Counting Down

Well, only 16 days left in Korea. I've been packing. It's amazing how much junk I have. Since I'm coming back in a couple months I'm leaving a bunch of stuff behind in Leon's apartment, so I don't have to try and cram a year's worth of clothing and supplies plus gifts into two bags.

On Tuesday I'm going to the pension office to apply for my lump sum pension refund, woo. The US and Canada have treaties with Korea regarding pension payments, so while I'm pretty sure all the English teachers here pay 4.5% into the pension fund, only Americans and Canadians actually get their money back, plus another 4.5% matched by the employer (suckaaas).

Also Heather is reportedly returning on Tuesday. Her brother says the 20th. I don't know who to believe. She's two months late coming back from the States, and Mingyu has been running the school without her, very poorly. Poor Heather has been getting email after email from her teachers about all the problems that have been occurring in her absence. There's going to be a major shitstorm this week, and to top it all off, the two teachers she was supposed to be hiring to replace me and lighten everyone's load a bit have now turned into one (they were a couple and they broke up, hahahaha). AND she's only back in Korea for a month before another stint in the US. All Leon's and Moriah's hopes of returning to having a competent boss and getting a better job situation have been dashed. I'm so glad I'm leaving after finding all this out.

In other news, I've been accepted to a public school position in Gangwon province, the least populated province in the country. There are like six people there. I chose it because it pays a little more than other areas and it has more vacation time--five weeks allegedly--probably to attract more teachers. It's been kind of a bumpy ride getting here. I switched to a recruitment agency called Footprints because they place in other countries, too, where my first agency doesn't. A girl I met here said they're pretty good, but I've found the service pretty substandard, unfortunately. I don't get the personal attention I used to, just form letters that don't answer my questions, scheduling problems, and not enough information in some cases. Anyway, I passed their interview and the interview with a representative from EPIK (English Program in Korea).

Now I have to get my documents in as soon as possible. The documents for public school are slightly different than with a private academy, and now that I have teaching experience in Korea, that's a couple more items to add to the list. I have to get a photocopy of my college degree notarized and apostilled, a background checked with apostille certificate, proof of teaching experience in Korea, reference letter from my current employer, several copies of my college transcript, application, signed contract, and passport photos to the agency before I can officially be accepted. This could be a problem since doing this by mail through California will take about four months (based on JUST having completed this stupid process to extend my current visa), and I'm not sure if I can get a background check in Maine without being a resident. I can't switch my driver license over until I get there in July, so it looks like it'll be about two months before I can send my documents to be verified. I'm going to call the State of Maine (yes, the whole state) to see if I can do this without being a resident and start the process by mail from here before I go. I hope that works.

If it doesn't, my position could go to someone else who's ready, and I would either be placed in whatever position was still available by the time I'm ready, or I would simply not be accepted to the public school system. In that case, I could still get a job, but it would have to be at another hagwon, and it would delay my departure, most likely. I wouldn't be too concerned about all this happening, except for the loss of all that vacation time and the stress it will have caused me trying to make some unknown deadline for public school, then failing.

So a lot to do in the upcoming weeks. I just hope my summer vacation will still feel like a vacation.