This is where we live

We are living in Shinbu-dong, Cheonan-si on the 13th floor of a condo-building. There is a view of the downtown core of Cheonan city, which is only a 5 min walk. School is only a 15 min walk away so we have a great location. The apartment has three bedrooms, kitchen, living room, two bathrooms and an enclosed balcony. Very huge, compared to my standards and ginormous to typical expat housing. (Most ESL teachers only get a studio or bachelor apartment.) 

In some ways the apartment seems futuristic. The master bath has a Japanese toilet and one of those showers with wall shower heads included. I’m not sure if you are familiar with the Japanese technology but here is a link to a video that goes through the experience.

Here is a map of where our apartment is (A) and where the school is (B). Zoom out to get an idea of where we are in the world.

I’m very happy with our little home and I can’t wait to fill it up with memories with Jennika.

Good night! 

JaM’s

Shopping in Cheonan

Last night, when I got into the apartment, Mr. Lee should me how to work a few things; there is a button you must press with your feet to engage the kitchen faucet; a button to turn on the hot water and heat; as well as keyless entry to the building and our apartment. The apartment was spotless and had a few goodies for me to enjoy for breakfast. I feel like Bugil Academy is going to treat us very well. 

The apartment complex

Today, Mr. Lee took Mr. James (another fresh teacher from california) to e-mart to shop for basic supplies. The store is a bit like k-mart. It was interesting but I didn’t find spices to season my food. There are a few Asian grocers near bye I will try them soon. 

Cheers, 

JaM's

What a difference a week makes ...

Well, here I am. Sitting in my Montreal apartment having my last breakfast. Today is my last day in the city; I move all my things tomorrow morning back to Courtice and then in a week I'll be off to Korea. Jean-Marc left for Korea on Tuesday morning. I just received an email from him telling me that he arrived safely and that our apartment is beautiful. I can't believe it is actually happening. I feel like I'm living a dream and it's all coming together. Moving to Korea to teach, something I've dreamed of for over 4 years? Check. Great position, seemingly great colleagues, opportunity to save money and travel? Check. Fantastic boyfriend who is coming with me? Check. And that third one I never anticipated.

So from the last update, JM's visa was processed and he picked it up on Monday no problem. We packed his stuff in my little car early Tuesday morning (3:30am) and took him to the airport. He flew out at 6am but had a 7 hour delay in Detroit, which meant he didn't actually leave North America until 7pm that night. But he arrived safely the next day in Korea.

As for me, I received my visa issuance number 3 days after it was sent for processing. I applied for my visa on Monday and it is ready for pick up today .. Thursday. I can't believe how fast immigration was. I booked my flight today for August 10th. I leave Toronto at 8am and have a 3 hour lay over in San Francisco. Not bad!

Alright, back to packing. I still have so much to do before my Dad arrives tomorrow morning.

Cheers,

Jennika

The flight to Korea

After a hassle with Delta Airlines over baggage, Jennika saw me off at Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport. Montreal to New York then to Detroit, it all went well. When I got to the gate for my departure I was bumped up to 1st class!!!! Fricking amazing! I was going to spend 12+ hours in first class. I sat down to a chair filled with swag and a electronically adjustable chair with a message button. Waiting on the tarmac, our pilot clued us in on some problems with the telecom system. We were grounded for over six hours, until they finally resolved the issue. (Got a coupon for delta and a meal in the airport gratis). I loved first class. I propped my seat into bed mode after we were on our way and had my four course meal with enough vino and port to make me tipsy. I woke up with two hours left in the flight watched some movies and got into Seoul without a hitch. 

At the airport Mr. Lee, the program coordinator for the Global Leader Program (my school), met me and drove me home. He spent the whole day at the airport waiting for me. Luckily he enjoyed watching the olympics. An hour and a half later we arrived at the apartment.

Back in Montreal

We made it!!! Good ol' Sunshine brought us back safely from the Maritimes. The drive was long, of course, but we made good time. We spent Thursday in Fredericton with Sara again, and this time we arrived early enough to meet Larry. Friday we headed up to Quebec City to visit Mel and Jo and Ailin in their new home. Beautiful suburbia! Ailin was so cute, and even learned my name. They have a pool so we took a quick dip before dinner. Ailin was loving swimming with Jean-Marc. Then it was back on the road to Montreal. We got in late last night and after bringing everything in my apartment, immediately crashed. It is nice to be home!

Upon arrival we discovered that not everything survived the heat though. Here are some before and after pictures:

The only one that made it was a plant that has been in the family for years .. and that my mom gave to me 2 years ago because she figured I would kill it. Too bad!!! It's as luscious as ever. Muahaha!

Alright, time to get ready for my cousin Blake's wedding tonight. JM is going to meet my extended family - exciting!

J.

KOREA UPDATE!

Alright fellow followers, here is the update as to what is going on with Korea (since this blog was originally created to keep everyone in the loop about our situation).

Jean-Marc:

• Mailed all of his documents to Korea on June 22nd to get his visa issuance number. This means the school goes to an immigration office and has them approve that JM is not taking a Korean’s job. Once he has this number, he can apply for the visa. It took the school over 2 weeks to get him his visa issuance number. They finally sent it to him via e-mail on July 12th. 
• JM mailed his visa application with accompanying transcripts, passport photos, and money order to the Korean Consulate in Montreal on July 13th. 
• JM gets a call from the consulate on July 18th saying he gave them the wrong issuance number. JM contacts the school in Korea to find out what is happening, turns out the number hasn’t even been processed yet. 
• They e-mail him another visa issuance number (this time the real one) on July 20th, which JM forwards to the consulate. The consulate told him on the 18th that if he gets the number in soon, there should be no problem having the visa processed by July 30th. 
• JM’s flight has been booked by Bugil Academy and he is scheduled to fly out of Montreal on July 31st. He hopes to pick up his visa (and passport!) from the consulate on the 30th. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly.

Jennika:

• Accepted the job offer from Bugil Academy on June 22nd. The school then took 2 weeks to send me a contract. It was e-mailed to me on July 6th. Bad timing. 
• Since we were traveling, I didn’t have time to print it off and review it until we were in Halifax. I did this on July 11th. They had changed one line from the original contract they sent me about having to return a loan if I didn’t work for more than 6 months. I e-mailed Bugil to inquire about this change and what amount of money I would owe. 
• I sent all of my documents (transcripts, notarized and apostilled diplomas, passport photos, copy of my passport, health statement, criminal record check and the signed contract) to Korea on July 14 via Purolator. Because we are in a rural area, the mail doesn’t go out until July 16. 
• It was delivered on July 20th. No one from Bugil has confirmed this for me, I just tracked my package online. I really hope they don’t take weeks to get me the visa issuance number. 
• Originally, I was aiming to leave on August 8th so that I would have a week to acclimatize before I started work. Because things move ridiculously slow in Korea, this most likely will not happen. 

So that’s the update. JM is much further ahead in this process than I am. I don’t mind having the extra time to pack and prepare here in Canada, but I am worried that because my contract starts August 16th, they will force me to start teaching as soon as I arrive. Here’s hoping my school is more humane than that! For now, I’m off to the beach.

Jennika

Plug for Popcorn and Chocolate

This post has one purpose: to rave about the awesomeness that is Chrissy Corn from the Chagrin Falls Popcorn Shop and Nutty Steph's Chocolate Bars.

So first, the chocolate. We already blogged about how cool the shop was and how we ate so much chocolate before we even bought any. But the chocolates we did buy were fantastic! Particularly this bar right here:

Jean-Marc and I ate the whole thing in 5 mins. We couldn't stop!

And now the popcorn. So Graham's uncle part owns this popcorn shop and brought tons of popcorn to the wedding. Like boxes and boxes of it. Graham told us to grab some for the road and how happy we were that we did!! This cranberry flavoured corn was heavenly. If you are ever in the states (particularly Ohio since this is where the shop is) BUY SOME! You will be glad you did.

This particular bag we ate while playing cards with JM's parents. They also loved it!