How I Feel About The Process..

Since everyone in the process seems to be stressing a bit, I thought I'd put together/collect some memes to make you smile! :)

When You Start Discussing Kimchi

When People Are Panicking About The Process

When Applicants Make You Paranoid By Telling You Horror Stories About The Process

When One Applicant Repeatedly Reminds You How Far Ahead Of You They Are in The Process!

When I Finally Received My Apostilled CRC

When I Was Done With My Application and Documents

Waiting For News On My Epik Placement

When I Found Out I Passed My EPIK interview

When You Find Out One Of Your Documents Is Done Incorrectly And Has To Be Sent Back

When People Tell Me Korea is Dangerous

When My Documents Safely Arrived in South Korea

Thanks to When Obama Endorsed  and Great Day To Be An Athlete for the awesome memes!

From Madison to Seoul: A Fed-Ex Love Story

Woo Hoo! Woke up to a message from my awesome coordinator, saying my documents arrived and were in perfect order! Haha, that must mean the new photos I included of my ugly mug weren't too bad. Some of the stress is off, but now I have to send my passport to be renewed, as I don't have many pages left..due to my ridiculous undergrad study abroad shenanigans- booking flights to countries that cost less than 10 pounds on RyanAir. If I send it off by the 15th, I should have it back by June 26th (in theory). Which should leave me enough time to get crackin' on the South Korean Visa process in Chicago. Might even make it a day long event...get a greyhound down to Chicago, get myself some Churches Chicken and chase the pigeons in the park. The only thing I hate more than Pigeons....is sending my passport off, I get so nervous that I won't get it back or that it will randomly disappear! So here goes nothing. Fingers crossed. I can smell the Kimchi already!

Oh Snap, Son: Mailing My Documents!

Woo hoo! After an extremely ridiculous day that started with me leaving some of my docs at home, the woman at USPS telling me I had purchased the wrong envelope and not being able to fit my documents inside, I headed to fed ex. It took everything in me to restrain myself from going Bon Qui Qui on this lady, but I did! $38 down the drain on USPS I hoped for greater success with fed ex. As I put everything in the package my hands were shaking, it was pretty embarrassing. I just kept thinking, these are all the documents I have been working on and collecting for months! What if somethings wrong? What if I forgot something? I checked and double checked...I think I even smudged my application photos a bit! Yikes! It felt amazing to finally mail everything off and know that it's out of my hands...my stomach is still turning a bit and my head is kind of reeling, but I'm really hoping for a placement in an awesome location and a smooth process from here on out! So now I wait for my official contract and start my visa process! Sorry for all the exclamation points, but it seems pretty necessary at this point. I decided to try to work out the total cost:

2 sets of American transcripts $10.00

2 sets of UK transcripts seal   $15.00

Bachelors Degree/Apostille-In house (Ohio)    $75.00

Masters Degree/Apostille and expedited from the UK $120

FBI Check 18.00

FBI Check Rush Apostilled $43.00

Postage wasted on USPS $38.00

Mailing to Korea $93.00

For a whopping total of: $412.00

This is by no means indicative of what everyone pays, in fact many people get away paying far less. I had a few crazy circumstances. For Example: getting my degree out of state and having to pay for in house apostilling, getting a masters out of country and paying for expedited shipping and rushing my already late FBI check! I have to say a big thanks to my mom for helping me with some of the cost, but man this process got pricey! Thank God this part is over!

And this is how I feel about having my documents turned in! :)

And for those of you who didn't get the Bon Qui Qui reference, you don't know what you're missing! Check it out!

EPIK Results

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! After my interview last night and an extremely long and anxious day, I woke up 20 minutes ago to find out that I had passed my EPIK interview!  Korea is so close that I can taste the Kimchi. So the next step is to send in all of my documents, find out where I've been placed(fingers crossed), start training in August and begin teaching September. Looks like I am being recommended for Seoul. I can't even believe I passed, it's a bit surreal. I just need to remind myself to stop stressing out and get all of my documents in as soon as I can.

• FBI Check (on the way back to me)-or is it?
• Bachelors Degree and Apostille✓
• 1 sealed set of undergrad transcripts✓
• Masters Degree and Apostille (on the way back from the UK)
• 1 sealed set of postgraduate transcripts (sent back to me today)
• 2 Letters of Recommendation✓
• TEFL certificate (Passed course, just waiting for official certificate)
• signed copy of SMOE contract✓
• signed copy of SMOE appendum✓
• scanned photocopy of information page✓
• signed copy of EPIK application✓

Collecting Documents....

So it seems there is a pretty extensive process for those planning on teaching in Korea. I suppose it discourages people who are simply applying on a whim. Anyway, I submitted my fingerprints and FBI background check today. In the mean time I have many more documents to collect. Here are the required documents:

• 1 FBI background check notarized and apostilled
• 2 letters of recommendation
• Bachelors Degree with notarization and apostille
• Masters (if this applied to you) with notorization and apostille
• 2 copies of sealed transcripts 
• 5 passport photos

The FBI check can be complicated so you must follow the directions closely. You can find the information here.
1) Print and fill out the application form located on the FBI site
2) Print off a copy of the finger print sheet (I recommend more than one, in case there are smudges or one is deemed unusable.
3)Fill out and print off a payment form
4)Bring all of these forms to your local police station and have your finger prints done
5) Place fingerprints and all forms in a letter with a request for the FBI
6) Write a cover letter with your current contact information and a small section that reads, something along the lines of: " Please include with the background check a FBI seal and signature from a Division Officer.  The purpose of this document is to be sent next to the US State Department for a Federal Apostille to be used for teaching in South Korea"
7) Next, you will mail your applications, payment forms, fingerprints and cover letter to:

FBI CJIS Division – Record Request
1000 Custer Hollow Road
Clarksburg, WV 26306

The contact number for the FBI Office in West Virginia is 304-625-5590 

 

8)Once you receive your background check, you are then ready to send it off to The Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C. I recommend using an expediting service like ProEx to speed up the process.

This process is enough to drive anyone crazy. The FBI check can take up to 12 weeks to it's really good to start as early as possible!