JOURNAL UPDATE 4/16/06: MY NEW JOB

Well, the smoke clears and we find our hero with his name on the dotted line. I start as a full professor May 1, 2006. It is a confidential agreement, but between you and me (and the world), I am confident I am doing better than I was in the US.

WHAT THE HELL IS KELLY'S NEW JOB?

I. HOW I GOT HERE:

In January I decided the books I had to use in class were bad. I discovered there was a US Bar Association Approved Law Program. It offered a Masters and not a Doctorate.

I sent them an email offering to use their law books as the basis for my own set of books on legal English. They responded by requesting a meeting.

Dr. Kim saw my resume and met me. He immediately decided he wanted me to be a front man in his new plan. His goal is to bring the first Doctorate Law Program to Korea which is approved by the US Bar Association.

THIS IS WHAT I WILL BE DOING:

1) Preparing Korean attorneys for the Law School Entrance Tests (LSAT)

2) Helping Korean legal staff write and read legal English.

3) Set up about 10 law schools in the US partner schools

4) These schools will take about 5-10 English speaking Korean attorneys.

5) The goal of these attorneys is to expand their license to the US.

I MUST:

A) Find the law schools willing to partner up with us

B) Work with a Harvard Professor to set up a program

C) Personally teach the attorneys taking LSAT and BAR tests

D) Approximately 100 Students per year

E) $1000 per student who passes the test after my class + salary

F) Saturdays I teach executives from the 3 biggest companies in Korea.

G) I will teach them to give "presentations" at business conferences.

H) Write my own books on Legal English

I) Prepare my own lectures on LSAT and Bar Exam

J) Duties as assigned

This may sound like a bitch, but I have been working from 7am -10pm for $2000 a month. Sure I only lecture 7 of those 15 hours, but face it, what do you do with an hour break. If you had to work an 8 hour every other hour for 16 hours wouldn't you be pissed? That is my life. So I simply do not see the hours as a challenge.

So, as of 5/1 this is my life. I came here with the assumption of giving up on the law and ever having a good salary again. Suddently in 6 months I ended up helping lead the charge of bringing the very first US approved Law Doctorate Program into Seoul. The first such program in Korean history. If we succeed I truly believe that our project will end up in a Korean history book.

Of course the day to day life is rarely forseeable so I am sure there will be some hurdles, but it is a noble cause and will be much more rewarding for me on a daily basis. Though I teach adults the reality is that I teach high school level English. It is fun but I long for a bigger challenge.

Peace out. KDF