...not about Whoopi Goldberg silly.
After completing the course, I received my TEFL certificate in the post on Thursday, coincidentally the same day as my 29th (oh dear) Birthday, which was an extra little treat. Shiny and new like the life I hope to be leading far away in Asia, it looked up at me like a small smiling lamb, happy to be alive after just missing the butchers slaughter knife...Phew! It is now 100% official, and I have a lovely reference letter to prove it as well. This was a major accomplishment and one that I would happily do all over again if given the time and patience. I am actually considering doing another 30 hour Teaching Young Learners course to bump up my CV, and also to gain some more experience before going away, so watch this space.
Next on the list was notarising my degree. ‘Whats that Sarah?’ I hear you all ask with anticipation and wonderment. Well, let me tell you...as I intend to teach in South Korea I need a little thing called a Degree. Fortunately I was lucky enough to have completed one of these many moons ago in my youth, so all I needed to do now, was to prove that it was REAL! In order to do this I needed to seek the help of a solicitor, which is where Alison came in. Alison, the solicitor (we’re already on first name basis) came to my rescue and took a copy of my Degree along with my Disclosure Scotland certificate (which is basically a Criminal Records Check). I don’t think that you actually need to get your Disclosure Scotland notarised but she was only charging a small amount extra so I decided to go ahead regardless.
These documents are part of what you need in order to get a Visa in South Korea. It doesn’t have anything to do with the School you end up at, it is just necessary for the Korean Embassy upon acquiring your Visa. So, it is best to get these done nice and early so I am ready to proceed whenever that time will inevitably arrive. These documents are currently being notarised by the lovely Alison as we speak (or you read). Once she has done so, I can then send them off to the Foreign Commonwealth Office to get the documents apostilled. Which is basically a further check to show that they are definitely the real deal. Alison very kindly offered to do this for me (over a cup of tea no less), so I will probably take her up on that to save some time. Obviously she asked for a small fee but since we are basically family now, I thought best to go ahead and accept her offer. Thanks Ally!
You're doing it again...she is sadly not Alison Moyet!
Another milestone that was achieved this week, was the horrendous process of filming a video of myself telling the whole of YouTube why I would like to teach in South Korea. This was a mind boggling activity and took me the best part of 5 hours to complete. Self criticism is the worst, and I have never experienced it to such an extent when filming myself 5000+ times! I do not want to look at this face for at least a week! Terrible...and if you want to see it then you'll just have to waste the best part of an hour trying to find it! Good Luck!Once this was completed I could finally sign up to a recruitment agency. Which is what I have done today...
Next time on ‘In Pursuit of Pavements’: Recruitment Agencies! Who to go with, who I went with, and the ins and outs of MOVING HOUSE!
Stay tuned...
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