14 May 2008

Back from the Honeymoon

We have been back from the honeymoon for just over a week now. Originally I planned to be a 'housewife' until the time that we would be back in the UK, but I realised that we needed a little more money for Songsu's visa application, and that being home alone doesn't suit me. To this end, I signed a 3 month teaching contract ( a rare find in Korea) for a Kindergarten school local to me, which also keeps me from feeling useless and depressed at home.

At the same time I am considering an independent recruiter position in the UK for my ex-boss at CDI, who recently set up a recruitment business, recruiting teachers into Korean schools. At first I was put off by the low renumeration, but as it turns out I misunderstood the business proposal and the renumeration is higher than I expected. This opens doors for me, as before I left Korea I considered recruiting or HR as a career, and this is certainly a step in the right direction. Working with my ex-boss, (soon to be my boss again!!!) I will be doing mostly canvassing and marketing while he takes all the responsibilty of connecting the candidates with the right employers and taking care of them for their first few months at their new school. This I will do on top of a regular full-time job.

Meanwhile I have another half-business proposal from one of Songsu's close friends to help him sell his stationary products in the UK, with no cost to ourselves. Added to this Songsu's current boss is planning on outsourcing work to him in the UK, as he has so much trust in him. It feels like people around us are jumping at the opportunity present to them by my and Songsu's possible reutn to the UK, not that we are complaining, as it benefits us too! Of course we will not be relying on any of this; we will both ensure that we get full-time jobs in the UK.

Many people have asked about wedding and honeymoon photographs. We are still waiting on the wedding hall to print them; they should be ready in the next two weeks. That's a one month wait for wedding photographs-ridiculous!!! However we have the ones from the honeymoon, and I have opened up a facebook account as uploading photographs on there seems to be more effecient than photobucket. My facebook profile is at
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=552396510 (but you need your own facebook profile to visit it) and our photographs can be viewed here.

As for the visa application-I am still contacting various government/visa officers seeking advice about our catch22 situation: We are here in Korea but our application will be stronger if I, his sponsor, have a full-time (and preferably permanent) job in the UK. This means me arriving a minimum of 2 months in advance of him, and I may have to go back there without an offer of employment, seeing as UK employers are not flexible on telephone interviews and start dates. If I get a permanent job but his visa is still rejected, then I would have to fly back to Korea, having wasted mine and my employer's time, and my money on an air ticket. We want to know if we still have a strong enough application with us both in Korea and me with no offer of full-time employment in the UK, or if the best option is for me to fly to the UK ahead of him. The application alone costs over 500 Pounds, so we want to get it right.

Watch this space for progress on the application, and news of photos!