One way ticket

I did it. I (on my own, out of my own bank account, using my own money) purchased a one way ticket to South Korea. I am scheduled to leave at 7:24 am on Tuesday September 28. I will fly into San Francisco where I deliberately scheduled a 4 hour lay over. I will fly to Incheon South Korea from there, arriving at 6:30 pm on Wednesday September 29. This. Feels. AMAZING.

I did this against my recruiter's will, which suggested that I wait until I have my visa issuance number. My reasoning behind purchasing my ticket now as opposed to waiting is the fact that ticket prices were beginning to steadily increase and I knew how frustrated I'd be if I waited too long and ended up spending $100-$200 more than I would have. I went ahead and bought insurance which cost me an extra 38 bucks. Totally worth it. They will fully reimburse me if I cancel my ticket or if something comes up.

It's been a while since I've recorded my most recent steps in this prolonged process so we're going to take it back a week or so.

Last Monday, August 16, I made a trip to my college town with the sole intention of obtaining my official transcript post graduation. August 16 was the day I was told my degree would be awarded and I had been anxiously awaiting this day, as it was "THE day" that I could obtain the last few things I needed to send off all of my paper work to Korea. Seems easy, right? Drive two hours, pay a few bucks for a few transcripts and be on my way. WRONG. Not with me. My degree didn't actually post until the 17th but that wasn't the main issue.

See, I just graduated in August so my degree just posted on the 16th so my actual diploma won't arrive until 4-6 weeks after the 16th. Korea needs my original diploma as one the required documents. This was an obstacle for me; I had to find a way around not having my diploma to send to Korea. Here's what I did: I talked to the people in my admissions office, my department, and my registrar office. I explained my situation to them all and waited for their words of wisdom/input/guidance. The end result was a culmination of all of these resources. I got a letter from the College of Education stating my graduation, saying that I had received my degree in Middle School English Education but would not obtain a tangible diploma for weeks to follow. I then took that letter to Registrar where they sent me to the school notary. She couldn't notarize it because it had already been signed. I then had to go back to Registrar so they could write another letter stating that the letter from the College of Education is in fact true. The second letter from Registrar was then taken to the notary and was notarized. I then drove to my state capital and had the notarized letter apostilled. TAA DDAAA!!!

I went to the post office, said a prayer, and sent it off to Korea express style ($82 for 3 day delivery). That was on Wednesday. It arrived on Monday. wheew! I was told by me recruiter that the paper work was sent to my school. Unfortunately, the key person at the school who will be in charge of taking my paper work to get my issuance number is out of the office until Monday.

Cue the waiting game music.

The only reason why I'm sweating now is because of the new Korean law which states that as of September 1, we must have an FBI background check, not just a state one. I had sent a state background check with all of my paper work but am still waiting to receive my FBI background check in the mail. The teacher at my school will get my paper work on Monday August 30 (with no FBI background check in it)...that's pushin it.

George Michael said it best, "cause you gotta have faith" (bum bum bum)

On a more positive note! I passed the Praxis test (teacher certification test) with flying colors!!!!!! Hypnosis really DOES work! (as does relentless studying)