It Figures...

I didn't expect to write another post so soon after the creation (yesterday) but I've got time to kill and some new information to share.

The new information being that I found a blog that has more information than I could have ever asked for. I don't know why it never popped up on any of my searches before (it looks to be about a year old), but low and behold today, it was atop my google search results. Now, when you click on the link I'm about to give you, you may notice how familiar it looks, and I swear to you I have never seen it before today. That being said, there really are only so many graphic options one can choose when using blogspot, but still. And honestly, he's doing some of the things with it that I was hoping to do with mine. I guess now I will just have to be a bit more creative.

So anyway, I spent the entire day reading his blog. I started in June of 06, and made it up until about October I think. He spends a lot of time talking about Korean Food, but underneath it all he had some really insightful things to say, and an abundance of pictures which I've been having trouble finding elsewhere. The one thing I noticed is that he doesn't go into too much detail about the beginning, but does give a link to Dave's ESL Cafe - something my own searches have kept bringing me back to. Today I finally gave in and for about an hour perused the Korean Job Board. (I don't particular like Dave's ESL Cafe website... there's something very basic and old about the whole setup - like someone created it using the old Geocities cut and paste HTML program. It comes off as a sketchier craigslist.com for the international teaching world)

I found about 10 different recruiting agencies to contact, but the most promising has to be Ask Now. The intro alone hooked me:

"The year was 1999, and there I was, living in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa. I was working in a job that I didn’t particularly like, and I had debts starting to accumulate. As a recent graduate, I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. Then, I saw an ad in a newspaper that read, “Teach English in South Korea.” I was interested, so I called the guy. After chatting for a half hour, I was hooked. I couldn’t believe that this opportunity was possible, and that it actually applied to me. So, what started as a one-year contract led to another, and another, and eventually 5 years of teaching in Korea, with months of vacation and travel between contracts. It was a great lifestyle. " - Jason

Well yep, sign me up. I've already sent in an application, requested materials, and will watch the videos they have to offer a little bit later. I am bound and determined to get everything I want as soon as possible (mainly b/c the alternative is too scary to think about).

More on this stuff as it develops...