So here's the deal...

Have decided to leave Korea early. Gave my letter of resignation to my school on Monday, stating that my last day will be February 28. I didn't realise that it was a Sunday, but they are cool with it. The teachers handling the situation are being very understanding and supportive. Since Feb 28th is exactly 6 months, I don't have to pay back the re-imbursed airfare and settlement allowance of 300,000won. Also, since it's exactly half of my 1 year contract, they are allowing me to have half of my holidays. I've got 5 days in Jan (the first full week of Jan, so 1st through to the 10th), and then 5 days in Feb (from Lunar New Year - Feb 13 to Feb 22), and then the last 4 days at work, preparing things for a new (possible) replacement.

It wasn't a decision that I made lightly. I haven't been enjoying my job pretty much since I got here. I have no big regrets (small ones, yes, but not big ones) about taking this job and trying something new in a place I've been before. One thing that this experience has emphasised more for me, is that you're the only person who can truly look after you. I now know that Korean public schools aren't my thing. Outside of work, I am enjoying my life here in Korea, but to have to go to a place you don't want to go to 5 days a week, is hard.

I've got issues that I have to deal with back at home as well, and I'll be honest, if these issues didn't come up, I would have tried to stay in my job for 12 months, and I think I could have. But, this is just the way it is. You gotta do the best with what you've got.

As Kenny has said:

You gotta know when to hold 'em
know when to fold 'em
know when to walk away
know when to run

For my own sake, it's time for me to fold 'em and walk away, so I can come back feeling better than ever.

Yeah, I do want to come back to Korea. This chapter in life has taught me to look before you leap, test the waters before jumping in. I think a part of me was so eager to get back to Korea, that i jumped into this job a bit too quickly. If you have to go to a place 5 days out of 7, you should may as well enjoy it - and I'm not.

So this is how it works:
Feb 26 (fri) - last working day
Feb 28 (sun) - last official day, and moving out of apartment day
Mar 1 (mon) - public holiday (independence day)
Mar 2 (tue) - first day of the new semester
Mar 3 (wed) - meet my co-teacher in Suwon so that I can cancel my visa/sojourn properly
Mar 5 (fri) - get to incheon airport by 9, so that I can check in for a flight that leaves at 11am.

From my experience, Koreans can plan stuff pretty well, when they need to. I've given them more than 60 days notice as to when I'm going to quit (sure it's only 10 days, but any bonus is good), so that they have a bit more time to try to find a replacement. I've told them if they would like any help from me, then all they have to do is ask - it's the least I could do since they're helping me out too.

I've also sorted out places to stay from Feb 28 to Mar 5. Friends are awesome when they help out - I'd like to think that they know that I would do the same for them as well.

Post from Adelaide

Came to Adelaide this weekend. To meet some friends, and to do some shopping. IKEA, Marion, Harbourtown, and possible Rundle Mall...

Lately, I've thought about my options for 2010, and I've come up with my Top 3. These are no particular order:

1. Stay in Mildura. This is the most boring option. This is the "life" that I would have had a few years ago, if I didn't go to Korea. I would have bought a house, and started to settle down. Mildura isn't a bad place, but it's damn boring. This style of middle-agedness is not for me.

2. Move to Adelaide. I've been to Adelaide a few times this year, and it's not too bad. But, It just reminds me of just a bigger version of Mildura. There are things to do, but eventually, it would get boring as well.

3. Go back to Korea. I really miss Korea, and until recently, I saw going to Korea as putting my life on hold, and then would restart it when I'm back in Australia. I've realised that that isn't the case. Life is life, no matter where you live it. Compared to now, my life in Korea was simple, enjoyable, and even though there was bullshit to deal with (everything has bullshit to deal with), it was different bullshit to here, and it doesn't feel as bad as the bullshit here.

and seriously, I'd rather get middle-aged in a country where I'm enjoying myself, rather in one that I'm not.

The Plan, Part Two

I talked about what the plan was last week, but there are still some things I need to get out, so that, basically, when more people unintentionally, and unknowingly piss me off by asking "what's the plan?" and "What are you going to do?". A previous post, The Plan, was an attempt to answer this, but it seems I need to get into more detail for some people.

Teacher Registration

This is the main thing I need to sort out, so that I can work as a teacher in Victoria. I was already registered, and for the people who know me, I'm not a fan of paperwork. Luckily the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) doesn't need me to fill in everything, since some of the sections will have the same paperwork/information as my previous registration.

But that isn't the main problem/delay. There is a section about living overseas, as follows:


So, Since I've lived in Korea for 3 years, I need a criminal record check thing from Korea. So, I emailed the Korean embassy, and this is what I got:

1) We, at the Embassy will send your application form back to you after certify them.

2)You forward them to National Police Agency in Seoul.

3) They will check your records and will return the result to you.

4) Finally, you can bring the result to DIAC to obtain your visa.

After explaining that I don't need it for a visa, and how the form is more suited to Koreans, rather than people who have lived overseas, I sorted out the process, which is:

1) I fill out the form, and attach certified copies of passport(s), and I also included print outs of my visa and alien rego card (which i took a photo of before I handed it over at immigration at Incheon), and then sent it to the Korean Embassy in Canberra.

2) They then send it back to me, with their special stamp.

3) I send all that stuff to the National Police Agency in Seoul, with a funky ass return envelope with funky International Coupon Response things, and the process it, then send it back to me.

That can take about a month-ish. Once I get that, I can then sort out my teacher registration. In Korea, they do tests to get a teacher license, but in Australia, you get Provisional Registration, and then after some time of teaching, you make a portfolio, showing that you're awesome, and then a group of people check it out, sign some papers, wave a magic wand and make you a fully registered teacher.

I'll just be getting provisional registration. Once sent in, that takes about 4 to 6 weeks to process, because it includes a criminal record check from Australia. So, in total, about 2 and a half months, which means, i should be registered by January. The school year starts at the end of Jan 2009. I miss out on jobs that are being advertised now, since I'm not registered, so I gotta wait until late Jan 2009, and hopefully get some substitute work, which will hopefully lead to a school liking me, and then them offering me a short-term contract, or applying for jobs at a later date.

This then ties into my plan to get back to Korea. I'd like to go back to Korea eventually, either for a holiday or studying Korean for a while. But, I'd need to save up a lot of cash. But, getting a decent job (an ongoing contract would be awesome, so that income is regular) is the priority.

If that means moving away from here, and getting another job in another area of the state, that's cool too. Just see how it goes.

That's the main thing I wanted to clarify. I'm also thinking of going to Melbourne to meet up with friends late Nov / early Dec, depending on the cash situation.

Other than that, things are pretty much what I said before in the The Plan post.

The Plan

A lot of people have been asking me "So, what are you going to do now?" or "What are you doing next year?" and things like that. Sure, after being in Korea for 3 years, they wanna know what my next step is. But with fucking everyone asking that, it gets damn annoying. So, for the people who wanna know, here's a bit of a plan that I've got going in my head.

• Get my Victorian Teacher Registration sorted out (which is gonna take time)
• Possibly to go Melbourne to visit friends in November or December (depending on the money situation)
• Get some substitute work, so that I can get back into the feel for "real" teaching (What I was doing in Korea, I wouldn't call "real" teaching).
• After getting some substitute work, actually get a contract position in a decent school, which could lead to an ongoing position somewhere.
• Try to budget my cash, since I don't/won't have much until I do get some work
• Exercise now and then so that I don't put on the weight that I lost in Korea, and if possible, lose some more
• Stop eating as much delicious Cadbury Chocolate (It's been on sale in three different places since I've been home!)

Ah, and one more thing I've thought about:


Try to keep my Korean at a decent level, and not loose too much of it, since I won't be speaking Korean almost at all here. In a previous post, I said that I met a Korean guy in my town, so I might use a bit of Korean with him, but other than that (other than on Skype now and then with Korean friends I made in Korea), I won't really use that much Korean.

Korean is only one of a couple of languages I'm interested in (Japanese being the other one). I'd like to keep learning it, and I've even been toying with the idea of going back to Korea in the future, to study Korean at a university there for about 6 months, after I get some things sorted for my life in Australia (like an ongoing teaching position somewhere).

While I was shopping with my sister yesterday, I noticed this in the "christmas" section of Target.


It's a santa claus chocolate statue, easter bunny style! WTF!

Christmas sucks!