Dear Agency

As I get further and further down the rabbit hole that is the process of moving to Korea, I am so relieved that I chose to go through a placement agency. I can't imagine navigating the complicated stream of contracts, job postings, visa applications, and deadlines by myself! As I've made clear, the stress is already killing me, and I have no idea what I would do without the guiding hand and constant reassurances from Alistair, my agent with Korean Horizons.

It would probably be more accurate to call him my handler (or teacher wrangler perhaps? I like that idea; even though I've never met Alistair face-to-face, I can just image him lassoing stray, wandering teachers, corralling them into a herd, and making sure that we wide-eyed, naive newbies keep from straying or getting lost on our winding path to Korea). In researching jobs and opportunities in Korea at the onset of the madness that has lead me to this point, I discovered a plethora of recruitment agencies offering their job placement services. I had my eye on a few, having researched and read their reviews and related forum posts, but decided to hold off on making a firm commitment until after I had finished my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification, as my research had lead me to believe that this certificate was a valuable (if not strictly required) asset to my teaching application.

The TEFL course (which I took online through ITTT) was comprised of 20 units covering a variety of subjects from the finer points of English grammar to lesson planning and classroom management. At the time, I was charged with four classes of high school freshman English in a long-term substitute position covering a maternity leave (congrats Mrs. Rigg!) and probably inspiring a deadly loathing of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in the process. As I gained experience in the classroom, much of the course's information on effective teaching, discipline and encouragement, and class structure became redundant. Don't get me wrong, it was a valuable course, and I feel that it would be especially helpful for those who are going into teaching with no experience whatsoever. Throughout the course I had an online tutor who gave comments and feedback on my work. Upon hearing that I was interested in teaching in Korea, she put me in contact with Alistair from the recruitment agency Korean Horizons. While I had been planning on signing up with a different agency (Footprints Recruiting), Alistair soon won me over with the wealth of information and personal attention he gave me.

Along with the personal attention, I also liked the fact that Korean Horizons as an agency is smaller and more focused than Footprints. Whereas Footprints deals with both private and public schools in several different countries (including China, Korea, and Chile), Korean Horizons deals exclusively with EPIK (English Program in Korea), a government sponsored program which places native English speakers in Korean public schools. After reading the horror stories of corrupt and disreputable hagwons (private language schools in Korea) and the nasty things that have happened to teachers who get suckered into unscrupulous contracts, I decided that even though the the public school program paid less, being a government sponsored program it seemed to be a more secure and far more reputable option.

This is not to say that the program is perfect. Complaints and criticism abounds in forums all over the web, highlighting the pitfalls and the negative aspects of EPIK. However, most seem to deal with issues that one would encounter in ANY teaching position (such as bad co-teachers) or that have more to do with cultural differences (the office hierarchy and issues with respect) than with specific issues with the program.

But I digress. Back to Alistair and Korean Horizons. After sending him my application and final TEFL score, Alistair took care of everything. He presented me with several positions and options, saving me the process of slogging through the postings. He then took care of the legwork involved in applying for the positions I was interested in, and set up my final interview. Now that I have the position, he has been helping and monitoring my progress in my visa application.

The time crunch for my visa is pretty tight. I have to get a criminal background check, which will take another week or so, and then everything has to be sent to Korea, where it is processed. Then, they send me a notice of employment, which I then send down to the Korean embassy in Boston for processing and (hopefully!) approval of my visa. AND all this needs to happen before May 29th, when I'm supposed to leave for Korea, and which also happens to be the weekend of Eva's graduation from Vet School! AHHH! Why does everything happen all at once?!

Needless to say, I was a little freaked out that I wouldn't be able to get my visa in time, would lose my position, and would have to start all over again. Alistair, the pro wrangler of frazzled would-be teachers, quickly assuaged my fears. I would not be punished for a late visa. I would still get my position and everything would be fine. All that would happen if my visa didn't arrive in time would be that instead of arriving in Korea on May 31st, I would instead arrive June 13th, as teachers start on either the 1st or 15th of the month. Just a delay of a few weeks, no biggie.

Phew! I could actually feel the stress and tension floating away. Deep breath. Shoulders slowly sink back down. Nervous tic in my right eye suddenly quieted. It's going to be OK! Hooray for contingency plans!

So, thanks to my wrangler, I'm back on the plodding path, along with my herd, on the winding journey to teaching in Korea!