Good News!

I don't have to miss my cousin's wedding! I got an e-mail from Ms. Choi (the principal at BIS) and the current teacher will stay an extra week. I'll be leaving on July 5th, arriving in Seoul the evening of the 6th and must report to work on the morning of July 7th. This is going to be a very exhausting first week of school, but I don't have to miss the wedding. It's pretty insane, I'm leaving for Korea July 5th!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sending my contract via fax by the end of this week. It's official kids!

July 1st

Well, I'm about 95% sure I will be teaching at Brown International School (BIS) starting July 1st. This means that yes, I will have to miss my cousin's wedding, being that I'll most likely leave June 26th-ish. Well and because the wedding is July 4th, but anyway...I will be living in Gangnam, which is the more foreigny part of Seoul, but nonetheless amazing. I started taking impromptu Korean lessons with a girl in my graduate class and I have learned a few things, but obviously I have more to learn. However, I can say hello, thank you, where is the restroom, I am from America and my name is Molly. Pretty good, huh...oh and I can count to 10. Sweet. I'm starting to stress out about all the paperwork I have to have completed, especially my diploma, but I try not to worry too much because I think it will work out, keep those fingers crossed.

BIS sounds like a great place to work, but I only get 2 sick days the whole year and I'm still unsure about vacation days outside of national holidays, but this is a growing experience, right? I'm really excited to start teaching, but it seems like I have a million things to do before I leave. Trips to Chicago for Visas, figuring out my McDonald's schedule, etc. It'll all work out, everything always does, but still incredibly stressful.

Last week of classes start tomorrow and then it's finals week. I have two finals, both on May 6th and then I am done. Completely finished with my undergraduate career, sans the graduation ceremony of course, but I'll be done! I'm incredibly excited...it's about time I finish school and start experiencing the world beyond Mississippi, Wisconsin and the United States. I don't think I can entirely express how happy I am!

Brown International School

Well since it's been almost a week since my interview with Brown International School, I thought I would fill in some gaps. It turns out that the school really does only have four teachers. This was a worry of mine in the beginning, but I am liking th idea of a small close knit group of people. However, this can also work the other way, maybe nobody gets along and we'll all want to bite each others heads off, but I am optimistic. I would have to start July 1st which does interfere with a wedding I am supposed to attend, but Reuben is going to talk to the school to see if maybe we can push the start date to July 7th. We'll see of course, but I really do want to work at this school, it seems right up my alley. Hopefully I'll know more by weeks end.

another job offer

I got an e-mail this evening from AT and they have another job offering for me. I will have an interview tomorrow evening and this job would start July 1st, so a lot sooner than I thought. I would have to miss my cousin's wedding, but I can't help that and I actually was beginning to look forward to that and the Independence Day 5K, which would probably be the last of the three races I am looking to run this summer. Today, I started doing Hip Hop Abs with my friend Ish and holy crap it was a workout (and then I learned how to make chicken fried rice, so good!). Anyway, back to this job offer...It is in Daechi which is a very affluent part of Seoul and many schools are located here. This in turn makes for a higher salary, but I'm assuming its because the cost of living would be higher. However, Daechi, part of Gangnam is really close to a lot of stores including Lotte, a pretty awesome sounding store (like Target/Woodman's/Kohl's all in one store!). I know very little about the school though. I know that I would be teaching 7-13 year olds, from 10-6:30 MWF and 10-7 TR, which I like much better than the late night hours. The one thing I am confused about is the number of teachers. Reuben, one of the AT guys, wrote "4 teachers (2 female and 2 male foreign teachers)" I don't know if that means there are 4 foreign teachers or 4 total teachers. The latter scares me a bit, but I have the interview tomorrow night and I'll have to ask that. Since I have not heard back from Avalon I don't know what to do, I guess I'll just wait until I get contracts, which is when I'll have to choose. I like the idea of this school and it's proximity to Seoul and it seems like subway stations are frequent, which makes transportation a breeze. Well, I suppose I'll write more tomorrow, when I know more.

Edit: The school is called Brown International School (I couldn't find a website, but I found the job posting, sounds pretty good)

waiting.

Well, I am still waiting to hear from Avalon if they have a position opening for me in July. However, if I can't leave until August it won't be the end of the world, it might take that long to get my paperwork in order. I'm just waiting, anxiously to hear something. In other news, I am starting to get my student loan payment information and it is somewhat overwhelming. I guess I can take comfort in knowing that I'll have a job to pay my loans. I'm also looking forward to being able to save money so I can travel and teach in other locations around the world. I have a three year plan, but it doesn't mean that I can't take four or five. I'm just looking forward to life after graduation. Eventually I would like to go back to school, but for now, I'm young and want to experience the world.

Interview

Well, I had my interview with Joe on Tuesday night and it went really well. He told me he'd be in contact with my recruiters (Adventure Teaching) and probably by the end of the month he'd have some contracts for me to look over. I might not be in Bundang, but I hope I am. It seems like a real nice area, but I will be happy with anything. I'm looking forward to the end of the month so I know more about where I'll be and when I leave and all the details. Since I am a very detailed oriented person, it's hard not knowing right now, since graduation is coming up pretty quickly. I'll post more when I know more. Keep checking back for more updates and when I go to Korea, I'll try to post a lot more often.

Oh, I almost forgot...I have Skype now because I was told it will be nice while I'm in Korea. So, check me out, my user name is mrefsland.

Possible Job!!!

I got an e-mail from Adventure Teaching today about a possible job!!!! This job would be in Bundang, which lies right outside of Seoul and connects to Seoul by subway, which would be really nice. I would be close enough to a larger city, but still far enough away. Bundang is not small by any means, in fact it has nearly 440,000 residents. A larger city than I have ever lived in, but of course, I'm up to the challenge. The school seems really nice and according to the people at Adventure Teaching, they treat their foreign teachers really well. The school is called Avalon and I would have the option of working with elementary or middle school aged children. I haven't decided yet, but I have an interview tomorrow night and I'll be able to ask questions about that. I think, as long as I feel like this is a good fit, which I do right now, I'll probably take this contract. It seems like Bundang is a nice area and close enough to Seoul. I'll know more tomorrow or Wednesday and I'll try to update then. It's quite possible I'll be updating more because my lovely parents bought me a new computer and I got it on Friday when I got home from Mississippi for spring break. I love it, it has a 17 inch screen and the number pad thing right on the keyboard, it's the perfect computer!!!