Have you ever thought about moving across the globe? How about moving across the globe, during a once in a lifetime, global pandemic? I can tell you from experience, it’s not a walk in the park. You know the cliche “it’s not easy, but it’s worth it?” Ya…well I can’t guarantee it’s worth it yet, because I’m in quarantine for 14 days…but I have more than a hunch that it will be 😉

After years of dreaming of Teaching English as a Foreign Language, I finally buckled down and started my TEFL Certification process in January of 2020. I could never have anticipated anything derailing me in the way COVID-19 did, but still, it was on my heart that this was a journey I had to take, and one that I was committed to. After a great deal of deliberation, my boyfriend and I decided to move ahead and reach out to recruiters in November 2020. This process already entails a lot, but I’ll focus on our journey from the USA to South Korea in this post!

Jeremy and I flew out of MSP (Minneapolis/St. Paul) Airport at 6:00pm on Wednesday, February 3rd. The MSP Airport was almost totally empty – which was great for us! We had no lines to check our bags and blew through security! We were able to sit in a remote and vacant gate and order some cocktails directly to us – hey, we deserved it 😉 Then we boarded a flight to LAX for a connecting flight to Incheon, South Korea. We landed at LAX at 8:00pm PST, to another almost vacant airport. We stocked up on some sandwiches and a half bottle of wine, found another empty gate to dine in, and waited for our 13 1/2 hour flight to Incheon!

In order to travel to the country, South Korea requires a negative PCR Covid test taken within 72 hours of your trip (not easy to get!). Our results were checked along with our passports and visas prior to boarding, and we were able to board with no issues. The plane was fairly empty, and we were lucky to each have a whole row to ourselves! The flight was fairly enjoyable and went by quickly – being able to lay down across the 3 seats was excellent for sleeping!

We arrived in South Korea at 5:00am local time, and the REAL journey began! We went through multiple check points with customs and security – we had so many entry papers, temperature checks, and Covid result reviews, that I honestly couldn’t even tell you what each station was actually for! However, I can tell you that South Korea is kicking America’s ASS in handling Covid. Jeremy and I both were happy to go through each socially distanced line and health check – it was refreshing and comforting to see the pandemic being taken so seriously! You can only enter South Korea right now (due to the pandemic) with a worker’s visa – so one of the stations was an officer calling our school-contact to be sure they have endorsed our stay here. ***New teachers – this is HUGE! Be sure that your school knows when you are arriving, and you have a phone number of someone who can vouch for you at the airport! They will not let you leave the airport unless someone from your school vouches for you!***

After two hours of customs and health checks, Jeremy and I were able to pick up our checked bags and and exit the airport around 7:00am local time. While we flew into Incheon, our journey was taking us to Busan – which is on the other side of the country! South Korea has closed all but one of their airports to international travelers, in an effort to restrict access due to the pandemic. Right after baggage claim, we found a bus that would take us to the KTX Train Station. This part wasn’t hard at all! There were people standing right outside baggage claim pointing the way to the busses. We were grateful we didn’t have to run around to find the bus!

We boarded the bus and arrived at the KTX Train Station in Seoul about an hour later. Here, we were able to pay for the bus ride and purchase our tickets for a train to Busan (yes, in our first hours in the country, we did indeed take “The Train to Busan” – no zombies were encountered!). After another document check, we were taken to a holding place in the train station where all passengers had to wait for their train. Five minutes before your train arrived, you were called to line up and then were taken to the platform. We had to wait an hour and a half for the train, but were surrounded by other TEFL Teachers coming from the States and it moved quickly. We boarded the train, and coincidentally, sat next to someone we met in our TEFL Facebook group from Chicago! It was great to put a face to the name and meet some friends. 🙂

The train ride took about 2 1/2 hours and then we arrived in Busan. After getting off the train, we were taken to a Covid testing station that was set up outside of the train station. We waited in a line to check in and confirm our quarantine site, and then walked ahead to get tested. The test was quick and then we were taken to a waiting room to wait for our taxi. Jeremy and I ran into a slight problem here, but it was really just a misunderstanding. Our quarantine address was at a hotel, however, you can’t quarantine at a hotel in South Korea unless it is a government designated quarantining hotel. The hotel we are staying in, is not technically one of those facilities. HOWEVER – our room is actually a suite that is owned by someone from our school. Therefore, it functions as an apartment/condo rather than a hotel room. It’s also on another floor that is separated from regular hotel guests. There was a language barrier, but luckily we were able to contact our representative from our school and they got it all straightened out! After 30 minutes or so, we boarded our taxi to our hotel.

Well, I guess this hotel was confusing for everyone! Our cab driver dropped us off at the wrong building, and we were very confused! We were dropped off in a parking garage and were told to take an elevator to the hotel – but the instructions were all in Korean (which we don’t know yet!). Again, our contact at our school saved the day! We were able to call him and he knew exactly where we were – which coincidentally was across the street from the hotel, and also the school we’ll be teaching at! He came out on the balcony, gave us a wave, and directed us around the corner to our hotel. We went straight up to our room and have been in quarantine for the past 6 days – only 8 more to go!

That’s the story of our journey from Minneapolis to Busan! I’ll have some more posts to come about quarantine, as well as information for preparing for the journey if other TEFL Teachers are interested! 🙂

All my Love,

Lex