Questions and Answers about Maria and Ethan's upcomming move

Yes, we are moving to South Korea! This section should answer some basic questions and maybe bust some rumors you have heard.

Where will we be living?
We will living in a city in the southern part of South Korea, known as Kwangju. Kwangju is the fifth largest city in South Korea, with a population of 2.3 million. There are two national parks nearby for easy refuge from the city. Kwangju is also about an hour from the coast which contains many islands.
We will have an apartment in a central location to the two schools where we will be working.

How will you teach English to Koreans, if you don't speak Korean?
Much of this we will have to figure out for ourselves. We are told that this is easily possible because we will primarily be teaching pronunciation and conversation skills (which is a very good thing since we are not known for our perfect spelling abilities). Korean students have been learning English since they started school, and most will already have a good understanding of vocabulary and grammar.

Why Korea?
As many of you may know, we have been looking to work in the Outdoor Education field "out west" for quite some time now. For some reason however, those plans never really worked out, and then they did they didn't seem quite right. We began thinking about teaching English somewhere, and South Korea just kept popping up. We did a little research, and got very excited. There aren't too many places where we will be able to make a decent salary abroad with minimal expenses, and still have the ability to travel during spare time. Free travel, housing, and a 30 hour work week are all pluses. Also, we have heard many wonderful things about Korean people and we are excited to learn from a whole new culture.

Isn't Korea dangerous?
Despite warnings from many misinformed, though well meaning people...we are not "at war" with South Korea. It is true that North Korea is shaky, but we will not be going there. Actually, they don't like foreign visitors very much and there is basically no chance we would even be allowed in that country. South Korea on the other hand is stable and safe. Also, to many people's surprise, it is highly developed. South Korea also has the most widespread wireless Internet connection of any country right now. So, we should have no excuse for falling behind on our e-mail checking!

What will the weather be like?
We think it's going to be somewhat like western North Carolina with 4 seasons, and a cold winter...but not too bitter and a hot summer...but not too sweltering.