--The purpose of a bureaucracy is to successfully
implement the actions of an organization of any size (but often associated with
large entities such as government, corporations, and non-governmental organizations), in
achieving its purpose and mission, and the bureaucracy is tasked to determine
how it can achieve its purpose and mission with the greatest possible
efficiency and at the least cost of any resources.--
The last part of that explanation gets me. Efficiency on
whose part, and least cost to whom? I've spent a lot of time, effort, and money
trying to get all the paperwork together in order to be able to legally teach
in Korea. When I went to Japan, the JET Program took care of just about
everything. At the time I had no idea getting a visa was such a complicated
process.
For Korea, I am still in the process and therefore still learning. The big things so far have been getting a criminal background check, finishing the master's degree, and then getting them both apostilled. Everything else isn't hard. Or I don't think it will be. As of this moment, I've got just about everything I need except the apostilled criminal background check which I think is, at this moment, sitting on a desk in Washington DC while the power-that-is surfs the net, gets more coffee, talks to neighboring powers, and generally wastes our taxes.
For Korea, I am still in the process and therefore still learning. The big things so far have been getting a criminal background check, finishing the master's degree, and then getting them both apostilled. Everything else isn't hard. Or I don't think it will be. As of this moment, I've got just about everything I need except the apostilled criminal background check which I think is, at this moment, sitting on a desk in Washington DC while the power-that-is surfs the net, gets more coffee, talks to neighboring powers, and generally wastes our taxes.
There was a mixup back in May when I was doing the research
for all this and trying to get the ball rolling. I looked around online at what
I needed to do for and talked to a friend in Korea (Andrew)
about the criminal background check (I'm going to hence forth refer to it
as the CBC). I looked briefly, and I should probably stress that word...briefly,
online at some resources about all this and located a local place that had
something called LiveScan fingerprinting services. I wasn't really planning on
being in Korea until September at this point, but I decided that I should
probably get things going on the CBC as it was made clear to me that the
process can take a while. So I went to a place that does LiveScan
fingerprinting and told the lady I was planning to move to Korea and was in
need of a CBC. "No problem," she said and handed me a form to fill
out. After I filled it out, she used a digital scanner, I guess it was, to take
my prints. "Seemed easy enough," I remember thinking as I walked out
after paying $50 and being assured that I would get the results back in a
couple of weeks. "Faster than I expected," I also remember thinking
as I had read that three months was fairly standard.
I think it was about a week later that I got the results back, "Hmmm. Really fast!". It was from the California State Department and said something along the lines of No criminal record found. "Beautiful," I thought and put it on top of my dresser. It was the weekend of my graduation ceremony and my family was in town, so I figured I'd get to the next step after everyone left.
I mentioned the word apostille above. Before this year I had no idea what this meant and I assume most of you don't either, so let me explain. Basically, if you know what a notary is, you take the same idea and take it to the international level and that's it. Many documents must be apostilled in order for countries to accept those documents from one another. More information here...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille...if you are interested.
Thinking that I wasn't going to be heading to Korea for a few months, I let the CBC sit on my dresser collecting dust. I was also waiting for my official master's degree to come in and as I was still finishing up one last requirement, I figured all was on track. I just needed to finish the last requirement, which was going to happen in mid-June, get the MA degree and then send both it and the CBC off for the apostilling process.
But about this time, we are now in mid to late May, I got a note from Andrew who informed me that there was a good chance that a position was going to be opening up at his school within the next couple months. He also informed me that he had a new boss (the old one, to whom I had already sent an introduction and resume just to make make my existence known and feel out the situation over there, had had a family emergency and had to return to the states...permanently). He also advised me to send my resume and introduction pretty soon if I wanted the shot. So after a little deliberation, I decided to go for it. September (and then January) were my time frames for getting over to Korea, but Andrew told me that the job opening to which he referred was not your standard entry-level job in Korea. It was more money, more benefits, a better environment, and located in a very good section of Seoul. He said it would be a good career move and I decided that I agreed with him (of course only time will tell).
I think it was about a week later that I got the results back, "Hmmm. Really fast!". It was from the California State Department and said something along the lines of No criminal record found. "Beautiful," I thought and put it on top of my dresser. It was the weekend of my graduation ceremony and my family was in town, so I figured I'd get to the next step after everyone left.
I mentioned the word apostille above. Before this year I had no idea what this meant and I assume most of you don't either, so let me explain. Basically, if you know what a notary is, you take the same idea and take it to the international level and that's it. Many documents must be apostilled in order for countries to accept those documents from one another. More information here...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille...if you are interested.
Thinking that I wasn't going to be heading to Korea for a few months, I let the CBC sit on my dresser collecting dust. I was also waiting for my official master's degree to come in and as I was still finishing up one last requirement, I figured all was on track. I just needed to finish the last requirement, which was going to happen in mid-June, get the MA degree and then send both it and the CBC off for the apostilling process.
But about this time, we are now in mid to late May, I got a note from Andrew who informed me that there was a good chance that a position was going to be opening up at his school within the next couple months. He also informed me that he had a new boss (the old one, to whom I had already sent an introduction and resume just to make make my existence known and feel out the situation over there, had had a family emergency and had to return to the states...permanently). He also advised me to send my resume and introduction pretty soon if I wanted the shot. So after a little deliberation, I decided to go for it. September (and then January) were my time frames for getting over to Korea, but Andrew told me that the job opening to which he referred was not your standard entry-level job in Korea. It was more money, more benefits, a better environment, and located in a very good section of Seoul. He said it would be a good career move and I decided that I agreed with him (of course only time will tell).
Within the day, I emailed the new boss (Greg) with a short
introduction and my resume. He got back to me in fairly short notice thanking
me for the info. But he then threw me a curve ball as he told me that as of the
moment he didn't have any openings and that he didn't foresee one coming up
until the end of the year. "Huh?!"
I was a little heartbroken as my mind had begun grasp the idea that a summer move was possible and rather to my liking. It's amazing how quickly the mind can adjust to new circumstances sometimes and mine had gone with Andrew and the new info he had given me. But it now seemed that he had been wrong and I slowly started to go back to the idea that Korea might not happen for a few months.
Then, not three days later, I got an email from Greg. It seemed that there indeed was an opening coming up and he was wondering if I could be there by the end of June.....this was the end of May! "What?!" I thought. "He just told me that there would be nothing until the end of the year and now he wants to know if I can be there next month?!" As I sat there trying to take it all in and control my excitement, I thought of Andrew. "So it seems he was in the know after all."
I shot Greg back an email after talking to Ami. She had not been too keen on the idea of being apart for so long (she was going to come over in January), but after some discussion and rethinking agreed that I should go for it. So I sent the note back to Greg telling him that I would make the effort and that we should set up an interview, which we did for the coming Sunday evening (my time as Korea is, like Japan, 16 hours ahead of California).
Now, if you can keep things straight in your head, my dear reader, you might remember that at this time I was still trying to finish the last requirement on the master's and that my CBC was sitting on my dresser--both of which would need to be apostilled and sent to Korea quite quickly. I sent a note off to Andrew asking him if he thought, since I didn't have the master's yet, that I could apostille my bachelor's degree instead of the master's and send that along with the CBC. "Yes," he said. So the next day, I got the forms notarized (you have to do this before they can be apostilled) and then sent them off to an apostilling service. The service would cost me about $200 but it would be quick and I wouldn't have to take a day off and drive to Sacramento--something I figured would cost about $200 in lost income and gas and lunch anyway, not to mention the effort.
That was a Friday when I put the forms in the mail and when I got back home, I turned on the Giants, opened a beer, and sat down to figure out what would be the next step after I got the apostilled forms back. And that was when the dream of Korea in June died.
Turns out that the CBC I had gotten was the wrong one. On January 1, 2011, the Korean law had changed and somehow I, Andrew, and the lady at the LiveScan place had missed it. Had this been before 2011, I would have been ok with the state background check I got. But with the new year, a new requirement was in place. Instead of state checks, all potential teachers moving to Korea have to have a federal criminal background check from the FBI. I assume the reason for this is because if I get a California CBC and don't have a record but have committed some kind of crime, say, two years ago in Texas, well, that wouldn't show up on the California CBC. Makes sense to me to change that law. I only wish I had known of this change, or at least one of the three above had known. But no hard feelings for anyone but myself. I should have known. I should have looked harder than I did.
So...moving forward...On Sunday evening, Greg called and after a few brief words but before the interview got started, I told him the truth about the CBC from the state, the new law, and that sadly I wouldn't be making it to Korea in June. I had already done some research and had found out that FBI checks take up to three months; this put me back to September, the original plan. I can't say I wasn't disappointed, but now that I am making plans to be there in October, perhaps it was a good thing June wasn't possible. That month would have been a mad dash out of San Jose and with wedding plans in the making, it's probably a good thing I've stayed in the USA to get that ball rolling too. Not that I couldn't have done much (or all) of the stuff from Korea with the internet, but it's been nice to be able to talk to Ami face-to-face about some of the details.
Anyway, that next week after the interview, which went very well by the way, I sent off for the FBI check. Had to go back to the fingerprinting place and get ink prints and send them via the mail. Funny that the state government works so much faster than the federal government. I guess it's a smaller government, so perhaps there is less to do and less to deal with, but I still don't understand why the FBI needed the old-fashioned ink prints, while California, and most other state governments that I've read about, deals with the digital kind. Oh, and in the meantime, I got back my apostilled California CBC and bachelor's degree.
So I waited and nothing happened until about the end of July. That was when I got the FBI check back, which said No arrest record--FBI. So I got the necessary paperwork together to send the thing back to DC to get it apostilled. I read online somewhere that while a degree or a state CBC can be sent to the state government to be apostilled, the FBI CBC must be apostilled by the federal government. I have since read that this might not be exactly true and it seems to depend on what state you live in and who you talk to. But be that as it may, I sent mine off to DC to get apostilled. I also contacted Greg to tell him that things were moving along; he got back to me saying that it was looking like the middle of October would see the opening of a position and he asked if that was possible for me. "Hell yes!" I answered although not in those terms to which he asked for reference letters. I asked my boss and one of the professors at San Jose State who had been my advisor and one of my teachers when I was doing the master's work. Both agreed and got them sent off later that week and a day or two after that, Greg sent me an email with the official job offer.
But lest you think the fun has settled down, I am now going on five weeks after I sent it off and the apostilled FBI CBC still has not come back. On the US Department of State website it says "The Authentication of documents by mail currently takes about 8 weeks to process from the time of receipt in the Authentications office. Documents sent through the U.S. mail can be delayed by several weeks in arriving at the Authentications Office because of the irradiation process. " I looked up what "irradiation process" means and it seems that since we Americans fear every bump in the night, they have to irradiate my piece of mail in case it contains harmful substances, and if this delay costs me the job in Korea, they might very well need the process. I truly think our government is inept. And, like I've told a couple people, if this was a private company doing this little job for me, I would take my business elsewhere. (I refrain from cussing here).
But hey, like the quote says, bureaucracy works "with the greatest possible efficiency and at the least cost of any resources." BS.
I was a little heartbroken as my mind had begun grasp the idea that a summer move was possible and rather to my liking. It's amazing how quickly the mind can adjust to new circumstances sometimes and mine had gone with Andrew and the new info he had given me. But it now seemed that he had been wrong and I slowly started to go back to the idea that Korea might not happen for a few months.
Then, not three days later, I got an email from Greg. It seemed that there indeed was an opening coming up and he was wondering if I could be there by the end of June.....this was the end of May! "What?!" I thought. "He just told me that there would be nothing until the end of the year and now he wants to know if I can be there next month?!" As I sat there trying to take it all in and control my excitement, I thought of Andrew. "So it seems he was in the know after all."
I shot Greg back an email after talking to Ami. She had not been too keen on the idea of being apart for so long (she was going to come over in January), but after some discussion and rethinking agreed that I should go for it. So I sent the note back to Greg telling him that I would make the effort and that we should set up an interview, which we did for the coming Sunday evening (my time as Korea is, like Japan, 16 hours ahead of California).
Now, if you can keep things straight in your head, my dear reader, you might remember that at this time I was still trying to finish the last requirement on the master's and that my CBC was sitting on my dresser--both of which would need to be apostilled and sent to Korea quite quickly. I sent a note off to Andrew asking him if he thought, since I didn't have the master's yet, that I could apostille my bachelor's degree instead of the master's and send that along with the CBC. "Yes," he said. So the next day, I got the forms notarized (you have to do this before they can be apostilled) and then sent them off to an apostilling service. The service would cost me about $200 but it would be quick and I wouldn't have to take a day off and drive to Sacramento--something I figured would cost about $200 in lost income and gas and lunch anyway, not to mention the effort.
That was a Friday when I put the forms in the mail and when I got back home, I turned on the Giants, opened a beer, and sat down to figure out what would be the next step after I got the apostilled forms back. And that was when the dream of Korea in June died.
Turns out that the CBC I had gotten was the wrong one. On January 1, 2011, the Korean law had changed and somehow I, Andrew, and the lady at the LiveScan place had missed it. Had this been before 2011, I would have been ok with the state background check I got. But with the new year, a new requirement was in place. Instead of state checks, all potential teachers moving to Korea have to have a federal criminal background check from the FBI. I assume the reason for this is because if I get a California CBC and don't have a record but have committed some kind of crime, say, two years ago in Texas, well, that wouldn't show up on the California CBC. Makes sense to me to change that law. I only wish I had known of this change, or at least one of the three above had known. But no hard feelings for anyone but myself. I should have known. I should have looked harder than I did.
So...moving forward...On Sunday evening, Greg called and after a few brief words but before the interview got started, I told him the truth about the CBC from the state, the new law, and that sadly I wouldn't be making it to Korea in June. I had already done some research and had found out that FBI checks take up to three months; this put me back to September, the original plan. I can't say I wasn't disappointed, but now that I am making plans to be there in October, perhaps it was a good thing June wasn't possible. That month would have been a mad dash out of San Jose and with wedding plans in the making, it's probably a good thing I've stayed in the USA to get that ball rolling too. Not that I couldn't have done much (or all) of the stuff from Korea with the internet, but it's been nice to be able to talk to Ami face-to-face about some of the details.
Anyway, that next week after the interview, which went very well by the way, I sent off for the FBI check. Had to go back to the fingerprinting place and get ink prints and send them via the mail. Funny that the state government works so much faster than the federal government. I guess it's a smaller government, so perhaps there is less to do and less to deal with, but I still don't understand why the FBI needed the old-fashioned ink prints, while California, and most other state governments that I've read about, deals with the digital kind. Oh, and in the meantime, I got back my apostilled California CBC and bachelor's degree.
So I waited and nothing happened until about the end of July. That was when I got the FBI check back, which said No arrest record--FBI. So I got the necessary paperwork together to send the thing back to DC to get it apostilled. I read online somewhere that while a degree or a state CBC can be sent to the state government to be apostilled, the FBI CBC must be apostilled by the federal government. I have since read that this might not be exactly true and it seems to depend on what state you live in and who you talk to. But be that as it may, I sent mine off to DC to get apostilled. I also contacted Greg to tell him that things were moving along; he got back to me saying that it was looking like the middle of October would see the opening of a position and he asked if that was possible for me. "Hell yes!" I answered although not in those terms to which he asked for reference letters. I asked my boss and one of the professors at San Jose State who had been my advisor and one of my teachers when I was doing the master's work. Both agreed and got them sent off later that week and a day or two after that, Greg sent me an email with the official job offer.
But lest you think the fun has settled down, I am now going on five weeks after I sent it off and the apostilled FBI CBC still has not come back. On the US Department of State website it says "The Authentication of documents by mail currently takes about 8 weeks to process from the time of receipt in the Authentications office. Documents sent through the U.S. mail can be delayed by several weeks in arriving at the Authentications Office because of the irradiation process. " I looked up what "irradiation process" means and it seems that since we Americans fear every bump in the night, they have to irradiate my piece of mail in case it contains harmful substances, and if this delay costs me the job in Korea, they might very well need the process. I truly think our government is inept. And, like I've told a couple people, if this was a private company doing this little job for me, I would take my business elsewhere. (I refrain from cussing here).
But hey, like the quote says, bureaucracy works "with the greatest possible efficiency and at the least cost of any resources." BS.
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