Ready, Set, Go!

All my packing is done, said many goodbyes and am ready to go. My visa and passport came in the mail yesterday(yay!:D).  Everything that could be figured out pre-departure has been settled. Just waiting to leave for Grand Rapids for my flight. Around 2am Saturday (EST) I'll be in Seoul and around 5am Saturday (EST) I'll be in Daejeon!  

I'm going to try my best to blog a decent amount over the next few days. 

Packing and Preparations...

Haven't posted in a few days because there really hasn't been anything to post, sorry. Still waiting for my visa to get processed and shipped back from Chicago.

What I have been doing is packing, cleaning, organizing and shopping. Turns out there are certain things that are harder to find in Korea or are super expensive so I had to buy enough of those items to last me a year. Packing is difficult but my mom bought these vacuum space bag things that seem to compress everything nicely. Most of the issue with the packing comes with the 50lb weight limit for checked bags.

Besides making preparations for my move I've been hanging out with family. A lot. I have tonight and tomorrow night open though so if any friends want to hang out, get drinks or do something fun I would love it.

Booked my Flight!

It's going to take almost full two days to get there but it'll be worth it. Surprisingly, booking the ticket only a week in advance seems to be about $300 cheaper than booking it months out. 

I will be flying out of the Grand Rapids airport on January 31st, making two connections in Chicago and San Francisco and then landing in the Seoul Incheon airport on February 2nd. 

The worst part of this travel experience will probably be the 12 hour layover I'll have in San Francisco. Oh well. At least I have a ticket now. 

Korea here I come! 

First! FAQ's! Fun! Flight!

My very first post! Yay! Hopefully if you're reading this blog you already know who I am and have some sense of what I am doing. If you just happened to stumble across my blog, Hi! Welcome to my blog! 

So what's up with me? I'm going to South Korea, the best Korea as some folks like to say. Just waiting on my visa to get processed and then I'll be off to the Land of the Morning Calm. 

The national flag: Taegeukgi

When people hear about my plans they run through a list of questions that are generally the same. I thought I'd answer many of the FAQs right here, right now. 

What will you be doing there? Teaching English at a private school to mostly elementary students. 

Do you speak Korean? No...I can say hi and thank you..sort of..

Do you plan on learning it? Yes, hopefully I'll be somewhat conversational by the time I come back. 

How can you teach English if you don't know Korean? Still working on this one. Not too worried. I have a few friends there doing the same thing who have been giving me tips and advice. 

How long will you be gone? At least 1 year. If I stay longer it will be in 1 year increments. 

It's the pink spot, in case you couldn't tell. 

Did you go through a program? Not really. I used Teach ESL Korea, a recruiter specifically for people who want to teach English in South Korea. A friend of my referred them to me and I've been quite pleased with them.

Where in South Korea will you be?  I'll be going to Daejeon, South Korea. According to Wikipedia, Daejeon is South Korea's fifth largest metropolis with a population of over 1.5 million. It has a four seasons like Michigan but with less snow and more humidity. Seoul, the capital, is about a 50 minute high speed train ride away. 

What's the time difference between Korea and Michigan? Korea is 14 hours ahead of Michigan. This means that 7am in Michigan is 9pm in Korea or 7pm in Michigan is 9am in Korea. 

How long is the flight? Total with layovers the shortest I've found is 16 hours and the longest was 36 hours. It seems to average somewhere between 20-24 hours. 

All that's left to do now is to buy the ticket, pack and wait for my visa to be processed and sent back to me. Even though the original start date was January 28th the visa won't be back by then so I've got extra time I hadn't anticipated. I have more time to pack, organize, shop and hang out. I'm excited to have more fun with the people I'll be leaving behind such as grandparents, cousins, trivia teammates, and of course, my fellow lifeguards.  

Ending my first post with great news. I have a date! January 31st. That's when I will be leaving Michigan, the United States, my friends, my family and my life here to travel halfway around the world to a new and exciting place. 

And that's my first blog post. Have to say I'm fairly pleased with myself for actually trying this blogging thing. I can't promise a post everyday but I will do my best.