Ever feel like you have no direction in your life?

I don't know too many stories of how other people were recruited, there could be a myriad of ways people end up teaching overseas. But for the most part, we all come by roughly the same means: we find a job notice, apply to a recruiter, we fly over. I will give you the details of my story because it's the story I know best, and while not all the details will match other people's tales, a lot of the events and information will be universally true or at least useful as a guide.

There is a series of stages and events that I can identify from the time I first thought about coming here to when I arrived. Some of them might happen to you in a different chronological order. Some things I had to do may not apply to you, and certain others I never had to. But the day everybody has the same experiences is the day we're all physically and emotionally dead.

For instance, someone might be actively looking to teach overseas when they are preparing to go. I found my job by accident and had to rearrange my entire life in six weeks. For most people it won't be that drastic, but if I can handle the most extreme case, then most people should be able to handle any other.

So here is how I ended up in Korea:

• Finding a job notice
• The application process
• Obtaining a passport
• Vaccination and innoculation updates
• Deciding what to take and what not to
• Disposing and stashing your money and possessions
• Taking care of legal matters
• Researching the destination city and country

Read on and read my extra notes in bold at the end of each section. That's where I try to give general advice that I hope is useful to everyone.

Finding a job notice

In May 2001, I was an overworked and underpaid employee at a loathesome national company in Canada. (So loathesome I won't even tell you what line of work it was. No, it didn't involve telemarketing.) I was in the market for a new job, something with better prospects, more money, and one that left me with a sense of pride rather than embarassed to admit I worked there.

While searching through the job notice boards at my old college, I ran across a notice similar to this. (It has been a while since I saw the posting, so bear with me for its lack of detail.)

Also check out my links page for some of the more well known ESL job search sites. They contain not just jobs but links to many more job sites.

The application process

I took the posting and looked it over. Because the recruiter himself was in Korea, I had to visit a "business services" store and use a scanner to get images of my dogwood, my passport, and a few other items (most of which I didn't need to send). I sent an email and waited to see what would happen. Given my lack of success at finding work in Japan, I didn't get my hopes up.

As the saying goes, a pessimist is never disappointed. Within a day I had a response (remembering that Korea's time zones are a half-day's different from Canada's, so he replied while I was sleeping) and the recruiter was immediately interested! It turned out that Korea was loaded with jobs just waiting to be filled.

He told me he would need originals of my educational documents (which you can obtain from your alma mater) and should send them. Within 48 hours, a parcel courier delivered them to Korea, and the recruiter arranged a telephone job interview with the employer. Yes, it was that fast.

A few days after the successful interview, I was hired and the recruiter asked for personal information to begin making airline and legal arrangements, among other things that I did not see. At my end, I had to take care of personal matters, and that was where the chaos began.

Though the market is not as open as it was three years ago, and employers are trying to cut down on expenses such as airfare by hiring people already in Korea, there are still hundreds of jobs available in Korea at any one time.

Once you locate some recruiters, think of all the questions you can, maybe even some I have raised in your mind. Most will be very happy to answer, especially since every recruit they bring over means money in their pockets. The recruiters I have talked to are all very accomodating and willing to answer.

In fact, be concerned and wary if they do not answer your questions. I do not personally know any disreputable recruiters nor of anyone screwed over by a recruiter, but there will always be some bad apples with dollar signs in their eyes. Be aware and look for grey lists and black lists or recruiters and schools. (Sorry, I do not have links to any such lists.)

Obtaining a passport

Once I got word to come, I found to my horror that my passport had only one year left on its five year issuance. My potential employer and the recruiter required that I get a new one. (Many schools want to keep teachers more than one year because bringing over each new teacher costs a recruiting fee and airfare, about C$3000 each time. Having a passport with several years left makes you a better looking candidate.)

I picked up the forms and filled them in, asking my old college dean to co-sign the forms which he did willingly. I then visited my local MPs' office and submitted the application with all parts necessary and waited. Within two weeks (amazingly quick), the MP's office called to tell me my passport was ready.

Unless your passport has three years or more remaining from today's date, you would do yourself a favour by renewing it before beginning your job search. Application forms from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be mailed to you for no charge or pick up a copy from the airport or a travel agent. (A travel agent, you ask? People do need passports to travel, you know.) Make sure you have all legal documents and required items needed when you apply: your birth certificate, at least four (4) photos of the size required, plus any other forms of identification requested. They decide what is needed, not you, so don't slow down the process by being arrogant.

If you already have a passport, the government requires you return it to Ottawa with the application. If you want the old one back, the government will void it (punching holes in the cover) and return it to you. They do this because many people like to keep their old passports for the accumulated travel stamps.

Fill it in immediately. For a recognized signer, you need someone who has certain credentials of "respectibility" (the forms use other words, but that's what they are after). The best person to ask would be the dean of your college or university if you are a recent graduate. Mine didn't know me at all and he still signed the forms because he could verify that I was a graduate and had no criminal record.

There are several ways to submit the passport application to Ottawa, but the fastest way is through your Member of Parliament office, if he or she works out of your city. MPs have a "black bag" mail service that is sent to Ottawa daily and will get your application to Ottawa and in the hands of the passport office days or even weeks faster than by snail mail. It took barely more than two weeks to renew my passport from the time I submitted my papers to the new passport arriving at the MPs' offices. If you submit them via snail mail, it could take two months. (This may not be true anymore, or rules may have changed. In any case, apply now. The sooner you apply, the sooner your passport comes back.)

Also ahead of time, find out the locations of Canadian consular offices overseas from the Consular Affairs Bureau. (For example, did you know Canada has no embassy in North Korea? In the "Hermit Kingdom", all Canadian consular affairs are handled by the Swedish embassy in Pyonggyang.) It is better to know where to get help before you need it than to look for it when you are in dire straits.

If you have three years or less remaining and need to renew your passport while living overseas, you will have do it through the embassy. I have been here so long that I only have two years left on mine and some employers openly tell me they don't like it....

With your passport comes a small booklet entitled "Bon Voyage, But..." which contains a wealth of information, (much of what I post here comes from it). This book can be a lifesaver when you are overseas. Also ask for a copy of Canadian Consular Affairs: Providing Assistance to Canadians Abroad for a list of what services embassies and consulates do and do not provide. The government won't necessarily come to your rescue in an emergency just because you are a Canadian.

Vaccination and innoculation updates

Next, I went to the local health unit to get booster shots. My shoulders and buttocks were painful several times over a two week period, but it was worth it. Within two months of arriving in Korea, my first roommate missed a week of work with chicken pox and was in the constant agony of wanting to scratch but couldn't.

(Don't feel pity for the jerk. He is a South African who once openly said he left the country because it was "overrun by blacks", and that "things were better under Apartheid".)

Canadians and other westerners don't send kids to school when they are sick. Koreans do, and schools become breeding grounds for germs. I and several students caught the mumps because an idiot parent sent her son to school without informing anyone. When confronted about it once the school found out the source, she said, "I didn't think anyone needed to know." (Read Part 9: Stick It Out on Korean attitudes toward hygiene and disease.)

There are several reasons to visit your local health unit before you come.

Because some diseases are all but eradicated from North America, such as smallpox, polio, and tuberculosis, many Canadian parents in the last 40 years (including mine) did not vaccinate their children. Many Canadians under forty have no immunity to many diseases that can kill or permanently disable. There are many diseases common to Asia and other parts of the world that are not common to Canada, such as typhus, malaria, encephalitis, rabies, cholera, and both Hepatitis A and B.

(Remember your history and what the diseases brought by the Europeans did to the indigenous Canadians? Do you want that to happen to you while you are in Korea?)

And unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past three years, I am sure you are well aware of the appearance and spread of the flu-variant SARS. Korea is barely 2000 kilometres from the world's SARS hotzone. I describe Korean hygiene and habits in Part 9: Stick It Out, and the Chinese and Taiwanese share the same habits. That SARS has not spread to Korea has more to do with luck than cleanliness.

Finally, Korea does not test for AIDS in people arriving there, but many countries will refuse entry to HIV+ people and will arrest you if they believe you are a carrier of an infectious disease. Do you want to spend months languishing in a cell waiting for tests to come back? Make sure you are healthy or at least aware of any communicable diseases you may carry, and what your destination country's policy is.

In China, the Philippines and some other countries, if you look sick you will be detained, and many Asian airports have body sensors to detect the high fevers associated with SARS. If you have a cold or a flu, try to delay your flight date. It's better to wait two or three days to travel than to be put back on a plane the moment you arrive.

Do yourself a favour before you go and visit the World Health Organization (WHO) and the USA's Center for Disease Control websites for information on diseases overseas.

Deciding what to take and what not to

Disposing and stashing your money and possessions

When I was hired to come, I decided to toss everything, lock, stock, and barrel, and start my life over. I don't mean my life was miserable in Canada or that I was running away from my problems, I just mean that I wanted to stop the cycle of dead-end jobs and meaningless drudgery. Life was work, TV, and fixing a worthless rented home.

The smartest thing I did was to have a yard sale before I left. Everything and anything I didn't want or need got hauled out and hauled away by people who thought they (and maybe did) get a bargain, and I got a haul too: $2000 in cash. I had no ready cash in my bank account before that, and the money came in very useful once I arrived in Korea.

It also lightened my load. By the time I sold off the junk I couldn't take, gave away my unwanted books to libraries (the bastards wouldn't give me tax receipts for them), my unwanted clothes to charity, and the last of my household goods (remaining foodstuffs, appliances, kitchen utensils) to the Elizabeth Fry Society, I had nothing to move except my carry on and checked bags.

For some people, the idea of getting rid of everything is unfathomable or frightening. Some people I met were afraid that if they tossed all their personal belongings, they might never want to go back. (And if I don't, what's wrong with that?)

Paying to keep your possessions in storage or in a family member's house might seem like a good idea if you plan to return, but there are legal ramifications if you do (see below in Legal Matters). If you plan to store your things, you had better hide them well.

And remember that $2000 I mentioned? When you first arrive in Korea, most schools take advantage of you and have a "training period" where they claim they don't have to pay you but you are effectively working. The government lets them get away with this.

Because of this make-believe "training period", you will be at least six weeks away from your first paycheque after arriving. Once you start working (the real work time, not the "training") you may be able to take an advance on your next paycheque, but your pay will be that much less. With money in your pocket when you arrive, you will be less likely to take advances or (like me) not do it at all.

And it's not just the time delay involved that costs money. What about setting up in your new apartment? What about hangers, kitchen supplies, food, and entertainment, and other things that you pay for whenever you move? You need money for that. Your new workmates will gladly welcome you, but I doubt they will loan you money. Mine didn't.

Most importantly and for safety's sake, put your money into Visa or American Express traveller's cheques before you travel. Almost all banks sell travellers cheques in US funds for no service charge except the cost of exchange. Nothing could be worse than having a wad of uninsured bills stolen from you and no way to recover it.

And even if you have traveller's cheques, hide a few of the cheques in different places amongst your luggage. If a bag or your wallet and the cheques in it are stolen, it will take a few days before you get replacements. If you don't stash a few away, you could be without any money while you are waiting.

Taking care of legal matters

Rule #1 of the law: Ignorance of the law is no defense.
Rule #2 of the law: Educating yourself in the law is an offense.

This is only halfway sarcastic. In many ways, it's true.

Getting information out of a civil servant is like herding cats. These people are not civil, and they are more servile than servant. That certainly was my experience in dealing with these bungling buffoons.

Unless you know by name and number what it is you are asking for, they won't help you. That puts the onus on you to do the research and find out exactly what it is you need because nobody who is paid to tell you will tell you. I learned more about what forms I needed by talking to people waiting in line at government offices than I ever did from the employees.

In preparing to leave Canada, I had to check and double check the laws and rules about living and working overseas. Everytime I said "taxes in a foreign country", the idiots at the tax offices said "talk to Foreign Affairs". Every time I said "taxes in a foreign country" to foreign affairs, those idiots said "talk to CCRA". Nobody knew what they were doing and there was no coordination between them.

I had to go into the public access rooms and dig through law books before I found what I needed. In all cases, once I showed the dimwits the laws that they and their departments are supposed to follow and services they are supposed to provide, they were surprised that it was their job and were more surprised - nee, offended - that I expected them to do their job. Any information I gleaned out of dealing with the government was through my own footwork and efforts, not their ineptness and mental mediocrity. Small wonder these people work for the government.

The most important document you will need is the Canadian Residents Abroad, T4131 (E). A PDF of the 2003 version can be downloaded from this site, but I would advise going to the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) website and downloading a more recent version if one exists.

The T4131 details the rules for Canadians living and working in other countries. If you follow the rules, you will only be subject to the taxes in the country you live in. If you do not follow them, you will be subject to Canadian tax laws, even while living overseas.

It doesn't matter if this is a stupid idea and unfair, we're talking about the Canadian government here. CRA (at that time, Revenue Canada) once seized $12 from a child's bank account because the boy's father didn't have the money to pay income tax. (The boy had a newspaper route.) Decency and common sense don't mean anything to them.

The only time this would not be an issue is in a country which has higher rates of personal income tax such as Sweden. But Canada has one of the highest rates in the world, meaning most are lower, and if you violate CCRA's rules, you will be subject to extra income tax upon your return.

Many countries have "tax agreements" with each other. These are sets of laws agreed on by countries to prevent arguments amongst themselves over tax authority and who gets the money. At first you might think this is a way to get extra taxes out of you, but it actually protects you.

If Canada and another country have no tax agreement, you pay income tax in both countries, meaning you pay taxes twice on money already earned. Tax agreements protect you by preventing such "doubling up". Most first world and industrialized nations have tax agreements with each other. Only countries with Looney-Tunes governments like North Korea, some African dictatorships and a few others do not have tax agreements with Canada. (Why anyone would want to work in those sorts of countries, I have no idea.)

I am not a lawyer, but below is the basic gist of the law. If you live outside of Canada you must pay Canadian income tax rates if you violate any - even one - of these rules. Don't assume I am right! Talk to a lawyer or professional auditor and check for yourself.

• You do not stay outside of Canada for a minimum length of time
  For English teachers on contract (as of 2002): one year.
  For all other workers and citizens: two years.
  Returning on holiday for short periods is permitted (usually less than two months).
  No work of any kind is permitted on holiday in Canada.
• You own any property in Canada
  Own houses, apartments, businesses, etc. and you are considered a resident.
• You own any vehicles in Canada
  Own cars, motorcycles, etc. and you are considered a resident.
• You have any investments in Canada
  Own stocks, savings bonds, t-bills, etc. and you are considered a resident.
  Having a savings account at a bank and you are considered a resident.
• Your personal possessions are kept in storage in Canada
  Store possessions at commercial storage facility and you are considered a resident.
  Store them with your family and they could be subject to penalties if you are caught.
• You use any benefit of Canadian citizenship aside from your passport
  Pay the more expensive "international rate" for travel insurance or you violate the rules.
  Pay the more expensive "international rate" for medical insurance or you violate the rules.
  Give up your Provincial driver's license or you violate the rules (International driver's licenses are derived from provincial licenses, so you lose that too.)

Essentially, you have to do what I did: get rid of everything and effectively give up citizenship or the government will consider you a resident while working overseas.

If your first thought is, "Who cares? What can they do to me?" I can, as a business graduate and a trained H&R Block tax preparer, tell you what they can do:

• Force you to repay back taxes
  

  Income tax saved annually:	In Canada	In Korea
  Annual income in Korea (1,800,000 X 12):	$24,800	21,600,000won, or C$24,800
  Basic tax rate and miscellaneous deductions	20%	5%
  Taxes and deductions paid	$4960	1,080,000 won, or C$1240
  Taxes saved by working in Korea vs. Canada	$0	3,240,000 won, or C$3720

  
  Unless, of course, you don't mind giving Ottawa the C$3720 rather than keeping it for yourself. Is that C$40 international driver's license really worth that much? It costs approximately C$700 to obtain a Korean driver's license. By comparison, it is a bargain if you really insist on driving while overseas.
• Seize your assets and property
  Your car? Now it's Ottawa's. Your savings bonds? Not yours. Your dad's house...?
• Audit your previous tax years
  Up to seven years back. Unless you have never filed a tax return in your life, this could be a real pain in the ass.
• Revoke your passport and force you to return to Canada
  What does Ottawa care about your job, your fiance/spouse/partner, you leave now!
• Charge you criminally
  People with criminal records are often rejected admission to other countries and may not be able to obtain a passport. Forget about travelling in the future, even to the USA.

Now is it worth it to follow their rules?

Call the tax office in your area, in Ottawa 1-800-267-1267 on weekdays 8:15-5:00 EST. From outside of Canada you can call collect (613) 952-3741 and they will accept it.

Visit the CRA website and download PDFs or request forms. Also visit my links page for a list of forms I suggest you get before you go. CRA is often uncooperative about sending tax forms overseas, and the Canadian embassy keeps too few copies of tax return forms for the number of Canadians here. Ask your family or a friend to mail them to you if you can't get them before you leave.

(Remember to have your tax forms, be they T4s from employers or government forms sent to the mailbox I told you about in Part 3: Lost In The Limitless Rise...unless, of coures, you want your Korean employer knowing your private information.)

Finally, don't forget to submit a tax return to Ottawa for the year that you leave Canada. Even if you leave on January 1 and filed for the previous year, file for the current year. Any taxes due will be prorated for the part of the year you were in Canada.

Don't give the bastards a chance to screw you over.

Researching the destination city and country

We English speakers are the most chauvinistic and imperialist assholes on the face of the Earth. When people come to English-speaking countries, we expect them to speak English. When we go to their country, we expect them to speak English. And don't think I'm letting the French off lightly! Ask people in Florida about the Quebec "snowbirds" (the tourists who go south in the winter) who demand service in French, in Florida!

(Multilingualism is not a burden but a benefit. The more languages you can speak, the more people you can talk to. A study published in June 2004 showed that people who speak at least two languages are less prone to dementia and "brain fade" associated with old age.)

What sucks for me is that I find learning rules and organization to be easy (in language, that means the grammar). But when I try to learn vocabulary, I am wasting my time. I studied French and Japanese for years and can't hold a conversation. Words are to my brain as water is to a seive.

For me, trying to study Korean was equally a waste of time. But I did find that learning some basics was enough to get along in Korea. I learned numbers (for counting and money), directions, and basic niceties and have gotten by without anything more.

Most importantly, I learned to read the script, Hangul. The language is phonetic (it sounds and is spelt the same) unlike English and French. Korean grammar is consistent and easy to learn with few irregular verbs, also unlike English and French.

Expecting someone to learn and be fluent in a languange within a year is impossible, let alone a few months. But even if you are only in Korea (or another country) for a year, it will help you to get along by learning at least some of the local tongue. Not just because it is easier for you to communicate with people, but because most will appreciate the effort and be friendlier to you.

Here are a few links to software and other resources to learn the basics of Korean:

• Introduction To Korean - A tutorial for Hangul writing
  As the text says, it shows you how to write in Korean. But there's an easy way to remember Korean characters: a tic-tac-toe grid. (Trust me, you'll understand....)
• LangIntro to Korea
  This is a very well made website introducing Korean to the beginner. It contains graphic images of the script as well as sounds for listening practice. It can be used both online and downloaded as ZIP files to use at home. If the site disappears, let me know. I have copies of the files and will post them on this site.
• Online Korean Course - Learn Korean through self-study
• The Alternative Dictionary: Korean
  The Alternative Dictionary is not a standard dictionary. It is a website cataloguing profanity and insults in many languages. I am not providing the link so you can use the words on others, but rather so you are aware if a Korean is hurling them at you. Just like in Canada, verbal belligerence and berating is often a precursor to being physically assaulted, and public drunkenness is common in Korea.
• Survival Korean
  A bare-bones introduction to Korean.
• K's quick and dirty Korean dictionary
  I recently did this specifically for this page. The contents are pilfered from the TraveLang website and copied verbatim. If there are any grammatical or etymological errors, they are theirs, not mine. I am attempting to converting this into a program for Palm PDA devices and will post it if/when I do.