Updates on the job search

We were informed today that our school will be closing on Friday, so that will be our last working day. They'll move the school to Pangyo in February, but it'd be after our 8 weeks' notice so this is officially our last week of work at Little River Day School. Shockingly soon, and I would have liked a little more warning since I had to turn down an incredibly good job offer because I thought I would be working here until the end of January... but, c'est la vie. I'm going to refrain from speculating about the possible reasons for the early closing because Korea's slander/libel laws seem to have been inherited from their northern neighbors and very much skewed in favor of companies.

We're looking for suitable positions, mainly focusing on public schools in Seoul and Western/Southern Gyeonggi-do. Luckily, we're already renting an apartment (that is not provided by the school) with our Canadian co-worker who was also released early from her 8 weeks' notice, so we won't be homeless this weekend (good planning? Yes, I think so). I'm daydreaming of ideal situations... We find amazing jobs that want us in mid-late February and we actually get paid from the 2 weeks of work at LRDS in January, so we run off to Southeast Asia for 2 weeks... Yes, I can smell the fresh pineapple juice and delectable curries now.

On that note, I think it's time to eat dinner. Be well everyone and be safe. More updates will come as they happen (or, you know, a month or two afterwards).

Love!

-J&J

Happy Belated Christmas, everybody.

Wow. We're bad at this.

When so many things are happening that I forget to eat & lose my glasses, writing up blog updates can be a bit on the back-burner.

So we've given notice at our current position. Except here, given that our contracts state so, that means giving 2 months notice instead of 2 weeks. Which means that we've already mentally-checked out of the proceedings and are just coasting by, not really caring anymore and certainly not putting in any extra effort, and we have to stick around for another month. Argh. Talk about beating a dead horse.

As it stands right now, we're finished at the end of January. If our boss can find replacements before then, we can leave earlier, but with the way things are going, it doesn't look like that will happen. So we're scoping out positions starting in February and/or March. It's both exciting and terrifying to send out resumes again. The good news is that we've actually moved out of the apartment owned by the school and are sub-letting an apartment two subway-stops away, so regardless of how our current job ends, we'll have a place to stay until we find new positions. If push comes to shove, we leave the country (to Japan), and come back as a tourist (living in the sub-letted apartment), which would give us 30/60/90 days (I forget which) to secure the new positions.

Asides from the job hunt:

-Our hamster Chester is super cute. Cynthia's guinea pigs eat each other's poop.

-There's a cafe in Seoul called "Caffe Themselves", which I found highly amusing.

-There's an Ethiopian food restaurant in Itaewon which is perpetually closed, but on the two random day they have been open, the chef isn't there.

-It's snowing!

-I'm reading a great book by Ron Currie, Jr called "God Is Dead." Apparently he's written one other book, Everything Matters, which I'm having the damndest (damnest?) time finding here.

-Our new theme song is "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. Check out the video on YouTube if you haven't seen it, it's addicting.

-We're grogging through our TEFL courses. Jess is on Unit 4 or 5, while I'm stuck on Unit 3. It's really hard for me to care about "Engage, Study, Activate" and how to write up different study plans based on that concept. I'm not a lesson planner! At this point in my teaching career, I feel much more comfortable working for a place where the curriculum is planned and I just walk in, fulfill my duties, and walk out. I want to have a life outside of work.

-Samgyeopsal + Kimchi = :)

That's it. I hope everyone is well and had a great Christmas (we literally did nothing, it was awesome), and continues to live long & prosper.

-Jay

Quickie update

We are incredibly busy, but here's the short update of what's happened and what's going on:

1) We had a Halloween party at school at the end of October and we'll put up those photos soon.

2) We had an amazing Thanksgiving with co-workers and friends (no pictures, but you can just take our word for it).

3) Because of the many changes our school is currently going through, we've decided to give our two months' notice and are back on the job hunt in Korea (so very very very busy).

4) It started snowing today and things will get cold.

5) We're both taking TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and TEYL (Teaching English to Young Learners) courses online and Jessie's taking a Korean class.

6) We're really busy.

More updates to come as they happen. (And if we ever have time)

New photos and videos

Hey all, we have new videos up (http://www.youtube.com/blkfaephoenix) including playing with the kids at school, watching traditional games during Chuseok in Seoul, choreographed dancing on stationary bikes, children playing in what looks like a hamster ball at the Incheon festival, and creepy robotic teddy bears pulling carts.

We also uploaded new photos from the past couple weeks: Our day at the Suwon Fortress with Young-min, yesterday at the Incheon Festival with Grace, a couple recent photos of Jay's class, and the newest addition to our family: Esther the Dragon Slayer. Enjoy!

Photos from South Korea are up to date

Hello! Just a short note to let you know that we have now uploaded all the photos from South Korea up to our most recent trip (yesterday) into Seoul for Chuseok with Lino. Additionally, we've uploaded photos from our hike in Chuncheon, the school's most recent field trip, our kids dressed up for Chuseok, random photos from work, walks along the Tancheon and around Bundang, Moran traditional market, my mom's visit, and a trip to Gyeongbokgung (the palace) with Cynthia.

Albums are listed in reverse-chronological order at http://scerenity.smugmug.com/. We've been having lots of fun and are happy to see fall replace muggy summer. We're looking forward to more outings with co-workers and friends, bike rides in the pleasant weather, and general fall glory.

Be well!

-J&J