In Korea

I waited a bit to post this because there's a lot of meat in this one -- no pun intended (you'll see what I mean later).

Well, there went the longest flight I've taken since I was a small kid. My plan to sleep during the flight didn't exactly pan out but the plane got upgraded to one with laptop plugs, so I kept myself entertained, at least. Plus, the guy sitting next to me was a Chinese student who was visiting Vancouver for an engineers' symposium at UBC, so we had quite a lot to discuss (including why Wreck Beach is so famous).

The Shanghai airport's customs system is kind of wacky. It was actually posible to leave the airport during the flight connection. It was 33 degrees Celsius plus humidity. As soon as I stepped out, I either started sweating or everything attached me started to become wet -- one of the two. In any case, I decided that 30 seconds was enough.

Above: Shanghai's Budong Airport's terminal is large and spacious, but doesn't seem to have air conditioning, which made for a stuffy wait. That didn't stop me from conquering the place in the name of the Anaheim Ducks.

Another weird part about that is between being let out and going back in (I needed to clear customs twice -- once for entering the arrivals terminal and once again for getting back into the secured area as a passenger for the second leg of the journey) -- they had me under medical quarantine for a while. Apparently all the people on board our plane with connecting flights had to get our temperatures taken. They kept me longer than the others, but apparently it was due to a thermometer malfunction; it gave me a temperature reading that was so low that I should be dead by now. But it got resolved easily.

The second leg of the journey from Shanghai to Seoul was less interesting. The guy next to me was a Korean who didn't speak much English at all but his son is learning it in school and practiced some phrases with me. In return, the Korean dad helped me with nailing down the pronunciations of certain key Korean phrases like "kamsa hamnida" ("thank you") and "annyeong haseo" ("hello"). Apparently I wasn't that far off, despite learning only through text; the only problems I had involved stressing the correct syllables.

However, the most interesting part of that flight came during the landing process. You know the NASA world map of the earth's lights at night? Notice how North Korea is all dark and South Korea is all bright. Well, since Incheon and Seoul are about an hour's drive away from the border with North Korea, I got to see the difference with my own two eyes that night -- that NASA pic shows the truth. Yikes.

The customs in South Korea is, as someone I know put it so elegantly, a complete joke for a country that's still technically at war (with North Korea, obviously). There were no questions asked, and apparently that is close to the norm. The only difference is that my passport visa explains my purpose in South Korea, while other people need to be asked about that.

I spent an overnighter at Incheon International Airport (which serves Seoul). It wasn't comfortable but not uncomfortable either. It was eerily quiet. And over here, airport security must march down the hallways back and forth, in pairs always next to each other. And their dress is similar to a soldier's (there might be a reason for that), so it felt like a neverending army march while you try to sleep.

Above: Late night at Incheon International Airport. They actually turn off a lot of lights as midnight approaches, and then like this around 3:30am. And then the lights start coming back on again.

Finally checked into the hotel this morning. It was freaking sweltering today... I knew this ahead of time, but I arrived in the middle of a little heat wave. I tried to nap but anything more than one hour proved futile, so I took the subway ride out to Seoul. Coincidentally, when my card made a weird hiccup and I asked the only white person around if they knew what the error meant (since nobody else spoke English), he happened to ask me where I'm from -- and he's from Richmond too! Small world.

Seoul traffic is insane. I thought Richmond was bad, but Richmond drivers are now angelic by comparison. Here, it doesn't matter whether the traffic light is red or green -- if the drivers don't see anyone crossing, they'll just shoot ahead. And this doesn't happen with only one driver, but almost always several at a time. In other words, multiple red light dashers in a row.

There were also more close calls in today's journey than I've seen all year in Richmond. It's amazing that so many of them don't result in accidents, but I happened to see two incidents that DID turn into accidents -- and both were hit-and-run. One of them took off while the other is left staring at the damage and trying to get witnesses (and none of the other drivers were willing to be one). It makes me feel really self-conscious about even going out on the streets. I got off at Yongsan Station (where I met the fellow Richmonder) and made it to Samgakji Station somehow, someway.

It was during that short stretch that I saw all the craziness. That was enough for me... I decided to get the heck out of dodge and get back to the hotel in Incheon, where I showered off all the sweat that came from the humidity (or maybe I was washing off the humidity itself, I don't know) and relaxed in some air conditioning for a bit while sorting photos.

(If you feel like making an offensive "Asians can't drive" joke at this point, I don't blame you. I would.)

It's been pretty humid and hot today... I landed right in a heat wave and lingering summer storm (typical Asian weather pattern in summer). Temps are in the 30s Celsius right now and it's almost 9pm. It's supposed to drop to the low 20s Celsius by the end of the week.

And tonight for dinner, I forgot how much the South Korea won is and how much you can get for it. I did something stupid and ordered 32,000 won of food, which turned out to be enough to feed a whole family. I guess that's a lesson learned -- if it's slightly less than 10,000 won, then it's more than enough. I'm so used to the small servings at home, while here they give you HUGE servings! Lesson learned... next time, spend as little as possible on food because there's a chance that they'll give you more than enough.

The bad thing about everything in terms of keeping touch with the outside world is that my cellphone doesn't work here because it's a GSM phone on prepaid, and the hotel doesn't have wifi (they only offer internet on a shared computer in the lobby). I'm writing this post at the arrivals level of the Incheon airport, where I spent the night about 24 hours ago, because they have free wifi with a very strong signal and also a power outlet nearby. The hotel's only two subway stations away from the airport (one if you don't count the airport's cargo terminal).

I'll be off to the teacher orientation tomorrow. There were some coming in today (for the non-Seoul EPIK teachers) and I had a nice chat with someone who came in from Los Angeles before I left for the hotel. Seems that for their group, they were overloaded to the point where people can't bring more than one suitcase into the dorm rooms; all other luggage was to be locked up. I didn't hear anything about this for my EPIK-Seoul orientation, but we're guaranteed to have a smaller group (since there are only 100 of us, as opposed to the huge biker gang-like group for today's group).

Well, here I go...

My plane leaves in less than 11 hours. It's hard to believe that in less than two days, I will be on my own in a odd mystery land called "Daehan minguk." It's kind of surreal at this point, and scary. I don't even know if it's sunk in yet; it feels like it has but I think there's still a bit more sinking to go.

It won't be a "jump in right away" kind of deal. During my plane ticket preparations, I was preparing to arrive for the EPIK orientation but apparently there's a difference between the EPIK orientation and the EPIK-Seoul orientation (which I'm part of). The latter starts a day later, so I will have a day to kill; during that time, I'll be rooming in a hotel in Incheon, which is the city west of Seoul and home to Seoul's airport.

And even then, I still don't "jump in right away" because I have a layover in Shanghai before arriving in Incheon. I heard that Blogger is blocked over there and that my purchase of a domain name (and use of Photobucket instead of Picasa for my blog pics) successfully circumvented the Great Firewall of China. However, posting is still under Blogger.com so I'll have to find another way around it. Fortunately, my VPL account at my alma mater still seems to be functional. I'll see if I can get around the Firewall that way.

Well. Here goes nothing. And quite frankly, if nothing out of the ordinary happens for the next while (Kim Jong Il not invading would be a huge help), I'd be completely happy. Better than something going horribly wrong...

Suggestive-looking fish in Korea

I'm not sure if eating one of these for dinner would make me look... um... Well, I'll let you decide.

Seen in Busan, South Korea:

Gotta love map inaccuracies

Sometimes it's fine to be a little off with maps. It's inevitable -- most public-use maps out there are approximations. For example, just because a street map shows that a street is a straight line doesn't mean that it really is. (Richmond's No. 3 Road is a great example -- the maps show it as a straight road but the satellite photos show that it's actually quite a crooked line.)

But sometimes the inaccuracies are just so bad that they're laughable. The airline that I'm taking en route to Seoul has one of the worst airline route maps I've seen in recent memory.

Among the errors:

• Beijing is in the middle of Mongolia
• Seoul is in the northern part of North Korea (or even in Russia)
• Frankfurt is just around the corner from Paris
• Hong Kong is next to Vietnam
• Seattle is in the Pacific Ocean

Oh boy. Hopefully their planes' navigational equipment is more accurate.

What have I gotten myself into?

Well. I'm 10 days away from lifting off from the familiar comforts of Vancouver, entering the temporary comforts of Shanghai's airport and starting my year-long trek in the unfamiliar comforts of Seoul.

I received my NOA and, along with it, submitted my visa application on Wednesday. The visa should be ready for me by this coming Thursday. The NOA is pretty much confirmation that you've been hired to work as a foreign English teacher in South Korea and the one document that completes the visa process. This is pretty much the finishing touch on the long and complex monster that is international bureaucracy.

Which brings me to one thought -- what have I gotten myself into?

Above: The flags of Canada and South Korea side by side outside the South Korean consulate on West Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver.

Just a few months ago, in February, I was contemplating my life after graduating from university. I was already considering going into teaching (well... tutoring, at least) in some of those after-school learning centers. I mean, why not? It would be a good first job in the "real world" and would give me an idea of whether or not I want to pursue teaching as a profession.

And then the economy spiralled downhill and the jobs dried up.

Maybe that was a bit too over-dramatic, but suddenly a lot of those jobs were snatched up (no surprise) at the same time as everyone stopped hiring and started cutting back everything -- budgets, spending, etc. Canada, which was priding itself in how it has managed to dodge the recession bullet so far, has finally been hit. Man down!

Obviously, I started worrying. And then at the university, there was a career fair-like thing where employers are searching for university graduates or students who want to work starting this summer. Among them was EPIK.

While I had my eye on several other employers, there was a problem with a lot of them. Either I wasn't qualified (such as for jobs in accounting or financial institutions) or the jobs were short-term and temporary (such as summer camp jobs or jobs with NBC for the 2010 Winter Olympics here in Vancouver).

EPIK caught my eye but it wasn't because of something special they did, but it was because it was for a job that I would be at least half-qualified for (as an English major) and also because Korea has fascinated me since high school, especially the fact that it still exists. I've always been intrigued by how Korea has been able to keep existing for so many years because you'd think that with the uneasy truce between North Korea and South Korea, something would've happened by now (especially with Kim Jong Il in the picture) no matter how stupid or reckless it would be for one to attack the other.

As a result, there was a trend in my university career in which I would write at least one research paper about Korea per school year. Somehow, someway, that monster kept butting its ugly head above the surface. The ironic thing is that despite all the research and fascination, I've never been to Korea. I've never even been near Korea. The closest I've been was when I was about 9 years old when we switched flights at Tokyo's Narita Airport en route to and from Hong Kong.

As for the career part, it would give me an idea of whether teaching is something I want to do. If not, then at least I have one year of work experience under my belt and some international experience that I can put on a resume (in case I apply for a position that would require doing business internationally). After doing some research and finding out that the costs of living are much lower than Vancouver's (which actually isn't saying too much) and asking around about how much money can be spent and saved, it also seemed to be a great way to pay off some student loans without worrying about getting laid off admidst this stupid recession.

In addition, EPIK is reimbursing airfare to and from Korea and providing housing, so my only expenses would be utilities, food, transportation and entertainment (which isn't likely going to be a big expense, considering my lifestyle and what I consider "entertainment"). It seemed like a logical first step, and would serve to keep my "travel the world" itch under control for a while.

But now I'm only 10 days from actually taking this first step, and I am scared to death and wondering what I've gotten myself into. I was nervous enough about leaving university and entering the workforce when I assumed I'd be staying here in Vancouver, but now the situation involves a new city, a new country, a new language and a new culture to go along with the new job.

If someone told me back in February that this is what I'd be doing in less than half a year, I would've responded with, "Holy crap."

Sunshine, lightning and fireworks -- oh my!

Yesterday was probably the most interesting day for the Metro Vancouver area in a long time, due largely to the weather.

Within a single day:

• sunshine
• clouds
• rain
• gorgeous sunset
• thunderstorm
• lightning resulting from thunderstorm; at one point there were about 20 strikes per minute
• annual Celebration of Light fireworks competition (during the lightning)

You don't get too many days like these, that's for sure. Lightning is rare enough here in Vancouver (I think we get an average of 0.2 lightning storms per year), let alone an hours-long lightning storm like we did last night.

I also found out that taking photos of lightning is extremely hard. Eventually I ended up just holding down the shutter button and letting 'er rip until the memory card ran out of space. But getting soaked in the torrential rain was worth every penny.

Here are the shots that I did get (for larger pics, see my Flickr):








Here's a time lapse of the day as seen from downtown Vancouver, courtesy of KatKam:



And it's interesting how nobody reacted to the fireworks competition (as they normally do) but went "OOOOH AHHHH" at the accompanying lightning instead:



Who knows when Vancouver will ever see a fireworks display during a lightning storm again.

A fine frenzy

Here I am, still waiting for my official placement in the Seoul public school system, less than one month from my scheduled departure to the Asian motherland. (Okay, it's not my motherland, but at least it's not across an ocean.) The placement is needed before any kind of work visa could be issued. I was pretty concerned about whether there'd be enough time for my work visa to be completed, but I was told by my recruiter that despite the tight timeline, things should get done soon ("soon" as in before July 31st).

I was wondering why it was taking so long, since I submitted everything over a month ago. In fact, I thought I made good haste on my part -- whenever something was requested, I managed to get it done or submit it within the week. I didn't want to be screwed by a bump down the road.

Looks like it wasn't me I had to worry about. It was them. I did some research and apparently I'm not the only one who's waiting around for the placement; there are a lot of people on the same boat, apparently, because there is a huge backlog on the clerical end.

Why the huge backlog, you ask? Well, it's something that I found somewhat mind-boggling. I mean, I know these things happen, but it's still mind-boggling.

What happened was that EPIK was doing some massive recruitment campaigns this year in an attempt to attract more teachers. (EPIK is the English Program in Korea -- the program that handles all foreign English teacher hirings outside Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, and the program to which I applied.) In previous years, the applicant rate was low enough so that your chances of getting hired were much higher.

They got their wish -- a lot of people applied. In fact, too many. Way too many.

Usually, they would interview people and then an average ratio of those interviewees would be notified that their interviews were successful. Let's say, for the sake of argument, the ratio is 1 in 3. Normally, as long as they kept up with that ratio, they'd reach their quota by the time they got through everyone.

Of course, 33% of 1000 applicants would be a much lower number of hirees than, say, 33% of 2000 or 3000 applicants. Apparently that was what happened this year -- the number of applicants skyrocketed, and they quickly realized that this ratio wouldn't work.

Oh noes! What to do with the people they accepted? Apparently SMOE (Seoul Metropolitan Board of Education) is in need of some teachers, so about 100 positions in Seoul were opened up for EPIK applicants. Only the Level 1 and Level 2 applicants (who have the highest pay rates and qualifications within the EPIK system) would qualify for those positions. I was eventually one of the 100 people who nabbed a SMOE position (which was fine by me, since my first choice of location for EPIK was Incheon, which is right next to Seoul). Anyone with Level 3 or below would have a chance at EPIK openings only.

But the applicants kept coming in. That put EPIK in a very unfamiliar situation -- the ability to choose the best of the crop. In previous years, they needed you more than you needed them. The situation this year reversed that trend, so they could suddenly pick the most qualified and attractive candidates out of the bunch, instead of settling with someone who's simply better in relation to everyone else.

That led to something that some people have been complaining about. Since they decided on successful applicants only a day or two after the actual interview, that means they told some people that their interview was successful before they realized they could pick and choose this year. So what happened was that a bunch of people were told that they wouldn't be offered a contract after all -- after being told that their interview was successful. Ouch.

Add that to the high number of teachers renewing their contracts this year, and you've got a fine frenzy on your hands. Judging by the economic situation, I wouldn't be surprised if next year brings in a huge number of applicants as well.

Hopefully EPIK will learn from their mistakes and handle it better next year.

---

As a side note, this bizarre set of circumstances have also impacted me personally. Normally, the new SMOE teachers go through the SMOE teacher orientation. Makes sense, right? Well, apparently I'm not going to go through that process despite being contracted to teach in SMOE. Instead, I'm supposed to be going to the EPIK orientation, despite not signing my contract with EPIK.

This means that I'll be arriving earlier than other SMOE teachers who didn't apply with EPIK. At first I was wondering if this was a mistake but then I found at least two other people on the same boat (and wondering the exact same thing). Those two are also part of the 100 people that applied to EPIK and got transferred to SMOE.

This situation is getting weirder every time I check, it seems. Maybe I should stop checking.