Seoul Food

I have some immediate observations about Seoul.  

• The city is huge and pretty dirty (sooty?).  And sometimes smells too.  There's a lot of trash in the  side streets.

• Everything is very colorful.  

Colorful Bus

• Korean attempts at English are slightly hilarious.  
  

Wrapper for a bath sponge

• Koreans do not sweat.  It is HOT here.  Nearly 90 and muggier than Cleveland on a hot July day.  Yet, I see people all the time in long sleeve shirts, pants, and business suits without any trouble.  Alan and I are drenched and these people aren't even breaking a sweat!

• I think Koreans are slightly obsessed with looking good.  There are ads for cosmetic surgery everywhere, and in the subway, there isn't anything but.  
  

Cosmetic surgery place.  

• We are definitely foreigners.  Even in a city as large as Seoul, I've seen very few non-Asians.  The good thing about this is that Alan is very easy to spot in a crowd if we get separated.  However,  I've already noticed the stares (some not so discreet) and even watched a Korean lady hesitate to sit next to Alan on the subway and then scootch as far away as she could after sitting down.  (Must be the beard.  :P)

• Everyone has a smart phone.  In the US, you still see a lot of people with flip phones and texting phones.  Not here.  All smart phones.  

We went to see the Gyeongbukgung Palace today.  It was built in 1395 during the Joseon Dynasty and has been burned down twice during the Japanese invasions of the 1500's and early 1900's.  It was a pretty fascinating place and we took a tour through it.

Throne room and the court yard

Inside the museum.  Panorama of the palace.  

Throne room.

You have to take your shoes off before entering the King or Queen's sleeping chambers.

Bukchon Village is a residential area not far from the Palace and features traditional Korean style housing.  We walked through there for a while.  

It's been a nice day of walking around and seeing Korean history.  

Goodbye America. Hellooo Korea.

This has been the longest day of my life.  No joke.  We got up around 6am Wed morning and thanks to physics, we flew in the sun the whole time.  It is now nearly 8am Thursday morning Ohio time and it's the first time I've seen night.  It's about 9pm Korea time now.  It's a rather fascinating effect.  My mind is being tricked into thinking it's just been a normal day, but my body is so exhausted that it knows better.  The 14 hour flight went by much more quickly than I thought it would.   They had the windows closed and the lights dimmed most of the time.  Alan was conked out for a good majority of the time and to me it just felt like an infinite point of time.  So when we finally got off the plane, I felt like maybe two hours had passed.

They served both Western food and Korean food on the plane.  Alan received a Korean meal and I was slightly horrified.

One of his sides appeared to be eel offspring.  

My western food was good though and Alan enjoyed his (minus the baby eels).  XD

Here's our first glimpse of Korea.  

We landed safely, made it into the country, found our bags, got through Customs, managed to buy the correct bus tickets, and then get on said bus.  

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An hour bus ride and a lot of carting luggage uphill later, we found the hotel.  And it's shwanky.  :D

So, we're here.  We're safe.  We've got a great room to sleep in and chips from the local mini mart to munch on.  I found what I thought was a peanut butter sandwich there, but it turns out I was mistaken.  The "peanut butter" is not real peanut butter at all but rather, some peanut butter cream.  Almost like cream cheese.  So I'm going to stick to my chips and enjoy some much desired rest.  :)

Crunch Time

We have one more day left in the United States and everything is finally starting to become less surreal for me.  Goodbyes, though always hard, are becoming slightly easier as I've finally decided that I'm ready for this. The last few days have been nothing but busy.  Meeting up with friends and family for the last time, moving out of our Cleveland Heights place, settling accounts, buying necessities, and packing everything have taken up most of our time.  We're also trying to get hotels booked, print out every possible map and set of directions we might need (we might be internet free for a bit), and find the things we want to go see before we both start working.  We're almost ready.  Just a few last things to take care of.



Visa update.

By the time I was settling in for bed Thursday evening, my E2 number still had not arrived.  So Alan and I decided, regardless of if it came the next morning or not (it did), we were going to do a visa run to Japan.  It would be expensive to change flights, I'd miss out on Seoul and we'd end up having to take another trip there some time so that I could experience the city too.  There was also the chance that if we rebooked and I took my visa application to Chicago, it would take longer than expected again to process and we'd have this same problem all over again.  So instead, we're doing the famous Japan visa run.

Our itinerary looks something like this:

Wednesday morning:  Fly out from Cleveland to Chicago and from Chicago to Incheon Seoul.

Thursday afternoon/eveningish:  Arrive in Seoul

Friday-Monday: Hang out in Seoul

Monday- Take the high speed KTX train to Ulsan

Tuesday- Take a train or bus to Busan to the International Ferry Terminal and hop on a ferry to Fukuoka, Japan

Tuesday-Friday- Hang out in Fukuoka while visa processing takes place

Friday- Take the ferry back to Busan and head back to Ulsan

Monday- Start work


Somewhere in there, we have to find an apartment and move in and figure out how to get to our respective work places.

Here we go!

Just...Breathe

The process of acquiring an E2 visa for teaching in South Korea has been long, drawn out, and stressful.  I started back in April.

To be eligible to teach ESL in Korea, you need a bachelor's degree.  I've got two.  Check.

You also need to be a citizen from one of the English speaking countries on their fancy list.  American?  Check.

You've got a beautiful native English accent and a higher education.  Now you have to get all of you documents in order to prove it.

• Apostilled FBI Background check

Seems simple enough.  And it is.  But it takes a while to get the final product so don't procrastinate on this one.  The first step is to get your fingerprints taken.  The third time was the charm for me.  The first time I went, I was confused about what I was doing.  They told me they couldn't do apostilled fingerprint cards.  I didn't yet realize that you had to send the card off.  The second time I went, they were on holiday for the Easter long weekend.  Third time, finally did it, though it was five minutes before they closed and the lady was clearly not happy with me.  But I got it done.  So, you send the card in along with a background check request form and ask them to authenticate it for the purpose of obtaining an apostille.  

Once it comes back, you have to send it off to a company to get it apostilled.  Once you get the shwanky stamp, you're good.  

• Apostilled photocopy of your degree.

They'll ask to see the real degree when you get there.  So until you can, they want as much proof as possible that you actually went to college.  Go to your bank and ask them to photocopy your degree and then notarize it.  Now here's where I wish I knew more.  I got my degree photocopies notarized and sent it off to the Secretary of State to be apostilled.  A week later they sent it back, no apostille.  In Ohio and a few other states, you need to have your notary authenticated before you can have it apostilled.  So I went downtown to the clerk of courts to have it authenticated before ovenighting it back to the Secretary.  Got the fancy imprint on the document.  

• PASSPORT 

This part was hard.  And it shouldn't have been.  Except that I'm the dummy who lost her passport.  So I needed a new one, and really quickly.  But I was getting married!  I wanted to change my name!  I tried to wait and see if I could get the name change proceedings done in time.  There was no way.  And I ended up having to expedite the passport processing and keeping my maiden name.  So now, when I do get to change my name, I'll have to buy a whole new passport again.  Inconvenient and costly.  But that's what the absent minded get I suppose.  

• Passport photos

When you get your ARC card (alien registration card), they want your face on it.  I wanted vanilla wafers from Walgreens anyways.  No problem.  XD

• Health Statement Form

Korea is very particular about the health of the individuals coming into their country.  Not for your sake though.  They want to make sure that you won't start an epidemic or lose your mind and go on a rampage or something.  If you have any sort of mental or physical health issues, it's likely that they'll deny your visa application

• Signed Resume/Signed Contract

My recruiter already had these as we did it all through email.  So thankfully I didn't have to worry about them a second time.

So, I packed up all of the documents (finally!) and shipped them off to Korea via FedEx.  They received the documents July 17.  I was told 1-2 weeks processing time before I could get an E2 visa confirmation number.  This number is sent off with the visa application, payment, and more passport pictures (some consulates also require your transcripts or a consulate checklist) to get my actual visa.  

It's been almost 3 weeks.  My flight leaves in 8 days.  I've bugged and bugged my recruiter, but there's not much he can do.  It's in Immigration's hands now.  So I called a few consulates today.  The consensus seems to be that I can only send my application to the consulate in Chicago because it's all jurisdiction based and only they do Ohio applications.  And Chicago happens to have a much longer processing time than say, New York (only 4 days).  Chicago takes 7 days (7 days!) to process your application and send your passport back to you with the visa.  No rush service.  Even begging doesn't work.  Koreans are ever stoic.  I'm pretty much having a panic attack.  

But Alan, always the calm one, has been helping me look at our options.  At the worst, I might have to fly separately from him a few days later.  (I would be very saddened by this.  I really wanted to go see Seoul with him upon arriving.  Which we wouldn't have time to do if I came later)  But really, everything should be fine.  I can get into the country, just maybe not on my own terms.  Maybe that's also part of the lesson.  Going with the flow.  That's what this whole trip was about anyways, right?

So, my lesson of the day in general...just BREATHE.  My advice to others considering a similar route....DON'T procrastinate.  

-Jessie

Goodbyes

Our flight to Korea leaves in less than two weeks.  I must say, the last few weeks have been hard for me.  All the goodbyes, and all of the realizations that "hey, I'll probably never see this person again" are really difficult to deal with.  I think Alan's handling it better than I am.  He's got a more optimistic view on it.  Though, he's done this once before already.  It's something I keep having to shove to the back of my mind because if I actively think about it, I'll probably start crying.  Again.

That's not to say I'm not excited.  I'm very excited.  We're spending our first couple of days in Seoul and seeing the city will be absolutely amazing.  From the research that Alan's done, I think there's plenty of salsa dancing in Ulsan, where we'll live.  I get to learn a whole new language, something that I've always excelled at, and have a perfect opportunity to actually use it.  Lots of hiking.  It'll be awesome.

But my excitement is taking a back seat to my anxiety right now.

It's just, well, in college, I had friends, yes.  But in general, the group of people I hung out with changed every year.  I've finally reached a place in my life where I feel that I've developed some stable relationships.  And I'm leaving it all behind.  I'm going to a place where I know no one, can't speak the language (yet), am not familiar with the culture, and probably won't like the food.  I'm not good with directions when I can actually read everything.  What's going to happen when I get lost (and I guarantee you I will) in Korea?  It sounds like a very lonely existence.  Especially since it'll most likely take us a while to make some friends.  I've also signed a contract to work as a kindergarten ESL teacher for the first year we're there.  It's probably going to be the hardest job I've ever and will ever have.  I don't know how to interact with children.  Absolutely zero experience with them.  Add in the fact that I'm not allowed to speak Korean to them (they want total immersion) and they probably can't understand English.  O.O  How am I supposed to do this?  I'm sort of terrified.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not doubting my decision.  At all.  I've always wanted to live in a foreign country.  And I'd have to kick myself pretty hard if I let Alan walk out of my life.   And you know that friend situation I was just ranting about?  Well, turns out that most of our good friends are moving away  (or have already) anyways!  It's like this was all meant to be.  And every time I think of something that makes me doubt that, some sort of tie to my life here, it's severed.  There's nothing left for me here anymore.  Ohio has given me the boot.  It's definitely time to move on to the next stage of my life.

Knowing that just doesn't make it any easier.


-Jessie

Day One

We're married.

This week has been absolutely insane but the end result was wonderful.  Thursday for the fourth of July, we had another kayaking trip down at Mohican like the one we did last year.  This year we had Kenji, Lauren, Alan, and me and I think it was a really good time.  I managed to flip my kayak once, causing Alan severe disappointment since he didn't have his camera ready.  Unfortunately, the sandwiches we packed for lunch on the river were in my vessel.  They remained edible though.  Just slightly damp.  Kenji and I were also mauled by mosquitos, so I've had a few days of intense discipline and self-control. 

 Friday, 2 days before the wedding, I had to finish moving out of my apartment- a four hour ordeal.  Luckily I was able to take a half day at work or I wouldn't have been able to do it.  We had the bachelor/bachelorette parties that evening.  Kathy helped me get ahold of Ameera, our bellydance instructor, and set up a workshop for that evening.  It was a really good lesson and I enjoyed it.  The room was a little (read really) toasty but that just made it more of a workout so we could eat more pizza!    We hung out at Wade Lagoon for a while afterwards with pizza, brownies, and geese.  Papa goose was not happy when Tara picked one of the goslings up.  I never knew geese could be so frightening.  We crashed the men's bachelor party afterwards with some laser tag.  We all made a good team and crushed the competition.  

Saturday was also a long day.  I had my first mani/pedi that morning.  It wasn't a horrible experience but it wasn't overly comfortable either.  Kind of like a dentist appointment where you enjoy the clean teeth after the fact but don't exactly like all the poking and prodding with sharp metal objects.  The rehearsal dinner that evening was tense.  Nothing was ready.  We didn't even have ceremony music.  I still had two dances to practice- my v. waltz with Alan and that with my dad.  By the end of it, I had nearly reached my breaking point.  So much needed to be done that day.  But it got done, and considering how last minute everything was, the ceremony the next afternoon was beautiful.  

I was numb from the time I woke up Sunday morning until about 20 minutes after the ceremony was finished.  Nerves.  Charmen did a wonderful job with my hair and makeup and we got to the country club maybe an hour before the ceremony.  Once we were all dressed and ready, we headed to our places, the bridesmaids and me.  I was waiting inside at the top of the stairs I would walk down to reach the garden.  One of the event coordinators was talking to me asking me something about the cake cutting.  My dad came in and said they had started the processional with the bridal party.  I stopped mid sentence and just stared at him.  It must have been rather amusing- I was left speechless.  

The ceremony was beautiful and I loved Alan's dorky grin at the alter.  I was so sweaty and jittery though.  I couldn't think about all of those people watching me.  I calmed down after the ceremony and felt much better.  Everything was (and still is) so surreal.  I can't believe that I finally married the man I had my eyes set on for so long.    

The reception was great.  The food was delicious (Kathy's dress thought so too!) and the cake was to die for.  I was slightly disappointed with my v waltz performance, but then again, I'm never satisfied with my dancing and that dress was a deathtrap for viennese.  

We had a lot of dancing at the end.  That was a good time.  Balazs always does a good job with music and I was really glad that all of our ballroom peeps came.  It wouldn't be a celebration without dancing.  

We made it to Hide Away Bed and Breakfast around 10:30pm last night.  The suite is excellent.  We are provided with a jacuzzi in our bedroom!  Our first day as a married couple has been quiet and lazy.  After going non-stop all of the last week, this break is much appreciated.  

All of this really happened, didn't it?  I am a married woman now.  o.O  Woah.



-Jessie

Waiting Game

I've never been known for my patience and now everything's a waiting game.  I'm waiting for all of my documents to come in so I can send them off to Korea and get my visa.  I'm waiting to move out of my apartment.  I'm waiting for my last day of work. And I'm waiting for the wedding day.  I can't believe it's just over two weeks away.  It's such a short span but at the same time, feels like forever.  In the meantime, Alan and I are filling our time with bike riding, running, dancing, and more to keep us busy.



-Jessie