South Korea?! WHAT?!

That was the common reaction to my telling friends and family of my new adventure. Actually, that was my reaction, too. So when did this all start? Well, it all started around July 22nd when I was looking for a local job and submitted my resume on Monster.com. I hadn’t gotten any replies on my resume from any local schools in DeKalb or back in Peoria. The frustration was getting to me, so I decided why not? Well, I got one hit on my resume on the first day, and it was from Footprints, a recruiting company out of Canada. I went to their website, dreamed a little bit, and thought, “Yeah right,” and that was about the end of it.

Well, curiosity got the best of me and by Friday, the 25th, I decided, “What the heck? Why not?” and I sent in my application. I waited the weekend and on Monday afternoon I had a reply from Footprints asking me to call them to set up a phone interview. Since my departure date would be in less than three months, they wanted me to schedule an interview as soon as possible. So, that night at 7 P.M., I had an interview with a guy in Australia. We talked for about 40 minutes and then I was accepted to be represented by their company!

I then filled out an application for the English Village in Paju, South Korea and they sent my materials to the Top Language School in Jeonju, South Korea. The next day, I went to get my passport photos taken and get the paperwork to start that process. I returned home and ran into one of the office workers from my apartment complex. I asked her what I could do about my apartment and she said I could buy out or sublet and she told me to visit the office in about 20 minutes. In the mean time, I got distracted in my apartment. About 40 minutes later, I walked to the office and the property manager told me I had to place the ad in the paper and get my own sublet because they couldn’t call anyone on the waiting list, however, the receptionist was excited about my opportunity and said she would verbally let new comers know about the sublet. So I returned to my apartment and started making a listing, when before I could even finish it, I received a phone call from a Chicago number. They were inquiring about the apartment! I asked if they wanted to come down and see it and so the two moms, one son, and one daughter came down. They looked around and loved it and asked what they could do to make me not post it, and they asked if they could return with their other son to look at it. I agreed and we exchanged information. I thought to myself, “How can this be a wrong decision when everything is falling into place?!”

Then on Wednesday, I decided I needed to go home to get my birth certificate so I could get my passport ASAP (aka at 3:30 that afternoon). So I loaded up Max and some boxes of children’s books to take home and when I got on the road I received a call from Footprints wanting to set up an interview with the director of the Top Language School, so I set it up for Thursday at 8 P.M.
After getting home and applying for my passport, we stopped by the police station to see about a background check. Unfortunately, the lady who does them left at 4 and she would return at 8 the next morning. So we went back for the check the next day. That night I had my interview with the school in Jeonju. The director was absolutely great and he said he would immediately email me a contract to look over. I received the contract on Friday when I checked my email since my parents do not have internet (yet) at their house. I had to wait until Monday to call since I did not want to bother him on the weekend and I wanted to make sure everything with Footprints was kosher.

So Monday rolls around and Mom and I head to Springfield to get documents approved by the Apostille. What the heck is that, do you ask? Well, I asked the same thing. An “Apostille is a French word for authentication or legalization. According to ‘The Hague Treaty’ of 1961, this is the method to ensure the international validity of a document” (E2 Visa Guide). So in every U.S. state, the Apostille is located in the state capitol as part of the Secretary of State. In Illinois, it is part of the Index Department, right across from the state capitol building. We decided to drive the documents down since we could get them back while we waited instead of waiting two weeks for them to mail them back. I had to first get my background check notarized and then get a certificate with a seal saying that it is approved by the Apostille, and then I did the same thing with a copy of my diploma. After getting them approved, Mom and I decided to snoop around the capitol building. We ended up on a walking tour and we got to see the Senate and House chambers and the old Supreme Court chambers. Our tour guide was a lady with really bad grammar who obviously hated her job. So very unfortunate. Not surprising, Blago’s parking space was empty. In hind sight, I should have parked there since he clearly wasn’t going to be there anytime soon, and there was a dead squirrel under Pat Quinn’s car. Got to love the details! Anyway, we left Springfield and it wasn’t for about 20 minutes that we realized we were going in the total wrong direction! We were going very east when we should have been going north! Oops! So Mom managed to turn around and we hit 55 like we were supposed to. We also managed to stop off at Lincoln, Illinois for gas and the Russel Stover outlet. I have heard and read many times in my studies that in all southeast Asian countries it is imperative that you bring gifts from your home country to give to the locals and they will also give you many gifts. The way you give and receive is always with two hands. So needless to say, I stocked up on gift chocolates.

We finally made it back to Peoria and stopped at Office Max for a web cam for my parents so they will be able to talk to me and see me every day. We ended up buying not only the web cam, but my laptop, as well. We got a great deal on it; it is light and compact, and has everything I need (at least, everything I think I will need). We then stopped at the Shoppes for me to send a quick email or two since my phone won’t let me call Korea.

So, here we are all caught up with my whirl-wind adventure. I am now waiting on my passport and then I will DHL everything to Korea and wait for them to send a visa confirmation number. The next step would be for me to visit the Korean Consulate in Chicago to get everything squared away and then Footprints will make arrangements for my plane ticket! Bon Voyage to me!

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