I did touch upon the topic of California Missions Passport in my post on Mission Santa Clara. But I decided to dedicate an entire post, as it turns out to be much more significant than I previously thought, especially for history lovers!
California Missions map by R.M.K., INC. I got it as a souvenir at the Mission Dolores gift shop.
There are 21 Spanish missions built along the California coast, and some history buffs go on pilgrimages to visit all of them. But I had no idea until recently that there’s actually a thing called, “California Missions Passport,” with which you collect stamps at each of the missions you visit. Once you collect all 21 stamps, you can apply for and receive a “Certificate of Completion.” (There’s also a “Certificate of Progress,” awarded to those who collect 6 stamps from any of the passport’s four sections, and a “Certificate of Support” for, I think, those who donate to the California Missions Trail.)
Where to Get the Missions Passport
While you can get stamps at all missions, you can’t for passports. Some missions, like Mission Santa Clara, don’t even have souvenir/gift shops! According to the California Mission Store, passports are available only at the following 10 sites:
Mission San Diego
Mission San Luis Rey
Mission San Gabriel
Mission San Fernando
Mission San Buenaventura
Mission San Miguel
Mission San Antonio
Mission San Juan Bautista
Mission San Carlos
Mission San Francisco (aka Mission Dolores)
Mission San José *It wasn’t included in the list, but I saw passports being sold at the Mission San José gift shop when I visited!
So I recommend purchasing a passport when you’re visiting one of the above missions before visiting the other 10. (I had to go back to Mission Dolores to get my passport after I found out that Mission Santa Clara didn’t have them.)
With my newly acquired California Missions Passport at Mission Dolores! August 2025.
The passport cost $5.95, $6.46 tax included. I think it’s definitely worth it if you’re planning on visiting as many or all missions.
Update 8/30/2025: Another thing to note is that Missions Passports have different covers, depending on where you get them. The passport that I got in SF features Mission Dolores, but the passports sold at Mission San José look like this:
How to Apply for Certificates
Once you reach the milestone of visiting 6 or all 21 missions, you can receive your digital certificate. *While collecting stamps qualifies a person for the certificates, they appear to be more for completing the trek/cycle down or up the Missions Trail.
To receive the digital certificates, you need to notify the Lowman Publishing Company with a copy of your stamped passport for verification. It says on their website that they will then send over the digital certificate, which can be shared online and/or printed.
For more specifics and sample digital certificates, visit the California Missions Trail HERE.
My Progress
So, after revisiting Mission San Francisco de Asís for my passport, I’ve officially embarked on my stamp collecting journey! I’ll be tracking my progress here:
P.S. Per the California Mission Store blog, the Missions Passports were created when two missions requested Bob and his team at Lowman Publishing Company to make them. I wonder which ones?
My EPIK interview via Zoom finally took place on Friday, September 17th. But my EPIK coordinator had trouble with Internet connection that day too, so his screen was pitch-black. Hence, I had my interview without seeing him, only hearing his voice. It wasn’t ideal, but regardless, I was grateful to just proceed with the interview at this point. Some of the first questions I was asked were:
– Why EPIK?
– How do you feel about having a co-teacher?
– What kind of teaching experience do you have?
– What is your 5 year plan?
The What-If Questions
Photo by Mathew Schwartz.
Throughout the interview, my interviewer asked me many “what-if” questions. Some of the “what-if” EPIK questions I remember are: “What would you do if…
…your co-teacher gave you more work than was needed?
…your co-teacher was teaching something wrong?
…you don’t work well with your co-teacher(s)?
…the housing you were provided with lacked certain amenities/appliances?
…the school’s class schedule changed suddenly?
The Lesson Demo
Now, I had an easy time answering all the questions, because they were all similar to the old EPIK questions asked to previous EPIK applicants. (Except for the ones about housing and class schedule). And I had prepared extensively, writing down the answers to about 40 potential questions I had compiled and practicing answering them repeatedly. In fact, towards the end of the interview, I wished the EPIK coordinator would ask me more questions, as I had my answers all ready.
But there was this section in the interview that wasn’t mentioned by the previous EPIK applicants on YouTube. It was only talked about quite recently in the Spring 2022 EPIK Kakao chatroom, when someone who had her interview earlier shared briefly that she had to do a lesson demo. Thanks to her information, I pulled out the lesson materials I had created beforehand. But to my surprise, the EPIK coordinator chose a random topic for me. He assigned me the topic of weather (if I remember correctly) and gave me some time (I think it was 5 or 10 minutes) to prepare. Afterwards, I had to pretend like I was teaching a class for 5 minutes on the designated topic.
Because I had this wonderful teaching material prepared already (I had created it for fun over the summer while waiting for the Spring 2022 application to open), I asked politely if I could use a topic of my choosing, mentioning the PowerPoint presentation I had prepared. My coordinator allowed me to proceed with my materials, and I presented my lesson demo without the given preparation time. I thought I did a great job, since I received much positive feedback on my demo lesson.
Photo by Mathew Schwartz.
The Interview Ends
My EPIK coordinator was Jeffrey, and he provided me with much useful information about the program. Each time I answered a question, he gave me feedback (which were all positive), along with additional tips for becoming a successful EPIK teacher. He told me to maintain the positive, friendly personality that I displayed, as it was crucial to be outgoing during the first weeks at the Korean school(s) I would be assigned to. And for lessons, he suggested that I narrow down my English expressions to just one, and utilize as many hand gestures as I can while teaching (clapping, thumbs up, etc.)
My EPIK interview ended after about 40 minutes. I had much fun showcasing my abilities and potential to becoming a good EPIK teacher.
The Awaited Email & The Result
I had heard from a fellow applicant in the Kakao chatroom that he heard back from EPIK just 4 days after his interview. But my wait time was longer, as the Friday I had my interview was interestingly right before Korea’s three-day national holiday, Chuseok. So I did not hear back from EPIK until a week later, on a Friday afternoon.
I had my CRC ready to submit, a 180 hour TEFL Certificate, B.A. from one of the best universities in the U.S., 2 solid recommendation letters, and a 2 year professional experience. I had made it as far as the EPIK interview, during which I had shown my competencies and received positive feedback.
My heart was pounding in excitement. I paused a moment before opening the email to calm down a little.
This was it….!
Snapshot of the email from EPIK.
I clicked and saw the following words:
Dear EPIK Applicant,
Thank you for your application to the EPIK Program, Korea’s government-operated native-English teacher selection program for public schools.
After taking time to fully consider your application, we regret to inform you that your application has not been selected to proceed forward for EPIK’s Spring 2022 term.
– The EPIK Team –
The email goes on for a couple more paragraphs, explaining that this term was “particularly competitive,” and that the decision is a reflection of my suitability for the term. It is “not necessarily a reflection of [my] ability or qualifications as a teacher.” Plus it kindly states that the decision is final, and that EPIK is “unable to release any information related to the reasons for this decision and will not reply to inquiries of that nature.”
Yes, reader. I was not selected. And I’ll never know why. (Photo by Matthew Henry).
That was my experience applying to EPIK. There were frequent changes which were often not properly announced beforehand. Plus, I spent $182 on documents no longer needed for the initial application. And since I did not get selected in the final round… Now I have an apostilled national level criminal record check just lying around on my desk.
Conclusion
My experience with EPIK was exceptionally expensive and definitely not so epic. But on the brighter side, I will no longer have to spend more money shipping my documents across the Pacific. Neither will I have to cover the costs of mandatory quarantine. The 1.4 to 2.1 million KRW (~1,178 to 1,768 USD), as stated by EPIK, will NOT be covered by the program.
I know that God has better plans for me, so I am no longer disappointed by the result. But I will miss the prospect of teaching and traveling abroad, of meeting new people and exploring South Korea for an entire year.
Alas, I will miss the path not taken.
Photo by Soyoung Han.
P.S. For anyone planning on applying to EPIK, here are some great resources to refer to:
1) As mentioned in my previous post (HERE), be sure to check out YouTubers who’ve gone through the EPIK process. It’s really helpful to hear their experiences as well as the EPIK questions they were asked.
2) Check out bloggers who share their EPIK experiences! Some great blogs I came across are ariography and Korealizations. Ariography’s EPIK interview content is from 2018 and Korealizations’s from 2014, but they are still relevant and useful. The only thing I’d add is that as of 2021, there is an on-the-spot lesson demo. Plus the interview is via Zoom, not Skype. (And, of course, there was that CRC requirement (read about it HERE) that was cancelled in September. Hopefully EPIK doesn’t bring that back again!)
After working for a company for about two years, I left in search of a new one. It’s not that I disliked the company or my colleagues. In fact, my job was very fulfilling, my superiors and teammates great, and I loved the industry that I worked in. But with the onset of the pandemic, I realized that the work I was limited to was not something that I wished to do in the long run. So I left in pursuit of a different role that I could see myself doing even decades from now.
On top of that, my family decided to move back to South Korea and I needed to find a job that could ensure my independent survival.
It was then that the idea of teaching English abroad dawned on me.
Why not teach English abroad? Photo by Element5 Digital.
Why not travel abroad to South Korea for a year to teach English and have housing provided for me by the English abroad program? The program offered paid accommodation and flights as well as a severance bonus. It seemed perfect!
(There are many different programs for teaching English abroad, from the ones in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea to Spain, Czech Republic, and United Arab Emirates.)
Flag of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Photo by Lauren Seo.
EPIK Overview:
Acronym for “English Program in Korea,” EPIK is a one-year program where citizens from English speaking countries (now only accepting applicants from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K., Unites States, and South Africa) can go to South Korea to teach English in public schools.
Established back in 1995, EPIK is affiliated with and sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Education. Check out the official website HERE.
1) Applying to EPIK for the Fall 2021 Term
As excited as I was to teach and travel, I began my application immediately. It was the May of 2021 when I started the process, and the deadline was sometime in July. For the timeline EPIK created for the application procedures, visit this page.
I reasoned there was enough time for me to submit my application.
And I did. By the end of May, I was able to gather all the required documents for the initial application except for the second letter of recommendation, which was scheduled to arrive on the first week of June.
But the application for the Fall 2021 term, out of nowhere, closed on May 24, 2021 in KST.
I don’t remember the exact time in KST that the application closed. Neither am I certain about May 24th. Perhaps it was May 25th. But I do remember clearly that the application closed on the last week of May, because I was beyond disappointed about how randomly the application closed. And EPIK neither put this important update on its website nor did it announce it beforehand; I was able to find out about this news only when I went inside my application portal.
So I could not apply for the Fall 2021 intake.
Photo by Tim Mossholder.
2) Applying to EPIK (again) for the Spring 2022 Term
As upset as I was, I was far from giving up. Since I had all my materials ready, I decided to retry for the Spring 2022 Term. The timeline for the Spring term showed that the application opened in August. This time, I was going to submit my application the week it opened.
The Spring 2022 application opened on August 23rd, 2021.
But to my unpleasant surprise, the required documents had changed. For the Spring 2022 term, EPIK required applicants to submit an “Apostilled CRC” in addition to the…
– Online Application – Professional Photo – Two Letters of Recommendation – Proof of English Education – Lesson Plan Worksheet/Handout Samples
The Criminal Record Check Process
So, at this point, the only thing I was missing was the apostilled national-level criminal record check. And as naïve as I was, I decided to go ahead and try to attain it. If I had known beforehand how much I’d spend and what would happen, I would not have started the process.
Referring to various websites and EPIK’s own guidelines, I went ahead and applied for an FBI criminal record check through one of the approved channelers. EPIK writes that “applying directly through the FBI for a CRC is an incredibly time consuming process that can take multiple months.” So, as directed, I chose an approved channeler called Inquiries Screening.
For a complete list of FBI-Approved Channelers, visit HERE.
Inquiries Screening
Long story short, I paid Inquiries Screening $45 to do the job. They requested that I mail the FBI Departmental Order Submission Form along with 2 separate sets of fingerprint cards to them. To get my fingerprints done, I had to go to a post office and spend $62 to get two sets of inked fingerprints, as duplicate copies were not accepted. After paying a total of about a $100 and waiting for about two days, I received a link from Inquiries that gave me access to my background check.
*TIP: Inquiries Screening did a good job, but I was told by the post office lady that it is way more convenient (and cheap) to use a channeler named “Biometrics4All.” Here is their info posted on fbi.gov:
Now that I had attained my criminal record check, I needed to have it apostilled by the U.S. State Department. To do so, I contacted Monument Visa, which appeared to be the most trusted, popular choice. For a service fee of $55 (plus the Fedex 2-3 Business Shipping of $20), I successfully requested to get my criminal record check apostilled through Monument Visa.
Finally Submitting My EPIK Application
Now I was able to submit my application, as I finally had all the required documents for the initial application. Although my criminal record check wasn’t apostilled yet, EPIK wrote on its guidelines that either one of the following were required for the initial application:
– “A scan of a nationally apostilled national-level criminal record check dated on or after August 1st, 2021. Please review the “Required Documents” section of our website for details on which documents are acceptable and how to obtain them.“
OR
– “A scan of a non-apostilled national-level criminal record check dated on or after August 21st, 2021 + a scan of proof of application for a national apostille (receipt, e-mail confirmation, scan of application for apostille, proof of payment, etc.). Acceptable proof will be determined by the EPIK Office. If you have inquiries on this, please email [email protected].”
Using the second option, I successfully submitted my EPIK application on August 27th, just 4 days after the application opened. Along with the non-apostilled criminal record check and proof of application for a national apostille, I submitted my online application with the two letters of recommendation, lesson plan, hand out, an official TEFL certificate as well as the required essays.
Seoul, here I come! Photo by Cait Ellis.
In total, I spent $182 to submit my EPIK application. I could have saved much more if I had chosen a different channeler and requested the documents even earlier on to save on shipping. But even if I had, I would have had to spend about $100.
Be aware: applying to EPIK will NOT be cheap nor easy.
A Ridiculous Announcement
After submitting my application and required materials, I minded my own business and went about my daily tasks. But from time to time, I checked in on EPIK-related news, since EPIK sometimes made crucial changes without properly announcing them (i.e. my experience during the Fall 2021 application term). I periodically checked their Facebook page, YouTube channel, as well as their official website.
Lo and behold, I saw an unbelievable update saying that changes had been made to the application process for the Spring 2022 term. It was as follows:
“Due to various delays in criminal record check (CRC) and apostille processing times in many countries caused by COVID-19, we have decided to postpone the requirement for an apostilled CRC at the time of application for the Spring 2022 term. Applicants applying on or after 13:00PM on September 6th KST will not need to upload an apostilled national level criminal record check (CRC) with their initial online application.“
– The EPIK Team –
So EPIK made the change for the Spring 2022 term that required all applicants to submit an apostilled national level criminal record check only to repeal it a few weeks afterwards. And as an early, eager applicant, I had wasted my energy, time and money on it. On something that was now unnecessary in order to apply.
I wanted to cry. (Photo by Matthew Henry).
There you have it. My not so epic experience applying to EPIK.
The Time Traveler is an upcoming author who holds great appreciation for both classic literature and history. The author aspires to publish historical fictions and other written works in the near future, in hopes of creating works that entertain, inform, and inspire.
The author also appreciates all things aesthetic and enjoys traveling around the world to learn and observe.
