One week down, At least 103 more to go!

So we've been here a week!  and what a week it's been.

We spent a few days in Seoul.  Completely lost, and with a very jet-lagged 2 year old.  We stayed near the outskirts on the north west side of the city so we didn't see much.  The one thing we tried to see, the palace, we chose poorly.  It was closed when we got there, but we got some pics of the outside and then wandered the area and bumped into a cool Buddhist Temple buried behind some shops.

our first real coffee's in Seoul...

The cab to the Palace

Changdeokgung palace Grounds

The Palace

We got some other misinformed tourists to take our picture at the closed Palace

Abi peeking into the Palace Grounds

The Palace

The Random Buddhist Temple we found

Pillar at Buddhist Temple

Bell tower at the Temple

In our wandering we found a trail under the highway next to our hotel that's name loosely translates as "The Open Ditch"  Pretty cool place to take a walk...  even at night.  I never felt unsafe.

The Open Ditch... complete with walking and biking paths, artwork, music, and workout equipment...

Nice waterfall at the end of the ditch

The weather is just starting to get better.  Seoul was HOT, STICKY, HAZY and OVERCAST...  in fact we never saw the sun until yesterday.   Looks like we dodged a Category 1 Hurricane too, it turned early and is going up the Japanese coast instead of the Korean coast.

After Seoul, we got to Jeju.  The airport is on the north coast in Jeju City and we needed to be in Seogwipo (so-gwee-po) city on the south coast.  We took a taxi up over Halla-san the main volcano on the island.  It was a cool, 1 hr ride through lush countryside...  at least I enjoyed it.  Jessi was nauseous in the back seat, and Abi puked not 2 minutes from the hotel in Seogwipo, all over mommy..  in the cab.  We're calling it the Mt. Halla Hurl.

On the Plane

Someone looks tired

Mommy's boobies bore the brunt of the Mt. Halla Hurl

Our hotel in Seogwipo was in the marina district, right between two waterfalls, neither of which we got to see yet.  We did wander a bit between the hotel and the water, up and down the hills.  Very cool little city and I look forward to exploring more.

Our room in Seogwipo

The view, first blue sky we saw in days... it didnt last long.

Mommy needed a bourbon after the Mt Halla Hurl.

Abi got the camera

Yep....

not sure why this dude is naked, or why he has a crab coming out his butt

playroom at the hotel

yep...  kids books are weird here

Seogwipo coast

Our one bit of touristing in Seogwipo was the Teddy Bear Museum....  The island is loony with museums of all sorts...  This is our first.  Kinda creepy.

E = mc beared!

Very "The Shining" dont you think???

Finally, 4 days ago, we got to our apartment, Building 2 of the KIS Village.  Its a 3/2 and actually bigger  than it looked.  Accommodations are fine, but everything is in Korean, so its been a bit of a trial figuring out how the AC, hot water, washing machine, and microwave work...  At least Abi is finally sleeping a normal schedule.  The 3rd building is still under construction.  It was supposed to be  done a few weeks ago... its nowhere near.  The teachers who are supposed to be there are living in the dorms on campus, and probably will be for the next month.  We dodged a bullet there....

our building

front door inside

living room

kitchen/ dining

building 3... not done yet...

The Village (KIS Village, where we live) is in the middle of farm country, so its pretty rural.  Mostly looks like they are growing Jeju Oranges, which grow on very small trees.  Occasionally you'll see something else, like squash, peppers, and tea.  With the islands climate and rich volcanic soil, we've seen just about any crop you can imagine growing here.

little Jeju Orange Trees

We've met a bunch of other teachers.  We seem to be in the "families with small children" wing of the village, as every apartment around ours has at least one kid under 8, most are between 2 & 4, so Abi has some playmates, once they all warm up to each other that is.

We've been in to the small fishing village called Moseulpo (mo-sul-po) each day.  The school has sent a bus and minders to help us get stuff for the apartment at the daiso (like a dollar store full of kitchy crap) and the Kosa mart, a small grocery store.  There's also a few restaurants and a decent coffee shop or two.  We also wandered around a traditional market, complete with live and dead fish of all kinds, a butcher, and vegetable and fruit stands, really cool, though a bit smelly and we are cautious about buying anything there due to Jessi's allergy.

Today was something pretty unique, called the 5 day market (it happens every 5 days, all over the island)  Basically a huge Flea Market.  Clothes, electronics, fruit stands, veggies, spices, kimchi, dried mushroom vendors, fish mongers, butchers, grain sellers, it was a bit overwhelming.  There were also food vendors with various meats on a stick, fried tempura veggies, pastries, lemon - ade (not lemonade like we know it), and sausages.  It was delicious.  I also notices some sort of fried larvae...  Maybe another time, Im not that adventurous yet...

We are a  little over a mile from school, its about a 15-20 minute walk up the hill.  We did go inside the other day, but we weren't able to see our rooms yet...  though some other teachers have wandered and found them.  We've walked to school and back once or twice, not bad, but sweaty work.

Our School

inside the elementary school

Middle school on the left, half of the highschool on the right (science building is  the white one, we think), elementary school wedged in-between

walking to school

another view of the high school...  Thats the Gym

Here's the rest of the high school

dorms, uphill from school

The Canadian school uphill from the dorms

view from the bridge between the Canadian and British Schools

And Finally the British School...  this is where we found Thai food.

horrible pic of the global Education Village.. KIS is the little green splotch on the far right.  Canadian School is red above that and British school is the red splotch by itself.  The City is HUGE and still under construction.  We live off the bottom of the map.

click here for a better map and to read about the Global edu-ro

Our fist night, we walked half way there to an Italian restaurant of all things...  ever had gorgonzola cream pasta with Asian mushrooms?  they have the most delicious mushrooms, it was great.  Jessi got carbonarra because of course she did and Abi had noodles with olive oil.  We got oranges at a little market across the street.  Jeju oranges are descended from Mandarin oranges and are easy peeling, no seed having, sweet little flavor bombs.  Absolutely amazing.  I think we just bought our 3rd kilo of them today at the 5 day market.

Last night we caught wind of a Thai restaurant near the school, so we made the trek again.  Except we were a little off, it was in the British school, 1/2 mile up the hill from ours.  It was still delicious, and we know where we can get take-out on the way home from school.  There was a pizza place there and a little chicken shop too.  The walk back was all downhill thankfully, but the clouds rolled in and it got dark earlier than we thought.  It was very dark by the time we got back to the Village.  Not something Id like to do again soon, as the drivers are NUTS!  lines and traffic laws seem to be more suggestions, and sidewalks are only on the main roads, and then only for certain parts.

Heres a map of the area with locations marked... Its a little over 1.5 miles from school to KIS Village for reference...

Tomorrow is Monday and the start of Orientation.  Abi starts daycare, Im headed to Jeju city for my health check-up, and Jessi is headed in to school for a few things.  Tuesday we swap (Jessi gets her screening, and aI go to school)  This week we should also be setting up bank accounts, and getting our ARC's (alien resident cards).  Next week is more school focused with orientation and planning.

I like it here.  Each day I calm down more and get a little more comfortable.  The other teachers are great and we've made some friends.  They come from all over.  Mostly American or Canadian born.  Some Expat virgins, like us, some have never been out of their own country before.  Others have been International for a dozen years to places like Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi, UAE, Zambia, South Korea, Vietnam, China, and India.  They all seem very happy, and even more happy to be here.  I think we made a great choice in KIS, but time will tell.  Until next time...

On our way to the island.

The van picks us up in ~20 minutes to take us to Gimpo Airport.   Next stop Jeju.  Abi is a wreck, consequently so are Jessi and I.  Culture shock plus severe jet lag times toddler.   Two nights in another hotel in Seogwipo and then we can finally settle in to our new place in the KIS village.   I think some of the stress will go away just being on the island.   10 degrees cooler will be nice too.  It's been soupy like ST. Pete in Seoul.   Doesn't help that the one touristy thing we tried to do yesterday ended up being closed on Mondays....  Oh well, we wandered anyway and it was nice to be somewhere new.  A little scared what they will charge us to get all of these bags onto the domestic flight.... It seemed like a good idea at the time....    Here we go.  

Somewhere over the Arctic...

Welcome to Russia

We are 6.5 hours into a 13 hour flight.  I think we just crossed the date line, we are over the Bearing Sea north of Vladivostok.  My butt is sore from this damn seat, despite sitting on 2 pillows and Abi has exhausted all of her playthings.    FML!   Since I've watched Age of Ultron and Insurgent both start to finish , had a quick nap, and nothing else looks interesting, I'll take this opportunity to tell everyone about our new school, the Korean International School, Jeju campus in Seogwipo-si.  Home of the Dragons.

The school was started soon after the Korean War cease fire to teach English mainly to South Korean Kids.  The country was ready to join the rest of the modern world, while its sister to the North was turning its back on it.  The original school is in Seoul I think and our campus is much newer.  It is an all inclusive school covering nursery school thru 12 th grade.  American style curriculum, with AP classes offered.  Most of the students are South Korean, with some from neighboring Japan, China, And others.  Over 60% of the faculty are American, and all classes, except foreign languages are taught in English.  Our principal and her husband were the ones who opened the school on Jeju, and the high school was only recently opened.   I believe this year will mark the first graduating class who hadve attended all grades there, but I could be off by a year or two.  

The school is a boarding school, so a large portion of elementary and middle school students live in dorms, and almost 95% of high school students.  I've been told that the younger grades are mostly transient.  High English scores are required to gain entrance to many prestigious Korean High Schools and Universities, so students are enrolled, get the Dnglish scores required, and then transfer elsewhere.   The Older students are a different story.  There you have students who are set to enter an Ivy League School in the states.   They are there for the long haul, getting the advanced classes to make them competitive, and succeeding very well.  KIS alumni have an obscenely high enrollment rate to Ivy League schools, like Princeton, MIT, and Harvard.  

The students attend regular classes all day and the. Have "tutoring" for several hours in the evening.  There they study, do homework, tutor others, or take extra classes.  This is the way of Koreaneducation, and is viewed as quite normal.  There are also a plethora of clubs, bands ( several rock bands I've been told) and state of the art sports complexes on campus.  However sports are viewed quite differently.  We've heard stories about students skipping practice and games because they had to *gasp* study for a test!   The horror!  Guess they actually value education over a sport....  Go figure.

Each class has a trip right around spring break.  The younger kids stay on the island, middle grades head to the mainland.  The freshmen, and sophomores go to either Nepal or Vietnam to do humanitarian work like building wells, and schools.  We will have an opportunity to chaperone if we like.  Juniors head to Washington DC to meet with college recruiters.  Like I said, U.S. Ivy League is the goal.  

The school also built apartments for faculty with families, called the KIS Village, which is where we will live, less than 1 mile from campus.  Abi will attend day care at first, and then be enrolled in the nursery school, both on campus with us.  We will all be picked up at the village and taken to campus each morning, where we can walk Abi to her program, and then walk to our rooms.  I think Jessi is really looking forward to that part.

School runs on a block schedule.  8 90 minute classes, 4 a day. Jessi and I will teach 4 of 8 periods, have 2 - 3 planning periods, and the rest will be set collaboration time.  All classrooms from kindergarten - 5th have a class set of IPads.  All students 5th - 12th have their own MacBooks, and so will we.   Technology is fully integrated into the classroom setting.  

So...  Any questions?   Leave them in the comments section.  

We are well over Russia now.  We have 3 nights in Seoul when we land to explore and get our bearings ( I hope).  Hopefully Abi sleeps, lol.  After that we hop a flight to Jeju, where someone will pick us up at the airport and take us to our next hotel near Seogwipo for 2 more nights.  We can finally get into our apartment on the 23rd.  Hopefully we have a little time to explore the little city.  We get 2 nights to get settled and then we start orientation.  They will take us to the consulate to get our alien registration cards ( we're aliens now!), to the hospital to get out health checkup and start our insurance coverage, to the bank to set up our Korean bank accounts, and then promptly deposit 2,000,000 won ( a little less than $2,000) each as move in money.  Then a few days of technology training and school policy stuff and we get to plan in our rooms.   

It's all real now.   Hopefully Abi and Jessi will sleep a bit for the next 6 hours before we land.   Yeah.....right....

See you next time.  I should have lots of pics of the city and the island by then.

We're landing.....

You Can't get there from Here!

That's what our lives were starting to feel like.  Neither of us really regretted becoming a teacher, I don't think.  Though Jessi was thoroughly burnt out a few months into the school calendar last year, I could see in her eyes and in the tone of her voice, how much she loved the scant few moments where she taught to her students, rather than acted as mother, friend, guidance councilor, and confidant to them.  All things they sorely needed, but should be getting elsewhere.

I on the other hand was working my tail off.  I was the new Science Department Head at Mel High, and a science fair director, in addition to my 5 regular Chem and my new IB Chemistry classes.  I had bitten off too much at one time and was struggling mightily to keep up.  I was regularly working 10-12 hour days every day and an additional 6-10 hours on Saturday, never getting ahead one bit.  I was missing my little girl grow up, and it was affecting our marriage and my sanity.

At any rate, we were not getting the job security, financial security, family life we were hoping for.  It was starting to look like back to square one again for Jessi, and eventually for me.  We were discussing leaving the profession unless something changed, and having no hope on the horizon for that change.  Then out of the blue, the opportunity we needed was right in front of us.

A friend of ours (Jessi, Alexandra, and me), who taught at Mel with me, Katie Coleman, was back in the US.  She had been to Santiago, Chile for 2 years to teach at a private school called Nido de Aguilas International Academy.  She had been raving about it to Alexandra on one of their morning runs in November of 2014.  Incidentally Alexandra was a former teacher as well and a casualty of the county change over to 6 of 7 classes in 2012, just like Jessi at Hoover.  However Alexandra just left rather than transfer to whatever hell hole they found for her.  Alexandra told Jessi about it and she had a long speech prepared to convince me to try this.  (I think she thought I was blissfully drinking the kool aid at Mel High)  I think she got out about 3 sentences before I said YES!  Her jaw hit the floor.  "NO fair! I had a whole speech!"  she exclaimed.

We invited Katie over to dinner to tell us all about it.  Nothing she said gave either of us anything but hope.  Of note, was the fact that in 2 years she had gotten 100% out of debt with money to spare.  We learned of a company called International Schools Services.  They are a school management company, but more importantly, they are a head hunting firm for International Schools World-wide.  Want an eye-opener?  click the link and select "Explore Schools".  To apply for their services you set up an account, then upload a bunch of materials like diplomas, resumes, recommendations, evaluations and the like.  Once everything is in, you pay a fee and all those little dots can see you.

Hiring is mainly in December and January, and we were live in late December.  we started getting a few inquiries and did a skype interview or two, but nothing earth shattering.  Mainly small, third-world schools in Myanmar and Mali, and then a little place called Jeju in South Korea wanted a first interview.  We were hoping to go to Nido, because Katie made it sound so amazing, and they were hiring a physics and a chemistry position, but we went live right after both positions filled...  It was about then that Jessi decided that she needed to go to the ISS Hiring conference in Boston, the last chance to see and get seen by a lot of schools.  Her and Alexandra went together while I kept the home fire burning.  KIS and YIS (Yangon International School, Myanmar) were supposed to meet Jessi in person there.  Unfortunately, massive snowfall held KIS in Iowa and we weren't able to talk with her face-to face.  Jessi interviewed from sunup to well after sundown every day.  1st, 2nd, and 3rd interviews were had, including skype conference calls for me and a few very early morning (2 and 3 am) skype interviews for me alone.  It was intense.  By the time Jessi got home, we had a half dozen serious offers and maybe a dozen more prospects.  It was decision time......

YIS was still interested and made a great offer.  A school in Cairo wanted me for department head, and made a substantial offer as well, but Jessi would be teaching ESE middle school.....so no thanks.  Qatar offered as well, me for IB Physics, but Jessi for ESE middle school again.  Same story in Bahrain, and two schools in the UAE.  We really didn't want to take Abi to the Middle East yet, so we were dragging our feet making decisions, when Kristine from KIS Jeju emailed.  She asked if we had found a position yet and apologized for not being able to meet Jessi in Boston.  She asked if we were still interested in AP Chem and AP Biology and we said yes.  We had a contract offer in our hands the next day.  Not as much money as the Middle East Schools, but a much more comfortable place, with almost no restrictions on either of us...  and Jessi was not teaching ESE middle school. ;)

We signed on the dotted line and that was that.  Welcome to the fold.  We had email accounts and access to software almost immediately and the business staff at school has been holding our hand the entire way.  we have even had access to current and former faculty at KIS, including the teachers we are replacing.  It took Jessi months to get an email address back when she switched from Hoover to Central.  This was a professional outfit, and it seemed then, and still does now, that they really do value us and are grateful we are coming to their school.   The whole interview process was a huge ego boost, and worth the ISS fee on it's own.  Jessi and I are both great teachers (her more so than me) but working in the states in the public schools, you rarely get the sense that you are sincerely valued for your skills.  Most of the schools we talked to worked this way:

You are leaving your comfortable life in the US/Canada/wherever to come to our country and teach our kids at our request.
We understand this is a difficult process and task and you are giving up many things to do this.
We will make it worth your while.  Pay scales are 20% higher, Benefits are mind-boggling.  Oh and we know the tax laws of your country and will make sure that you do not pay taxes on your salary.  We have other ways to boost your pay (our "package" is roughly double our salaries).
You need a place to live?  no problem.  Here is some free housing or a generous stipend.
You want to go home once a year to see family, no problem.  We will purchase tickets for you and family to an airport of your choice at beginning, end, and each summer in between.  Don't like your family?  no problem, where do you want to go???
You have kids?  great!  We love kids, they get free day-care/nursery school/ entrance into our school.

Our new principal was stunned that we were teaching 6 out of 7 periods.  Unheard of!  How do you get anything done?  When do you collaborate with other teachers?  When do you have a chance to grade, plan, observe others, run clubs, etc?  You'll teach 4 out of 8 here.  If we need you to teach 5 you will be greatly compensated.  discipline problems?  what are those?  disrespectful kids?  not here.  kids who cant read or do the requisite math?  that happens where you are?  why?

You are here...to...teach.  Just worry about that and thank you for coming all of this way. It's a pleasure to have you.  Welcome to the family.

Imagine if that was the kind of relationship you had with your boss/principal/school/district.  Wouldn't that be nice?   I'm here to tell you you CAN get there from wherever you are.


It looks like most of our boxes are packed and the luggage is all set out for our flight Friday.  T-minus 84 hours till go time.  Cant wait.

Next Up?  A little Something about Korean International School in Jeju.

Today I would like to tell everyone about Jeju.  We get alot of questions about it.

Jejudo (제주도 or Chejudo, -do meaning island or province in Korean)  is one of South Korea's 9 provinces.  It is located at the southern end of the peninsula in the Straits of Korea.  Its capital city is Jeju City on the north coast, and it's other city is called Seogwipo ( sew-ee-po) on the south coast.  For reference, in the picture below, North Korea is off the top of the map and Seoul, the capital of South Korea is the smaller circle within the north western-most province.

There we are on google maps!

Provincial map of South Korea, Jejudo is in red.

It is a 45 x 40 mile island (roughly the size of Rhode Island) with a population around 500,000 (roughly 1/2 of Rhode Island).  You can drive around the entire island in 8 hours they tell us.  The climate is temperate, though it is classified as a subtropical island.  Today the high is 75 and it's the rainy season so it rains almost every day in June and July.  They get a mini monsoon season I think.  Nowhere near Vietnam or India monsoon though.  Winters are mild with lows in the 30's and 40's with only 17 days on average below freezing on the island.  It does snow there and it was snowing this year on and off right through April.  The highest point is called Mt. Halla (hallasan) at 6,400 ft above sea level.   It is a large inactive shield volcano (think Hawaii) and it formed the island.  It is the reason Jeju has been referred to as the "Hawaii of the East China Sea"  Though I think the comparison is way off.  Its nowhere as hot as Hawaii and surfing is a relatively new thing there, introduced in the last 20 years or so to the locals by tourists and expats on the island.  Because the island is volcanic, it is full of calderas, craters, and lava tube caves.

The school is located on the southwest corner of the island. We hear it is pretty windy there most of the year due to the prevailing wind off the Pacific Ocean.  We will be 5 miles from the coast, but due to the elevation change, my classroom will overlook the ocean.  Jessi on the other side of the hall, will have a gorgeous view of Mt. Halla.  More on that in another post.

That's our school, Korean International School Jeju Campus.  Mount Halla is in the background.

The island itself is gorgeous!  It won a contest to be named the 8th natural wonder of the world, and is a UNESCO World-Heritage Park.. the whole island is a protected natural preserve.  Check out his fly-over video on youtube!  All of the little hills are called Ourum and are basically very small mini-volcanoes.  The caldera at about 1 minute in is called Seongsan and is very common on all of Jeju's marketing adds online.  As you can see the island is a mix of hill, forest, field, beach and rocky coasts.  The unique landscape is why it was named a World Heritage Site.

There are also many sites where the original culture of the island is apparent and protected.  Grass Hut Village museums and the dol hareubang or "stone grandfathers", large basalt carvings of men that are ubiquitous on the island...  and yes they are fertility and protection gods....  but that's another post.

Does it look a little "awkward" to you too?

dol hareubang 

The traditional family structure is matriarchal, with the women running the family, as can be seen in the haenyeos even today.  These women make up the abalone fishery on the island.  They spend hours a day free-diving for the shellfish off the coast.  Abalone, are like a cross between an oyster and a snail, and are considered a delicacy.  Their shells can also be polished to give an opal-like luster.

These are the Haunyeo.. SCUBA is for wimps!  

Tiger Abalone shell and foot, this one is alive...

These ones are not...

Heres a polished shell.

The island today is a major tourist destination for the region. Almost 3 million tourists visited last year (mostly Chinese, Japanese and Korean)  That number is expected to double next year with the vast majority being from China (almost 5 million visitors)  The island is home to many quirky museums and parks (including Love Land, a google search for that is NSFW! be warned!) in addition to its natural wonders.  Jeju City was also one of the host cities for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the stadium is well used by the local Football team (soccer to you heathens!).


OK, so there you go..  That is the little slice of paradise Jessi, Abi, and I will be living in for the next 2-3 years.  There is alot to talk about and even more we want to show you, but I dont want these posts to be too big.  Next time, Ill tell you what sent us down this path and how we found our new home..

Follow our blog and if you have any comments, please leave them in the comments section below.  I do look.  Until next time...

So,   Less than three weeks to go.  We are slowly getting the house organized and packing/ sorting all of our accumulated life.   Our Visas came the other day.  It's weird to think that in a few weeks we will be in a foreign country, where we know nothing about the language or culture.  Even so, I wish we could just leave tomorrow.  The waiting is the hardest part.  

Our shipping boxes arrive tomorrow so we can finally start packing stuff away for the move.

APSummer Institute was last week.   My instructor kicked our collective asses, while Jessi's session was all puppy dogs and butterflies.  We both realized we have to step up our game for AP though.  I'm gonna love it though.