Orientation – Daejin University

After only a minor hiccup at Manchester airport with the weight of my bags (who knew a rucksack could carry so much stuff - certainly not me!!) two flights and over 15 hours in the air I finally arrived in Korea on Sunday evening and have now been here for just about a week. During this first week I’ve been staying in a dorm room at Daejin University, to the north-east of Seoul along with over 300 other new EPIK teachers. During the daytime I've been attending lectures and classes on everything from Korean culture and history, to classroom management and making our English more understandable, and during the night I have desperately been trying to stay cool by sleeping directly underneath the air conditioning unit! Most days have run from around 8am to 8pm and in this heat and humidity that’s pretty exhausting. Pair that with fairly severe jetlag and, well, I was mess for the first couple of days.

Dorm Room

They eased us into the week quite gently with a campus tour and welcoming ceremony on day 1 but the pace increased quite quickly from day 2 onward  On Tuesday morning I was up and at the gymnasium for 7.15am ready for my medical – which took over two hours and included everything from eyesight and hearing test to blood and pee test(!) and even a chest x-ray – they’re nothing if not thorough!! From then on it was back-to-back classes on all things Korean. We also got put into groups of three and allocated a lesson topic that we would have to deliver to a class later in the week.

Kimchi with everything

Wednesday was full of classes again but it was really Thursday that everyone was looking forward to. A day trip into Seoul! For those of us placed there (around 150 teachers) it would be a first chance to see the city and for the other teachers at orientation it might be the only time they’re in Seoul until they make the trip from there provinces during a weekend or holiday. We visited Namsangol Hanok Village and watched a Korean traditional performance. After our Bibimbap lunch we went to the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History and the main palace in Seoul, Gyeongbokgung. It was another hot day and everyone was exhausted as we boarded the bus back to Deajin University. I perked up a lot when I received a message from the outgoing EPIK teacher from my school. I found out where I’d be working and living. Yongdu Elementary School is where I’ll be teaching and I’ll live just a short walk away in an Officetel just a minutes walk from Jegi-dong subway station. I've been told this is near a really cool market area, Dongdaemun, so I’m pretty pleased with what I've got and I certainly feel very lucky to have found out all this information days before many other people. My co-teacher’s name is Seunghee and I’ll be meeting her for the first time on Monday when she will take me to the apartment then to the school for a tour.

Friday was really the day that we got down to some serious lesson planning. None of us had taught before so we got a bit of guidance from the lecturer that will assess our demo class on Sunday and were able to piece together a decent objective and a rough idea of the activities we’ll be doing. We’ll be teaching the demo lesson on Sunday afternoon – one of the last things we’ll do on campus.

Without doubt, the funniest lessons this week have been my three Korean language classes. These have been after dinner from 7.30-8.30pm. By this point most people are keen to get back to dorm rooms, Skype friends and family or just chill out after a full day but the Korean teachers have been great and extremely patient with us! I'm getting the hang of it now and can recognise all of the characters and know what sounds to make. I know some key words and phrases and have memorised "Hello, it's nice to meet you" for when I meet my co-teacher and the principle of my school.

Traditional dance

Gyeongbokgung

This morning my first class was Taekwondo! Turns out I can kick people in the face pretty well so watch yourselves!! I might even join a club once I’m settled in Seoul. Although, I also want to play football and maybe even rugby and travel to places and explore during the weekends as well as taking Korean language lessons so I may be overloading myself a little… we’ll see!

I've had a good time here at orientation; the lecturers have all been interesting, funny and brilliant presenters (including the Scouser who had to slow his speech riiiight down). It’s been an easy introduction to Korea and it was great to meet loads of people I’m sure to keep in touch with once I’m settled in my apartment but it’s time to pack up our stuff and get going.

I’m ready.

Next stop: Seoul.                          

Until next time,

Bren.

The EPIK Application Process

So I’m moving to Korea. Oh, you didn’t know? Well, I thought the blog name would give you a clue..

Wait..
What?.. 
MOVING TO KOREA?!!?!

Yeah, that’s right.. South Korea (the good one, before you ask). Seoul to be more specific.

But…WHY?!

Well, the short story goes a bit like this..
I fancied a bit of an adventure; I worked out that to make the adventure last as long as possible I’d need a source of income; I speak English; I have a degree….all of these factor lead me to TEFL! Then I did a bit of Googling and BINGO…I found EPIK.

Oh wow! Umm…what’s EPIK?

EPIK (English Program in Korea) is.. well.. an English Program in Korea. It’s a government run program that hires hundreds of Native English Teachers (NETs) every year and places one in each state-run elementary, middle and high school throughout Korea on 1-year contracts.

So, you’re going to be a teacher?!

I’m certainly going to try. In January this year I signed up to complete a 120 hour TEFL course. 100 hours online, and 20 hours in-class to get some real experience and practice my ‘teacher voice’.

OK, OK.. So you started this process back in January! What’s happened between then and now?

I’m glad you asked!
There are a few key steps so here we go:

1, Initial Application.
The first step in the process is to submit a few initial document by email. These included the EPIK Application From and two letters of recommendation. I also sent an additional application stating that I’d like to be considered specifically for Seoul. The next day I got an email from EPIK stating that they had received my application and that I’d hear from them once they started evaluating applications and scheduling interviews. 

A couple of weeks later I heard that I’d passed initial screening and that they’d like to interview me. Huzzah!

2, Skype Interview.
I was emailed confirmation of an interview time… 6.30am!

Nightmare.

FedEx

NOA

The first part of the interview involved my EPIK co-ordinator going through parts of my application he wanted me to change (missing dates or small changes to my personal statement and example lesson plan). Then we moved onto questions about why I wanted to teach, what my teaching philosophy was and what I would do in various different and tricky situations in the classroom or with Korean colleagues.

Four days later I found out I had passed the interview and now had to gather a lot of documentation and Fedex them to Korea.

3, Submission of Documentation.
This was probably the most stressful and complex part of the entire process. The list of the documentation EPIK needed seemed endless. I had to include my full application form, additional Seoul application form, copy of my passport, letters of recommendation, sealed university transcripts, two copies of a signed contract, my TEFL completion certificate and certified and apostilled copies of my degree certificate, criminal record certificate and my birth certificate.
Safe to say the Fedex packet was bursting at the seams but it did

Visa

arrive in Seoul safely 3 days later.

At this point, it's 90% definite that you’re in! If there are problems with your paperwork then your EPIK coordinator will work with you to solve the problems and you’ll not lose your pace in the queue when being considered for a placement. I did have a slight problem due to the fact that I messed around at Uni for the first couple of years and then changed course meaning my transcripts didn’t look quite right.. But a couple of emails to MMU to confirm a few things and everyone was happy.

Documents are then sent to the different Korean provinces. Mine were sent to Seoul as I’d indicated a preference for Seoul from the beginning of the process.

4, Placement and Receiving a Contract.
Eventually, I received an emailing telling me I’d been placed in Seoul. I was also told I wouldn’t find out where exactly I’d be working or living until I arrived in Korea. I was only told it’d be an elementary school for children aged 5-11. How very exciting!Just a couple of weeks ago I was sent a Fedex package from EPIK that included my Notice of Appointment (NoA) and co-signed contract along with some other information about the pre-orientation course we’d need to complete online before we arrived.


5, Visa.

Packing...ish

I took the NOA, contract, passport, visa fee (£80!) and a completed E2 Visa Application form to the Korean Embassy near St James’s Park. Just over a week later I got my passport and visa posted back to me.

6, Pre-Orientation Course.
The last thing I needed to complete before heading to Korea was the pre-orientation online course. This consisted of 17 classes covering all aspects of teaching including child development and learning strategies as well as Korean language and Korean culture lessons.

FLIGHTS!

All of the above is done.

My (one way) flight is booked, my packing is (almost!) done, I leave from Manchester airport in approximately 6 hours and I haven't slept a second all night..

Next stop: KOREA

Until next time…

Bren.

BYYEEEEEEE