So today I received the code for my visa. I've still got to wait to receive it, but I'm in the final steps.
My leaving date, for those of you who are reading and know me, is Nov. 9th (in the morning, so don't plan on seeing me then). If you contact me using the contact page on this site (and I actually know you), I will send you my Skype name so you can reach me while I'm there. I don't yet have a phone lined up.
So, here we go. Three weeks and counting.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Post-Three: More About Bucheon
Since the last post was somewhat vague and didn't give too many pictures, I thought I'd take a chance in this little side post to explain a little about Bucheon, the place where I will (hopefully) be living and working in in two month's time.
Bucheon is located, as I previously said, between the South Korean capital of Seoul and the main satellite city of Incheon (where the airport is). It first appeared on maps under the name of Bucheon in 1914 when parts of Incheon City and Bupyeong County were joined together.
Below is a picture of the satellite states of Seoul, and the little dot represents Bucheon city in all of that.
On the map below you can see where it is in relation to the rest of South Korea. South Korea in size is approximately equal to the size of Portugal.
Bucheon in recent years has attempted to promote itself as the cultural capital of South Korea, hosting international film festivals, the philharmonic orchestra, and four different universities.
As a city, it is connected to Seoul via subway, but it currently only has two subway stations that go to Seoul (more are currently being built, set to open sometime this fall). It's easier at the moment to catch buses, which run all over the city and connect Bucheon to Incheon and Seoul.
As far as attractions, it's small enough that it has only one movie theater, only a couple bars, and only a number of restaurants, but a high expat population means that foreign holidays are celebrated at the bars, and foreign food (everything from Indian Tandoori to Burgers and Pizza) are served at cafes where staff can speak English.
Bucheon is currently partnered with cities in Russian, Japan, China, the Phillippines, and the U.S. in a sister city program.
In Korean, the sounds 'b' and 'p' share the same letter, as do the sounds 'ch' and 'j', so Bucheon is also sometimes written as Puchon. The ch is pronounced more like a soft j sound.
Bucheon is extensively modern, like a great deal of Korea, but its close proximity to the rest of Seoul means that short trips take you to all sorts of historical sites, like the Five Great Palaces of the Jeseon Dynasty (which was responsible for making Seoul the capital in the first place), as well as many more modern sites.
That's all I have to say about it for now, the rest will come when I'm living there, but for now I'll leave you with a few more pictures.
-Sam
Bucheon is located, as I previously said, between the South Korean capital of Seoul and the main satellite city of Incheon (where the airport is). It first appeared on maps under the name of Bucheon in 1914 when parts of Incheon City and Bupyeong County were joined together.
Below is a picture of the satellite states of Seoul, and the little dot represents Bucheon city in all of that.
On the map below you can see where it is in relation to the rest of South Korea. South Korea in size is approximately equal to the size of Portugal.
Bucheon in recent years has attempted to promote itself as the cultural capital of South Korea, hosting international film festivals, the philharmonic orchestra, and four different universities.
As a city, it is connected to Seoul via subway, but it currently only has two subway stations that go to Seoul (more are currently being built, set to open sometime this fall). It's easier at the moment to catch buses, which run all over the city and connect Bucheon to Incheon and Seoul.
As far as attractions, it's small enough that it has only one movie theater, only a couple bars, and only a number of restaurants, but a high expat population means that foreign holidays are celebrated at the bars, and foreign food (everything from Indian Tandoori to Burgers and Pizza) are served at cafes where staff can speak English.
Bucheon is currently partnered with cities in Russian, Japan, China, the Phillippines, and the U.S. in a sister city program.
In Korean, the sounds 'b' and 'p' share the same letter, as do the sounds 'ch' and 'j', so Bucheon is also sometimes written as Puchon. The ch is pronounced more like a soft j sound.
Bucheon is extensively modern, like a great deal of Korea, but its close proximity to the rest of Seoul means that short trips take you to all sorts of historical sites, like the Five Great Palaces of the Jeseon Dynasty (which was responsible for making Seoul the capital in the first place), as well as many more modern sites.
That's all I have to say about it for now, the rest will come when I'm living there, but for now I'll leave you with a few more pictures.
-Sam
Post-Two: My Official Contract - Bucheon City
Yesterday I received the official contract to join the Bucheon Campus of Chungdahm in November. Since I'm not there yet, I did some fishing about to find pictures of the place, and it looks like it will be a big change.
Bucheon is a satellite city of Seoul, located between Seoul and Incheon. It's actually quite small compared to other Seoul satellite cities, but that's okay as I prefer it that way. It's separated from actual Seoul by the river, and on the other side where it meets Incheon, is the Indian Ocean.
The branch itself was created in 2006, and it's got a very good reputation from what I can tell. There are almost 30 English teachers at the branch, and more than 2000 students attend.
It's an actual city, with subways and old markets I plan to check out when I'm there. For the meantime, I'll leave you with this picture:
Bucheon is a satellite city of Seoul, located between Seoul and Incheon. It's actually quite small compared to other Seoul satellite cities, but that's okay as I prefer it that way. It's separated from actual Seoul by the river, and on the other side where it meets Incheon, is the Indian Ocean.
The branch itself was created in 2006, and it's got a very good reputation from what I can tell. There are almost 30 English teachers at the branch, and more than 2000 students attend.
It's an actual city, with subways and old markets I plan to check out when I'm there. For the meantime, I'll leave you with this picture:
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Post One: Pre-Korea
By now some of you may have heard that I'll be taking off to Korea. This is going to happen sometime in November. I'm not sure when because it depends on visa applications and documents getting through without a problem. Once I find out, I'll be sure to let you all know here.
Many of you are probably thinking this is a spur of the moment decision, but I've put a lot of thought into it and have decided it's going to bmy next great adventure. I'm going to learn Korean, live in Asia for a year (maybe longer if I like it), and see where life takes me. I plan to explore the culture, and to start liking fish. :D
What will I be doing over there? Where's the money going to come from? Well, the plan is to teach. According to my recruitment contact, my grammer and test scores from my interview indicate I'll be teaching kids between 10 and 14 grammer and reading comprehension. They'll be learning English, I'll be teaching in English, and I should do alright. I have a job offer at the moment with one of the top-rated English institutes in South Korea.
So, I've currently got to get my diploma notarized, and then send off all my documents, and then we play the waiting game until one of the schools snatches me up properly and offers me a specific start date, salary (I do currently have a specified range), and location. I'll know about a month and a half before I leave, so that puts me at mid september to the very beginning of October, or a few weeks from now.
For those of you who want the chance to speak to me during my year in Korea, I do have an email section in this blog. That's for those of you who don't know my email currently (I've been having some problems with a couple of mine and have been trying out new ones). It's a secure connection. I can't see your email address and you can't see mine, though, so if you want a reply back from my new account, make sure you put your email in the message you send me, not just the email box of the form. You'll see what I mean when you go to look.
Korea is 15 hours ahead of Denver, Colorado. Which means that if you're reading this from England (I hope some of you are) you're looking at my being 8 hours ahead of you (Lis, I'll be 1 hour ahead of you, so we can talk all the time). I will be getting a phone there, and it will have Skype on it as soon as I can install that. If you don't know my skype name, please ask my mum, and she'll make sure you get it. That way it's not out and about on the internet. I will also have my computer with me for better quality skype calls, but I'm not sure how soon I'll have internet access to speak to you all. If you're just looking to check in on my weekly progress, I'll be posting all my pictures and stories here for you all to read at your leisure. :)
Sorry for the long post everyone, but there was a lot to say this first go! Hope you all continue to read and enjoy the stories of my adventures!
All the best,
Sam
Many of you are probably thinking this is a spur of the moment decision, but I've put a lot of thought into it and have decided it's going to bmy next great adventure. I'm going to learn Korean, live in Asia for a year (maybe longer if I like it), and see where life takes me. I plan to explore the culture, and to start liking fish. :D
What will I be doing over there? Where's the money going to come from? Well, the plan is to teach. According to my recruitment contact, my grammer and test scores from my interview indicate I'll be teaching kids between 10 and 14 grammer and reading comprehension. They'll be learning English, I'll be teaching in English, and I should do alright. I have a job offer at the moment with one of the top-rated English institutes in South Korea.
So, I've currently got to get my diploma notarized, and then send off all my documents, and then we play the waiting game until one of the schools snatches me up properly and offers me a specific start date, salary (I do currently have a specified range), and location. I'll know about a month and a half before I leave, so that puts me at mid september to the very beginning of October, or a few weeks from now.
For those of you who want the chance to speak to me during my year in Korea, I do have an email section in this blog. That's for those of you who don't know my email currently (I've been having some problems with a couple of mine and have been trying out new ones). It's a secure connection. I can't see your email address and you can't see mine, though, so if you want a reply back from my new account, make sure you put your email in the message you send me, not just the email box of the form. You'll see what I mean when you go to look.
Korea is 15 hours ahead of Denver, Colorado. Which means that if you're reading this from England (I hope some of you are) you're looking at my being 8 hours ahead of you (Lis, I'll be 1 hour ahead of you, so we can talk all the time). I will be getting a phone there, and it will have Skype on it as soon as I can install that. If you don't know my skype name, please ask my mum, and she'll make sure you get it. That way it's not out and about on the internet. I will also have my computer with me for better quality skype calls, but I'm not sure how soon I'll have internet access to speak to you all. If you're just looking to check in on my weekly progress, I'll be posting all my pictures and stories here for you all to read at your leisure. :)
Sorry for the long post everyone, but there was a lot to say this first go! Hope you all continue to read and enjoy the stories of my adventures!
All the best,
Sam
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)