God's got other plans.

The director of the school has decided not to hire me after all. It seemed a little like she was searching for reasons not to, so I guess she just had second thoughts. Ken thinks it's best we look for other schools. So no Eunpyeong SLP for me.

At this moment in time I don't feel too super disappointed or stressed but I think that's because I had a little bit of warning? I don't know.

Anyway, this means that SLP was not a part of God's plan for me. Whatever school I end up with just must be ten thousand times better.

"Jesus replied, 'You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

John 13:7

"Oh, you're interested in kindergarden?

Most others find it very hard."

"Oh really? That's...thanks. Yes, I'm interested in working with younger children...uhh..." What...was that supposed to mean exactly?


This is a few days late, but I feel I have some catching up to do here. That lady I had the interview with? The one curious about my eating habits? (Haha she was very nice!) Well during our first conversation she seemed [pleasantly] surprised that I was interested in teaching younger kids. Apparently, a lot of people found them very challenging (I guess in a negative way). She said she would consider me for the kindergarten program at her school. The next night she called again for a follow-up to our interview and I got the chance to ask her my questions. A few minutes after I got off the phone with her I got a message from Ken, my recruiter, saying I was being offered the job.

Long story short, a couple days later I decided to take the job. I'm still apprehensive about some things (I'm moving out of the country after all) but I really feel that this is the one that God chose for me. I feel good about it. Confident. About this part at least.

Anyway, in mid-February I will leave to begin two weeks of training and in March I will start teaching at Eunpyeong SLP near Gusan station in Seoul. I guess I'm another step closer.

*****

In other news, I just realized I've been spelling "kindergarten" incorrectly for...I don't know how long. It has a "t", not a "d". Just in case you were wondering. Now you're probably also wondering if it's a good idea to make me responsible for teaching our language to young children... Well, let's all just hope my supervisor doesn't start reading my blog.

"Do you eat meat?"

Now that I've officially started the process of interviewing with schools I'm beginning to realize just how much of a culture shock I'm in for when I finally make it to Korea. I mean, it's going to be fine. I'm just amused.

I've only had two interviews so far, so I am in no way an expert on Korean job interviews. However, in both instances the person asked me what I consider to be some pretty random questions. Now originally the goal of this post was to document a few of said amusing questions. As I sat down to write them out though, I realized that I don't remember most of the ones I found funny and those I do remember are not funny out of context.

The one question that I do remember and still find humorous is this one:

"Do you eat meat?"

Obviously this lady* knows far more about the intricacies of hiring an individual to teach a second language to children than I do. Why, yes. Yes I do eat meat. Do carnivorous teachers have an easier time controlling the students?

...

There is probably a method. But maybe just madness.

*The woman who asked me this question was really very sweet and I came away from that interview very pleased.

Oh. Em. Geeeeee!

I think I can say with confidence that this is one of the top ten funniest things I have ever seen. Ever.

Prepare yourself.

Just an update.

I'm really not very good at this blogging thing anymore. Oh, well. I've been inspired by Shannon and Tricia and motivated by my boredom. Until I actually get to Korea I don't think this blog will be as interesting as either of the other girls', and it will never be as well written as Tricia's, but I do enjoy blogging when I actually get around to it.

For now, a quick update:

Camp this summer was AMAZING. I had a new position as an Admin and I wasn't looking forward to it at first. (I actually cried...) As the summer wore on though, I grew to really really love it. I got to know all the counselors and I was able to hang out with all the different age groups of campers. There were some rough moments, but that's to be expected. If I ever get to go back to camp, I would want to be an Admin again.

Camp is over and my paperwork is finally in and now I'm waiting to hear about the right job. I've been told about two so far. The first one sounded pretty good. It was a 9-6 deal with good pay teaching elementary-aged kids. It ended up falling through for some reason though before we could successfully schedule an interview. I really think that was an answer to prayer because had I been offered the job I think I would have stressed over wondering if it was the right one or not. I'm not exactly sure how to explain that one... I told my recruiter I wasn't interested in the second job because the hours were 2pm to 9 or 10pm. Yeah, no.

For now I'm working two days a week at Hot Springs again, helping Nana about once a week with a few things, and spending the rest of my time thinking way too much and playing a lot of FarmVille. Yes, I am a loser.