Loose Ends

In my last post, many details of our upcoming Korean adventure were still up in the air, but it's all coming together now. We've had some important questions answered, flight are booked, loose ends here at home are being tied up and we're even starting some exciting new methods of 'saving' for travel.

At the time of my last post, our biggest concern with everything was that we weren't positive where we would end up, and there was no guarantee that we'd be in the same city within Chungnam province, as our applications had to proceed as individuals, as opposed to 'couple'. Chungnam is triple the size of Ottawa and somewhat rural, so it could have been a serious issue. What made it worse was that you find out exactly where you're placed on literally the very last day of orientation, only a few days before you start teaching! I emailed our EPIK coordinator to see if they could make an exception and let us know which city(ies) we were in so that we could plan. While he couldn't provide us this information he did let me know that we 'would be sharing accommodations'. That is absolutely plenty! We really don't care where we're placed within Chungnam, as long as we're together we're more than happy. He said that they are currently looking for a place for us, and that it may be small. That's fine, we're into the whole 'tiny house living' concept anyhow. Also, they have to spend a minimum of $400 per person on accommodation, so if they find a place for us that is less than $800 per month, we get the balance as a housing allowance. Can you say 'massive sigh of relief'?

Secondly, we booked our flights. We officially leave Canada on February 18th. Ottawa to Vancouver and Vancouver to Seoul. A total of nearly 19 hours of travel time. The flight from Vancouver to Seoul is eleven and a half hours and so we splurged and got the $120 upgrade for the extra leg room in economy. I was lucky enough to win an internal work competition that ended in December and my prize was a $1500 Air Canada travel voucher, so we used that, and after everything was said and done we paid $860 for everything. These are one-way tickets, keep in mind. Also, after the first month in Korea we get a $1300 bonus that is meant to cover the travel expense, so that will be nice, as we only spend $860 total and will get $2600 in return!

With regards to taking caring of loose ends here at home, we've made lots of headway there and (fingers crossed) we tie up a MASSIVE one today. We met with our financial adviser and took care of some banking / mortgage stuff, notified our internet service provider, hydro, gas etc of our departure and are starting to get many more prospective tenants wanting to see our place. A couple came yesterday to see it and we have three more showings today. It would be awesome if one of these materializes into a tenant and ideally a long term one, as we hope to not have to move back into this house on our return but rather keep it as an investment and purchase another, smaller home. It would also be nice if one of these viewings results in a tenant, as it would allow us to just focus on organizing everything in the house and not have to worry about keeping it 'show ready'. Either way, things are starting to come together and when people ask us if we're excited, we finally feel like we can maybe, possibly say yes.

What we are excited about is travel hacking. It's a concept I've been learning lots about through podcasts and blogs. It's a pretty massive sub-culture of sorts, where you use programs, promotions and offers from credit card and travel companies to your benefit, accumulating travel rewards points for free / cheap flights, hotel stays, car rentals and more. I've already put some of these practices to use and by the time we're ready for our first 'out of Korea' adventure (likely summer time) we'll have enough Aeroplan points to fly to New Zealand or Australia return, or anywhere within Asia (multiple times) FREE! With one month to go, everything is coming together and we're feeling more and more confident about this new adventure!

A New Year, A New (Ad)Venture

With 2015 comes what will prove to be another massive year for Julia and I. We're not shy about taking risks and going on adventures, but this one is certainly the most 'life altering' to date.

About a year ago we committed to teaching English in Korea. It's a great opportunity to travel (especially in Asia) while having a very rewarding job. We know countless people that have done and and / or are still doing this and we've heard nothing but positive experiences. Julia has a cousin that has been over there for nearly 6 years now and has been able to travel and see and do things that would make up a lifetime of experiences. I have friends that went 10 years ago and had a great time, people we know from our time in Australia that teach in Korea and China still (5 years later) and countless others. We knew that it was a 'now or never' sort of scenario, as we had just bought a house in Ottawa, both have great jobs (which doesn't make the decision very easy) and  the next 'logical' step was to start a family. Maybe that's what we're 'running away from' ?? Who knows.

We decided that to play it safe and apply through EPIK (English Program in Korea), as this is the government run program in South Korea and would be our best bet for our first year overseas. After we get to Korea and fulfill our contract with EPIK, we could choose to re-sign with that program or perhaps teach at one of the many hagwons (private schools or academies) in South Korea. Alternatively, once we gain some experience, we could look at moving to Japan and teaching a year there, as part of either the JET program (similar to EPIK) or more likely, a private school. There are opportunities in China, Thailand, Taiwan (all of Asia really), the Middle East, South America, Europe etc... Essentially, anywhere in the world where English isn't the native language, there is opportunity for ESL teachers to find employment. We'll be teaching in an elementary school,  however we're also taking a specialization in teaching business English, which would offer more opportunities to teach a different type of student altogether.

The process was long, and at times very confusing, but as it stands now, our contracts are on their way from Seoul, and certain details are still up in the air. We originally applied as a couple. This means that they place you in the same school, or within very close proximity and you get a larger apartment. As it turned out, all of these positions were taken and we had to continue with our applications as individuals or withdraw. We continued as individuals. That being said, our coordinator at EPIK knows we're a couple, they have our marriage certificate on file and as it stands now, we've both been placed in the Chungnam province. The only thing left to find out is exactly which city we're in and how close our schools are to each other. The absolute worst case scenario is if we're in opposite ends of the province (it's about 3 times the size of Ottawa). If we're placed very far apart, we'll have a decision to make. Likely, one of us will accept the position, and the other will look for employment at a Hagwon that is close to where we will live. We'll wait though to see if this concern even comes to fruition, and if it's the case, we'll deal with it at that time.


 Chungnam Province is located southwest of Seoul, and is the furthest point that is still serviced by the Seoul metropolitan subway system (bonus!). It has a total population of a little over 2,000,000 people. There are 8 cities in Chungnam and the biggest is Cheonan, with nearly 600,000 residents (it's a big drop off from there). Chungnam is the 'wealthiest' province in South Korea. We originally requested to be placed in Busan, but are by no means disappointed to be placed where we were! We're also quite close to Incheon International Airport! If all goes well, we'll be taking off for Korea in roughly six weeks!

That's it for now. I'm going to do my best to keep up with this blog as we travel over the next however many years... and if you haven't already hooked up with us on social media, do it now!

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