Don't count your octopi before they've spawned

I don't even know if what octopi do is called spawning, but I thought it more appropriate than chickens.

I have a job. And I am UBER excited about it. But I haven't actually signed the contract yet. I do that tomorrow.

I've been wresting over this whole job things for about two months now. I thought I had found the perfect company to work for (Poly School), and that was going to pay me loads of money. And then I found myself playing the waiting game with them. And THEN they said two positions had opened, but they were .4 million less than what was originally offered, and they were night classes. So I kept looking for another job, kept taking phone interviews and going to interviews in person, always turning down offers because they didn't feel right. I thought they didn't feel right because I was just waiting for this high-end school to tell me they had a position open.

And then, as I was searching the job offers on an ESL board, I came across an ad for a gifted and talented school for 2.7million won per month in Apgujeong, which is part of Seoul. And my heart skipped a beat. I LOVE teaching gifted. I started my Masters in gifted, and if it hadn't been for the less than ideal circumstances, I may have even completed it. I was in the gifted program as long as I was allowed, until I entered IB. My mother has been teaching it for most or all of her career. The funny thing about this posting was that I had already sent an e-mail to the same address asking about another position within the company, and had never heard anything back. So I didn't really have high hopes for this one.

But then I got phone call from the school, asking me to come in for an in-person interview around 5 or 6pm. I told them that I was pretty far away, and since my school ended late I wouldn't be able to get to the school until 8pm. She told me she didn't mind waiting at all, and was eager to meet me. And then. And THEN I got the pictures.

Pictures of the school.





Work samples.


The kids.



And then I allowed myself a little bit more excitement. This was exactly kind of environment I had wanted to teach in back home.

So last week I asked my director if I could leave after my last class today (3:45) instead of at 6pm for an interview, and she nicely said yes. And as I am ever tied to my computer, I checked my e-mail at 3:50 as I was walking out the door.






I hadn't heard from the Poly School in almost three weeks. And there, just as I was about to leave for an interview, was an e-mail, offering me a job in a good area in Seoul for 3.0million per month for morning/afternoon classes.

I felt like I was being tried or tested by someone. Here I was, ready to discount the Poly School altogether and try to decide between the public school position (which still hasn't contacted me with a decision) and this gifted school which so far seemed to be right up my ally, and they send me an offer that was, on the surface, much better than this gifted school I was going for. I was quite frustrated at having yet another school to add to my decision list, but I sent a quick response to the e-mail saying I was interested and asking a question about the location before heading off to the interview.

I got to the school around 6, and was asked to wait in a small room outside the office since the principal was on the phone when I arrived. The walls were covered in both student work and certificates that the principal had received, as well as research papers (in English) on how to work with gifted students, differentiated curriculum, and other terms that had almost completely left my vocabulary since I stopped teaching back in the states. There were even certificates of attendance for the past 4 years to the CAG (California Association for the Gifted) conference, the last of which was attended in Feb 2009. After staring at this wall, I realized that this school was where I wanted to be, and I knew with certain peace that not only would I love the job here, but that they would offer it to me and I would accept it without thought of the other positions I had as a possibility.

The interview lasted almost an hour. It was more of us talking than an actual interview. She explained a lot about the school, and the more she talked, the bigger my smile got. Everything struck a chord with me, even down to the names of the classrooms (I'll be teaching Sapphire class). The school feels that each child is a gem, and when they enter the school, they have been mined from the earth, and that each day spent in the school is a cutting and polishing of a rare stone. (I'm sorry - how awesome is that??). I'll get to do science experiments, theme units, current events, and I'll get to continue my penpals for another year. Shortly before I left, she asked me officially if I wanted the job, and I replied absolutely that I did. She asked me twice if I promised I would accept, as she would stop looking for a teacher for the position now that she had interviewed me.

The teacher that's leaving's contract ends the third of August. She wanted me to come a few weeks before that so I could shadow and train, but I told her it was impossible because of my family reunion at the end of July. So at this point, she wants me to start the first week in August, which means it'll be crunch time getting all my documents ready and sent as soon as I get back home so I can get a visa number before my position is supposed to start. This also means I'll only be in Florida for a little over two weeks total before I go back to Korea.

So... this also means that all the blogging I've been meaning to do (I've had a draft blog up for two weeks of the second leg of my weekend trip that I've uploaded all the pictures for but haven't finished writing about) is probably not going to get done. I'll do my best, but it seems that the longer I stay here, the busier I get, and I have less time to actually write about all the stuff I spend my time doing.

And seeing as how it's 1:22am and I have work tomorrow, I will now say goodnight. 잘자요

A very good place to start is always the beginning

I realize I've been negligent in my postings for the past month. I suppose the excuse that I was too busy going to festivals and traveling around Korea isn't the best of reasons, as that's exactly what I'm supposed to be putting up here.

So.

I will be sitting down at my computer screen for the next few hours to try and put up the Lotus Lantern Festival, my trip to the east coast of Korea over the long weekend for Buddha's Birthday, the Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Third Annual Seoul World DJ Fest. I have a cup of coffee. I have a bottle of water. I've made and eaten my dinner. I am ready.

But.

Before I do, as my mother so exactingly reminded me, I only have 40 days left before I plan to leave Korea. I am struggling right now with what to do about next year. For the past month or more, I've been talking to recruiters (several of which have driven me nuts with their inattention to my requests - like suggesting I work for the public school district that hires anywhere outside of Seoul when I specifically said I wanted to be in Seoul) to try and find another job. I've gotten several opportunities for schools that were interested in me, but very few that I was interested in for various reasons, mostly including lower pay, outside the area I wanted to live in, or undesirable working hours. I've gotten two official job offers, one of which I've politely declined. The second one has requested a decision by the end of the week or they will offer the position to someone else, which is fair enough.

The problem lies with the other two jobs I'm considering. One is with a public school district called Gangnam, where three of my friends are currently working. The pros: higher pay, good area, more holiday days/days off, better working hours, possibility for overtime. The cons: I won't know what school I'll be working at until the day I start, I won't know how close my house is to my school, and there's a high chance it won't be anywhere close, the classroom setting itself is a bit more stressful and difficult than a hogwan, I may be the only foreign teacher in the school. I've passed the first two phases of the application process (a resume that they're interested in, and sending in a lesson plan for a specific age group and topic), and now I have a phone interview with them on Thursday.

The other job is the job that I REALLY wanted. I found the company on my own and interviewed with them almost two months ago. At the time, they told me they wanted to hire me at 3-3.2 million won a month, but no positions were available yet for August or September (since our family reunion is at the end of July I can't come back until 8/1 at the earliest). The problem came when they called me last week to tell me two positions had opened up for one of their locations in Hakdong (where the other hogwan I'm considering is located). It seems that the two positions are evening shifts: 2:30pm-10:30pm. Which means that I would not have a life. I know myself well enough to know that I would end up sleeping in every day until noon instead of taking advantage of having the morning off to explore, and I wouldn't be able to do anything with my friends after work, as they all have to get up early and would be getting ready for bed when I'm finishing up for the day. Aaaanndd, they said it was only 2.7, and not 3mil for the job. They are still willing to hire me, but they don't have any other positions they know of at the moment, though some may open, so it's a wait-and-see deal with them.

So, I have until Friday to decide, at the very least, if I want to decline an official offer in preference of a possible/probable better offer, or if I want to accept an official offer because it's an actual offer and not just the possibility of one. My friends on Facebook have been offering their opinions and advice in a semi-voting sort of way. So - anyone else have an opinion?

Up and coming events and such...

It's amazing how quickly my life here went from rather boring day-to-day (though granted fascinating on the weekends), to a rather full and scheduled existence. I now have plans 5 days a week - Sunday through Thursday I have something scheduled to do after work, from meeting with friends to Korean lessons. And of course on Friday and Saturday I'm usually with friends out and about in Seoul or Uijeongbu (not Oingo-Boingo!). This week/weekend will be no different - I had a lesson this evening, I go into Seoul tomorrow for my movie night, Wednesday is lunch with friends, Thursday is another lesson, and then this Saturday starts the Yeiodo Cherry Blossom Festival. I'll probably end up going into Seoul on Saturday morning, taking tons of pictures, meeting some friends that moved to Seoul for lunch, and then on to a rooftop party elsewhere in Seoul to see some people I haven't seen since the last rooftop party in October. And of course I have to be back home by Sunday night for another Korean lesson.

I'm also making small preparations to come back home. I'm looking into other jobs in Seoul to come back to in August or September (I've found a possible one that I'm praying I get - it's everything I wanted in a new job and the pay is amazing!), and trying to set dates and such for coming back. The current plan is to leave Korea at the end of June and be in the States around June 27th or 28th and fly into Georgia since my parents will be there for the summer. So any friends who may live in the Raleigh/Durham area - make a note on your calendar - I'd love to see you again! And then it's back down to Florida for a Bahamas cruise with the family, and catching up with friends in Tampa, Gainesville and Boca before it's time to fly back to the ROK.

A very accurate view of life as a foreigner in Korea - those pizza guys go 90mph on the sidewalk when the road is completely empty.