Picture near school

Some things are the same...

I love Korea!

Hello All!

This will have to be brief because it's 4pm Friday, I'm at the school, and we're supposed to be leaving.

I arrived (much later than planned) and all's well! Great huge apartment, warm, safe, just met my Korean counterparts today (wonderful people!), eating lots of delicous food, and much to do!

More soon if I can find an internet cafe. No internet at my place until I get my Alien Registration card two weeks from now.

Count down: 1 day left (until I'm *in* Korea!)

Tonight's the night. Tomorrow (Colorado's tomorrow) I'll be *in* Korea- yay!

I just had my last yummy Nepalese meal. I just had my last happy carousel ride.

Thank you to my friends and family for your sage advice!

Whatever I forget to pack, I can get there or have mailed to me. So long as I have my passport, and a few other crucial items, I'm good to go.

Next time I write, it will be from Korea!

Thanks again to all of you for your endless support!

Count down: 2 days left

I'm not sure about my counting on this count down but whatever...

I know this.

I fly out of Colorado tomorrow (Friday) evening.

I will arrive in Seoul Sunday morning (Korea time) which is Saturday afternoon Colorado time.

I am pretty much ready.

I weighed my bags with this very handy handheld scale by balanzza.

Side note:  Thank you friends and family for all your wonderful gifts and supportive words!

Count down: 3 days left

Whew- I have tickets now!

Orange Travel, a travel agency in Ontario, Canada, that has a business relationship with HandS Korea, emailed me today a flight itinerary. I then called them and paid over the phone for the tickets they suggested.

I leave Denver this Friday evening (Colorado time). I'll have a 1.5 hr layover in Los Angeles. Then I fly to Seoul where I'll arrive in the morning this Sunday (Korea time).

Apparently other teachers are arriving at the same time so we'll travel together to Daejeon!

Work/Orientation starts 9am Monday morning (Korea time)!

How am I feeling? Super excited! And a little nervous but not too much...

Kimchi and K-pop, here I come!

Count down: 4 days left

Just now I called the Korean Consulate in San Francisco and they said they will mail me my work visa today, Tuesday, 4pm (California time) so I should have my visa and passport tomorrow, or the latest Thursday morning (my time)! I could be leaving earlier than I originally thought!

Now I'm on the lookout for flight info from the recruiters. Once I get my visa & passport, it is my responsibility to book my flight. (They will reimburse me.)

Time to finish packing!

Count down: 5 days left

Today I called the Korean Consulate in San Francisco to confirm they'd received my passport and visa application - they had (just today) - yay! It will take 2-3 business days to process. Then they'll mail it back to me.

I also had an email from HandS Korea (an AWESOME job recruiting company) in which they gave me a few options of when to travel depending on when I receive my visa.

I may be leaving as early as this Friday...

This evening I danced the last dance with my parents and others at International Folk Dance class...

Count down: 6 days left

Counting today, I have 6 days left (today, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday). I will most likely be leaving for Korea on Saturday, 18 Feb 2012.

This morning was my last tea/coffee with my dad and the "Group W Bench" at the trains.

Funny how time is more like an accordion now than normally. It's as if one moment it's frozen, like the lovely lacy jack frost on the grocery store windows. Other times, time seems to crash down out of the blue, making a lot of noise, like the icicles on the roof just did- I heard them!

Funny how it seems I'm similar to a pregnant-for-the-first-time mother, or a child right before their very first day of school. All I can think or talk about is one thing. In my case, it's not a baby, or my first day of school, but rather:  Korea!

Now to pack! (Yikes!)

Wonderings- random

1. How many starts will I see at night?

2. Where will I shop for food- supermarket, mall, open market...?

3. What besides rice cakes and fruit do they eat for dessert there?

4. Do they have ice cream? What flavors?

5. What will I eat for breakfast on a regular basis?

6. What news do they receive/hear about the U.S.?

7. What do their streets look like? Do they have a spider web overhead of telephone wires?

Wonderings about school

Do Korean schoolchildren at Samyook Elementary School:

- have recess?

- bring their lunch to school, or eat hot lunch at school, or go home for lunch and return after to school?

- have as much autonomy as schoolchildren in public schools in America?

- wear school uniforms?

Wonderings about living situation

- Will I have loud neighbors?

- Will I have a freezer or microwave? (Probably not, which is fine.)

- Will I be in a high-rise apartment building?

- How far will it be from my apartment to the trash and recycling bins, and to school?

- Will there be landscaping outside the building?

- Will my window(s) open?

- What kinds of equipment/tools will I end up buying to keep my place clean? Do they use brooms, swiffers, vacuum cleaners...?

Count down: 7 days left

After today, I have 7 days left of being in the U.S.A.

My mom asked tonight, "How are you feeling? You seem calm."

"It [the anxiousness] comes and goes in waves," I replied while playing with the cat.

Received Visa Number!

Yesterday (2/9/12) I received my visa number! Still no plane ticket to Korea... 

Today my dad and I actually put my passport in the mail (scary- like putting your life in the mail and hoping it won't get lost or stolen!). I mailed it with my visa application to the Korean Consulate in San Francisco! They should get ib Monday. Another ~$85.00 spent (for express mail service, prepaid return envelope so they can mail my passport back to me *with* my work visa) and $45.00 processing fee. 

Good thing I had a lot of $$ in savings because I've probably spent more than $1,000.00 on this process so far. But that's okay. Soon I'll be in Korea, working full time, making money, and having the experience of a LIFETIME which is:  priceless! [Think Mastercard commercial.]

Waiting...

I'm waiting for my visa number... I'm sure there are other ways "this" is done ("this" meaning this process of getting a work visa) but here's how the job recruiters at HandS Korea (who are AWESOME) are doing it. I sent them my documents*, they sent my documents on to the Korean immigration office there, and now we're waiting. HandS Korea (HSK) is waiting for the immigration office there to process my paperwork and give them **my** work visa number. HSK said they're expecting to get my visa number this week...

Once HSK has **my** visa number, they will email it to me, and then I'll either get my work visa via mail, or in person in California, perhaps on my way to Korea (from Colorado). Unfortunately, the Korean consulate, with whom I need to communicate to get my work visa, no longer has a location in Colorado, hence why I may be going to California.

So here I am waiting... I'm not complaining; what a beautiful place to be waiting (and with family and friends here to support me too- ty!). It's 14 degrees F here, very little wind, and it's snowing! :)

*Here's the long list of documents I sent (via FedEx) to HSK more than a week ago.
One photocopy of college diploma, notarized *and* apostilled; one FBI background check with FBI seal signed by a Division Officer *and* apostilled; one official sealed university transcript; a photocopy of my passport photo page; 4 passport photos; a medical statement signed by me; all 24 double-sided pages of my contract in English and Korean; and 2 recommendation letters.

Korean Martial Art: Moo Duk Kwan

Yesterday I learned that one of the very few martial arts that has been denoted as authentically Korean is called, "Moo Duk Kwan." I found this out from an American who has been studying it for more than ten years and will be getting his fourth degree black belt and traveling to Korea in about a year; wow!

Apparently some say Tae Kwon Do originated with (in?) Moo Duk Kwan. Does anyone know this for sure?

Perhaps I'll look into this or another martial art- for exercise and to meet Koreans- when I get there...