That moment

Yeah, you know the one. Where you go "Oh wow, this is really happening. I can't believe this is really happening!"? Well, I just got hit with it. And hard.

Yesterday one of my bffs helped me clean my second bedroom and we, once again, took about a ton of trash and got a big pile going to Goodwill later this week. And then we went to dinner which was absolutely amazing. I honestly was surprised when so many of my friends showed up! Thank you all for showing up and having some good bye sushi and pushing me to try the sushi pizza.

Side note: RuSan's sushi pizza- a WHOLE lot better than I expected. I meant to take a picture, but I forgot and by the time I remembered, it was all gone.

But I am so, so happy and grateful that all of you showed up even though the set up didn't let us talk that much. Just the fact you were there made me teary eyed.

My wonderful friends ^_^ I'm at the other table with even more friends!

And then last night, I was plagued by nightmares. If they were connected to my moving plans, maybe I could understand them, but they weren't. Well, maybe one of them was. I was in an apartment and apparently there was a gunman loose but I couldn't understand what was going on because everyone was speaking a language I didn't understand. But the others? One was about a ghost that killed adults and made children think it was a video game character and the other was about being with the marching band and having a tornado come after us before I broke into a house and fifteen of us managed to hide under a table. Weird huh?

Because of said nightmares, there is a chance I am a tiny bit more emotionally unstable than usual. So when things kinda hit the fan this morning, I was less than happy. I kept realizing things, like this was the last time I was going to take Kitty to the vet, or the last time I'd see Dr. E for awhile, etc. etc. I spent a majority of the day close to tears, and boy, it was not fun.

Finally, after a huge meal and a long, long, LONG nap, I'm relatively back to normal. But I can't get that nagging feeling out of my head that I've only got a week left. I'm so happy and so excited to have this opportunity, but I'm realizing just how much I'm going to miss everything and everyone. I have a feeling there will be a lot of soju and hopefully socializing during my first few weeks over seas.

The past 7 years shaped me into the person I am today

This post is going to be very emotional and very long, just a warning before hand.

I first arrived in Atlanta in July of 2005 for a week of percussion camp before my freshman year of college. I met some awesome people, and was so excited for the semester to start. When I finally arrived for real, I thought that marching band would be the place I would spend the most of my time and the people I would come to call my family. And while that isn't particularly untrue, there was someplace else that had a far bigger impact on me.

I was lucky enough to meet an amazing girl during FASET and then even luckier to get to room with her our freshman and sophomore years. It was thanks to her and another amazing girl I met in my freshman orientation class that I was dragged to the theater during that first week for something called "Open House". And I hate love to admit that I was hooked from the beginning. From playing video games to studying, late night rehearsals and dinners to early morning naps on couches, DramaTech theater became my home away form home. And the other members? My family.

The upperclassmen were a little intimidating at first, I will admit that, but I slowly got to know that most of them were extremely, extremely awesome. And as each class graduated, another young group joined us. Slowly "The Freshmen", as my class came to be called, were no longer freshmen and instead had freshies to take care of on our own. I cannot tell you how much I loved watching the younger ones grow, trying to help when I could, and just trying to make things enjoyable for them. I wanted everyone to enjoy being at the theater as much as I did.

One of my many younguns- Booth Guy #2, aka Kevin. I wish I had gotten a picture with other Booth Guy #2, aka Marcos, and Asian Ginger, aka Dan, but I forgot. Sad face.

Of course there were some problems, mostly my temper and emotional-ness, but throughout the last 7 years (8 almost), the theater and my family from there has helped me grow and reign in those problems areas I had. I've had so many role models while I've been there that I honestly can't count them all. Upperclassmen who made me feel welcome, ones who showed me the ropes, and ones who had confidence in my ability and told me so. Underclassmen who pushed me to do better, ones who encouraged me, and ones who came to me when they had problems. And of course my fellow class men who always were there for me, day or night, rain or shine, good moods and bad, and they weren't afraid to pull any punches when they knew I needed it.

I officially graduated and left DramaTech in August of 2011, but I haven't been able to stay away. Whether it was just coming by to say hi and hang out, watch a show, help with house, or teach a sewing class, if there was a reason for me to drive into downtown, I found it. Honestly it was like an addiction which might explain why I spent almost as much time there working on productions as I did studying.

So when my best friend and a few other young ones (I say young ones even though they are the upperclassmen now because they will ALWAYS be my young ones) told me I had to come to banquet, I thought sure, why not. Since I'm leaving for South Korea in less than a month, I figured this would probably be my last banquet for awhile. It didn't take much convincing, but I did almost call it off on Saturday morning. I was feeling a little stressed and thought about how much I could get done if I just stayed home, but no. I had promised to go, so I was going. I got dressed up, put on makeup and my uncomfy shoes, and drove to downtown.

We all dressed up and ate delicious food. Though you can't tell by Mei Mei's face, I swear it WAS delicious!

First of all: the theme? Amazing. I wish we had done some swing dancing before food started- no, I wish I had been able to see some swing dancing, because Lord knows I can't swing dance worth anything- but the photobooth and small games were enough, not to mention saying hi to people took up a good amount of time. The food and deserts were amazing as well, so from the get-go I knew this was going to be an amazing banquet. And then? The hosts. Oh. My. Lord. Scotty and Eric were just hilarious and I almost squeed when I saw both of them run on stage. Totally loved the outfits and the 'story' of the show! Awards were given out, all of them deserved in my opinion, and I even helped give out a scholarship and some goody bags! Finally, the big three awards were up.

The big three awards are given to 1- an outside person who has done a lot for the club, 2- a member of the club who has done a lot over the past year, and 3- a member of the club who has given outstanding service through their lifetime in the club.

I clapped as the awards were being given for the first two, but I couldn't help but remark to my friend sitting next to me that I was always a little sad I hadn't gotten an award. I still loved the theater, and always would, but the knowledge that I had made an impact was something that I didn't have, but something that I wished for. Everyone that has won that award has deserved it, but before me there were plenty who deserved it and didn't get it. A lot of people have given their blood, sweat, and tears (literally all 3) for that theater, and not everyone gets acknowledged for it which is sad.

But anyways, the last award was being given out. I wasn't exactly paying attention at first because I was thinking of who was up for the award that year. When they finally started talking about who was getting the award, I paid attention. The way it happens is whoever won the award last year explains what the award is for and then, without naming any names, start describing who won it for that year and why. So of course everyone is listening and trying to guess who won the award before they are actually named.

Well, my best friend was one of the two presenting this award this year, and when she started describing the person who won, I was getting jealous. She said this was someone she had a special relationship with for the past 6 years and that she was set back when she first heard they won the award, but agreed with it later. The person was someone who would walk into the theater and people would say "Hey! How are you? Where've you been?" And this whole time I was going "But I'm her best friend! Who has a more special relationship with her?!" as well as "Aw, I'm not the only one that greet that way? Well, that's okay, they probably miss a lot of us..." So it wasn't until she started saying how this person was leaving for awhile and they wouldn't get to see her that things clicked in my brain. I immediately sat back in my chair, covered my mouth, and tried not to cry.

I don't remember much of the 'speech' I gave, so I apologize if it was a bunch of rambling nonsense. And I'm sorry for the tears and such. I wish I could properly express how much this means to me but I never will be able to...

Okay, I might've cried a tiny bit when I was taking this picture after I got home. Just way too many emotions, heh.

I'm going to close this out with something a little unconventional. I had a talk with a few friends last night after I won this because, well, I felt conflicted. I was so incredibly surprised and happy, but at the same time I felt horrible. This award is usually given out to a graduating senior (someone who graduated the year before or is graduating the year after), so needless to say, I was confused. And I felt horrible because there were some amazing people who graduated this year and some amazing people who are graduating next year. People who have done so much for the theater and been there every step of the way. I'm so grateful for you all remembering me and honoring me with this award, but I wish I could share it with all of the seniors who have graduated before me, who have graduated since me, and who will graduate after me. Because while it is impossible for everyone to get this award, every single person who is a DT member leaves a footprint and deserves to be remembered for the outstanding things they have done and will do.

I love you all so much, and thank you!!!

Everything is slowly (or fastly depending on your perspective) coming together...

... and I'm a little bit terrified.

So this week I went on a little trip to downtown Atlanta. While there, I visited... The South Korean Consulate!!!

Doesn't it look kinda awesome? I felt all official walking in there!

Anyways, I dropped off all of my paperwork and went about my day. I packed, cleaned a little, and rested. I shouldn't have been worried and yet... I was. 

Just today at work I was talking to a coworker and said "I will only feel like this whole thing is real when I have my visa and itinerary in hand." About an hour later I called the consulate and found out: Yes! My visa was ready for me to pick up! Since I had no work left to do at work an the PTO to use, so I talked to my boss and took the rest of the day off. 40 minutes later, guess what I had!

My E-2 visa! I fuzzed out all the important bits.

And when I saw it, I noticed two things. 1) I have a 13 month visa meaning I don't have to worry about leaving exactly on May 25 of next year. 2) My visa type? A multiple entry visa. That means I can travel to other countries while I'm there! I totally see a trip or two to Japan on weekends in my future. Exciting? Yes.

This was at around 3:30pm. I got home and checked my email to find... An itinerary. For my flight. To South Korea. ... What?! (Like I mentioned before, every time I started feeling a little concerned about this trip, something would happen to reassure me and draw me back in.) So now I just have to talk with the travel agent and assure them that I have my visa in place, and wham! Ready!

Officially I can say I will be leaving Atlanta May 7th and leaving Savannah the morning of May 23rd. I have less than 2 weeks to sell my furniture and car, pack up my apartment, and cut down my clothing/ make-up and stuff until it fits into just 2 suitcases. Oy vey... Things are certainly moving fast!

Time to slim down!

With the prospect of leaving in my future, I'm currently focusing on a few things, but the main thing? Is slimming down.

And no, I don't mean my weight!

I've lived away from home now for almost 8 years. For the past 6, I've lived in apartments. And for the last year, I've lived on my own. What does this mean?

Good LORD do I have a lot of stuff! Stuff I need, stuff I don't need, stuff for decorating, stuff to remember things that have happened, stuff I fear i might need one day... Just STUFF.

So I have been spending time cleaning, throwing stuff out, getting ready to sell or donate, and basically just downsize. I'm lucky enough that I have friends who help, otherwise these past few weekends? Would have been horrible.

A few weekends ago I was lucky enough that two of my best friends came over and helped me my living room and kitchen. I think we got rid of about 5 trashbags full of stuff? And we found 3 trashbags worth of clothes. My bookcase is now organized and I have a list of books I'll be selling as well as equipment like a PS2, Sega Saturn, and one of the new Atari remakes (CRYING RIGHT NOW). I also finally went through and made a list of all of the furniture I have. Wow. I definitely had enough stuff for a two bedroom apartment.

Now comes the hard part- selling it all. So far I've been somewhat successful at selling/ getting rid of things! I'm down a bed frame, bookcase, all 3 gaming systems, some kitchen stuff and storage stuff, and all of my text books are going this weekend. Slowly but surely! And truthfully? Whatever I haven't sold by May 7th is getting donated to the goodwill. Why? Because I. Don't. Need. It. No, the best idea is to get rid of everything furniture wise before I leave and then restock when I get back.

The next week and a half will be filled with more packing, throwing out, and selling, so that hopefully come May 7th, I've got nothing left except what I absolutely need! Er, at least that is the plan...

My days at the Georgia Renaissance Festival

What, did you not know? Oh, well yes. I have a LOT of friends at the Georgia Renaissance Festival and actually worked there last year.

And yes, you should take this as a warning that this entire blog won't be just about South Korea (at least until I get over there). This really is about my adventures. And my latest adventure? Saying goodbye to my friends at Ren Fest.

My friends- The gargoyles. Aren't they just SO adorable?!

So over the past two weekends, I have spent two half days at Ren Fest. Maybe I should have spent them packing, but nope! Seeing my friends was much more important. If you've never been to the GA Ren Fest, or a Ren Fest in general, you reeeeally should find your closest one and visit for a day this year. You'll see amazing costumes, amazing people, amazing shops, and not to mention they have jousting!!!

The thing I love most about my Ren Fest is the people. One of the funny things is that I actually have meet a majority of the people at Ren Fest a couple times, but only a few of them actually know me (since they sort of meet new people all the time for a living). There is, of course, my best friend, the ex-queen, the gargoyles, Da Vinci, the Lantern guy, ex-Sir Clarke of Kent, some old gamers I used to work with, and I think the admiral remembers me... So, you know, a couple people.

... A couple really awesome, and crazy, people I might add, like Bat-Lady Cecily...

The booths all have amazing wares and the joust? Always worth a watch or two. I especially loved going into the pub and listening to the different musicians! Alletante is a new act this year and those three lovely ladies are just that: lovely. Shenanigans was right after them and they were just as amazing. There were also guys in kilts playing drums, a bagpipe and an accordian... I am so upset I didn't get to see their full show.

This was at "pub sing" and just about everyone was dancing and tapping along.

Then there was the silent magician show! Oh I wish I remembered the name... It was hilarious! It's a french guy, his two assistants, and a violinist and all of them are spectacular. After them I saw Barely Balanced. They're a traveling acrobatic group and the show I saw was called their "Fire Spectacular Finale". I swear I thought someone was going to get burned. And you know what? It almost happened. Hilarious! I mean it was hilarious because no one was actually hurt. If someone had been... that would have been sad. But watching them do this crazy acrobatic tricks and then having them add fire in the form of a flaming hula hoop, bowling ball, jump rope, etc? Yes. Just so amazing! Go see them if you have a chance!

Unfortunately, every day must come to an end. Which is how I ended up going around and getting one last hug from my friends and trying to remember that I can see them when I come back to the states in the future. Not to mention I'm hoping to keep in touch using 'the book of faces' and this blog! So thank you all so much for everything over the past few years that I've gotten to know you. The encouragements, thoughts and prayers, laughs, and hugs won't be forgotten! Stay safe, and see you all on the flip side!

A little adorable (and hilarious)  pic of my bff to hopefully leave you with a smile!

Vlog #1- In which we discover... IT'S OFFICIAL!

Yup! It is official! I received my visa acceptance number today! Monday I go and drop everything off at the consulate and pick it back up on the 29th. They'll be looking into ordering my flight soon too, so that should be booked within the next week or two... EXCITED!

I even made a special Vlog post about it:

Excuse the shakiness, the sound quality, and my horrible sleepy face and panda eyes. Cuz none of that compares to how happy I am with the fact this is happening.

My Schedule: from choosing a departure date till blast off! (Part 1 of 2)

I made a personal post the other day, so today my post is gonna be not personal, aka talking about the process of getting to teach English over in South Korea. Now so far I've talked about the expense side of the process, but now I'm going to talk about the other side- the time commitment.

I started the process of finding a job in South Korea back at the beginning of December (why I decided at that point is another story for another day). The first thing I learned was that I couldn't actually apply to schools until 3 months before I actually wanted to start. I had decided on June 1st since my sister was getting married in May, therefore I couldn't start applying until March 1st. No big deal. Why?

But I could still find a recruiter. Some people don't use a recruiter, but I think if this is your first time, a recruiter would make things a bit easier. They find the schools, schedule the interviews, and answer any questions you might have. I interviewed with three different recruiters and was having a hard time choosing between two of them. I ended up having a few questions and went with the recruiter that answered me fastest and whose answers made sense. Maybe not the best requirements, but it worked for me. I recommend that you do some research on your recruiter, talk to some of their current teachers, and look into their facebook/ twitter/ blog/ whatever they have.

So once I had a recruiter, I figured I was good until February 1st, right? WRONG! FBI background checks take a thousand years (aka 6-8 weeks) and the apostille process takes another year or two (aka a week). Then you have a week or two after you apply before you start hearing back from schools. If you're lucky, you'll like your first school and can send your info and signed contract to them right away. 4 or 5 days later, they'll have your stuff, and then 10-15 business days after that you'll have your visa acceptance number and can head to your consulate!

To sum up:

• First! Choose your departure date.
• 6 months before departure: Find a few recruiters you like and apply/ interview with them.
• 5 months: Submit fingerprints for Background check
• 4 months: order transcripts and make a copy of your diploma for apostille
• 3 months: Background check is back! Send off to get an apostille!
• 2.75 months: Background check w/ apostille should be back! Tell your recruiter and they'll start sending out your resume.
• 2.5 months: Interviews? ... INTERVIEWS!
• 2.25 months: Contract time!
• 2 months: Sign your contract and send it to your school with all of your other info.
• 1.75 months: Waiting and twiddling thumbs and getting stuff ready I suppose.
• 1.5 months: Still waiting, MAYBE luck enough to have info for getting your visa
• 1.25 months: Visa info should be back by now! Go quick! Get your visa number, YAY!
• 1 months: Turn in your two weeks notice, pack what you need, take care of any animals you may have, donate stuff if you can! Oh, and save money.
• 0.75 months: Getting close... Try to find others who are already over in your country/ city teaching and get to know them! Having friends before you arrive probably makes things easier.
• 0.5 months: SO CLOSE! Find out what is in your apartment, what you need to bring, what you might need to buy, etc.
• 0.25 months: Time for goodbyes and finally frantic packing! Also- no medicine at this point. Even cough medicine and pain relievers! Supposedly the drug screening they do is very, very sensitive. If you fail the first time, they'll make you come back, so you might as well just be 'clean' when you arrive. 
• 0.00 months: BLAST OFF!

Mind you, this is what I've figured out, and I'm approximately 1.5 months out from my departure date. I think I'll make another post after I've arrived with a better and more accurate schedule, but this will do for now I think! Oh, and it is possible to totally scrunch this up and leave at around the 1 month to 0.75 month mark from what I've heard, but with the amount of stuff that can go wrong, I feel like giving yourself 6 months is a good amount of time.

As you can see, this is a VERY long process, but so long as you stick to the schedule, you should be fine and freak out free until approximately 1.5 months before you leave. Which is now for me, yay! Anyways, good luck if you are just starting your process, and if you've already finished let me know if this seems about right for what you did as well!

Decisions and prioritizing and scheduling, oh my!

A little while ago, I bought a ticket to see my second favorite band in concert in NYC: BAP. The concert is on May 17. I hopefully will be leaving the week after that. So here is my problem: do I go to the concert or not?

Here are the options:
1- Go to NYC on Greyhound, May 16 on the 8am bus and arrive at 6am the day of the concert, attend the concert, and then leave on the 1am bus so I get home around 2am the next day (19th). Then I can sleep and drive home on the 19th.

2- Go to NYC on Greyhound, May 16 on the 8am bus and arrive at 6am the day of the concert, attend the concert, and then leave on the 10pm bus and get home by 10pm on the 19th. Then sleep that night and drive home on the 20th.

3- Pay double and fly.

4- Don't go at all and sell my ticket to someone who lives up there.

Now  you may be thinking "Why go at all? Surely you can see them in SK when you go?" Well, yes, but not really. A) I don't know Korean, so while I'd have fun, I wouldn't understand what they were saying and I wouldn't know anyone else there. B) This is really a once in a lifetime opportunity! The venue is tiny (only 2100), so I will be right up close and personal with them.

Ugh, even writing that makes me feel like a horrible person. I spoke with my mom, and she was understandably upset. In the end she said it was my decision, but... I'm so torn. But I sort of have an idea.

I'm thinking that maybe I can get everything packed so when I go down for my sister's, I can take everything with me. Be completely moved out of my apartment? Then I can stay down there with them, make the same trip (just $40 more expensive), and spend the rest of the time with them after the trip! Or I can get most of my stuff done so all I need after the wedding is come back here with a large rental something so I can pack it with my bed and stuff and then drive back so I'll be home for a few days before going up to NYC and I'll be home for a few days after NYC and before going to SK?

... It could work, right?

Yup, definitely a horrible person...

Hurry up and wait...

As I sit here and count down the days until I hear back about my visa (another 11 days at least), I realize that this is the worst part of the whole process: the waiting and wondering. Will I get accepted by a good recruiter? Will my background check come back clean? How long until it is back? I wonder if it made it to Washington already? Will I get and interview soon? What if they didn't like me? Do I sign the contract or hope to hear back from another school? I hope my documents made it over alright! When will I get my number? Etc, Etc.

Truthfully, I've managed to put most of the worries out of my mind. Actually, every single worry I listed is one I don't care about at the moment. No, my worry is this: will my complicated last name cause my visa to not go thru?

When you apply to teach, they recommend you make sure your diploma has the same name as what is on your passport/ background check/ etc. Unfortunately for me, my last name has a period in it. Weird, huh? So my passport and Social Security card? Same. Driver's license? Different punctuation (it's actually different from my dad's last name on his license even though we have the same last name >.<). Diploma and transcripts? Spelt out. Background check? No punctuation and mashed together into one word. Oof. Thank you US government, lol.

I doubt this is going to be a problem, but I sent along an alias affidavit which I had notarized saying that the government has spelt my name 5 different ways but they are the same name and I am the same person (only in fancy legal mumbo-jumbo). Fingers crossed that that is enough!

But anyways, the waiting. I've been warned by a few friends that "hurry up and wait" is common for most ESL schools but sticking to a timeline isn't. You have to be able to just wing it and go with the flow. If I was the same person I was 4 years ago, that would be difficult. Now? I embrace it.

... Er, I'm TRYING to embrace it. It would be easier if I didn't have a wedding followed by a 3 day trip to NYC right before I hope to go, but such is life! If I only manage to give my job 1 week notice? Oh well. Have to donate stuff because I can't sell it? At least it goes to a good cause! Don't have a chance to see most of my friends after May 7? I'll cry, but I'll make sure to see them at least once before I leave. Only get to see my family for 3 days right before I leave? Sad, but we will all deal I think (if/ when my family reads this, they might just kill me... But I love you none the less!!!).

Okay, I lied a little bit. I am a tiny bit worried about a few things. Not going to let that rain on my parade though! FIGHTING!!!

So right now, I'm going to put all my worrying aside. Well, except for one thing: my stupid last name. Oh well, nothing to do now except sit back and wait!

My adventure with Ms. Kitty and Mr. Bee

Let me first start my story by saying that I live alone except for 1 cat (technically 2 but the other is with my friend Aditya).

So there I was, brushing my teeth, washing my face, and getting ready for bed. It was already 11:30 and I was exhausted. I walk into my room, sit on the edge of the bed, look towards my pillow and WHAM! A HUGE bee/ yellow jacket was on my headboard. I, of course, freaked out.

Why? Well I have a slight allergy to stings. Not enough that I'm 'allergic', but enough that I take a long time to recover. Not fun. So due to this, I maybe sort of kind of have a teeny tiny itty bitty phobia of anything that flies and has a stinger.

Now you might be thinking "Hey, don't you have a cat? Don't cats like to eat bugs?" Sadly, no. In fact, here is a picture to show you exactly what Kitty did during most of my adventure/freak out trip:

Thanks Kitty!

Well, at this point I didn't know what to do. It was just strolling from one side of the headboard to the other. Back and forth, and I? I was almost crying. So I did what any girl who lives alone would do- I called my best guy friend: Aditya.

20 minutes and MANY tears later, I now am covered from head to toe, the bee has moved from the headboard onto my mattress, I have my earpiece in so I can listen to Aditya while holding onto a flipflop in one hand and a can of raid in the other. I somehow couldn't keep back all of the tears and screaming and freaking out, but I was moving in the right direction now!

A lot of encouraging and sweet things were said before I finally had to repeat to myself in my head "If he could fly, he would've done it by now... He cannot jump and sting you and he absolutely cannot fly at you. He cannot jump and he cannot fly." With one, no two, no... a couple whaps and squashes with the flip flop, the bee was finally so incapacitated I felt comfortable going into the kitchen, grabbing some cleaning gloves, and grabbing some toilet paper so I could pick it up and run to the bathroom to drop it in the toilet.

I'm sorry that your life had to end in such a way. I feel horrible that I couldn't just let you go but... You terrify me.

And there you have my latest big adventure. Which is why I am sitting down with a beer, typing this up while I try and calm myself down enough that I can fall asleep watching a disney movie. Being an adult living alone is FUN!

<3

The cost of applying to teach in South Korea- aka the truth I learned the hard way

Writing this up is making me hurt, just had to let you all know that up front.

SO! When I first started this journey, I was told it would cost me around $200 over the course of applying to teach. I thought "Oh, really? Well, I can do that! So long as it isn't all at once." But I decided to plan it out and keep track, just in case. I had to take a minute to tell myself that yes, this would be worth it. But now that I've just about finished and I see what I spent? Holy. Cow. Let me just lay this out for you in the order that you need to pay for things:

Fingerprinting by a certified technician: $10
Fingerprints to FBI for Background check: $18
FedEx Fingerprints to FBI: $12
***NOTE: I totally suggest getting your diplomas, transcripts, and passport photos taken care of in the 6-8 weeks it takes to get your background check back. Makes the sting of how much it all costs hurt a tiny bit less if you aren't doing the next 6-7 steps in the course of 2 or 3 weeks**
2 Diploma copies Notarized: $8
2 Diploma copies w/ Apostille: $6
2 Sets of sealed Transcripts: $14
4 passport photos: $20
FedEx Background check to *** for Apostille: $19
National Apostille using ***: $75
Sending Documents to Korea: $56
Apply for E-2 Visa: $45

TOTAL: $283

Yikes. Oh, and that is just if EVERYTHING goes according to plan. Which it never does for me. So I had to add all of this on-

Second set of fingerprints since the first were not accepted: $10
Sending 2nd set of fingerprints: $12
2 passport photos for renewing my passport: $10
Renewing my passport: $110
Expediting my passport because I was stupid and didn't do it earlier: $70
Alias affidavits because my last night is spelled 3 different ways by the government alone: $10
TEFL Online Course which I didn't really need to help me get a job: $69

Subtotal: $291

GRAND TOTAL: $574

...
...
...
Okay, sorry about that. Had to take a second to collect my jaw off the floor. But yes, there you have it. A ton of money for a job that isn't even in my field. And yet I couldn't be happier. I'm already thinking up plans for lessons, how to make certain situations fun, what I can do to help make the kids interested in the lessons, etc. I'm really, REALLY looking forward to this and if it wasn't for the fact that I have a ton to do before then, I would be jumping off the walls with excitement.

But alas, that must wait. For now I am off to do some major cleaning and organizing and such.

In the beginning there was... confusion

So after a total of what... 3 months? 4 months? Meh, let's just say awhile... After awhile, I have decided to restart this blog/vlog thing. Why? Because I have now officially accepted a position to go teach English in South Korea for a year! Starting in late May (I hope), I'll be in Daegu teaching. I am actually EXTREMELY excited about this, but if you've seen me in real life, you might have your doubts.

Things over there seem difficult for us looking in, which is causing problems. Some of my friends and family are confused about why I'm going now. Why can't this wait a month? Or a year? Or why can't I just go to a different country? And truthfully, it's because teaching in South Korea is something I've wanted to do for over a year now. Hell, teaching English overseas is something I've thought about doing since I got to college in August of 2005!

So this isn't really a new thing for me. I put it out of my head until October of last year, and now? Every single time a doubt enters my head, something pops up to pull me back in, whether it is getting something back so I can move on to the next step, finally having my resume sent out, getting an interview, to finally getting a contract.

But if I could do it all over again? I'd go for Japan. Why? Because then my family and friends wouldn't be freaking out. Yes, they are trying to support me and I love all of them to death, but having them bring up what is going on Every Single TIME I talk to them on the phone just wears on me. So why now? Why South Korea? Because when I started the process, South Korea was a better option than Japan. Now? Not so much. But this it happening. I've signed the contract. There is no going back in my mind. So I understand the concerns, and I'm not ignoring them, but the train is moving, and standing in front of it isn't going to make it stop.

Right now I'm getting ready for work and pulling together everything I need. Today is the day that I send all of my documents over to South Korea! The process of getting up to here was... whew... long and expensive. But I'll detail that in another post. For now, just keep your fingers crossed and pray for stability over there and I'll keep you all updated!

<3