I got an email today from the recruiter – who specializes in recruiting for SMOE – the Seoul school board.  They were happy to inform me I could come in March…

The last communication before that was that SMOE had sent my Visa Number FedEx.

I’m back at square one – except I have the collection of documents needed in full now…

As I noted before, I believe, I found out several weeks ago that SMOE wanted a specific form letter sent from my previous hakwons to verify teaching experience to justify the level of contract they had offered and I had signed.  When I found this out, I told the recruiter immediately that it would likely be impossible to get the letter from all the schools.

I suggested a few times that I should go ahead and sign a lower contract to make sure time didn’t run out.  I suggested this multiple times as I tried to contact the old schools and ask for the form letter.  I couldn’t get it from two.

The recruiter didn’t get a lower contract from SMOE until last Friday Korea time.  I had it in DHL signed and back in Korea by Monday afternoon Korea time.  He said SMOE was FedExing the visa info, and I asked him to get a tracking number so I could see when it was going to arrive so I could be here and ready to take it to Atlanta where they will process the visa overnight.

Today, I got an email saying SMOE was deferring me to March because I couldn’t make it to the start of orientation.  Sorry.

–sigh–

I have to remember this is the ESL industry in Korea I’m dealing with…

I’m back to square one, and I will probably follow the route Winsor-Joy suggested was the non-stupid/lazy way in my last post.   I’d prefer not having to pay for airfare over and living expenses while I’m going door to door looking for a job.  That has costs and headaches all its own, and I preferred living in the comfort of my own home while going through headaches trying to locate an adequate job in Korea.

My MA diploma and final transcript arrived in the mail yesterday.  So, I have all the paperwork.  I’ll get several copies notarized and with the apostille immigration wants these days, and I’ll book a flight for next week or the week after.  We (my wife and I) talked about going together when my wife will visit her mother during Chusok, but my wife thinks it is better to go now so we can be of help to her mother sooner.  (Her father recently died of cancer.  It was finding out about his illness that led to the job hunt in Korea).

One of the problems I have with going to Seoul on my own dime is —- it will tend to put pressure on taking one of the first jobs offered, and that is a huge mistake in the Korea ESL market.  I also still don’t want to teach kindergarten and elementary school kids, and the pressure to find work sooner rather than later – as my money bleeds from me – will tend to push me in that direction.  (Of course, a person could always setup illegal privates during a time like that to make some money while looking for a job, but it is illegal, and I found such work a huge pain in the neck the two times I let somebody talk me into doing it for a Korean who had a job interview in the US.)

But, it will be easier to find jobs in adult hakwons in person (or apply for any college jobs that might come up at this late date – which is unlikely to happen).

Time will tell…

…It looks pretty good – however – that I’ll soon be filing future updates on the job hunt from a PC Bang somewhere in Seoul…