Well Folks, the time is almost here! but get this, I am supposed to fly out on the 28th.. and my Visa Interview isn't even until the 23rd! eek! So i'm totally stressing out. There is SO much to get done!

So yeah, because the Korean consulate only interviews on certain days, they couldn't get me in until the 23rd. Then it takes 2-3 days for me to get my visa and passport back in the mail. through in Christmas and a sunday and the odds of me getting my Visa in time gets slimmer and slimmer! AHH!!!!

So yes, I'm freaking out right now. I hate being stressed like this right before Christmas.

and on top of that, I had to turn in my letter or resignation at work today. that was like the hardest thing ever. Everyone there has been SO amazing and it was really hard to be like "Thanks and all....but I gotta go!" lol. If you know what I mean.

Oh well, the store is closing in a month anyways. So I shouldn't worry so much. lol. but still, it sucks :-(

So yup. Stressing out. Getting ready for Christmas. trying to see everyone before I leave. trying to work. trying to get my interview in. etc.

Craziness! I can't wait until I can just zonk out on the plane. lol. a full 14 hours of sleep! lol.

So I know I haven't been blogging very much, but I'm still around :-)

I've interviewing, getting job offers, and making decisions. However, I don't want to post anything until it's a sure thing. call me superstitious, but after that happened with EPIK, i'm not taking any chances of jinxing myself. lol.

So no worries, as soon as something is decided, i'll let you know ASAP! :-)

until then,

Toodles and Schnoogles,

K.C.

Ok! So here is the deal, two job offers and about 24 hours to decide!

I have been offered a position at SLP Sungbuk, which I've heard is a good school, is in a good location, etc. It does, however, have a major fault. the Apartments. one (very small room) a mini fridge, and no washing machine, they're shared.

On the other hand, I have been offered a position at YBM Junggye ECC, which is a bit further away, but I've read it's in a nice area and the apartment is much better. I've had trouble finding much out about the school so i've contacted two people who are working there and will hopefully hear back from them soon to see what they say about the school.

The Pay, schedule, and age group are almost identical.

YBM does offer a settling allowance and reimbursement for the visa fee, which SLP does not.

AHHHHH decisions, decisions.

Any info/opinion/knowledge would be MUCH appreciated. :-)

YBM Apartment (the model):





SLP Apartment(from a girl's blog):

Well, I've done it. I have landed a public school, high school, position. The job is in the outskirts of Ansan and is 10 minutes walking distance from Banwol Station. Which puts me at about 45 minutes away from central Seoul. The problem? I have to begin Dec. 1. Which means, getting everything together, getting my Visa, flying out and saying goodbye in 1 month. YIKES. That also means, no more Christmas with the family, no going to see the nutcracker, no nothing :-( bummer. but really, what it came down to was giving up location for job environment or giving up job environment for location. You can see which one won. Now i'm incredibly nervous that I've made a wrong decision in trying to leave so soon, and to somewhere I know NOTHING about the area. Partially, because there isn't anything post on the web... lol. So yup. Encouragement, advice, info on Ansan, anything would be appreciated at this point! :-)

Toodles and Schnoogles,

K.C.

P.S. As soon as i'm there, I want to have a huge movie marathon at my new place! Anyone interested, let me know! and any movie requests are welcomed. I'm trying to decide what to bring! lol.

What to do, What to Do. that seems to be the question of the week(s).

Ever since my "epik failure" I've been really confused and my family hasn't been much help. They all really don't want me going overseas in the first place, so needless to say, they weren't too crushed to hear that I hadn't been accepted into the program. they don't understand why I want to live in a different culture and especially one that is in such a "dangerous" location. Everyone really wants me to go straight into grad school. Well, you know what? I'm not ready to go to grad school yet. I'm ready to get out there, expand my boundaries and live life for a while. I just spent the last two years of my life taking double credit hours, busting my butt, having no life, in school, no time for fun, family or friends, no breaks, just work and school. period. So yes, I earned my bachelors degree in two years. now I want to do something else for a while. Grad school is NOT something I want to just right into. I can see the appeal. Get my Masters degree at the age of 22. Yes, that would be fabulous but I don't know exactly what I want to get my masters in, I don't have the money for grad school right now and quite frankly a little bit of change would be nice.

Anyways... My real problem here is that I'm so upset over not getting into EPIK that I can't even begin to focus on other options. I can't get excited about the potential of a private school position because I just spent the last 6 months pumping myselfup on all the reasons public school is better than private schools. Not to mention all of the hagwon horror stories.

Now I'm to the point where I an second guessing everything. Do I want to teach in a private school? Do I really want to teach at all? Do I really want to take a whole year out of my life for this adventure? Do I even have any options at this point? I mean, here are my options (so I feel) 1)Grad School 2) Full time Position at Hallmark 3) Private School position.

NOT that anything is wrong with any of these options. They are all great options actually. my problem is that I have become discouraged and now I just feel like I'm stuck in a hole andi'm never going to be able to get out. ARGH.

Right now I feel like I have no direction, no plan, no nothing and it's KILLING me. I always have a plan. that is the type of person I am. I have always had direction because it has always been school. getting through, getting done. well, now I'm DONE and that is that and now I'm totally left with no direction, no plan and i'm totally freaking out. Why? I don't know. this is all really stupid really but it doesn't help to have my whole family going against what I want to do and trying to push me in another direction. No one seems to understand what I'm going through or how I feel or what is that I want and I'm just totally and completely frustrated.

and now that I have totally bored you with my totally meaningless rant, I'm going to go to bed and hope for a better mood and fresh perspective tomorrow.

K.C.

P.S. I want to thank everyone who has been reading/commenting on my blog. you have all been SO supportive and that really means the world to me. Thank you SO much! you have no idea :-)

Well, today I got the very last item needed for my Visa paperwork, the apostilles.

As soon as I got them, I rushed home, put my paperwork together and headed over to fedex. $65 later, My documents were in the mail on their way to my recruiter.

This has been the most stressful and expensive job application process ever. and it's not even over yet. I haven't even been accepted...yet. :-) lol.

I did end up saving a ton of money thanks to some favors from some very nice people. However, it still ended up being really expensive.

$30- Transcripts
$30- Background Check
$10- Apostilles
$65- Fedex

Total: $135

Ouch.

and that's not including the entire ink cartrage I used to print out and copy all of the documents. lol.

Oh well. It's DONE. and I couldn't be more excited!

One more step towards going overseas!!!!

Applications openings go live October 1st. I'm going to go crazy between now and mid october!!!!!

I'll let you know when I hear something!

Toodles and Schnoogles,

K.C.

Well, the resumes, cover letters and oh so perdy pictures have all been sent in. Now, I'm simply playing the waiting game. I'm nervous. My very first big girl job. on the other side of the world. Nervousness seems to represent me right now. I'm nervous for several reasons.

I'm leaving home for the very first time. I'm not moving a half an hour away, i'm moving half way around the world.

I'm bad with change. It doesn't matter if it's simply moving my furniture around, I have trouble with it. I always have.

I'll be leaving my job at Hallmark. Which I LOVE. (More Change). If Hallmark actually paid well, I could see moving up into their ranks. I suppose I always could..when I get back...but seriously, I love my job and the people I work with and I really really don't want to leave. and if I come back for graduate school and go locally, there is no guarantee that I can get my job back. :-(

I'm going to miss my family. My grandma. My Cat and even my Fish. Like I said, leaving home for the first time. the idea of leaving my family makes me tear up and instant panic hits. what can I say, I'm a homebody. BUT I have to leave sometime..it's not like I can stay here forever. I'm just SO bad with change. it begins to evoke panic in me. i've been panicing a lot lately.

and most of all, I'm afraid of something happening while I'm gone. what if someone were to get hurt? even die? I don't know if I could forgive myself for not being there, for not spending as much time with everyone as possible. something like that could quite possibly destroy me. a worrier's worst nightmare come true.

I'm even nervous about my cat. I mean, he's MY cat (attachment and personality wise)and I feel really really bad leaving him behind. will he do ok? I spoil him a LOT and i'm worried that he won't do very well when I leave. plus, i'm pretty attached myself. it will be hard for me to leave him behind.

Like I said. NERVOUS.

and it really doesn't help to have people constantly saying "I think this may be too big of a leap for you" "I don't want to go into this if you have reservations. you always have options". I mean, they're right. but that's not really what I want to be hearing. I need encouragement. encouragement that It's going to be ok, that I'm going to do great, that everyone will be ok while i'm gone. etc, etc.

I mean, of course i'm going to be nervous. I'm moving half way across the world. I'll be moving into my very first place, living alone for my very first time. in a new place, where 99% of the people don't speak english.

I am afraid. afraid that I'll get over there and won't be able to handle it. perhaps I'll hate it. I've always had trouble fitting in with people my own age. what if I don't make any friends? and I don't like to drink/go clubbing, which I know is a very popular past time with most people my age, so perhaps I won't be able to find anyone to hang out with. That could be incredibly lonely. I feel that a lot of people who go overseas already know people there or are going with someone else. Me? I'm going all by myself, not knowing anyone, completely alone. eek!

but at the same time, I feel that if I were to go straight into graduate school, i'd build a life, maybe find someone and then I'll never get the chance to go overseas and teach. So perhaps it's a do or die situation?

However, I also think that taking a year off is smart for me. I know that I want to go into graduate school but for what exactly, I'm not sure. I could get my MA in education and get a teaching certificate. I could go into a PhD program for ESL. I could even go into a MFA program for creative writing. I'm not sure what I want to do yet. and If I do decide to go into teaching, I don't know if I want to teach Language Arts, Early Childgood Education or ESL. Which focus, which age group. It's all stuff I have to know and I don't. So a year doing what I think I want to do, would not only allow me to make my decision and experience it first hand, but it will also give me an edge when it comes to getting into graduate school, especially considering the fact that if go overseas for a year, I'll no longer be ahead of the game and I'll be applying with people my own age.

My other saving grace, if I hate everything else, would be that I really really love to work with kids. I've been working with kids since age 12 and I just really love it. I think that I will love teaching and no matter how bad the social situation could be, being able to go into a classroom full of kids and work and play with them would just be amazing. I have so many fun ideas for working with kids. whether i'd actually be able to do them of not, I have no idea. I also have a lot of fun ideas for if I became a language arts teacher in the future or a college level ESL teacher. SO many ideas. lol. So yes, teaching is what I want to do (I think) and I think that going overseas and teaching for a year would be the best experience and teacher trial a 20 year olf fresh graduate could ever get the change to do!

Don't get me wrong, I know I sound ill prepared, mentally, but I'm not rushing into anything and I know exactly what I'm getting myself into. After all, I've been planning this for almost 2 years now. However, I'm a worrier (not to mention a cotrol freak planner) and I can't help but be nervous and worry. For a person who has to have everything planned out, the uncertainty is deadly.

I want to remain a kid forever, living with the whole family, family vacations, family movie nights with awesome homecooked meals, girl's night, watching our tv shows together, doing family holiday traditions together. If I move out, will all of that go away? in a way, yes. nothing will ever be the same and that crushes my hear in more than one way. but I'm no Peter Pan and i'm certainly not a kid anymore.

I guess I just need to pull myself up from my bootstraps, channel some "I CAN DO IT MYSELF" energy and start to move into the next chapter of my life.

Listen to me... I'm freaking out and I don't even have a job yet! I think that's part of the problem though. once I have a job and location set up, I'll feel more at ease because then I can begin to plan (like I said, planner. lol).

So anyways....now that i've ranted a bit and cleared my head, I'm going to bed :-)

Toodles and Schnoogles,

K.C.

Well, I'm getting ready to graduate and everything is really up in the air right now. Should I apply for grad school first? should I go ahead with my plans to go overseas and then go back to school? I just don't know. I'm kind of planning to do both at the same time. If I get ito grad school then I will go grad school first. If I don't, then I will go overseas. lol. I really really want to go overseas. However, I know that the longer I'm out of school the harer it is going to be to go back. I mean, I've only been out of school for a couple of weeks now and I can hardly believe I was ever even there :-P lol. So yup. Everything is totally up in the air right now.

Toodles and Schnoogles,

K.C.