Hello World

Dear World,

Here I am starting my very first blog. I have blogged before now, but it was for a class, and that totally does not count. I'm excited for this, but I feel the need to be original, wise, concise, witty, humorous, entertaining, descriptive, and all with proper grammar since I'm sure my mother will catch every misused comma or the misuse of "their, there, and they're."

Well family, friends, and strangers, I'm going to South Korea for a year to teach English in a small coastal city called Gunsan. When I say small, I mean population: 300,000 people. Currently, I'm still in the process of obtaining a work visa, but they say I should be cleared to fly East at the end of the month. Yes, it seems almost too soon, but when you consider I've been looking into this since Christmas '09, it's about time.

So, the most popular question I've been asked other than "Do you even know Korean?" is "How did you even get this idea?" Well, it's been quite the process, but buckle up because you're getting the short version.

It all started when I lived in D.C. and studied at the Washington Journalism Center. It's there through a series of long interning days and even longer class days that I realized that Journalism just might not be the right thing for me after all (Not to say it won't be in the future). So, I went into my Senior year wanting to change my major (every Senior's nightmare), but deciding that Communications is very broad and will benefit me in any job that I will eventually take. So around Christmas I started putting this into google "How to travel and get paid for it," or "I don't want to do what I'm majoring in, how do I get a job?" or simply, "WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE." Surprisingly, teaching English in Asia came up every single time :) Anyhow, I decided to step away from Google and do my own research. So, I talked to my professor who taught over there, my BFF's (Abby) brother and his wife who also taught in Korea, and I even was SO fortunate to meet this wonderful Korean girl through church. After talking and researching and getting much needed advice from an angel, Abby's sister in-law, I decided this was an awesome and pretty much perfect opportunity for me.

"Make money, save money, travel, teach English, paid housing, paid airfare, and all you need is a Bachelor's degree and English as your native language...and you don't even need to know Korean" This is what I heard from basically every website, so I decided why not? I love love love teaching at AWANA or any other children's activity, and teaching may be a direction I want to take my life, so I began taking the steps toward actually making this happen. After getting a Criminal Background Check (all's clear), transcripts, pictures of myself, and other various documents, I was able to apply with a recruiting agency. I got myself a wonderful recruiter through Footprints recruiting named Luna. Luna was great, she sent me job opportunities out the wazoo.

Then, summer '10 happened (Pics to follow). Wow. Life with my wonderful family, friends, and "this place to come home to" Dixon, Illinois on top of an INCREDIBLE three weeks counseling at Broken Arrow Bible Ranch in Gallup, New Mexico, was enough to make myself say, "Natalee, what the hay are you doing thinking about moving to the other side of the world?!?!" While I was in New Mexico, I got a little bitter towards Teach for America since they rejected me. Seemingly, life would have been perfect if I taught for 2 years in Gallup and could be apart of BABR year round. Then it came to me: If I was supposed to get the position with TFA and live in Gallup then it would have been amazing, but I didn't, so that must mean there is something even better for me out there.

So, after spending a week in Oregon with Grandma Jeannie and Duke, I flew back home to face reality. Psych! My friends and I decided to plan one more road trip to the East Coast hitting Niagara Falls, Maine, Boston, NYC, and all the states in between in just 5 very short days (Pics to follow). Ok, so NOW I was ready to face reality and after getting home from that whirlwind of a trip, going to Korea truly felt like the right thing to do.


Finally, after interviewing and turning down several jobs in South Korea, Luna found me this job in Gunsan that, for now, seems to be a good fit. I just don't feel prepared to face the hustle and bustle of Seoul quite yet. So, if all goes according to plan, I'll have my visa number next week, a scheduled interview with the Korean Consulate in Chicago, and in a few short weeks, I'll board the longest flight of my life and face the biggest time change EVER and open up a new chapter of life where I will experience a year of many many firsts.