San Francisco

Here I am Wednesday morning, sitting in the baggage claim area of San Francisco International airport, watching taxis line up at about 5:00. As you may notice, I have not slept in nearly 24 hours. After landing at about 11:30 the previous evening, I spent a very uncomfortable night in an empty concourse. I was unable to sleep due to the airport being extremely cold and damp. I had changed in the bathroom prior to taking this photo (a remarkable feat of balance, if one is committed to keeping one's stocking feet from touching the floor).


The Korean consulate, to my surprise, is situated in a mostly residential area. I had some time to kill after the taxi dropped me off nearby, so I spent the time walking around the neighborhood. I had only been to San Francisco once before, but I was struck once again by the quaint town houses that characterize the city.


I was also struck by the fact that a shop owner would be so forthright concerning his or her political sentiments Then I realized that, being in San Francisco, they're probably not too worried about losing all their conservative clientele.


Promptly at 9:00 I walked into the consulate an announced that I was there to apply for an E-2 visa. I was told to sign in, and got in line behind two other applicants at what looked like a payment window. While I waited, I spoke with the other two applicants (whose names were Jose and Anthony), and discovered that Anthony is also going to be teaching in Changwon. Knowing that Changwon is relatively small, I thought at first that he might be working for the same school as I, though this turned out not to be the case. While I waited I met another applicant, Eric, who had recently flown in from -of all places- Colorado. It was fun, not to mention informative, to talk to everyone about their experiences applying for and accepting teaching positions in Korea.

After paying my $45 application fee and surrendering my passport, application, photos, and sealed transcript to the cashier, I was directed to sit in the lobby. As I waited, the small handful of applicants gradually turned into about 20-25 people, all anxiously awaiting the unknown. After some time, a man entered the room with an armful of books. He sat them on a nearby table and instructed us to each take one, adding that they were "free". Much to my surprise, the little book turned out to be a high-quality, thickish volume entitled "Korean Fact Book". It was filled with full color photos and truly informative material. I, along with the other applicants, was very imrpessed. A short time later the same man entered the room again, this time with a stack of different books and poster-sized travel maps of Korea and downtown Seoul. Again, we all eagerly accepted our "swag", feeling now, perhaps, a bit more at ease.

Eventually we began to be called in for our interviews. I had been the third person to sign in, and therefore I was the third called to be interviewed. I was led upstairs to an office, where a very nice woman met me and introduced herself. She spent about one minute asking me general questions about the purpose of my trip to Korea, and about four minutes telling me what a wonderful opportunity this would be for me and how much she had admired her own foreign English teachers. She was unbelievably kind and sincere, and after the interview my business at the consulate was finished.


Here is the consulate which, as you can see, doesn't look very much like you'd expect. I wasn't sure I was in the right place until I noticed the Korean flag on the pole out front. After my interview I took a taxi back to the airport, where I was able to get on standby for an earlier flight than the one for which I had been scheduled. I was exhausted, but (thankfully) I was told my visa would be express mailed to me on Fridy.

Final packing, reflecting, dreaming

Aaron is in San Francisco today, meeting with the Korean Consulate. He called me this morning and said that he barely slept longer than an hour last night after he arrived, due to the airport being cold and damp feeling. Yuck.

In just 2 days our little world will truly be turned upside down when we leave our apartment and begin a life of living out of a suitcase. I've been busy this week with packing up fragile things and photos, and when that is done, I'll move on to the kitchen.

I find that as we get closer to leaving here, I'm feeling more anxious than anything else. I feel like we've been saying goodbye for weeks now, and I'm really curious about the way things will be in Changwon. I shouldn't do this, but I keep imagining what everything will look like, and what I will look like doing certain things, and the truth is that it will all probably look and feel completely different from anything I could ever imagine!
I can't wait to make our new home feel like home. No matter how hard the language is, or shopping will be, or being stared at will feel, our home will always be our little place of refuge and comfort.

I really am a homebody. I love being at home in the kitchen trying out new recipes, or on the couch with a good book, emailing friends, or watching a timeless classic on t.v. However, I believe that I do have somewhat of an adventurous side in me that I hope to let run free in South Korea.
Maybe I'll even be the proud owner of this beauty :)

Stu

My friend, Stuart, flew in to visit us over the weekend. Stu and I have been fast friends ever since we met in Sunday school at the age of 10. As kids in Dallas, we had innumerable adventures together (they could probably fill a book), and our families were always close.

As he still lives in Dallas, we aren't able to see as much of each other these days, though we have managed to take trips to England, France, and Italy together within the last five years. He was only able to be in town Saturday and Sunday, but he wanted to see Katie and I once more before we set off for Korea. After church on Sunday Katie and I, along with Stu, Mom, Laura and Gabe all went to the Baker Street Pub & Grill. In honor of our trips to merry old England, Stu and I ordered the fish & chips. We had a great weekend with Stu, and can't wait for him to visit us in Korea.

Packing

Will almost all our earthly possessions fit into a 10'X10' room? Time will tell, but I certainly hope so. We've already packed up one of the most challenging areas of the apartment: the study. The many books packed easily but were a chore to carry, and Kyle came over to help me move the bookcases and computer desk.

For the past week or so Katie and I have been trying to pack up and move a little each day. We've already made countless trips between the apartment and the storage unit; good thing it's a distance of only about one mile. After this weekend we'll be shifting things into high gear as we approach the end of our lease agreement on the 29th.

Of all the steps necessary to prepare for the trip to Korea, this is certainly one of most gruelling. There's never anything fun about moving, not even when you're doing so because you're about to have an adventure abroad.

Some exciting news to report: Katie received her passport back from the Korean consulate today, and we were happy to find that it now bears her extended tourist visa. The consulate has informed me that once in Korea, we can go to the immigration office to have her status altered to "dependent".

A Few More Pictures From Washington

Katie's Birthday

Yesterday was Katie's birthday. When we woke up it was snowing heavily, and for awhile we were concerned about the prospect of going to church. But the snow lightened up quickly and we managed to make the long drive up to Coal Creek Canyon.

After church we, along with Mom, Dad, Laura and Gabe, went to eat at Beaujo's Pizza in Idaho Springs. Eating at Beaujo's on Katie's birthday is a time-honored tradition; in fact, Katie's birthday is about the only time we go there. Beaujo's specializes in "mountain pies", a sort of Colorado-style deep dish pizza. As always, it was delicious. My parents gave Katie an embroidery kit, which Katie is in the process of opening in the picture.


Katie and I afterward drove back into Lakewood, and had aspirations of catching a movie after stopping by the apartment briefly. But alas, we fell asleep and ended up relaxing at home for the rest of the evening. Celebration can be -yawn!- so tiring! Well, maybe we were just groggy from being full of pizza. In any case, Katie really enjoyed her birthday.

Today we put our noses back to the grindstone with more packing and trips to the storage unit. Our short-term goal is to get the study completely clear, which involves packing away my many, many books. We plan to have really made a dent by the end of today.

Katie Faces Her Fear

Along with most of her fellow members of the fairer sex, Katie is afraid of spiders (arachnophobia). To be honest, most people I know are afraid of spiders to some degree, though I am not bothered by them most of the time. But Katie confronted her fear of spiders one afternoon at the Butterfly Pavilion -a local insect museum- when she bravely held Rosie the tarantula in her hand. For her valor, she received a sticker bearing the motto "I Held Rosie". Laudable though her achievement was however, she had yet to face her real fear.

Katie's arachnophobia pales only in comparison to her mascotophobia -her fear of mascots. As I was, for a short and confused period of time, a psychology major, I attempted to trace the origin of this irrational fear. I hit psychological paydirt when I discovered that Katie was once viciously harassed by Rapidman, the now defunct mascot of Colorado's soccer team, the Rapids. Rapidman is best described as a large, blue Slim Jim with white, foamy hair. The photograph below is of Rapidman posing with two fans; I'm sure that his Slim Jim-ish attributes are evident.


Several years ago, while volunteering at a community event through work (a charitable "walk"), Katie was creepily followed for some time by Rapidman, who apparently took an interest in her. Despite her efforts to ignore him, Rapidman persistently followed her, flashing repeated "thumbs-up", attempting to give her "high-fives", and moon-walking behind her. Needless to say, Katie was severely traumatized.

As I learned more about Katie's mascotophobia, I was concerned to find that it was not restricted to "mascots" per se, but overlapped into a fear of various other costumed persons, for example: Stilted-folk (e.g., the always popular Uncle Sam on stilts at Fourth-of-July parades), Subway's sandwich-man (stands along the road and waves at passers-by), and of course, the Easter Bunny. I was hesitant to relate to her that I myself was initiated into the world of these costumed folk when I was 19 years old and desperate for money. Imagine her horror:


But yesterday we had a breakthrough. While at the mall, together with Mindy and I, Katie mustered up the courage to face her mascotophobia. As we rounded a corner, we were greeted by none other than Hello Kitty standing, not surprisingly, in front of the Hello Kitty store. I suggested to her that she face her fear and have her picture taken with Kitty, only to find that Katie was walking the opposite direction. However, with her sister's encouragement, Katie was talked into cautiously approaching the giant Japanimated feline and having her picture taken:


Has Katie truly beaten her fear of mascots? Will she now have the fortitude to have her picture taken with Changwon's lovable city mascots, Chang and Won? Only time will tell, but yesterday was certainly a milestone.

Plane Tickets

The academy fowarded my visa confirmation number to me on Thursday evening, and instructed me to contact my nearest Korean consulate to schedule an interview. The issue of which training session I would be scheduled for came up again (whether March 3rd or 10th), and it was finally decided that if the consulate could not have my visa issued by this Friday, I would be scheduled for the March 10th session. If that were the case, I was told, I should buy my tickets to Korea for anywhere between the 7th and the 9th.

Upon contacting the consulate yesterday morning, I found out that official appointments aren't necessary. Personal interviews for E-2 visas are conducted every Wednesday between 9 and 10 AM. In other words, I just need to show up. Katie and I discovered that any round trip iteneraries from Denver to San Francisco next week had risen to nearly $500 -way out of the question as far as our budget is concerned. However, the following week looked much better. I ended up buying a round trip ticket for Tuesday, February 26th (for the far more reasonable sum of $183), and plan to be at the consulate bright and early the following morning.

Incidentally, I asked the person in charge of the visa section to list the items I need to bring along. Among them he mentioned that I should bring my diploma. I explained to him that I have already sent my diploma to Korea. This was not a problem, he responded, just bring a copy. Yeah... I didn't think to make a copy before I sent it. To my relief, he said that a transcript would suffice.

As by Friday evening it was already the weekend in Korea, I knew that I wouldn't be able to speak with the academy until Sunday night. While I would have preferred to ere on the side of caution by speaking to them just once more before "pulling the trigger" and buying our tickets to Korea, airfare was rising too quickly for me to feel comfortable waiting until next week. Katie and I bought our one-way tickets yesterday evening, and will be leaving on March 7th. We felt lucky to pay only $614 for each ticket.

So now we have an extra week before we leave, which is certainly not a bad thing. We have already begun packing and have made a couple of trips to the storage unit. But there are all kinds of other things that need to be taken care of: Suspending (or cancelling) cell phones, suspending vehicle insurance, changing our address, buying travel insurance, etc. It's easy to feel overwhelmed at this stage, even though we anticipated the stress. But I think Katie and I are both relieved to have all the plane tickets taken care of, and to know for certain the date we will be leaving the country.

A Word Concerning My Former Job

I thought that, now that I have a little time on my hands, it would be appropriate to write something regarding the job from which I recently resigned in order to take the opportunity in South Korea. My last day of work was February 1, just before we left for Washington. Also, at this time, I would like to direct our readers to a previous post. All told, I've spent about five and-a-half years working for this particular retailer, in the Loss Prevention department.

For those of you who don't know, in retail, "Loss Prevention" refers to the division of a company concerned with preventing monetary loss. Loss is usually associated with theft as well as non-theft related errors and mistakes. In other words, LP associates catch shoplifters and dishonest employees, and do a whole lot of audits. As with any job, there were always "ups and downs" associated with working LP for a large retail chain.

On the negative side, I found that retail fostered a generally stressful environment and often required people to strive toward unreasonable goals. Because the goal of a publicly owned company is to increase profits while reducing expenditures, managers were often expected to achieve loftly goals while simultaneously being stripped of the tools necessary to achieve them (like being given adequate payroll, for example). Naturally, this is not a reasonable situation to put people in, and tends to foster stress, frustration, anger, and frequently, burnout. I also noted that employees are generally paid as little as possible, and I observed more than one scenario in which disingenuous tactics were used to avoid paying someone more. As a very general example of the tendancy to pay people the bare minimum, over the course of six years I observed that the starting rate of pay for a cashier, which was always low, did not fluxuate. Cashiers working there today are typically disgruntled, frustrated people; but more significantly, the caliber of person who is willing to accept a job at that pay rate has, not surprisingly, decreased.

On the positive side, I had the opportunity to work with some really amazing people through the course of my time in reatail. Significantly, the first person I met at the company was Katie (she gave me my application!). I have made lasting friendships there as well. I worked with a lot of excellent managers and employees, and learned a lot about managing stress and prioritizing tasks. In the beginning I was going to school off and on, and my last year and-a-half I was in school full-time. Retail offers a remarkably flexible schedule to students, and really worked well for me as the result. And of course I must add, my paychecks ultimately helped me to pay for college.

I certainly do not regret my time in retail LP, but I'm glad it's over. I realized a long time ago that the aspect of the job that made it "fun" in the beginning was catching shoplifiters. When I caught shoplifters, the job was a blast. When my responsibilities increased and I didn't spend as much time catching shoplifters, the job ranged from boring to stressful. To the dismay of many people working in Loss Prevention, LP is definitely not law enforcement; it's an aspect of running a business, and it is therefore not surprizing that the business side of the job often eclipses the more entertaining aspects.

In summary, my plan was always to work my LP job in order to finance and faciliate my education. Though the achievement of that goal was more prolonged than I had originally planned, it is now complete and I am (happily) moving on to the next phase of my life.

If You're Going to San Francisco...

I may be going to San Francisco, but I won't be wearing flowers in my hair. It looks like I will have no choice but to fly to the Korean consulate in San Francisco for a personal interview, prior to being issued my work visa.

Last night I received a phone call from the English academy and was asked if I would mind reverting to the previous plan for me to attend the training session that will be held March 3rd. Of course, this is not a problem, but it's a good thing I hadn't already bought our tickets. Incidentally, I was also asked to refrain from buying my ticket until the school has received my visa reservation number from the Korean government.

I used the opportunity to ask for more details regarding the series of steps that I will take after the reservation number is issued. Apparently I will need to call the consulate and set up an appointment for an interview, after which they will stamp my passport. This unfortunate fact was also confirmed to me by the person in charge of visa applications when I called the consulate to ask some questions. I guess I was hoping beyond hope that they might have relaxed a little regarding this requirement...

On the upside, I was informed by the consulate that Katie's tourist visa should only take a few days to process, and that she will not have to provide any itenerary information (nor will she have to conduct a personal interview, thankfully!).

Today Katie and I rented our storage unit. This week we will begin moving the first of our belongings into it.

Washington

Katie and I are freshly back from our trip to Seattle. We had a wonderful time visiting with Julie, Amy, and Jasmine. Though we are exhausted, we had a fun-filled week. The easiest way to recap is to simply go day-by-day...

Monday

We arrived at Seattle's Sea-Tac (Seattle/Tacoma) airport in the morning, and took a taxi to the Bremerton Ferry. Not suprisingly, it was very overcast and a bit rainy. Upon boarding the ferry I immediately went upstairs and got hotdogs, and Katie got out her knitting. The ferry ride took about an hour, and when we reached Bremerton, Amy met us. We then drove to Julie's house and visited until it was time to pick Jasmine up from school. Needless to say, Jasmine was very excited to have her Aunt Kate greet her at school. Monday evening we relaxed and visited and had fun playing with Jasmine.

Tuesday

Happily, Amy was off on Tuesday, so she acted as our tour-guide as we visited the quaint little town of Poulsbo. Katie had told me about Poulsbo the first time she flew out to the Seattle area by herself, and when she relayed the fact that the entire town is Viking-themed, I knew I had to see it. I was definitely not disappointed. We walked down the main street, popping into shops and braving the intermittent rain showers. As you can see, we dined at Ya Betcha Korner Kafe for lunch. Afterward we picked Jasmine up from school, and spent a relaxing evening at Julie's.

Wednesday


Julie took us to Port Townsend, and Katie and I walked the downtown area while Julie looked in on her dad (we knew we would see Grandpa Chuck on Friday). In the above photo, Katie is enjoying a Carrot Cake Latte from "Grounds For Perfection", a small coffee stand on the main street. After a couple of hours Julie picked us up and treated us to lunch at a local pizzaria.


After getting Jasmine from school, Julie took us to a scenic beach (which happened to be called "Scenic Beach") at Seabec. The forrest surrounding the beach was very typical of what we saw throughout our visit -very dense, and choked with green undergrowth. There were lots of ferns, and many of the trees were covered in moss and algea. I was very surprised to see so many leafy, green plants in February.


We were the only ones on the beach, and with the clouds hanging low over the mountains on the opposite shore, the scene was beautifully eerie. Jasmine and Auntdae looked for shells along the rocky beach, and paused briefly while Uncle Aaron snapped a picture.

Thursday


As Amy was off again on Thursday, she played tour-guide for us once more as we visited Seattle. In the morning we caught the ferry, and upon arriving at Seattle we went straight to the Pike Place Market. Sadly, we did not actually witness any fish being flung, but the market was very interesting just the same. There were enormous salmon and piles of crabs, fresh produce and all manner of other products for sale. I had an excellent cup of clam chowder, and we leisurely strolled about the market for awhile.


As she had promised, Amy took us to the original (viz., the first) Starbucks, which is located at the market. It was pretty much just a Starbucks, though it featured the original logo and was perhaps a bit more rustic-looking on the outside. Of course, we all bought beverages.


We had lunch at Red Robin, which was located right along the Sound. On the way there we passed many quirky little restaurants that lined the water, such as this one, which featured a wooden boat and boatmen mounted to the roof.


After lunch we visited the famous Space Needle, which was necessary though exorbitantly expensive. The view from the top was spectacular, though sadly it was too cloudly to see Mount Rainier.


The Needle proved to be very photogenic. This picture has probably been taken a thousand times, but I thought it was cool nonetheless.


On the ferry back to Bremerton, the seagulls flew along the wake made by the boat. Occasionally they would fly up alongside the ferry, and appear as though they were suspended in midair. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures.


The city was really beautiful in the afteroon sun as we pulled away.



Friday

After breakfast we went with Julie to see Grandpa Chuck (Julie's father), who lives in Port Townsend. I had never met Grandpa Chuck before, and he turned out to be very friendly and fun. We all went to Port Angelas, where we had lunch. At Grandpa Chuck's recommendation, I had a crab sandwhich which proved to be excellent. Afterward Grandpa went to a doctor's appointment, and Katie, Julie and I walked around Port Angelas briefly.


Port Angelas is located at the very top of the Olympic Peninsula, and is the point from which the ferry departs for Victoria, British Columbia. Had the weather been a bit clearer, we would have been able to see Canada on the opposite side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The day was blustery and a little rainy, but the weather helped add to the strange feeling I had of being at the edge of the world. Well, at the edge of America anyway.


We paused briefly outside a little shop, and I snapped this photo of Katie and her mom. Julie was so sweet and accomodating throughout our stay, and really made our time in Washington enjoyable and relaxing.

Saturday


Coincidentally, my friend Kyle was visiting his dad and grandfather -both of whom live in the Seattle/Tacoma area- while we were there. Fortunately we were able to see him for a little while on Saturday. In the morning he picked us up and took us to breakfast. He then drove us down into Tacoma and out to Point Defiance, giving us a small tour of the area in which he lived for several years as a child. Afterward, he dropped us off at Julie's.


Julie surprised us by taking us to a condomenium/resort at Discovery Bay for Saturday night. Her brother, Andy, works there and was able to find a great deal for the condo. Andy and his family were all very sweet, and they came over for dinner Saturday night. The bay was absolutely beautiful. The water was crystal clear, and though it remained overcast, the wind died down and it didn't rain during our stay there.


Though Amy had to work, we were glad we were able to take Jasmine along with us. She had a great time hanging out with her cousins and watching cartoons (as she is doing in the photo).

Sunday


Sunday morning we got up and Katie and I walked the rocky beach for awhile, turning over rocks and finding hundreds of crabs. We walked out onto a nearby dock and saw many large starfish on the bottom of the bay, as well as lots of sea enimenies and a couple of eels. After gather our things, we all headed back to Julie's house where we rested and visited for awhile before it was time to go to the airport. We had had a wonderful time, and it was very difficult to say good-bye. After a heart-rending farewell at the airport, Katie and I went through security and boarded our plane home. As we will be in Korea for the next 12 months, Jasmine aptly remarked, "I'll see you when I'm six and-a-half!"