My wife took a TESL course in Alberta and was recruited by
a Toronto company to work in the S Korea public school system.
She had to meet with the Korean representative in Toronto for
an interview and to sign the contract (which later changed).
Some things that are worth mentioning from the first contract:
The school board would provide my wife's plane tickets (not
mine), a two bedroom apartment (shared with me) for the whole
year's stay, and some settling money.
In preparation, we had to renew our passports, we had to take
gazillion extra passport photos, I had to apply for an international
driver's licence, my wife had to request two separate original,
sealed copies of her transcript, and she had to apply for her
own working visa (note: contract and return plane tickets are
required for Working Visa application).
As for me, I got a 1-year Holiday Working Visa. Canada has made
a "deal" with some countries for Canadians to visit,
and be able to work to support their travel expenses. This Visa
has some restrictions, of course. I'm not allowed to work with
the same company for more than three months, work as an entertainer
(whatever that means) or do any work that might demoralise me.
(note: one thing that I was asked for in both Canada and Korea
is my travel itinerary. Make one and make hard copies! Return
plane tickets are also required to apply for a Holiday Working
Visa. Return ticket could be to go anywhere outside of Korea,
as long as they know you'll leave the country).
All right, this is it. Passports... check, visas... check, tickets...
check and ouch, 401 traffic... aarghhh.
At Pearson International Airport, we met one of my wife's fellow
teachers heading to Korea as well. The three of us boarded Air
Canada for a 5 hour flight to our first stop over in Vancouver.
As expected, flying over the Prairies is like staring at the
floor of your empty apartment. The Canadian Rockies changed
all that though. The view was awesome, definitely the highlight
of the flight.
After an hour's wait at the Vancouver airport, we boarded a
much larger Air Canada for an 11 hour flight to Incheon International
Airport. Seems like this flight was not long enough; our flight
was delayed for over 2 hours due to some technical difficulties.
Well, at least the flight attendants were nice enough to give
us extra peanuts for the wait. This flight was tiring. We couldn't
sleep at all, there was no room on the plane to be comfortable
in, and my freaking earphones were broken :(, :(, and :( some
more.
It was 6:45pm Incheon time when we arrived. We were instructed
to look for a Korean representative holding either a sign from
the government or from the city... we saw him holding an "English
Teachers" sign... close enough. We met more and more people
that are part of the program. Each one had one question in mind...
what now? For most of us, it had already been over 26 hours
of no sleep. What we all cared about was to be taken to our
assigned apartments and sleep. Our Korean friend had something
else in mind, and it was sometime before he told us that the
plan for us was to go for dinner, go to a hotel, and stay there
while attending a 5-day orientation... three meals a day with
unlimited caffeine... sweet. |
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| The hotel we stayed
at was at Ganghwa-Do. While my wife was busy with the orientation,
I took advantage of my free time to learn some Hangul and explore
a small part of the island. I took a hike up to Gilsang
Mtn. Lookout, a traverse on Jeongjok
Mtn and a visit to Jeondeungsa Temple. I also had a chance
to join a part of the teachers' orientation. We went for a tour
to Seokmo Island, where we visited the Bomunsa
Temple. |
|
It was getting close
to the end of the orientation, and so came the moment of truth.
For those five days we were sequestered on an island, away from
the bustling city life, what would "real Korea" life
be like? Things about teaching and life in Incheon were explained,
but we needed to see it all.
We all headed back to Incheon for the Alien Card registration,
and to our assigned apartments. Most of the teachers, including
us only got an unfurnished studio apartment. Here are some features
of our apartment that westeners may find odd: Enclosed balcony,
heated floor, 220V power, a very loud door bell, and my personal
favourite, a toilet/sink/shower all in a 5-sqft room. Moreover,
our building has 6 floors but the elevator only stops at half
way between 1st and 2nd, between 3rd and 4th and between 5th
and 6th. You have to take the stairs to get to and off the elevator...
what a concept. |
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2006
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