FAQ about my JOB

So in the midst of leaving and realizing I only have a week and a half to go (Yikes!), I have gotten an array of questions thrown my way and have decided to publicize the most frequently asked questions about my leaving to S. Korea.

So where are you going to be living?
Pyeongtaek, South Korea (not too far from Seoul, the capital, ~1 hour subway ride)

Where will you be living?
A one bedroom fully furnished apartment that's a maximum ten minutes away from the school.

Do they pay for your flight?
Yes, plural actually

How did you hear about teaching abroad?
Word of mouth and research

How long have you wanted to do this for?
About three months

Is your family going to miss you?
I find this question the hardest to answer because:
1) I am not the members of my family and therefore cannot control what/how they feel
2) I hope they do, but again see #1
3) I have this realistic philosophy that in order to miss someone then that person has to go away first (I also understand that this is how it works in the mind)
4) They have seen firsthand the lengthy process I have gone through to get in this program and therefore have had more fair warning that anyone else about my departure

Do you know anyone is South Korea?
Yes and No. There are other people in my program, but since I am one of the first ones coming in this year, I am sure I will meet with them later on. I also know people from here that are from Korea, one from my department who will actually be in Korea when I get there, so that worked out nicely. Also, the Humphrey base is S. Korea has a Murrey bowling alley, a company of whom I know two of heirs and have known them for a while, so take that!

Do you speak Korean?
No, nor am I expected to. So much of Korea is wanting to become westernized that people are integrating English into all facets of their lives. The children I will be teaching have been learning English their whole lives, and I will have a Korean co-teacher who will assist me in the classroom. Side note: this does not mean I do not want to learn the language as I am incorporating learning podcasts into my life as well as an ipod course and handy dandy dictionary.

How long is your flight?
13 hours, no stops

How long will you be gone?
One year. I can renew my contract if I choose to do so.

What grade will you be teaching?
10th, 11th, and 12th grade high school students, my favorite educational demographic. When I taught these grades at South Gate HS I had such a blast doing. Teaching these grades is my calling. Also, it is my duty to prepare these kids for their TESL (I believe that's what it's called) test that determines if they can speak English well enough in order to succeed in American universities as Korean students coming to the States is becoming a big part of the educational reform over there.

Where will you be teaching?
At a private prep high school.

Why did you decide to do this?
Because unlike America, the rest of the world cares about education. That is a fact.

I must still be 20 years old because this blog is about stress, much like the mid-section of my college life (you can go ahead and read more about stress on the first couple of 100 blogs I ever wrote). Stress because it's all hitting me. Stress because there's much that needs to be taken care of before I go. Stress because people in the surrounding areas decide to make me feel that way. I'm going to try and channel all towards a green homemade stress ball my friend Sarey gave me once during one of our many LB study sessions. Oh, I was talking to my coworker Gina, and she helped me bring to light one of the most exciting moments of my life, my graduate school graduation, exciting!

By the way, these random, yet awesome, things have been putting smiles on my face.

Confirmed

I have my departure date to South Korea confirmed.....now it feels real. Pit of my stomach, something is changing, first day of kindergarten flashbacks real.
When I wake up a couple of hours from now, it will be an eventful day.

Bulgogi

Yes, I am South Korea bound. Yesterday I had the chance to meet up with two very good friends of mine, Phoebe & Zorah. The night before Christine & Hugo invited me to their place to eat, drink, and play some Rock Band. The weekend before that was Beto & Irma's wedding anniversary, where I was able to see a lot of friends post-announcement of my departure.
I am really trying to soak in as much of my friends and family as possible, because it will be a while when I see them. I picked up my work visa to Korea the day before yesterday and it was weird to have concrete evidence in my hand of my leaving. It's getting a little more real with each passing day as my departure date (although still tentative nears). I am genuinely excited about this opportunity I have and I plan to take full advantage of it.

On other note, I will be graduating in two weeks (about a week and a half really) with my Master's degree. To be honest my graduation has become one of my last priorities, not because it's not important to me, but because there are bigger fish to fry at the moment. I just looked up at my cap, gown, and hood as they hang off the closet door in my room and I'm thinking to myself, oh yeah, that thing. It's funny because I've worked really hard for this, and I wish I could give it the credit it deserves, but I still plan to make the most out of that day as possible.

I am really looking forward to seeing my friends the weekend after my graduation. I like those times like birthdays and the holidays when I get to see my friends congregate for a good amount of time. By then I hope to have picked up some more Korean. I'm taking a podcast class and I've yet to buy myself the dictionaries I've been considering. So far one of the words I've mastered in the word for Korean bbq, and let's face it, what else am I really going to need to know? ;-)

E-Mail Sent to my friends (the first week in May)

Hello all,
As some of you may (or may not....oops, sorry) know I applied for a teaching abroad program a couple of months ago. Well long story short I got offered a job I really want and I have agreed to take it. I will be leaving for one year to South Korea, an hour away from the capital, Seoul. But it's not like you will not be seeing me completely for a year, as I will be able to fly back during my vacation time. It seems like I will be leaving the first week in June, the week following my LB graduation on May 27th (@ 5pm in the CSULB quad).

I'm super excited about this opportunity to teach English in grades 10th, 11th, and 12th at a prep high school, which I really want to teach, and be able to travel which is another love of mine. As I'm still wrapping my head around all this, I will say that I do want you to keep the weekend (probably Saturday) of my graduation (because the actual grad is on a sucky Thursday) so that we can go out somewhere and celebrate. I hope you can all come out to celebrate and I will forward the details as soon as I have them.

I will of course miss you all, but think about it this way: the earlier I leave the earlier I get to come back


--Oscar

p.s. you're always free to fly to the hemisphere to visit me :)

Information about where I'd be living:
http://www.pyeongtaek.go.kr/Contents.do?MENU_CODE=1E0100000000

I will of course still be using my Facebook, Twitter, and AIM accounts, so communication should not be a factor.

Transport

After much much labor I was finally able to transport all of my old blogs to this site. It's so convenient because I can rely on having all of them under one URL, without the dependency of a social network fad.

It took A LOT of labor to move them from those sites to these.

My purpose was to be able to give my blogs a home all the while, informing the world of what's to come in my life.

Times, they are a changin'

Updating

I've been an avid blogger, FOR YEARS NOW! I have now decided to merge all my blogs into one place, my blogger account. It is time to merge my Xanga & MySpace blogs, which are the 2 most popular I have, and bring them here. I must say that looking back at old posts there are some blogs I am completely proud of, and so that well...........not so much. So as I bring my old blogs to this site, I feel that I am taking a journey.

Many changes are happening in my life, and I shall keep you posted. Stay tunes.