Hey everyone welcome back to my channel! It has been a very very very long time like
literally five years but as you can see from the title of my video I will be moving to South Korea
very very soon and I am planning to vlog some of my journey on the way there and obviously while
I'm living in South Korea. I just think it'll be a bit of fun and it'll also be great to have
a record of my travels so yeah, I thought I would bring you guys along. So of course,
you may be wondering, why? Why are you moving to South Korea? What will you be doing? And how are
you moving? Also probably like 'why the hell are you going in the middle of a global pandemic?'
Yeah, I know... But pretty much why I'm going is [because] I will be teaching English at a
private academy about an hour south of Seoul and pretty much the reason why is because I have been
thinking about going abroad to teach English for quite a while um like the past- maybe in the past
like four years? And I guess the right opportunity never really presented itself in terms of my
career, like the jobs that I was doing at the time. I wanted to, I guess establish my career
first, build some connections before thinking of doing anything different or going overseas. Apart
from the fact that there's obviously um the global pandemic at the moment, in my personal life,
it's a pretty good time. Like I feel like it's the right time now. I'm single, I don't own a
house like I don't have any, you know, big responsibilities. So I think that this is a
great time for me personally to try out English teaching. My mum thinks I will be a fantastic
teacher and has been asking me about whether I think I should switch careers to become a teacher
and it is kind of something that I've been considering. You know like I really enjoy
working with children and being a teacher was kind of like my dream job when I was really young
so I think this would be a really good opportunity for me to kind of test the waters before coming
back and deciding whether that is something I really want to do long term. So yeah I'm
really excited about it. How am I going? Well, it's a really long process, to be honest.
It doesn't have to be, but the way that I went about it and where I ended up, it took
pretty much... Like I started preparing pretty much like six months in advance,
even more actually. But I thought that I might make a few separate videos on the process of
how I got my job, what you need to prepare, all that kind of stuff. There are two main routes
that you can kind of go down, there's the hagwon route which I'm doing and then there's also the
government-funded program which is called the EPIK programme. I also went down that route initially,
so I know a little bit about that as well so I might make a separate video just on the process
and the documentation that you might need, the qualifications, all that kind of stuff because
I personally found them super helpful. Like I watched so many vlogs, they were super helpful and
gave me a good idea of what to expect and the timeline. Yeah, so that's pretty much it.
As I film this video it is four and a half weeks until I am planning to go. I'm currently waiting
for my visa to arrive, so I have sent my passport and my documentation to my consulate. They said
that I should expect it back either next week or the beginning of the following week - just because
it's like Christmas and New Year's time at the moment so there's obviously like delays,
public holidays, that kind of thing. So yeah, once I have my stuff back I'll be able to finally
book my flights. I mean I could have bought my flights earlier but I really just didn't
want to risk it in terms of the visa. Since I still have a month like it is like enough time.
In the meantime though, there is, you know, a few things I need to do. There's a bit of
shopping that I need to get done, things that I want to buy before I go. I'm also going away
on a holiday for New Year's which is coming up, so I'm really excited for that. It'll be really
great to hang out with friends before I leave. Initially, I was just like super excited to go,
I was like 'I'm so ready', especially because you know I've been stuck in New Zealand for the past
two years, like I haven't left New Zealand in over two and a half years, which
is quite a long time. I haven't been on a plane in like two years so I'm very
very excited to get on a plane and travel. I am a little bit nervous. Obviously with Covid,
I haven't travelled like during the pandemic so I don't really know, you know, the processes but
I guess I'll find out soon. But yeah, I was initially really just really excited about
going and then kind of the closer it gets - you know I've had catch up with friends,
I resigned from my job, it's all starting to feel very real and I'm still very excited but
obviously quite sad saying goodbye to all of my friends and family. I guess like in the past,
every time I went overseas for you know an extended time like whether it was my study abroad
or joining the Disney College Program there was always a set end date or you know an estimation,
so I always knew when I was coming back and that I was coming back. Whereas with Korea, yes my
contract is one year but I'm leaving it quite open, you know if I really really enjoy it I am
more than open to extending my contract. You know staying for two, three, whatever years.
Obviously, with the pandemic, I just don't know how travel's gonna be so like if I have
time off depending on, you know, the travel situation I don't know if I'll be able to come
back to New Zealand. New Zealand, just like Korea at the moment, has a quarantine system
and it is very difficult to get spots in the quarantine system.
That's supposed to change next year but you know with how unpredictable everything is I just
don't really know. But obviously, we have social media um a lot of my friends
are like 'we are definitely coming to visit you as soon as you know the borders are open'.
So yeah, if they are I would come to visit me that would be the most amazing thing ever,
I'm super excited about that. That's pretty much me, that's my little announcement.
I'm super excited to head over there I'll be hopefully making a few more vlogs before I go
on the process of finding a job in Korea - specifically an English teaching job. If you guys
have any questions please feel free to leave them below, yeah I'm more than happy to answer them.
If you guys have been to South Korea before, also please leave suggestions on places I should visit
or you know like cafes, restaurants, cultural sites, all that kind of thing.
I'm writing a list of all the places I want to check out while I'm there. I definitely
want to make the most of, you know, exploring and travelling around Korea, particularly if
I can't travel outside of Korea for a while. I definitely want to explore the country and
get to know it and learn more about the culture. So yeah, I shall see you in my next video, bye!