Delaying the "real world"- Next stop: South Korea

It has been well over a year since my last post! After returning from my Semester at Sea I didn't feel much need to keep up with my blog. But I am preparing to make the next major move in my life and I've decided to start back up again! At first I couldn't decide if I should pick up where I left off with my "All at Sea" blog, or start fresh. To keep it simple I'm going to change things around a bit, but continue posting here. This blog is intended to help family and friends keep up with my travels, work, and life in general. I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

For those of you who don't know, I have been searching for a job teaching English as a second language for a few months now. I've had offers in China, Japan, and South Korea. Out of the three countries, the offers I received in South Korea had the best benefits. So a few weeks ago I signed a contract with a private school (also known as a hogwon) on Jeju Island. Jeju is the southern most point off the mainland of South Korea. It is a volcanic island and home to Mount Halla, the tallest mountain in the country. I'm super excited to spend my days instructing adorable Korean children! I finally have all of my papers in line and have applied for my work visa at the Korean Consulate in Chicago. Once I get that (which should be in a week or so) I send it to the school I will be working for, and they will purchase my plane ticket and start to plan my whole travel itinerary. I've been talking with the girl who I will be taking over for. She's 24 and has been at the school for 2 years. We're working out a deal where I will buy most of the stuff she's accumulated for the apartment and her scooter as well. So yes, I will be cruising around the island on a scooter, haha! We'll see how that works out. If all goes as planned I will be leaving toward the end of February to start teaching March 2nd, 2012. Kinda crazy, it's coming up so fast! Excited to see where this next chapter in my life takes me...