Moving to South Korea in ONE week!

Suncheon, South Korea - our new home

In six days we will be in a plane, over the Pacific Ocean, flying to South Korea to live for an entire year. 

I have never been to Korea. 

I have never taught English to anyone, let alone little kids. 

I have never lived abroad, in one place, for more than a month. 

I have never sold (almost) everything I own. 

I have never dwindled my wardrobe down to so few pieces of clothing. 

I've never had less shoes. 

I have never been so scared in all my life.

I've never been so excited in all my life. 

All these things are constantly running through my head. These things, plus things we need to do this week: cancel cell phones, get storage unit, cancel internet service, and see everyone we love one last time--just to name a few. There is no doubt that things are hectic, but I am quite calm at the moment. For one thing, I'm a procrastinator. I would rather relax and enjoy the next couple of days and then frantically do everything on Thursday and Friday. (We're leaving home on Friday to go visit some lovely people in the bay area before we depart.) Also, I don't think it's really hit me all the way yet. It feels weird not having any furniture in the house but I moved so much in college, it feels almost normal to have a half empty house for a week once a year. I was really sad when we sold Spencer's car last week. I definitely thought, "wow, we're really doing this...this is really happening!" However, we still have my car so things feel normal enough.

I think it will really hit me once we land and are in a sea of people who look nothing like us, don't speak our language, and have no problem with invading our personal space. I might freak out a little once that happens, but until then, I am going to try to enjoy every last second in beautiful California by eating as much Mexican food as my body will allow and spending time with all the wonderful people I call my family and friends.

Have you ever moved away from home for an extended period of time? If so, do you have any advice for us??? We would love to hear from you!

Our Raggamuffin Sailboat Adventure in Belize

We pulled into Placencia smelling of fish and rum punch. Looking like lobsters with peeling sunburns up and down our bodies. Dirty, salty, and most definitely needing a shower. But none of that mattered. All we could do was smile and reflect upon what an amazing time we had during the last few days.

Maggie and I had just completed an island hopping adventure called Raggamuffin Tours. It is a three day/two night sailing journey that departs from the island of Caye Caulker and arrives in Placencia, a small peninsula on the southern coast of Belize.

There were 17 people on the boat -- 3 crew members and 14 vacationers. We met some amazing people from all over the world. England, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, and Australia were all represented. As it turned out, we were the only ones from the United States on the ship.

The trip was a non-stop adventure! We sailed the 50 foot boat, the "Ragga Queen", through the clear blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. We anchored several times a day and were able to swim and snorkel some of the best patches of barrier reef in Belize. Having never snorkeled a reef of any kind in my life, I was absolutely amazed at the abundance of colorful tropical fish and plant life around the reef.

Sailing and snorkeling were just the beginning. We also had the opportunity to fish off the back of the boat. Anything we caught would be dinner for that night -- easily the freshest seafood I have ever eaten. Ever.

Another great experience was getting to explore the tiny remote islands off the coast of Belize. Each day we arrived at a different island and camped out for the night. The first island, Rendezvous Caye, was an experience unlike any other we have been through. The island was unbelievably small, probably not much bigger than the size of a basketball court. Just big enough for about 7 tents and a few palm trees. Waking up to the sun rising and the water only 10 feet from where I was sleeping was an image that will forever be engraved in my memory.

The second night was spent on Tobacco Caye. This island was a little larger then the first, and even had a bar serving cold drinks and proper flushing toilets. We were even able to rinse off using their rainwater showers, which felt amazing after two days out at sea. Dinner for the night was fresh caught barracuda and shrimp curry, which was so tasty. To top it off, we learned a few new drinking games using the crew's homemade rum punch, which turned out to be more like rum with a hint of punch.

One thing we didn't expect was how windy it could get on the islands. Once the sun goes down, the wind comes alive! Luckily our tents were staked to the ground and the only casualties during the trip were a broken pair of sunglasses and some gnarly sunburns on our legs and feet. Totally worth it.

Our third and final day had us sailing into Placencia around 4pm. About an hour before we arrived, our ship was greeted by a few surprising friends - three dolphins! They swam right up next to the front of the boat and joined us for a few minutes. It was truly stunning how friendly and interesting these animals can be. They just popped in and out of the water, literally feet from the side of the boat! It was a prefect way to end such a fantastic adventure.

The best part about Raggamuffin was how incredibly laid back everyone was on the boat, the crew included. From the very beginning it was nothing but good vibes, welcoming smiles, and some of the kindest people I have ever met. The boat always had such positive energy. Reggae music pulsed trough the boat's speakers and the crew were always game to share a smile and a story. Everyone on board helped us have an experience that will be remembered for the rest of our lives. Thanks Raggamuffin!

Click here to see the rest of the Raggamuffin photos
Go here for all our honeymoon photos

Check out Raggamuffin Tours website at www.raggamuffintours.com

First Impressions of Caye Caulker

 Caye Caulker is a laid back island paradise. Everyone is friendly and willing to help you out, sell you a Belikin (the official beer of Belize), and make you feel like a long lost friend. There are only dirt roads on the island and the stop signs are more like slow down and look signs. It's peaceful and safe here and Spencer and I are loving it!

We rented bikes today to explore the island. The island is small and the only methods of transportation are bicycles and golf carts. It was so fun to cruise around and see all the different shops, restaurants, docks, hotels, bars, houses, and guided tour signs. It felt so nice to just relax and not worry about anything other than "do I want another beer?" or "want to go swimming?"

Of course, we are also thinking about activities to do and places to explore. There is a plethora of ocean activities to partake in around the island. We are looking into in a tour to see manatees, renting kayaks to explore the northern island, and the ultimate adventure--a three day sailing trip including snorkeling the reef, fishing, and camping on beaches.

Today we swam in the clear Caribbean water by the split as we drank beers from the Lazy Lizard bar. They have tables in the water so you can sit with your feet in the water while drinking and eating. Reggae music blared from the speakers as we looked out over the water enjoying the sunshine.

As you can imagine, fresh seafood is everywhere and it is scrumptious! All the food we've eaten has been wonderful and served with a smile. Today we had grouper filets and an entire snapper (head and tail still attached!) both barbecued, with rice and beans, fries, and fresh fruit. As much as I love the locally made Belikin beer, I love the fresh squeezed fruit juices more. Today, we had mango juice with breakfast and lime juice with lunch. The lime juice was amaaazing! For dinner, we had Italian food with fancy drinks. Yummm.

Our first full day on Caye Caulker has been a tremendous success. We are having a very happy honeymoon!

Waiting for Documents

Now that we have the positions lined up in Suncheon, we are just waiting for all our documents to get back to us. We received our apostilles for our degrees last week but we are still waiting for our apostilles for our FBI background checks. 

It's amazing how much verification you need! They really want to make sure that we are legitimate people. However, we are going to be teaching children, so I understand the thoroughness. I just want to get everything settled and get our visas in our passports and our plane tickets booked. Then, it will feel really official.

It's a kind of we're-moving-to-Korea lull. When we first uploaded our resumes to Dave's ESL Cafe, we got so many emails and phone calls from recruiters. We were actively searching for positions. Now that we have signed the contract, we are just waiting. Waiting for our background checks to come back...waiting to get our visas....waiting to find out when we are actually leaving on a plane to Korea (!!!). 

All this waiting sometimes makes me forget we are moving to Korea at all! Especially with all the last minute wedding planning going on!

Everything has worked out really well for us, though. It's really good that we have jobs lined up in Korea already so we can focus solely on the wedding for the next couple of weeks. (There is still so much to do!!!)

Honeymoon in Belize

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As we prepare to live abroad in South Korea, we are also planning our travels for our three week honeymoon in Belize!!!

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We are flying into Belize City and catching the ferry to Caye Caulker. We plan on staying here for about 5 days and then taking a sailing trip down to Placencia.

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We know we want to make it to San Ignacio to see some Mayan ruins and enjoy the wildlife but other than that, we have no set plans.

I'm generally not a plan-every-second traveller but I am a know-where-I'm-going-to-sleep-tonight traveller, so it should be interesting to totally wing it for most of the trip.

I'm really looking forward to not having plans, actually.

I think it will feel very freeing. I'm sure it will add some stress too but after planning this huge wedding, I'm sure it will be nothing we can't handle!

The Interview

We had no idea what to expect for our interview with a hagwon (a private school) in South Korea. I had heard from friends that they just want to be sure that you really are a native English speaker and it's not a big deal at all. Since I trusted my friends were right and it was no biggie, I put it completely out of my mind and concentrated on more important things....like FBI background checks and ordering original diplomas from SDSU.

However, the day of the interview our recruiter, Joanne, emailed us saying that now that the job market is more competitive due to an increase in applicants, it's less of a formality and more of an actual interview. Sh*t.

This is when I started to get nervous. Of course, frantic questions started rampaging through my mind, what if they don't like us? What is no one likes us? What if we can't get jobs in Korea and we quit our jobs here and then have no where to live and no jobs and nothing? What are we going to do? How are we going to pay our student loans??

I took some deep breaths (as instructed by Spencer) and realized, we're good people. Someone will realize that and hire us. Plus, our picture that we sent out with our resume is awesome and that's bound to get us some bonus points with someone. (When all you send out is your resume and a picture, the picture really matters.) 

Joanne gave us some questions to think about before the interview. Why do you want to come to Korea? Do you like children? How would you control your classroom? Along with the advice, "Although traveling and experiencing a new culture is probably one of the reasons you want to come to Korea, please do not give the impression to the interviewer that your main priority is to have fun."

What are we going to say?? I do want to have fun at least part of the time...and then I thought (in horror) what if we can't understand them over the phone and we keep saying "can you repeat that?" every five seconds? We can't just nod and smile like I would in real life! 

We only have fifteen minutes before they call! 

Panic. Panic. Panic.

We quickly brainstormed some answers and typed them up ready for us to reference during the phone call. We thought of some pretty good answers and felt ready to listen closely and speak slowly. 

Then we got a call from an American guy named Kurt. He is currently teaching at the school and we just talked to him. It was like meeting someone new at a party or through a mutual friend. He asked if we had any experience with kids but that was about the extent of his "interview questions." It seemed like he just got asked to do the interview 5 minutes before he called us.  

Then we talked to a Scottish guy named Mark. He has been working at the school for about a year and is signing on for another year so we would be working with him if we took the positions. We got to ask him tons of questions about the school, the city, the Korean lifestyle, and the students. 

I only had one little mishap during our conversation. As he was explaining something, I realized I was just listening to his awesome accent and not the actual words he was saying! (Whoops!) Luckily, I just asked another question and he didn't notice. How rude of me...I can't believe I did that! 

Anyway, I realized I was asking all of the questions and the recruiter said to remember that "the school is interviewing you and you are not interviewing the school." So, I asked if he had any questions for me and he asked why I wanted to teach kids and if I had any experience with young children. I gave him my answers and he seemed to like them.

It was totally painless. It was easy actually! We talked to them for about an hour and got such a great vibe from them. It seemed like a good school and a nice area even though it was a smaller city. Things were looking bright!

In less than an hour we got an email from Joanne saying that they liked us and wanted to offer us positions!

Quitting Our Jobs

I have to admit, I kinda like my desk job. 

I certainly don't love it but it's familiar and I've sort of settled into a groove which I feel like I've never really done before in my life. I used to hate having a routine and could not stand doing the same thing everyday. Working my desk job has taught me to comply to a routine and enjoy the times when the routine gets shaken up.

Also, I work with some really nice people. I (obviously) don't like everyone at work but there are a select few that I will miss seeing everyday and chatting with about life, funny YouTube videos, or whatever. 

It's easy to see how easy it would be to just stay at a good job, build a small but nice life with Spencer, have kids, and grow old. It would be easy.

I refuse to take that route. Here are my reasons.

First of all, I am not passionate about my work. It's a good job with good benefits and some fun perks but I don't love it. I don't want to spend my life working 40 plus hours a week doing something I don't love. I refuse to live that way. I want to want to go to work everyday. I want to enjoy my life as much as possible. 

Secondly, I want to be challenged and grow as a human being. I want to learn about different cultures by living in them and experiencing them. Sometimes at my desk job, I could feel my mind becoming less open. I could feel my mind being less inquisitive and more stupid. I can't let that happen! I need to explore! I want to learn about the world in a real and meaningful way.

I'm not sure if I'll love teaching English in Korea but it's worth a shot. It's better than sitting around in a cubicle dreaming of what could be.