ready for takeoff.

Its go time.

For real.

I'm all packed and ready to go. We're probably going to leave for Boston within the next half hour. This is insane. Goodbye USA. The next day or so will consist of this:

• Going to Newton to pick up my visa
• Be at Logan Airport by 4
• Takeoff at 6 for LAX
• Land in LA at 9:35 (12:35am eastern time)
• Take off at 12:20 (3:20am) for Incheon
• Land in Incheon at 5am on Friday, August 21st.
• Get driven to Kimpo Airport
• Fly to Yeosu
• Start my new life.

Sounds good. Right now I'm feeling 75% excited, 10% nervous, 10% tired and 5% stressed.

Oh, and I think my bags are overweight. Hello heavy baggage fee.

Next post...from Korea

Unless I find wireless in LA

its been a while

Long time, no post.

I've been wicked busy with my final preparations because I LEAVE IN 2 DAYS!!!

I think I'm actually in pretty good shape to leave. While my stuff isn't packed, I do have luggage and the things I want to bring are all together in one area of my room. Tomorrow I'm going to Syms to pick up my suit, and on the way I think I'll stop at the mall and pick up a few last minute things. But other than that, I'm all set.

Finally an end to the visa saga. At about 11:30 I'm going up to the Korean consulate to get this taken care of once and for all. My appointment is at 2pm, but they want me there a half hour earlier. Fine by me. Everything is ready, all my documents, transcripts...etc. This should be pretty easy. I just want this whole ordeal to be over with.

cutting it close.

It wouldn't be me if I wasn't cutting it close.

I was all set to go to the Korean Consulate today. I even got up early so I could afford myself time to be late. Nobody informed me that I needed an appointment. When I called, they informed me that the earliest they could fit me in was on the 17th. That's 2 days before I leave. Whats worse is that they want me to pick up my visa on the 19th. At 4pm. I need to be at the airport at 4pm. Looks like I'm going to have to beg and plead for them to let me pick it up earlier that day. Whatever, this whole process has been relatively easy so I'm ok with this taking a little longer.

More news about my apartment! The furnishings sound alright, twin bed (good thing I was an RA), coffee table, desk, nightstand...etc. But apparantly the TV is real decent and the best part of the apartment. Sounds good to me....what do I even watch on Korean TV anyways? They better have food network.

I was also informed that there will be 2 ragers the weekend that I get to Yeosu. Way to start things off right. Hopefully jet lag doesn't get the best of me. I was also informed that the parties there don't start till around midnight and usually go till 6am.

I think I'll be just fine.

Leave it to Rhode Island

to be the only state in the country to celebrate VJ day. Excuse me, that's not politically correct anymore...Victory Day. I need to get another copy of my official transcript but Green Hall is closed due to...yup, Victory Day. FML.

I'm really going to be getting down to the wire here. It takes up to 5 days to get the visa processed. If I go tomorrow, 5 business days would bring me to next Tuesday. The day before I leave. Great. Hopefully the consulate brings their A game and gets this done quick.

In other news, I LEAVE IN 9 DAYS! I can't even believe it. This is so unreal. Not to mention that I have a ton of stuff to do. Well not really, I just have to pack. I also need to go to the doctor's and get a new epi-pen. That would be a real drag if in Korea I end up needing one and mine is expired.

The teacher that I'm taking over for messaged me back with some more info about the school and apartment.

"the apt is a bachelor, nice small but big enough to be comfortable.. it is located ina great area, only blocks away from everything ull ever need, although it is far from the school, but there is a bus stop right outside that takes u to school... and if not u can buy a scooter very cheap

the school is on the side of a mountain, beautiful views all around it.. u walk down the mountain from the school two minutes and ur in the main downtown area of the city..."

Sounds awesome. I can't wait.

Its about time.

My visa number FINALLY came. So I guess that means that I'll be going to Boston on Monday. I have to email Carrie before I go to make sure I have everything in order. I need to bring copies of my BCI check and my degree....and copies of the apostilles. I made copies but they're pretty terrible, and the copy of my degree is only half of the document (it was too big to copy the whole thing). At least the notary stamp is visible. I hope that passes. I don't want to have to go through the whole notarization and apostille process again.

Other than that I have less than two weeks until departure! 12 days to be exact, and still so much to do. I need to get some luggage, teaching clothes, and just a whole ton of stuff in general. Not to mention the fact that I need to pack a years worth of clothes into two suitcases. This includes my winter jacket and things to put in my apartment. I'm screwed.

This also marks the start of cram time for learning Korean. I have a lot of work to do!

Mr. Sammarco and Ms. Lee

Taking middle school English by storm.

I got an email from my Korean co-teacher, Ms. Lee. Perfect timing too. I was thinking of getting the school's email address from their website (its one of the few things actually in English) and emailing them, but Ms. Lee beat me to it. She seems really nice...from the email at least, and envious of my chance to go abroad.

That got me thinking. I am really lucky to be doing this, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity I have. Not many people can decide to up and move across the world to a strange land where the culture and language are so different. I'm a lot more scared about moving than I let on, but I also see the adventure in it, which far outweighs the fear.

Anyways...my co-teacher told me that I'd be living in the apartment that my predecessor currently lives in. She said that as far as apartments go it is a little better than the rest. The only downfall is that it isn't located within walking distance of my school. Its about a 10 minute drive. Good thing I got my International Driving Permit! The high school English teacher said he lives near where I'll be living and that he usually just takes a taxi. He also said that he'd be willing to share a cab.

As for my visa, my co-teacher said she submitted my documents on Thursday and that they should be back within a week. I hope it comes sooner rather than later.

dear visa number...

Where are you?

I have less than 20 days until take off and still no visa number. I'd better get it soon. From what I understand, if you have problems getting your visa stuff you can go to Japan to get it taken care of there. I'm not sure about this one. Half of me thinks it would be great to spend a day or two in Japan taking care of it, but the other (smarter) half thinks it would be better to just do it here hassle free. I only have 12 business days to get this done. Factor in work, moving, taking care of other things.....so little time!

Today I went to AAA to get my International Driving Permit. I don't really plan on driving that much (if at all) while in Korea, but it was suggested I get the permit just so I have an extra form of ID. It would be cool to get a little motorbike or something to ride.

I got another facebook message from a Yeosu teacher today! Apparently my middle school is connected and jointly run with a high school. The high school teacher messaged me saying "werd up". I like that these people are going out of their way to help me out.

Here is where I'm getting WAY ahead of myself. I have an insatiable urge to travel the world...even before traveling for the first time. I'm already looking into going to Thailand and Cambodia for a week when I have school vacation. Angkor Wat is pretty much on the top of my list of things to see while in Asia. I also read an article about why you should to your TEFL training in Thailand. Its the cheapest place in Asia to take a reputable course. What's better is that the tropical paradise of Phuket (pronounced Poo-ket with the P having undertones of B, not Ph as an F) has THE cheapest TEFL program. While a TEFL certification won't make me much more money in the short term, it will open up the opportunity to take better jobs in more exotic places, if I decide I like the teaching English gig. Exotic places brings me to my next life goal: living on every continent (except Antarctica). With a TEFL this is pretty conceivable. North America is a given, Asia is taken care of, for Europe I'd like to teach in Italy or Greece. For Africa I'd go to Morocco or Egypt, and for South America I'd try for either Peru or Brazil. Australia/New Zealand would be a little tougher seeing as how they speak English. I guess for there I'd try to get a year long job on a vineyard or farm or something.

When I think about all the places I'd want to go I find myself thinking about the ancient wonders in the area. Machu Picchu in Peru, Ancient Rome, the Parthenon, the Pyramids...such history there. I want to see it all.

This is all at least a year in the future. Right now I need to focus on the task at hand, getting myself ready for Korea. One step at a time.