After three weeks in Korea in quarantine and training orientation I was finally on my way to my new home in Daegu.  Our first day in the city was an intense one as we were introduced to our co-teacher, our school and shown to our apartments. 

My co-teacher was really welcoming which was a great start and as we got closer to the school and I could see the famous Daegu tower close by I started to get more excited. I had my first taste of school lunches (so good!) straight away and was then taken to my office/classroom and to meet the other teachers and principal. I was given flowers as a welcoming gift which was so touching.  I share my office with another NET which was a great surprise for me. My fellow NET has been at the school for a few years and I’m so grateful to have a sidekick to help with settling in and make desk warming in the holidays less boring!

Our office is the English classroom which currently isn’t being used for teaching due to COVID. We have views of Apsan mountain out of our window which makes for a fab backdrop.
After signing some paperwork, me and my co-teacher headed to my apartment. I live a short walk away from both my schools and a 10-minute walk from the metro.  I live in a villa style apartment building which has three floors and around 10 apartments.  My space is small but I’ve been falling a bit more in love with it every day.
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I have an entranceway, a main room, a ‘balcony/ laundry room, kitchen and bathroom.  The fact that I can separate the kitchen from the main space is the biggest plus for me and I can’t wait to show it to you when I’m done decorating. Right now, it is still pretty sparse so needs a bit more work to it before I’ll be happy to show it off! 

From my apartment we went straight to Homeplus to pick up all the essentials as well as some food for the next few nights.  The first night in was daunting but I made some dinner and prepared myself for my first day of teaching the next day.

This was at my travelling school and I went straight into the deep-end with 6 classes.  Luckily, my co-teacher here was really welcoming and my first few introduction lessons with the students went down well.  The first week is definitely overwhelming as you try your hand at teaching for maybe the first time and consume all the information but if I can get through 6 classes on the first day unscathed so can anyone!

With the first day under my belt, I celebrated it being Friday and our first weekend in Daegu by meeting some friends afterwork for our first taste of downtown. This is only two stops away on the metro for me. Downtown Daegu offers everything you need. We went to a cute pizza restaurant called Zione which had amazing authentic Italian pizza. It also has some amazing wine which was well needed after such a long and stressful three weeks. 

Our first weekend was spent exploring downtown Daegu and the nearby Duryu park. Duryu park surprised me in its size but it has loads of features to explore including the stunning Seongdang Lake. On my first Sunday I decided to spent the day on my own after figuring out the basics and went back downtown to do a bit of shopping.
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My first week at school was mainly introduction lessons and a lot of lesson planning.  I was lucky to have my fellow NET to show me the ropes and how my co-teachers and school preferred co-teaching to work here. At my main school and my travelling school I co-teach 50/50 so we both take turns leading the class through activities. This works well and means I’m always in charge of planning a game or activity to end the class. At first, the amount of work seemed overwhelming but now a few weeks in, it seems a lot more manageable. 

After work I made sure to meet with various friends for dinner and exploring which was a well needed break from the stress of the first week!  The second weekend in Daegu arrived quickly and after spending Friday on the other side of the city to see a friends neighbourhood, our weekend was spent at Suseong Lake hiring Swan pedalos and eating bingsu at the airplane café there.
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Our third weekend here was spent on Apsan Mountain.  This mountain looks over the city and has cable car access.  We took the cable up and then chose to hike a round route to the peak of Apsan and other various viewing points.  We chose a really hot day to do this in but it was worth it for the perfect views and sunset. The restaurant at the top of the cable car is really reasonably priced and had an outdoor viewing deck which is the perfect spot for a sunset view. 

Now that a few weeks have gone by, I feel a lot more settled and less overwhelmed. All the locals I’ve encountered so far have been nothing but friendly and welcoming. My listening skills when it comes to Korean have gotten better but I’m still too nervous most of the time to speak much. I’m hoping to start classes once again next month. 

I have been loving my time so far exploring Daegu and will be sharing more on my life here as I settle in further in upcoming blogs.  I also have some exciting trips planned around Korea which I'll be sharing on here soon!

After a long two weeks in quarantine in Seoul – the day of freedom was finally here!
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We all packed our bags once again and waited for the phone call from reception saying we could finally leave our rooms. We were put on a bus straight away to head to orientation. The weather was wet and grey but that didn’t dampen our mood as we pulled our suitcases in the rain and watched a damp Seoul go by out of the bus windows.  From a very small glance at the capital city I can’t wait to go back hopefully in the near future.

Our orientation was held at Jungwon University in Chongcheongbuk-do. The university was very rural with amazing views of the lush mountains. It was also huge, perfect for an orientation size of around 500 to congregate.  Due to COVID regulations, we were each given our own room to stay in.  These were dorms on the campus and I felt lucky I was in it alone. It seemed that it was usually occupied by 3 people and it seemed far too small a space for that!

After settling into our new rooms – we took advantage of the outside space we had and went for an explore and walk. It was so amazing to get outside and breathe some fresh air, although with the rain clearing to sun – it quickly heated up which none of us loved with our masks on!
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We weren’t allowed full rein of the campus but we were able to walk around some of the grounds, use the convenience store onsite and explore the pond with a menagerie of statues including dinosaurs and Mickey and Minne. 

Day 1 was spent exploring and getting to finally meet people we’d only ever talked to online and a meeting in the afternoon.  We met our homeroom teacher for the following few days and what was expected of us was outlined.  Due to COVID we were placed into classrooms and did not move around for lectures.  Our class was mainly teachers heading to Daegu and a few to Incheon. Our Daegu intake was fairly big so there was an entire other class of teachers who we couldn’t really interact with during the week. That evening we stayed up getting to know each other and preparing ourselves for the next day.

Day 2 was intense as we had back to back classes up until the evening. Our morning was spent learning about EPIK life and life in Korea.  After lunch we met with current NETS (Native English Teachers) and learnt more about the practice lessons we would be presenting in pairs two days later.  One of our NETS was a teacher currently working in Daegu so it was great to get her perspective about the city. 
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That evening we stayed after dinner to discuss our lesson plan.  I found myself ending the evening at the pavilion playing cards and spending time with my peers who would be moving to Daegu.

Day 3 was another busy day. The morning was spent learning more about Korea whilst the afternoon was dedicated to lesson planning. We were placed into pairs and given a grade and class topic to prepare for. We were asked to prepare a detailed lesson plan for a 40-minute class and present 15 minutes of it.  We were asked to prepare a class for 3rd Grade Elementary about the weather.

​This was an intense experience as we were all unsure of what was expected of us.  Me and my partner prepared the best we could and submitted our lesson plan with only 30 minutes to go.  Whilst others prepared late into the night, we chose to take a more relaxed approach and I spent the evening with others sampling the various ice creams on offer at the on-campus store.

Day 4 was the big day of presentations. We were 4th to present and overall our presentation went pretty well but mainly it was just a massive relief to have it done. It wasn’t graded but we did get feedback from current teachers to help us in the future. The rest of the day was spent watching the rest of our class present their own lessons. To make it more authentic we all pretended to be the age of the grade which was quite entertaining.

This was another long day and the evening was spent euphorically for everyone as we celebrated the biggest hurdle of orientation being over. After heading back to our rooms to sleep, we were informed that the area of Korea we were currently in was moving to Level 4 COVID restrictions due to a rise in cases and therefore tomorrow mornings classes would be virtual.  We would also have to eat our meals in our rooms. Prior to this day we would eat our meals in our classrooms.

Day 5 therefore was a bit different. We first ate our breakfast in our rooms and then had our morning classes online.  This included a class on more practical things in Korea such as how to use various navigation apps and food delivery services. For lunch, I met with a couple of friends to eat in the cafeteria by the campus store and we headed back to our classrooms to find out our placements. Due to the nature of this part of the schedule, it was agreed that it could be offline. 
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Dressed to impress, we headed towards our classroom with increasing nerves. Before this point, although we knew that we would be placed in Daegu, we had no idea where in the city we would live or work. As we entered the classroom an envelope with our name and schools/school was waiting for us. Seeing the name of the schools meant nothing to me – although I could see I had two and both were elementary. This was the grade I was expecting to teach in so I was pleased to get my preferred grade level. As we sat down, we started to search for our schools online which determined where in the city we would be! 

When my search came up I felt like I’d hit the jackpot.  My schools were both a short walk from each other and both close to Duryu park and E-world, a major landmark in the city.  I also found out that my subway stop was only two away from the main downtown area. 

As we compared locations we discovered that we were spread throughout the city but for the most part close to transport links to visit each other or meet up downtown.  It was so exciting to finally know where we’d be living and made everything feel a lot more real.

At this point we also met the DMOE (Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education) and signed our official contracts with the name of our workplace. Our DMOE representatives who look after us on a wider level were so friendly and helpful that we all felt at ease – it wasn’t a formal meeting at all!
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That evening we all got some early sleep and spent more time researching the areas we would be living in. More research showed me that there was a main road nearby, easy access to the rest of the city and the mountain, Apsan close by to explore. 

The next day we got prepared to leave the safety of orientation and go our own ways. We once more packed our bags, loaded the buses and set off for Daegu. This was only a 2-hour drive and as we got closer to the city, the reality of everything started to hit us.  Although finding out the day before where we would be placed was a huge weight off our shoulders, we still didn’t know our co-teachers, our apartment or what our schools actually looked like.

We met our co-teachers at an eastern point in Daegu and from here started our own journeys in Korea.

In August 2021 I moved to South Korea to work as a native English teacher in the city of Daegu. Due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, all new arrivals into South Korea have to undergo a 14-day quarantine in a government approved hotel.  If you are a Korean national or already have a Korean address, you are allowed to quarantine there. Since we are yet to move into our new homes, EPIK quarantined us at two hotels. Hotel Skypark Central Myeongdong and Hotel Skypark Hotel Kingstown Dongdaemun.  I was placed in the Hotel Skypark Central Myeongdong. 

On arrival into South Korea, we went through a series of well organised checkpoints.  These included a temp check and a checkpoint where we showed our negative PCR results, a checkpoint where we downloaded a quarantine app on our phone and another checkpoint where this was set up by officials.  They checked that we could be contacted either with a working Korean phone number or had a representative who could be called on behalf of us. We also were shown how to use the app.  Not only does it track your phone’s location to ensure you do not leave the room, but also warns you if your phone has not been moved during the day.  This is to try and stop people from leaving their phone behind and trying to escape! We have to record a self-diagnosis twice a day where we record any symptoms we are having as well as our temperature.
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After these checkpoints we headed through immigration which was as normal.  These hoops to jump through do add extra time but I thought it was efficient. After this we were given a sticker to identify which hotel we were going to. I met two others at baggage claim who were heading to the Myeongdong hotel so we all shared the taxi to the hotel to split the cost. 

Once at the hotel, we paid the fee for quarantine upfront (1.56m ₩) and were helped up to our rooms. The whole hotel here is being used as a quarantine facility so it is luck of the draw with what type of room you are placed in.  I was pretty lucky and got a room which I assume is normally used as a twin or triple room. It had a view out the back of the hotel onto office buildings and is spacious with lots of room to move around.  It also comes complete with a huge bed, a must for quarantine!
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As I say, it really is the luck of the draw, other colleagues have been placed in larger rooms with balconies, others have a view of the Seoul skyline.  There are also those who have a view of a courtyard and a much smaller room so I feel very lucky with what I ended up with! 

On the first night, as we had missed dinner, we were given a bag of snacks to tide us over.  These included a cereal box, blueberry muffin, donut and mango pieces.  The next day, as I had informed the hotel I was a vegetarian prior to arrival, I was given the vegetarian option for each meal. 

This consisted of a salad with two pieces of fruit, trail mix and some form of protein (usually quail eggs or imitation crab).  It also came with a chocopie, crisps and an orange juice. My stomach did not have much appetite on the first day and being presented with a salad for each meal was not my idea of fun whist jetlagged! After the first day and seeing what the meat eaters were offered, I decided to have the normal meal option for breakfast and dinner and a salad for lunch.  This suited me much better.

Breakfast alternated between a savoury rice porridge and a sandwich.  I will say that I am yet to be converted to savoury porridge with kimchi before 7am but I did enjoy the sandwich meal! These always came with a juice, cereal box and other snacks. For dinner we got a meat main, rice and a selection of 반찬 (banchan) which usually consisted of some type of kimchi, protein and sometimes pasta! We also always got a broth of some kind.  This wasn’t particularly veggie friendly but I often had the broth, rice and kimchi together.
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I made sure to bring a number of snacks with me and am so grateful I did.  I brought cous cous to go with the salad and packets of instant noodles to eat if I was a bit more peckish.
Overall, the hotel is having to feed hundred of people, all of varying cultures, diets and appetites. I think with this in mind, the food was pretty good but I am so looking forward to getting out of here to try some different food! 

I found that establishing a routine early on was so important in making my time in quarantine not only productive but also more enjoyable.  Everyday I ran 1k up and down my room (so sorry whomever was below me!) and did a workout using a YouTube routine. I brought resistance bands with me which are a great light weight tool to bring with you to get a little extra out of your workouts.  Making sure to move my body each day as been really important for me to feel good about myself even though I’m stuck in the same room.

I pushed myself to do something constructive with my afternoons, either completing the pre-orientation videos we were given to go over in quarantine, writing blog posts or studying Korean. Having a task to achieve for the day gave me something to work towards.

Of course, when else are you going to get so much time to do so little? I made sure to chill out too by reading, watching Netflix, catching up on Love Island and other TV shows. 
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The prospect of food three times a day also added some structure as did washing up the dishes and doing laundry.  All of this I did in the bathroom sink making it very multipurpose!  Make sure to bring handwash detergent with you as well as a little bottle of dish soap. I ended up using the provided toothbrushes as a makeshift scrubbing brush to wash down the dishes. 

​Whilst in isolation, it is so important to keep in touch with other people. As I am quarantining here with hundreds of other colleagues, we have been able to keep in touch with group chats and provide advice and banter to our situation. I also made sure to call my parents each day and best friends to catch up and break up the day. 

 My quarantine experience hasn’t been too bad.  It is isolating and can get dull but having a routine has really helped me maintain a sense of normalcy.  It is normal to have a bump at some point and question why you put yourself in this position but at the end of the day I know it will be worth it! 

Today is freedom day and we'll move onto the next step of our adventure which is orientation! We'll be staying on a university campus for five days of training.  After this we'll head down to Daegu to finally meeting our co-teachers, schools and apartments. 

I most likely won't post for a fortnight as I settle in but will be back soon with a run-by of orientation and a apartment tour!

If you had asked me in January 2020 if I thought I would be an EFL (English Foreign Language) teacher in 18 months’ time I would have honestly said I hadn't even given it much consideration.  

As we all know - two months after in March 2020, COVID-19 really hit the UK shores and I found myself furloughed and with a LOT of spare time. Over the next six months whilst on furlough, I caught up on long overdue blog posts on here, spent time with my family and explored new hobbies.  Amongst all of this, I also started to consider new opportunities and ventures as the likelihood of retaining my current position got smaller.  Being at home made me confident that I had not yet satisfied my travel itch so I researched various possibilities for jobs outside of the UK. 
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Which is when I started considering teaching abroad.  Not only did it sound like a good fit but would allow me to get creative, share western cultures and embrace the challenge of working in a country that doesn’t speak my native tongue.  I loved working with kids in the past, once with Camp America and once as a nanny so felt teaching was just one more step.  My initial research into EFL led me to the EPIK Programme which I thought sounded right up my street.  

EPIK (English Programme in Korea) is a public-school teaching scheme which allows native English speakers to teach in South Korea.  The contract is one year with the opportunity to extend.  You will be placed in one of the metropolitan or provincial areas of South Korea and teach at either one or multiple schools depending on your placement.   Your own apartment is provided by the school as is a decent wage and many other benefits such as health insurance.

You will teach with a Korean co-teacher in the classroom and teach in either Elementary, Middle or High school.  The programme accepts a few hundred new teachers twice a year and it also means you have a large support system with you when navigating through the process as well as in the airport, through quarantine, orientation and finally getting to your schools.

Although I did look at other countries to see what their EFL programmes offered, South Korea appealed to me because I already had an interest in the culture, and as I researched more, I found myself fascinated with the language, history and geography too. 
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South Korea has a rich and varied history that includes ancient dynasties, tragic colonial periods and war and in the last 50 years or so, a rapidly growing economy and society.  Despite this growing movement to a fast-paced and modern lifestyle, Korea at heart holds onto centuries old traditions and ways of life. 

My EPIK Journey started over a year ago now.  Once I knew it was the path I wanted to go down, I signed up to complete my TEFL qualification.  I did this from June-September 2020 whilst I was furloughed.  I really enjoyed having something productive to do with my time and doing the course cemented in me that teaching would be something I would really enjoy.  In August 2020 I applied to EPIK with my application form that consisted of three essays, one lesson plan and letters of reference from previous employers. 

I spent the next month or so obtaining all the various documents that I needed to submit if I was to pass my interview.  These included DBS checks, apostilled birth certificates and degrees and transcripts.  I won’t go in depth into the application process here as there is plenty of advice online although the process can be confusing with a lot of hoops to jump!

By October I had secured an interview. This was nerve wracking, but my recruiter helped loads with practice questions that made the real interview actually laid back and enjoyable. I found out a few days after that I had passed through to the next round.  I sent my documents off and had to wait another two months to hear where was I was going to be placed in the country.  I got this news in December, just before the New Year and found out I would be in Daegu which was my first choice!
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I chose Daegu as I wanted to be in a busy city but didn’t fancy the huge metropolis of Seoul. Daegu is in the south west and is surrounded by mountains with a population of 2.5 million people.  It has plenty to do including incredible hikes up the nearby mountains such as Palgongsan, hundreds of cute and quirky cafes and a large downtown area which even features an amusement park with a Ferris Wheel over the city. It also has great KTX train connections to both Seoul and Busan so I hope I’ll be able to get out and about a lot. 

 From December I started the process of preparing to get my visa until bad news came a few days after my placement news arrived.  Due to the Alpha (Kent) variant of Coronavirus, South Korea made the decision to suspend visa issuance.  This wasn’t resolved until April 2021 and as a result the UK and South African intake for Spring 2021 had to defer to go in the Fall.  At the time I was devastated and the idea of waiting another six months felt like too long.  Luckily, my job allowed me to stay on and I was still living with my parents which meant I was safe and comfortable until we were able to fly.

I used these six months to save more money, spend time with friends as restrictions eased and also learn more Korean.  I took a 14-week Korean course with the Korean Embassy in London online and was able to get a head start on learning the language.  I’ve really enjoyed language learning again and hope I’ll continue to improve for as long as I am here.
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By May we had confirmation of our placements once again and by July were applying for our visas.  Mine luckily came really quickly and meant I could also book my flight making it feel a lot more real! The final hurdle was to test negative for COVID prior to the flight which was a really anxious time for me and my family as cases continued to rise across the UK.  Luckily our sacrifices were worth it and we found out 24 hours before the flight that I could board! COVID certainly made the process more stressful but it was all worth it. 

After flying into Incheon International on the 7th August 2021 we took a taxi to Seoul where we are quarantining for 14 days. From here we will have a 5-day orientation and will then move to our cities or regions to meet our co-teacher, schools and where we will be living for the next year. 
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I’m so happy to be travelling and exploring again and look forward to sharing more about my new life here in South Korea with you! I’ll share more about day-to-day life as an EPIK teacher, what to see, do and eat in Daegu and hopefully blogs of my travels around this beautiful country.