The Adventure Begins!

So I have never had a blog before but I thought I would start one since I will be in Korea for 6 months and I want to make everyone jealous by showing you all what a great time I am having. What better way to show off than a blog? Plus, I know my mother will want to know all the details and this seems more effective than just writing emails.

So just to clarify.
I served a 2 year LDS (Mormon) mission in Vancouver, Canada and I was assigned to teach the Korean people there. So for those 2 years (2010-2012) I learned Korean and worked with Koreans and went to church at the same Korean branch every week. Ever since, I went to the MTC and started learning Korean and about the culture and country, in a group where pretty much everyone but me was assigned to Korea, I have wanted to go to Korea. As I continued on with my mission, that desire only grew as I met more and more people who were from there and as I learned more about the culture. I also really loved the food.
I knew that the best way to go to Korea would be to get a job teaching English there. So as soon as I got home to Idaho from Vancouver I researched teaching opportunities. I wanted to go to Korea as soon as possible so I was quite put out when I found out that I needed a Bachelors degree to teach English in Korea. I had hardly completed any schooling so basically I would have to wait 4 years. I knew if I had to wait that long that I would probably never make it over there. So I started googleing like crazy to see if there was anyway possible I could do it with only an Associates degree. I was pretty excited when I found the Teach and Learn in Korea (TaLK) program which only required an Associates! (Ok, I was a little more than excited) So I learned everything I could about the TaLK program and I made a plan to finish my Associates Degree at the College of Southern Idaho as soon as possible and apply for the program. Well my plans worked out and now I am a TaLK scholar!

The application process for TaLK was quite strenuous and frankly a pain in the butt. I figure only really determined people actually get in because everyone else just gives up during all the hassle of applying.
God must have wanted me to get accepted though, because somehow I was able to figure it all out eventually, and I got accepted! If anyone has any questions about the application process or about the program just let me know. You can leave a comment down below.
So just a little about TaLK.
All the Asians want to learn English, or I should say all of the Asians want their kids to become fluent in English. The better at English they are, the better chance they have of getting a good job after they graduate from a University. Korea is very competitive when it comes to finding a good job. Everyone wants to be the best and have the best. Keeping up with the Jones's kind of stuff. Anyway, a lot of whether they are successful or not depends on how good they are at English. So Koreans learn English in school growing up and often times their parents will pay to send them to a Hakwon which is like an after school English class. However, in the more rural areas, Hagwons are not as common and many of the parents cannot afford to send their children to them. So the South Korean government decided to start bringing in English teachers from English speaking countries to start teaching the children in the more rural areas. The reason they want people from English speaking countries is mostly because of pronunciation I think. Also, they can afford to pay them less because they only require an Associates Degree. So the TaLK program is funded by the government and it places native English speakers in more rural areas of Korea to teach school kids between 1st and 6th grade.
Aside from being in Korea, there are benefits for being a Talk scholar. They provide housing and medical insurance while we are in Korea and we also receive a monthly stipend so I should be able to earn and save some money while I am here. Also they give us an entrance and exit allowance, which basically reimburses us for our plane tickets. They also take us on some cultural trips and such.
So pretty much I am stoked about being accepted to the program!
I am in Korea now. I just got here yesterday. In my next post I will tell about the experience of getting here and also about the field trip I went on today. I would write it right now but I am sick of typing and this post is already getting pretty long.
Here is a little sneak peak of my next post!

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