Tuesday, July 27, 2010

And so it begins.

From the title of the blog, you might have guessed- I have a job in Anyang, South Korea. It is located at Beomgye Station (line no.4, station no.442). The school consists of 1,159 students and 59 teachers. Yikes! The start date is still unknown, but will be either late August or early September.

The position is part of the GEPIK (Gyeonggi English Program In Korea) program. After teaming with Joyce at Korvia recruiting and passing a skype interview with Buan, it was mine. Simple enough, right? Wrong! I originally began my job search with Aclipse recruiting through EPIK (English Program in Korea). Unfortunately, a combination of me starting the application process too late and my recruiter being an absolute slug put me straight onto an EPIK's wait list, where I may still be found. I also looked into hogwans on Jeju Island, as the area is absolutely stunning, but realized working for a business goes against my current aspirations as a teacher. Ultimately, the stability of a public school position, the fact that it serves all Koreas population (and not just the wealthy), and the vacation time being much more desirable, swayed my decision making (definitely recognize that there are pros to hogwans, though). The job search process was extremely grueling, but I am satisfied with where it has led me.

More about the process later, but for now, I leave you with
the greater Beomgye station area:

Beomgye Station


Beomgye Station

The Time is Bittersweet

Bittersweet nightshade


Bittersweet Nightshade