I finally sent in all of the documents the other day. I was actually only waiting on one letter from the School District of Philadelphia that "proves" I worked there full time as I said I did. Because I had to make a copy of almost everything, the whole package weighed in at 1.28 pounds and cost me $53.09 to send to the Footprints Recruiting office in Daegu, South Korea. It should be arriving next Wednesday.

Of course, there was a few mix ups while trying to get this thing sent. I was told that although there was a UPS office right next door to the post office, it was much more economical to use FedEx, and there was a FedEx office just a little ways down the road. So I started walking. After about fifteen minutes of walking in my boots, I realized that I was most likely getting a blister on my big toe, as well as that the person who gave me directions most likely assumed I had a car. After checking around and asking a couple people, I found out that there is indeed a FedEx office, perhaps 2 or 3 miles down the road. I turned around and walked back to the UPS office that I had just been a few steps away from when I was given directions at the post office.

I was definitely feeling frustrated by the time I turned the corner by the post office, enough to childishly glare at the windows as I passed the building, but I decided to chalk up the walk to some much needed exercise.

At the UPS office, a very nice boy named Tim helped me get everything together and calculated that it would cost me about $90 to send everything if I wanted to make sure I could track it all the way Daegu. I was beside myself. I knew it would be expensive, but $90? I must have had a semi-permanent wince on my face as I slowly agreed to the price. However, he then realized that since it was only documents and that he would be using an envelope, the cost was $53.09, not $90. Now, $53 is still pretty expensive, but after thinking I was about to spend $90, I was able to breath again.

I had been applying to a program called EPIK, that would send me to more rural schools in South Korea, and to SFS, which is a prestigious international school in Seoul. Since I've decided to take the position at a Seoul public school, I sent e-mails to the EPIK coordinator and Mr. Barry at SFS a few days ago to let them know I am accepting the position for SMOE. They both replied very kindly to thank me for letting them know and to congratulate me on being accepted. Funny how little things like that make me smile.

My friend Janet has been helping me a lot as well, recommending what to pack and giving me some insight through her own blog of her experiences teaching in Inchon, which is a city right nearby Seoul. Apparently, vitamins make for very popular gifts in South Korea because they are so expensive there. My mother's sister asks my mother to send her Omega 3-6-9 pills every so often because they're scarce and expensive in South Korea. Then again, South Koreans eat a lot of fish, so I would think that they get plenty from their regular diet. Then again, do South Koreans eat a lot of fish?

She also advised me to bring some show and tell type items about where I live and so on. So, what's something good to bring about the USA or Pennsylvania? Maybe I could bring them some Obama-craze merchandise? ;)