A Rocky Start

You know when things are going well and your just about to set off on the new adventure, then something goes wrong.  Well that's what happened to me.

Everything was going so smoothly once I got my background check on New Years Eve.  Within a week and a half of the new year, I had my interview, stressed myself out so much with an essay and practice lesson video, and got accepted to work at Avalon English.  All was going well, the only things left to do were to wait for my visa number and pack.  I got my visa number and on the following Monday mailed all the needed documents to the Korean Consulate in Chicago.

But that's were everything went wrong...

I thought everything was going well; the Consulate got my documents, I got my flight booked and paid for with only a minor hick-up.  And then on Friday I got a call from the Consulate telling me I sent in the wrong payment.  I thought everything would be okay, maybe they already got my visa started and when I went in on Monday they'd have it done or at least almost done.  BUT NO!  They hadn't started anything on it, which makes sense since they didn't have the money, and as much as I asked they said there was no way to make it go faster so I could make my flight that week...

So the nerves and anxiety set in for the next week!

And to make things better, this past Monday was a holiday so the Consulate wasn't open, making me even more worried about getting there by this weekend.  I don't know if all Consulates are like this, but it is like a miracle to get a hold of anyone at the Consulate.  For two days I called and left messages, I would have kept holding but when there are four people in front of you that means waiting for pretty much two hours!  I didn't have time for that, so I left messages.  And no one called me back...I got so fed up yesterday that I finally just held since there were only two people before, finally after an hour waiting I finally got through.  And when I asked if I could get an update on the status of my visa, what was their answer..."We can't give you an update on it today."

O.O

Really?!

So I was fed up, I couldn't get any answers or anything helpful out of them, so I brooded and ranted to people for about an hour.  Of course I also sent update emails to Adventure Teaching to see if they could do anything else to help.

But then there was a ray of light!  After an hour the good news finally came!  The Consulate finally called me back to let me know it was done!!!  It felt like one of my overflowing suitcases was lifted off my shoulders.  My legs almost gave out too, I was so relieved.

[Update:]

So today, I hopped on the train and bus and made my way to the Consulate and got my beautiful visa!  It finally sinks in that I'm on my way to Korea!!!  YAYS~  Though, being the overly paranoid creature that I am, I kept feeling in my pocket to make sure my passport was still there, the last thing I needed was to lose it...And I didn't, it's safe with my wallet.

And to make things better this time not sarcastically, on the train home I got a call from the travel agent that my flight was ready to be booked!  So I got home and called him back and TADA flight booked for tomorrow at noon!!!

So although it was a rocky start, things are all sorted out and I'M GOING TO KOREA!!!!