Off and running... to another country.

I'm finally going to Asia, which I've wanted to do for most of my life. How, when, why, blah blah blah?, you may or may not be asking yourself. Here's the deal:
English is the language that business is done in, worldwide. Korea is a country that does a lot of business and has a thriving economy, so learning English is really big there. Not only is it taught in regular public schools, but the country is full of smaller, private programs that utilize native speakers of English in furthering the language skills of the Korean children. I was just poking around the education section of job listings on craigslist, when I came across a recruiter whose job it is to find college educated native English speakers to send off to these schools in Korea.

It works like this: you don't have to have formal teaching experience or an education degree, but due to Korean immigration requirements, you do have to have a 4 year degree, and due to the school's requirements, you must be a native speaker of English. You also have to be willing to sign a 12 month contract, but it's a pretty sweet deal. The average pay is a little over 2 grand a month, an apartment is provided to you with free rent, and your plane tickets - there and back - are paid for. I thought, well, I need money to move to Chicago or NYC, and this has got to be better than waiting tables. I was tired enough of that grind to try any job that pays as well, really. So I applied, and even got my friend from JMU, Ryan Ellis, to apply.

Ryan has been living in Richmond since graduation, working some decent jobs and living on the cheap in a group house. He has a real interest in teaching, though, as well as an interest in adventure, so it was more or less easy to get him on board. We got our applications considered together, and as of this writing, we've been hired by a school in Anyang (1 hour south of Seoul) to teach English to elementary school age children. We'll also be sharing a two bedroom apartment.

Sounds great, right? Only thing is we don't speak Korean.

Of course, you don't have to, since many people in South Korea speak some English, and the children aren't allowed to use much Korean in the classes at all. However, I'd like to be able to find my way around a little when we get there, so I've got some Korean language software and a book of "Survival Korean." I figure I'll just sort of have to roll with it.

We'll be leaving before the end of February, so anybody who wants to see myself or Ryan before a year goes by better hop to it.


In other news, my Taekwondo teachers, Master Yang and Master Kwon, after some initial misgivings, have supported my trip to Korea. The big deal here is that Master Yang is offering to let me take my black belt test before I leave the country - which basically means allowing me to skip a belt to do so. Of course, I have been training longer than many of the black belts in my dojang, the difference between us being that I've missed more belt tests than anyone else. Still, it shows a lot of confidence on the part of my teachers, which is an honor. It's also going to make my life a lot more convenient as far as Taekwondo training in Korea is concerned, since the 1st degree black belt is technically the first belt that actually transfers from school to school. Without a black belt, I would be faced with the prospect of starting all over again at the bottom of the ranking system in a new school. Let's hope that I pass my black belt test here in the states! As usual, I'm confident that I'll be successful.


Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned for more travel details - exact date of departure, etc - as well as more pictures being put up. I'd like to get all those Europe photos up before I start getting all snap-happy in Korea...