SIFF and Studio Gibli

For all those who love Studio Gibli and live in Washington SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) is showing Gibli films all this month and half of next month at the Uptown theater!  I got to see Ocean Waves and Spirited Away in theaters yesterday and it was incredible!  Seeing them on the big screen was definitely something else!

While there I also stopped at Uwajimaya and picked up a copy of Howl's Moving Castle to read.  Howl's Moving Castle is my favorite Gibli film so I figured I'd read the book and see if I love it as much as the movie.  So far the answer to that appears to be yes!

All of my paperwork is off to Korea so now I'm just waiting for my visa number and interview.  It's going to be an expensive next couple of months though!  I just bought a laptop and luggage.  Now I need to start looking for some "adult clothes."  I've been a college student too long I guess I don't own much that could pass as a work wardrobe.  I also figure with the magical internet though I can find stuff on the internet as I need it.

This next couple of weeks I will mostly be trying to complete my 100 hour TESL class!  On my next post I'll put some of my pictures from the San Juans up.  My last vacation in Washington was incredible!  I do love Washington.  It's forests, rivers and the Pacific are beautiful.  I can't wait to get to Korea and hike and camp on another continent!

Time for a Massive Update! Jobs, Graduating, Moving... You Know...

So time for an insanely large status update right? I was offered a job in Korea teaching in a little town called Gyeongsan outside of Daegu and they want me there by August 1st. So right now is crunch time I'm waiting on the absolute last piece of documentation to come back from Washington DC so that I can send a massive package of paperwork to the school. After that they will process my paperwork and I will have to drive to Seattle to perform an interview at the Korean consulate for a work visa. I'm getting nervous all of this is really cutting it close if the rest of this paperwork doesn't come soon I don't know what will happen... I graduated from school with my BA in Asian Studies officially! Have the paper to prove it and everything! Quit my part-time school job and got rid of 90% of my worldly possessions in preparation for my move to Korea. I also moved back to Moses Lake Washingtion to be with family before I leave. So lots going on here! Now I'm crossing my fingers that this paperwork comes tomorrow! As it's the last month before I head out I also plan on actually updating more regularly promise!

My Introduction Video

Apparently now when applying in Korea many people make short videos introducing themselves so interviewers can see you and hear your voice.  I am definitely not a photogenic person and I think I came across as a super nerd but here's mine: http://youtu.be/tekL3rwtF1Q

Now I get to wait and hope that someone decides to hire me.  Well not just that I also get to finish my TEFL course and my last quarter at school...  Oh and there's work... Ugh I may never sleep again...

IF You Want to Work Overseas...

You should definitely be someone who loves paperwork!  I'm hoping to get a job in Korea this August which means I have to start a lot of it now.  By the end of this experience it feels like just about every government agency in America will know way more information about me than I thought possible...

Still on the agenda is getting fingerprinted so that I can get a FBI background check going.  For anyone who ever finds themselves needing something from the FBI be warned it apparently takes 2 months or more to get anything from them.  I also have to get a passport, I know what kind of lame aspiring traveler doesn't even have a passport tucked away somewhere?  The answer to that I suppose would be one of the poor college student variety...

This is all being done while I'm starting my final quarter of school at Central.  I'm taking 20 credits so that I can graduate this spring instead of summer!  By the end of this quarter I hope that I will still be somewhat sane... the outlook however is not promising... ^_~

Things I should be doing right now...

I should be finishing my Genetics report that is due tomorrow by 5, laundry or even sleeping... What am I doing instead?  Creating a blog of course!  Probably getting a bit ahead of myself, I have another quarter of school to get through before I wander anywhere after all.  My last quarter of Japanese, Contemporary Religious Thought and Politics of Japan are up for my final quarter.