give me $2 off my fare the other day? Was he really impressed I had no clue where I was going and equally floored by my horrible butchering of his language? He could use the money alot more than I could, I am sure of it. Tiny things like this keep reminding me it's not about the money. I often forget.

Why did the shopkeeper send his son running after me on the street to call me back into the store where he accidentally overcharged me ($20 overcharged actually... don't ask, I was tired), so he could give me my money back? He probably would have done it for a Korean, too. It probably would happen in America, too. Great, nonetheless.

Um, summer is coming. I don't think this place has air conditioning.

Why do you keep giving me free/extra food, you nice lady? Do I look chronically underfed? Not likely.

Safety. Wow, I feel safe here. Walking around town that is. If it wasn't for some rowdy northern neighbours it'd be great.

Health care. I don't know how good it is. Everyone has to go to the doctor every once in a while. I'm in no hurry to find out how it is around here.

So that about wraps it up. I mentioned before that I was homesick. It's really not too bad. I'd prefer to meet some more English speakers, but I'm a bit shy about such things. My personality also doesn't lend itself towards being a career teacher, but I must be doing something right since I've made it for 6 months. I think if I lived in a bit larger city, knew more people and had a different profession (the chance of that last one here is about nil) I'd stay for a few years. The grass...

I think it helped me to get my thoughts down. Most of what I mentioned begins and ends with me, of course thanks to a bit of input from my environment. The cliche it is what you make of it applies here. If I could do it over again, I'd still come here. I've made a pretty good 6 months of it, consulting must be done for the next 6.