Update: December 27, 2012
The police called Zach's co-teacher to let her know that they had Zach's wallet. He got his wallet back today! Everything was still inside! Not even the subway card had been used. How awesome is that?!
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Well, it happened. I guess it was bound to at some point. Zach lost his wallet. The bad part about it? He was sober. Hehe! He either left it in the cab or it fell out of his pocket before he got home. Thankfully there was no cash in it. All of the cash was in his pants pocket.
Losing a wallet means that he also lost his subway card, credit card, Korean ATM card, Alien Registration Card (ARC - Korean ID card), and his driver's license. Zach's co-teacher made a report with the police, but we still have not heard whether someone has turned it in yet or not. We are not holding our breath.
Obviously, we had to cancel the credit card and have them send us a new one. The subway card is not a big loss even though he had about $20.00 on it. He will have to get a new ARC which is kind of a pain in the butt. He will have to take time off of work to go to the immigration office so they can issue him another one. It will take probably 3-4 weeks before he will get a new one. In order to make any changes at the bank here, they usually want to see our ARCs. So, I don't know if Zach will be able to get a new ATM card before he gets his ARC in 3-4 weeks. Hopefully they can go easy on him and just issue him a new card using his passport. I don't know how getting the driver's license is going to work. With the Indiana BMV, you can apparently replace a lost license by going online. However, to set up an account, you need to put in your license number. I don't think we've ever written down his license number. So, we sent the BMV an e-mail. We'll see how far that gets us. :)
Yeah, this all sucks, but it could have been worse. At least he didn't lose any money and no one has tried to use the credit or ATM cards! It's just a big hassle. Thank goodness that's all it is!
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Two Years Ago.... (An Update)
Two years ago today (December 13th), Zach and I landed at the Incheon Airport to start our journey. We honestly did not know where it would take us or how long we would be gone. Yes, we would miss friends and family, but we had/have each other and that could get us through anything! In those two years, we've taught in South Korea and China. We've traveled around Korea and Beijing and even had a long weekend in Japan. We've wanted to visit more places but our time will come for that to happen.
I honestly can't believe we've basically been away for two years. I say 'basically' because last year around this time, we were home for about two months before leaving for China. However, those two months felt like we were on vacation instead of living in real life.
So, what's next? We are constantly asking ourselves the same thing. We know one thing's for sure - our current contract doesn't end until the end of August. So we are here until at least then. Yes, that's right, I said 'at least'. Sorry to everyone who got their hopes up thinking we were coming back home. I have to be honest; Zach and love what we are doing. Yes, we might complain about co-teachers and students, the education system, or even everyday life, but who doesn't complain every once-in-a-while? The majority of our time is spent being very happy and content. Our dream is to be re-hired in August to stay another year.
However, that may prove to be a problem. There has been talk the past couple of weeks that Busan public school jobs for foreigners will be cut drastically. Just when we found a place and job that we love, we may have to leave. This makes us really sad and very uncertain about our future. Yes, we have eight months left, but we pretty much have to start planning for our next step starting now.
Because of the unknown with our jobs, we have made the extremely tough decision not to take a vacation this winter. We are given 10 working days paid vacation to take a trip in the winter, but we will not be traveling anywhere. Instead, we will take the 10 days paid vacation and stay in Korea. We may travel to Seoul just to have a mini get-away. This was a very hard decision to make because we wanted to go to Southeast Asia. One of our goals when we started this journey two years ago, was to see as many countries as we could. So far, that hasn't happened. But, it will - I promise!!!! Another reason it was such a hard decision is because I worry about what other people will think. I actually worry about that a lot and I have to learn to stop worrying about that so much. It doesn't matter what others think. Zach and I are leading the lives we want and we feel that this is the more financially responsible thing to do right now.
So, this is what we are thinking for next year.
1. Our ideal situation is to be able to re-sign and move into our own apartment.
2. We love Busan and would be willing to teach in a hagwon (not ideal).
3. Do a one-year masters program in the UK.
4. Try to get a job teaching in the Middle East. (We wouldn't go anywhere dangerous; we wouldn't put our lives at risk.)
We just are not ready to go back home. We are not even remotely thinking that we want to start a family, now or in the future.
Well, if you have any suggestions, we would love to hear what you have to say. I know you (family and friends) want us to come home but please do not give that as a suggestion. That is definitely not something we are ready for! Sorry.
I honestly can't believe we've basically been away for two years. I say 'basically' because last year around this time, we were home for about two months before leaving for China. However, those two months felt like we were on vacation instead of living in real life.
So, what's next? We are constantly asking ourselves the same thing. We know one thing's for sure - our current contract doesn't end until the end of August. So we are here until at least then. Yes, that's right, I said 'at least'. Sorry to everyone who got their hopes up thinking we were coming back home. I have to be honest; Zach and love what we are doing. Yes, we might complain about co-teachers and students, the education system, or even everyday life, but who doesn't complain every once-in-a-while? The majority of our time is spent being very happy and content. Our dream is to be re-hired in August to stay another year.
However, that may prove to be a problem. There has been talk the past couple of weeks that Busan public school jobs for foreigners will be cut drastically. Just when we found a place and job that we love, we may have to leave. This makes us really sad and very uncertain about our future. Yes, we have eight months left, but we pretty much have to start planning for our next step starting now.
Because of the unknown with our jobs, we have made the extremely tough decision not to take a vacation this winter. We are given 10 working days paid vacation to take a trip in the winter, but we will not be traveling anywhere. Instead, we will take the 10 days paid vacation and stay in Korea. We may travel to Seoul just to have a mini get-away. This was a very hard decision to make because we wanted to go to Southeast Asia. One of our goals when we started this journey two years ago, was to see as many countries as we could. So far, that hasn't happened. But, it will - I promise!!!! Another reason it was such a hard decision is because I worry about what other people will think. I actually worry about that a lot and I have to learn to stop worrying about that so much. It doesn't matter what others think. Zach and I are leading the lives we want and we feel that this is the more financially responsible thing to do right now.
So, this is what we are thinking for next year.
1. Our ideal situation is to be able to re-sign and move into our own apartment.
2. We love Busan and would be willing to teach in a hagwon (not ideal).
3. Do a one-year masters program in the UK.
4. Try to get a job teaching in the Middle East. (We wouldn't go anywhere dangerous; we wouldn't put our lives at risk.)
We just are not ready to go back home. We are not even remotely thinking that we want to start a family, now or in the future.
Well, if you have any suggestions, we would love to hear what you have to say. I know you (family and friends) want us to come home but please do not give that as a suggestion. That is definitely not something we are ready for! Sorry.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Hanukkah
I never really thought that I would celebrate the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah. I definitely never thought that I would celebrate Hanukkah in South Korea. However, this past Saturday night, we were invited to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah with a couple friends in our neighborhood. A couple whom we are friends with celebrate Hanukkah every year. Josh is Jewish by heritage and he and his wife, Kalie, are keeping up the tradition. Hanukkah started at sundown on Saturday, December 8th and will end on Saturday, December 15th.
Josh prepared many traditional foods and Zach made challah bread (pronounced holla).
Josh and Kalie also explained what Hanukkah was all about and read the prayers associated with the first day of Hanukkah. Please view the embedded video to hear an explanation of the foods we ate and hear the readings and prayers for the first day of Hanukkah.
A few of us who attended the Hanukkah celebration.
(Arin, Natalie, Kalie, Sam, Josh, Tyler, Cody, Zach)
My first Hanukkah celebration was a really good one!
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