Canadian expats Simon and Martina have always wanted to work abroad, and they're living that dream now as English teachers in Bucheon, South Korea. Read on for more on how they are appreciating their time in Korea, their thoughts on learning the language, and the ways in which they're adjusting to the local culture.	Simon and Martina Stawski

-Where were you born?

We were both born in Canada.  Simon was born in London, Ontario, while Martina was born in Toronto, Ontario.

-In which country and city are you living now?

We're both living in Bucheon, South Korea.

-Are you living alone or with your family?

We're living alone with each other, if that counts.  We don't have any other family with us, apart from our dog Spudgy, if that counts.

-How long have you been living in Korea?

We moved here at the beginning of June 2008, so about three months.

-What is your age?

We're both 25.

-When did you come up with the idea of living in South Korea?

Both of us have always wanted to live and teach overseas, but we decided on Korea while we were both in university getting our Bachelor of Education. We attended a Careers Fair sometime at the beginning of the second semester and there was a presentation on teaching in Korea, and were really convinced by it.  Getting a job as a teacher in Canada is exceptionally difficult, so when we realized that we could both get paid well to teach in Korea and get a nice place rented out for us we made up our minds to come here.  As well, Simon had taught in a Korean learning center in Toronto for a couple of years beforehand, so we had already a slight taste for Korean culture to begin with.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?

We would describe it more as tedious and annoying than difficult. In order to apply for an E2 visa there were several steps that had to performed first.  We had to get a physical before we came to Korea which confirms we're in good health, and this form was no more than a signature and two words, but cost $60 a pop.  We had to get our police check and university diplomas/transcipts notarized by a lawyer. Once we had everything we brought it to the Korean consulate all at once to apply for our E2 visa.  Afterwards we had to come back for an interview, which wasn't so much an interview for our qualifications as teachers as much as a three-minute conversation to see if we can speak English with a reasonable degree of competence.

-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?

We got one month of traveller's insurance at CAA before we left for Korea, which took only twenty minutes to process.  As for our medical insurance in Korea, our school had it all covered. They simply deduct the monthly cost from our paychecks.

-How do you make your living in South Korea? Do you have any type of income generated?

We both work as English Conversation teachers; Martina is at a high school while Simon is at a middle school.  As for the process, it was easy enough. We applied for a job through an agent at our career fair. After a short interview our agents found positions here in Bucheon, Korea. We had a second interview to explain where we would be and how the process would work. We had to gather all of the required documents, mail them to our agents, and get our E2 visa. They did all the big mailing back and forth to Korea, and once we got our E2 visa, they booked our plane tickets. We purchased our plane tickets in Canada, and our schools reimbursed us about a month after we arrived.

-Do you speak Korean and do you think it's important to speak the local language?

We feel quite strongly about this. We do believe that it's important to read and speak the local language, which is why we're trying to learn (though it is exceptionally difficult). We recently learned how to read the Korean alphabet, are now attending free weekly classes for speaking Korean. Once you learn how to read, it is easier to get around by bus and subway, as well as order food from a restaurant. If you're not going to learn to speak Korea, you should (for your own sake) learn to read. You can get by with a few scraps of the language, but we don't think that would be fair to our coworkers, neighbors, and students. If we're living here in Korea, we want to have as authentic a Korean experience as we possibly can, rather than remaining always a "foreigner".

-Do you miss home and family sometimes? What are you favorite recreational activities in Korea?

Yeah, we really do miss our families, especially considering the fact that this is our first time living out of the country.  We created a website on life in Bucheon, Korea in hopes of keeping them up to date and making it seem to them less like we're half a world away.  We use Skype quite often and we bought webcams and microphones for our family before we left.  As for our favorite recreational activities, Simon's really lucky to have a basketball court a stone's throw away from our apartment, so he plays there often.  Martina walks around and takes a lot of pretty pictures and visits the local coffee shops.  Together, we both play with our dog and take him for walks, or we go on different mini-adventures around Bucheon and South Korea and document them on our website as well.

-Do you have other plans for the future?

We can't say for sure what we want to do right now.  We know in the long run that we want to move back to Canada and get teaching jobs there, then have a child or two and whittle away our days until retirement.  As for now, we're really enjoying Korea and plan on staying for at least two years.

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?

We have an Office-Tel, which is an apartment in a business building, though we can't say exactly how much it costs because we don't pay for it. What we do pay for is electricity and propane. In the summer we run the air conditioner all day and night, so our electricity bill sets us back $100 -150 a month. Our gas bill is around $2.00- 5.00. If you want to see what our apartment looks like, we made a video of it, here:

-What is the cost of living in Korea?

We're compiling the numbers, but not so much in a "how much does it cost" sense as much as a "how much less does it cost than Canada" sense.  We know that cost of public transportation is ridiculously cheap (90 cents - $1.00 as opposed to the $2.75 it costs for the Toronto subway system). An inter-city bus costs around $1.40 for a short trip and up to $9.00 for a 3 hour bus trip. The taxi's are SO cheap, starting at $1.90 we rarely pay over $3.00 for a taxi trip. 

The cost of fruit is absurdly overpriced here; for example, eighteen bucks will get you four or so watermelons in Canada, but only one in Korea.  We're getting our pension back at the end of the year (but not all countries get back this pension), so it's really the amount of money we save in these last two categories that makes cost of living cheaper here than in Canada.

-What do you think about the Koreans?

The locals are great because the locals are not rude.  They're all friendly, all helpful, and all giggly when we try to speak Korean (which is more than likely due to our awful pronunciation).  They're all sociable and really quite understanding of our language barrier. 

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in South Korea?

It all depends on your individual position on it, as we happen to really like it here, but we know others who hate it. Some of these reasons don't really apply to us, like the difficult situation of foreigners dating Koreans. One thing that does bother us, is that drinking is very big in Korea, and getting really, really, drunk is socially acceptable. This can lead to awkward situations if you're not a big drinker, especially when you're with your co-workers.  There are only tiny other things we consider negative, like how our fish isn't de-boned at a restaurant or how it is so sooooooo hot in the summer.

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Korea?

Make sure you go to several authentic Korean restaurants before you come to Korea to get used to the food. It can be the biggest shock for some people. Learn the names of the food in Korean so you can order them once you get here, just in case you can't read the menu. We'd strongly recommend reading and learning the language for starters.  Sure, we're making it sound easy, but it's the effort that counts more than your competence most of the time.  Our principals and teachers are really impressed that we're simply trying to learn the language, even though both they know and we know that it's not necessary for us to do so.

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Korea?

We spend far too much time working on our own site to browse that many other Korean related sites.  As teachers, we're really thankful for Bogglesworld for many starting points for lesson plans.  As pet owners, we're really glad we stumbled upon Animal Rescue Korea; we didn't plan on getting a dog, but we browsed the forums here and decided to take the plunge, and haven't regretted our decision once.

Simon and Martina