November Shoutouts: Chill Travel Reads

The following is carried over from GRRRL TRAVELER...

November almost gone and it's a crazy time of month with news of winter camps, vacations and thoughts of if I'll continue onto Gap Year #2. I've been a busy duck this past month and it's taken a bit of a toll. The biggest question I try not to ask myself is- What will I do if my plans fall short?

Or what if I don't get a university job by my visa extension deadline in January?

Well folks, GRRRL's been incubating wonderful fallback plans, which entail yoga and my love for India!  Looks like Plan A or Plan A? Decision time will come again soon.

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Great Finds in my Reading Bin:

Why teach abroad?

• Is teaching abroad is a fail safe solution to beat the dying dollar? Think again.  Anne Merritt makes you ask "Is Teaching ESL 'Recession-Proof'?"

• Travis of TravelerHQ offers awesome GRRR! inspiration for those looking to make their way around the way via what else?...teaching! "Working and Teaching His Way Around the World".

• I love Expat Heather's "Photo Essay: Classrooms Around the World" It fell in synced perfectly with alove for travel and teaching children around the world.

NET News:

• Mitch at GO!Overseas wrote an interesting article "Teaching English in Korea: Comparing the EPIK, GEPIK, and SMOE Programs". What abbreviation are you and why?

Also Expacked Issue #96 is out with more newsworthy articles! Here are a few I thought were
important:

• Is your NET job in jeopardy? See what the buzz is all about. Talk of public schools phasing out native speaker English teachers (Brian in Jeollanamdo)

• If you're an EPIKer or EPIK applicant, this is for you, so read.  EPIK Press Releases: Re-entry permits; Application deadline extended; North Korean bombing (EPIK site via Expacked) Interestingly, we EPIKers didn't get any letter from EPIK (or our DMOE !) regarding the attack of North Korean bombing or what to do. We did get some NET Survey Satisfaction form to fill out though! Again, total fail EPIK & DMOE...

• Worried about a potential war and your embassy (like mine) still hasn't notified you? Chris can give you the **evacuation procedures**. Know how you can prepare and where you should run for safety. Life in Korea: emergency evacuation plans from South Korea (Chris in South Korea)






GRRR! Shoutouts

• Finally a warm hollers out to GO!Overseas for listing both My Crazy Kimchi! and GRRRL TRAVELER articles in its weekly newsletters for those who want to teach, volunteer or learn abroad.

NET winter vacation days at EPIK- a Juggle or a Screw?

What's my Numero Uno reason for not renewing my contract? Travel freedom. It may sound "princess"  of me to complain about vacation time. 18 days is a luxury compared to the standard two week vacation of a regular 9-5. ... but throw in the fact that we have "desk-warming days" during school vacation and the DMOE's screwing (or lack of stepping in when a school is screwing)  our vacation time. There's a reason I was a freelancer all this time.


This past month was stressful for many. Why? Winter is coming up with speed and with that follows our 10 day winter vacation. For renewing contracts, there was an 10 extra days as re-signing incentive (which must be used by the period's end or ...lost).

The problem for many Daegu EPIKers is that it wasn't possible to use all of the allotted days, within the given school/winter camp schedule. With a ticking clock of rising flight costs near the holiday