Canceled Plans (Lunar New Year 2018)

Happy Lunar New Year 2018!

This year's lunar new year holidays are 15. - 17. February. I also got all of next week off! Maybe it surprises you that I'm doing something I usually wouldn't--spend the entire time at home.

What? I have about 10 days off, and I'm not traveling? Why? What could possibly be wrong?

A sprained ankle.

I sprained my right ankle as I was walking to school on the morning of Tuesday, February 6th. I was just walking when my ankle kind of gave out from under me: my right foot went sideways, and I landed hard on my left knee. I was about 1 block from the school, so I continued until I made it to my classroom (on the 2nd floor).

My co-teacher sent me to the nurse, who in turn sent me to the hospital. Fortunately, it was nearby.

I went, had my ankle checked, had "physical therapy," and had my right leg on a splint and wrapped in a bandage. To walk around, the nurses gave me a kind of blue "sandal" the splint could fit in. The doctor said I was to stay in that for 2 weeks.

What? Two weeks? I was supposed to be in Brunei, about to move on to Singapore by then!

For a while week, I went to and from school by taxi.

Sheesh, if I could barely walk, there's no way I can travel. So reluctantly, but decidedly, I canceled everything. I could've visited all the small countries of Asia I wanted to visit before this contract year was up. Welp, it was not meant to be this time.

At least I can get my Korea blog up to date.

Earthquake in Korea--Again

This past Sunday (11. Feb. '18), I experienced my 2nd earthquake in my life--and 2nd in Korea.

The first earthquake was back on November 15th, 2017.

I was sleeping in my apartment on my bed, with my sprained ankle on an extra pillow. Then I felt it.

It wasn't much, but it was too strong for any vehicle that usually passes that way.

I grabbed my phone to see what time it was: 5:04.

As I set it down, I started to wonder if I should go outside. I have a sprained ankle (that was getting better, but was still weak). Could I escape quickly enough?

I looked at my phone again and saw an "extreme alert" message-- entirely in Korean.

I could read it and understand maybe half of it. I definitely understood there was indeed an earthquake. The epicenter was near Pohang (just like last time), and it registered as 4.6 on the Moment Magnitude Scale. It occurred at 5:03 in Pohang.

This is becoming interesting.

I'll leave the definition of "interesting" up to you.

Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Poland?

I published a post on my Polish blog (that is, the blog where I documented my time in Poland) about TEFL-ing there. It's a summary of my working conditions, whether I'd do it again or not, and the things to have in mind if going to teach there. The title is Teaching EFL in Poland: Would I Do It Again?

If you're thinking of tefl-ing in Poland (or are just curious), check out that post.

I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm willing to tackle any questions you send my way.

Total Cost of Getting the E-2 Visa for South Korea

So I returned to teach in the public school sector of South Korea for the second time.

There are plenty of websites and videos giving information on where to teach, what schools to teach in, how much you can earn, cultural aspects to have in mind, and so much more. However, I have not seen how much getting the E-2 visa can cost.

Allow me to share my expenses. One thing though, I didn't keep all the receipts, so there are probably some costs I've overlooked/forgotten. Nonetheless, this should give you an idea of how much you may spend to ultimately get your E-2 visa for South Korea.

Brace yourself, here we go:

Fingerprint cards at the Sheriff's Office/Police Station: $5/fingerprint card (I got 2)
Delivering fingerprint card to Approved Channeler: $6.65

FBI Criminal Background Check (through approved channeler): $39.95
Apostille fee for FBI CBC: $52.50 ($2.50 tax included)
To send FBI CBC to get it apostilled: $6.65
Copy of my university diploma and getting it both notarized and apostilled: $65

Passport pictures (each pair): $7.44 (I got 3 sets)

Sending all the documents to South Korea to get my contract and notice of appointment: $92.63

Visa Application fee: $45 (money order at the Post Office = $46.20)

Overnight Priority Express to Korean embassy + SASE of the same kind: $47.70

IRS Residency (for Americans to not pay taxes in Korea) fee: $85

Total: $389.60 (or $474.60 if you add the IRS Residency fee)

Not to insult your intelligence, but the process is not cheap, but considering you can earn +$2,000 USD per month and you can easily save half (depending on your spending habits and if you have debt or not), I'd say it pays for itself over and over again.

As the saying goes, "It takes money to make money." Getting your E-2 visa for South Korea is yet another example of that.

Around how much did you have to pay, especially as a non-American?

DO NOT apply to these ESL/EFL scammers!

Anyone looking for English teaching jobs overseas, do yourself a favor and avoid these websites. They are scams.

I learned for myself, although fortunately in time before losing money/time/effort/etc.

1. www.techcenterlimited.co.uk

2. www.1stclassacademy.co.uk

3. anyone or anything that comes from www.global-teachers.org

Just trying to help others avoid an unnecessarily unpleasant experience.

Do you know of any others that should be avoided like the plague?

On the road again . . .

Well, here we are.

I'm making the last minute checks and such before my departure.

Yes, I'm off again.

Where?

Back to South Korea!

This means I will revive my Teaching Souls in Seoul blog and continue documenting my time in Korea there, although I might share some random non-Korea-specific stuff here every once in a while. For the most part, I'll be posting on that blog from now until I leave Korea (again)--whenever that will be.

If you'll excuse me, I'll go back to my last-minute checks.

See you at my Korea blog!

DNA Results are in . . .

As interested as I am in learning about the origins of others--and especially my own--could you believe that I forgot about my DNA test through Family Tree DNA?

I knew it would take a while, so I just estimated it would be done by June and thought to forget about it until then. I happened to stumble upon it today, and then I noticed my results were in.

Oh, ok.

Let's check it out, shall we?

(***DISCLAIMER: These results might be slightly off. These tests are not fool-proof.***)

Here's the overall map, with my highlighted results.

This breaks it down to percentages.

Let's go in order of largest to smallest percentage:

1. European

Iberian Peninsula was expected. Scandinavia, however...

I wonder if this explains where my preferences for cold weather, solitude, and not talking so much comes from...

2. African

I knew I had West African blood, just not so much. Heck yeah!

3. Middle Eastern and New World (tie)

I actually expected a higher percentage. Still cool, though.

 Considering North Africa's role in Spanish history, I'm surprised the percentage is not higher.

Why is Cuba barely highlighted?!

Wait, is there more Native American in me than what met the Conquistadors in Cuba and Venezuela? Man, I wish I could witness the past.

4. Random, not-so-reliable, but you never know

Ok, I'll give you South Central Africa, but Oceania???

I'd love to get some answers for both of these regions.

So there you have it: except for Asia Minor and East Middle East, I just needed Asia to be a thoroughbred mut.

Will this change anything? Probably not. But I'm really excited to get some confirmation.

Have you taken this (or a similar) test? Did your results come out as you expected or did you discover some surprises?