I just moved to Seoul--as in, seven hours ago--so I thought I'd keep you lovely people updated on my life here. I'll start by re-posting a facebook note I wrote a couple weeks ago that explains why I'm here. Happy reading!
This is how the last couple weeks have looked like for me.
me: "la la la, when I leave for Korea, la la la blahdy blah"
everyone I know: "whatwhatwhat? Korea? for realsies??? when/where/why?"
Okay, so maybe I'm in the only person who really says "for realsies." Well, Margaret does too, but that doesn't count, seeing as how she and I have joint custody of a single vocabulary.
[Get to the point, Lori!!!] Anyway, so I'm going to Korea. Yes! I just got a job (um...last week? ish?) teaching English in Seoul--Gangnam, to be specific. (That's a neighborhood of Seoul; it means "south of the river." Guess where in Seoul it's located?) The plan is to teach there for a year, do something else somewhere abroad for another year, then return stateside for my Ph.D. after that. I'm still planning on pursuing clinical psych, which was always the plan; I just decided that if I was ever again going to take a big chunk of time to travel, now would be a good time. So off I go!
I don't know just yet when I'm leaving, but it sounds like it'll be a couple weeks. My visa documents (including my Wake Forest diploma...gulp) are currently somewhere over the Pacific; once my school gets them in a few days, it shouldn't be much longer before I've got a flight and an official departure date. I still have to interview at the Korean consulate in Atlanta, but everything else is pretty much worked out.
Y'all, I'm so excited! I'm already starting to learn the language (I can mostly read Korean letters now. Hi, I'm a rockstar.), and I've been learning about Korea and the teaching of English for about a year now. My wonderful and generous father ordered me the Rosetta Stone and a bunch of books about Korea for graduation, and yesterday I bought 2,000 stickers. (Hey, I'm gonna be teaching elementary school kids....a girl needs stickers.) Also, everyone has told me that deodorant is a precious commodity in Korea, so I'm thinking of bringing a 10-year supply and starting a black market among the expats in Seoul. If I get a corner on the deodorant market, I'm pretty sure I could finance at least a year's worth of weekend trips, don't you think? ;)
To be honest, my first choice was to teach middle schoolers or high schoolers; it just seemed like it would be easier and make for better QoL (that's "quality of life," for all you non-psychology kids). But then I saw a facebook album of the school's head teacher, Terry, and...oh lord, y'all. Those kids are so stinking adorable. If y'all know me at all, you know that I'm a sucker for cute little kids. Thus, because I am a creepy, stalking, picture-stealing type person, I will share some of Terry's pictures with y'all. Even though I haven't *technically* met the man. Hi, Terry! My name's Lori; I'm a creepy, stalking, picture-stealing type person!
Thanks to all of y'all who have been asking about me and my upcoming 7,000 mile, 13-time-zone jaunt. I'm excited, although it'll be sad leaving all of you lovely people so far behind! Thank Baby-Jesus-in-a-sombrero for that miracle called the aeroplane, because y'all need to come visit me. All of you. Maybe not all at once. But maybe so! Maybe y'all could charter a plane and come see me TOGETHER, and there would be love and adventure and sightseeing and danger and intrigue and spontaneous musical numbers.
Y'all get on that.
me: "la la la, when I leave for Korea, la la la blahdy blah"
everyone I know: "whatwhatwhat? Korea? for realsies??? when/where/why?"
Okay, so maybe I'm in the only person who really says "for realsies." Well, Margaret does too, but that doesn't count, seeing as how she and I have joint custody of a single vocabulary.
[Get to the point, Lori!!!] Anyway, so I'm going to Korea. Yes! I just got a job (um...last week? ish?) teaching English in Seoul--Gangnam, to be specific. (That's a neighborhood of Seoul; it means "south of the river." Guess where in Seoul it's located?) The plan is to teach there for a year, do something else somewhere abroad for another year, then return stateside for my Ph.D. after that. I'm still planning on pursuing clinical psych, which was always the plan; I just decided that if I was ever again going to take a big chunk of time to travel, now would be a good time. So off I go!
I don't know just yet when I'm leaving, but it sounds like it'll be a couple weeks. My visa documents (including my Wake Forest diploma...gulp) are currently somewhere over the Pacific; once my school gets them in a few days, it shouldn't be much longer before I've got a flight and an official departure date. I still have to interview at the Korean consulate in Atlanta, but everything else is pretty much worked out.
Y'all, I'm so excited! I'm already starting to learn the language (I can mostly read Korean letters now. Hi, I'm a rockstar.), and I've been learning about Korea and the teaching of English for about a year now. My wonderful and generous father ordered me the Rosetta Stone and a bunch of books about Korea for graduation, and yesterday I bought 2,000 stickers. (Hey, I'm gonna be teaching elementary school kids....a girl needs stickers.) Also, everyone has told me that deodorant is a precious commodity in Korea, so I'm thinking of bringing a 10-year supply and starting a black market among the expats in Seoul. If I get a corner on the deodorant market, I'm pretty sure I could finance at least a year's worth of weekend trips, don't you think? ;)
To be honest, my first choice was to teach middle schoolers or high schoolers; it just seemed like it would be easier and make for better QoL (that's "quality of life," for all you non-psychology kids). But then I saw a facebook album of the school's head teacher, Terry, and...oh lord, y'all. Those kids are so stinking adorable. If y'all know me at all, you know that I'm a sucker for cute little kids. Thus, because I am a creepy, stalking, picture-stealing type person, I will share some of Terry's pictures with y'all. Even though I haven't *technically* met the man. Hi, Terry! My name's Lori; I'm a creepy, stalking, picture-stealing type person!
Thanks to all of y'all who have been asking about me and my upcoming 7,000 mile, 13-time-zone jaunt. I'm excited, although it'll be sad leaving all of you lovely people so far behind! Thank Baby-Jesus-in-a-sombrero for that miracle called the aeroplane, because y'all need to come visit me. All of you. Maybe not all at once. But maybe so! Maybe y'all could charter a plane and come see me TOGETHER, and there would be love and adventure and sightseeing and danger and intrigue and spontaneous musical numbers.
Y'all get on that.
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