All foreigners living and working in Korea have to pass a medical examination before they are given their Alien Registration Card, which is probably a lot like a green card in the US. It basically tells Korean officials who you are, proves you have registered, and are allowed to be in the country for "x" period of time.
You medical exam must be completed within the first 10 days of being in the country. I arrived last Sunday, and had my medical examination done on Thursday while my students were on a field trip. It is your employers responsibility to make sure you have this done. If not, they have you working there illegally and can get in a lot of trouble.
My medical exam consisted of:
A basic eye test
Weight
Height
Tape measure around my chest
Color blindness test
Blood pressure test
A blood test
A urine test
A chest x-ray
I think that is everything. It's hard to remember because almost no one at the hospital spoke english, except one man when I first arrived. My schools president doesn't even speak english so it was a really quiet car ride there.
It's not bad though. I was in and out of the hospital, and back to school in under two hours. They are highly efficient. The hospital was very similar to hospitals in the US. They are clean, well lit, and everyone was very friendly. Best hospital trip I have ever had to be honest!
I hope that was informative and helpful!
Cheers!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Hello from Cheonan!
Hey Everyone!
Big News!!! I made it two Korea! I actually arrived a little over a week ago. So far I have met a ton of people, and have been to a lot of new places. I love the food so far, though I am not a fan of Kimchi in any form...yet. I have been told it will grow on me.
My students are wonderful. I teach kids from 5-15 years old. This is nice because their skill levels are all different, and the classes are all different. I don't spend an entire day with 5 year olds running around screaming and hitting each other, and I don't have all classes of 15 year olds who don't want to be there, and therefore refuse to speak at all.
I am living in the Deojung neighborhood, which is really great because there is a lot of stuff to do. There are a lot of restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. There are mostly Koreans here, but there are plenty of foreigners. I am glad not to be living in Seoul, too many foreigners. I don't think it would truly feel like being in Korea.
Tomorrow a Typhoon is going to hit the city, my school has already announced they will be closed. I think the government may have issued a statement telling all schools around here to close because it is too dangerous for students to leave their homes. I am excited to see what it will be like. I am a little upset I don't have the internet working in my apartment yet, but I have so many movies I won't be bored. There are several English channels on TV here. That is nice as well.
So far since I have been here is has rained every day except for 2, today and yesterday. Sometimes it storms pretty hard here. I am interested to find out what this typhoon is going to be like.
Big News!!! I made it two Korea! I actually arrived a little over a week ago. So far I have met a ton of people, and have been to a lot of new places. I love the food so far, though I am not a fan of Kimchi in any form...yet. I have been told it will grow on me.
My students are wonderful. I teach kids from 5-15 years old. This is nice because their skill levels are all different, and the classes are all different. I don't spend an entire day with 5 year olds running around screaming and hitting each other, and I don't have all classes of 15 year olds who don't want to be there, and therefore refuse to speak at all.
I am living in the Deojung neighborhood, which is really great because there is a lot of stuff to do. There are a lot of restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. There are mostly Koreans here, but there are plenty of foreigners. I am glad not to be living in Seoul, too many foreigners. I don't think it would truly feel like being in Korea.
Tomorrow a Typhoon is going to hit the city, my school has already announced they will be closed. I think the government may have issued a statement telling all schools around here to close because it is too dangerous for students to leave their homes. I am excited to see what it will be like. I am a little upset I don't have the internet working in my apartment yet, but I have so many movies I won't be bored. There are several English channels on TV here. That is nice as well.
So far since I have been here is has rained every day except for 2, today and yesterday. Sometimes it storms pretty hard here. I am interested to find out what this typhoon is going to be like.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
In the Beginning...
This is my first post on this site so I will begin with a little info about me:
I am currently residing in Small Town, Michigan, USA, but any day now that is going to change. I am about to move to Cheonan, South Korea where I will teach English as a second language. If you know anything about younger Americans moving to Korea I bet you saw that job description coming from a mile away.
I have been working on this move for months, and it is finally coming to fruition. Although strangely enough I don't know when I am actually leaving. As soon as my passport returns from it's extended stay at the Korean Consulate in Chicago I will leave, literally the next day. I just don't know when it is coming back.
This whole idea of being gone for a year didn't quit seem real until I received an email from my recruiter this week stating that she had booked a flight for me at 6am the following morning, just in case my passport arrived that day...YIKES!
Ever since then I have been busy packing, unpacking, rearranging, packing, and weighing my suitcases over and over just to make sure I have everything perfect. Though, I am not sure why I worry so much...it all seems to work out in the end.
Before I go I want to share something that I thought was really cool. On Saturday I went to lunch with a good friend of mine at a Chinese restaurant. At which time I received the greatest fortune cookie of all time. It said, and I quote "You are about to embark on a wonderful journey." Hahaha how awesome is that?
Lots of Love!
Claire
I am currently residing in Small Town, Michigan, USA, but any day now that is going to change. I am about to move to Cheonan, South Korea where I will teach English as a second language. If you know anything about younger Americans moving to Korea I bet you saw that job description coming from a mile away.
I have been working on this move for months, and it is finally coming to fruition. Although strangely enough I don't know when I am actually leaving. As soon as my passport returns from it's extended stay at the Korean Consulate in Chicago I will leave, literally the next day. I just don't know when it is coming back.
This whole idea of being gone for a year didn't quit seem real until I received an email from my recruiter this week stating that she had booked a flight for me at 6am the following morning, just in case my passport arrived that day...YIKES!
Ever since then I have been busy packing, unpacking, rearranging, packing, and weighing my suitcases over and over just to make sure I have everything perfect. Though, I am not sure why I worry so much...it all seems to work out in the end.
Before I go I want to share something that I thought was really cool. On Saturday I went to lunch with a good friend of mine at a Chinese restaurant. At which time I received the greatest fortune cookie of all time. It said, and I quote "You are about to embark on a wonderful journey." Hahaha how awesome is that?
Lots of Love!
Claire
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