final consulate trip (hopefully!)

so in about 90 minutes i'll be making my final trip down to boston to the korean consulate to pick up my completed visa. after that i'm getting some last minute paperwork done, then more packing. all my clothes and toiletries are set, but gotta pack my carry-on bag and whatever else i realize i need last minute.

i'm not sure i can entertain myself for 25 hours straight, if i can't sleep on the plane, things may get tricky. i did just get the new professor layton game for my DS, so hopefully that sucks up a few hours at chicago while i wait for my second flight (4 hour wait, bah).

i think i'm excited.

ticket!

my flight leaves on tuesday at 6:50am. i get there wednesday at 4pm, timezones are weird.

visa update 2

so. not the best outcome, but not the worst.

visa won't be ready til 2pm on monday. which means my departure will be delayed til late monday evening or early tuesday. other than that, pretty standard interview. more like a general 'you know what you're getting into, right?' checked to make sure no one was taking advantage of me, that i knew that i was going to a place that is not america. only one question really relating to teaching.

so yeah, countdown resets, and starts over. hopefully i hear from my recruiter tonight or tomorrow about a finalized departure date.

speed consulate update

went to consulate yesterday

no time for an interview

they said monday was earlier.

that's bad, because i'm supposed to leave sunday.

i convince them to do it today at 10 (2 hours from now)

i leave shorty

hopefully i get final document by friday afternoon

maybe monday morning

trip delayed one day? two days?

shouldn't be longer than that

i am surprisingly nervous about an interview most say is not worth worrying about.

do a barrel roll

okay, so the last couple days have been super nuts, and today and tomorrow are going to be keeping that pace.

i leave sunday, hooray. but i still need to do my korean consulate interview first. very early tuesday morning i got my email with my visa issuance number, but through a slight error, it omitted my actual number! that is not good. so i spent the rest of the day trying to track down the guy to get it sent to me, at 5am this morning (wednesday), i finally got it. i felt bad for pestering so much, but sometimes you have to look out for your own best interests above some politeness. it was to the point where i had my email setup to text message me as soon as the number came in.

so the number is now in my hands, as are all the other pertinent documents and here comes gambit #2. i'm going to be running down to the korean consulate with my mom (i'm cool), and hoping i can convince them to let me interview today, then if all goes according to plan and i get a little lucky, i can get my visa at the end of today or pick it up tomorrow. once that's in my hand, finally finished with the red tape, paperworky, stuff.

it still hasn't completely hit me yet that i'm leaving in.... 4 days. but i expect that it will soon. even though i'm not freaking out yet, i am pretty excited at this point. i can actually start packing my bags now, that's a weird feeling.

hopefully i'll have another post by the end of the day talking about how successful everything went, or maybe not, haha.

alright, more info

so yeah. accepted a position, starting the 26th, hooray. everything is out of my hands now as my visa gets processed. if i start the 26th, which is a wednesday, i'll probably be getting there a day or two before that. which means i could be leaving in as little as 10-14 days. that is insane.

i think for the most part i'm pretty prepared. i got myself a whole new wardrobe, that was weird. i'd been wearing the clothes i'd had for years without many changes, so i figured why not switch that up as well with the other big changes. now i literally have fancy pants. i'm not planning on bringing that much with me. clothes, a towel (the towels over there are weird, i hear), some fitted sheets (they just tuck them in, crazy! i am way too lazy to do that all the time), my laptop, my camera, some gifts for my boss and teachers (it's customary to give gifts when you arrive), various toiletries, mr. moose, some mementos from various places and people, and i'm not exactly sure what else, hopefully not much. packing light is my goal. i still need to get some good bags though, ones that will carry everything, but still be easily transportable, just in case i need to book it between planes at airports.

other than saying my farewells to a few people, and spending time with my parents before i go, i don't really have a lot to do. in a way i wish i could just leave now and get all this waiting over with.

on the upside, i think i found another blog that has a teacher who's working at the school where i'm supposed to be stationed. he had a few pictures posted, posted some information about the teachers and school, so that was interesting. they play frisbee behind the school, i hope they're still doing that when i get there.

i've also been trying to find some hobbies to take up once i'm there. at the moment i'm leaning towards Hapkido, a korean martial art that does throws and locks and some striking. or Kumdo, which is korean sword techniques. i want to be a black belt (or equivilant) in something. it would be really cool to say i genuinely know how to use a sword, haha.

there probably won't be a real update until after i visit the korean embassy in boston to get my visa settled, so stay tuned til then. hopefully that happens late this week or next week!

OMG.

so. i may be going to korea. i was offered, and accepted a position at a school this evening. it's located in an area called 'pyeongchon' it's south/southwest of seoul. it's not originally where i was planning to be, but from my research it might even be a bit better. it looks like i'll be teaching middle school and advanced classes, but that might change, who knows! i'm honestly too excited right now to really get into depth with this, so i'll update tomorrow.

andrew invades korea. late august. 2009. hooray.