Visas and tickets and boxes, oh my!

Oh dear! Well, it's official: this time next week, I will be on a plane to Tokyo. And then to Seoul. And then a cross-country bus to my city. Freaking out? Yeah, you could say that!

Today K and I traipsed all the way over to Atlanta today to drop off our visa applications and back. Since we're on such a tight schedule and I don't want to deal with exorbitant fares in booking tickets a day before we need to leave, we decided to do it this way and not leave the visas to chance with the postal service. Our mailman, in the last year, has lost several of my magazines, a few bills, and my new credit card. So, to say I have little faith in our passports getting back to us would be an understatement. It really takes a lot of time to go down there and back, but at least I'll have it in my hand on Monday.

K and I now have the names of our schools! K will be teaching at two schools, so that should be interesting for him. Our schools are on opposite sides of town, so that's kind of a bummer, but downtown is nearly right in between the two, and our coordinator is trying to get us an apartment there so we have equal commutes. Anyway we'd be closer to shopping and transportation, so that's fine with me.

It's funny now that I'm telling people about what we're doing, because all of a sudden so many people are coming out of the woodwork and saying things like "Oh I've been to Korea!" or "My friend/cousin/ex teaches English there!" In fact, an old friend of mine from high school suddenly sent me a message on Facebook and announced that she's been teaching there for the past 9 months! How weird is that? So we're going to get together soon after K and I arrive. I can't wait! How cool to have an "in" to my new country!

My last lesson with my ESL students was on Wednesday. I felt so bad to have to leave them so suddenly. Everything came together at the last minute and these jobs were either take-them-or-leave-them, and we had to take them. We had a little party, and the girls wrote me cards, and they gave me a beautiful framed picture of all of them in yukata and a cute little coin purse to take with me and use in Korea. So nice! I definitely had a little tear in my eye. One of my students e-mailed me last night after her middle school graduation to tell me how it went. She was chosen to give a speech, and I helped her put it together. Here's part of her message:

Thank you very much for your help.

maybe  I couldn't make it without your help

You are a great tutor!!

and GOOD-LUCK in Korea!!

 

Honestly, how cute is that? I'm so glad I had the chance to work with them.