One Week Out

Well, here I am, just one week short of leaving. I have secured my E-2 visa, as well as my flight for the way over. I didn't have any problems getting the visa, and they were able to process it within a few days. Of course, I checked the mail every day until it arrived.

I got my plane ticket from Priceline. I was orignially going to fly out of Minneapolis, until I found that I could spend the same amount of money, but save about 10 hours by flying out of Chicago O'Hare. I'll be flying on Asiana Airlines. I leave at 1 am central, and arrive at 5am at Incheon International. It is a 14 hour direct flight, and I will be crosssing 14 time zones.

When I arrive at the airport, I'll meet my EPIK guide. They have 20 different busses to pick up the 500+ EPIK participants leaving the airport at different times during the day. The first bus leaves at 7:30 am, and that will take me to our orientation site, Jeonju University.

Jeonju University (http://www.jj.ac.kr/) is located in Jeonjusi, Jeollabukdo in the Southern portion of the country. We will be there from August 19-28th. We'll have dinners with everyone, a variety of classes and guest speakers, and movie nights. I'll also be able to see a traditional Korean village on a field trip. From there, we will go to our respective providences, and start at the schools August 31. I'll find out during orientation at what school and grades I'll be teaching.

Packing is almost done. I've got two large suitcases and one carryon. It has been difficult packing because I need to pack for 4 different seasons. I thought I had it pretty well organized, until I read that EPIK recommends packing one suitcase with what I will need for orientation because there may or may not be enough room at the university for two large bags. There is a separate storage area for excess baggage.

The only paperwork I am still waiting on is my residency certificate. This is needed so I do not have to pay the Korean income tax. After some confusion, I finally found what I needed at the IRS website. I'll need to have my parents mail it to me as soon as it arrives because I need it by September 25th, when I receive my first paycheck.

At this point, the only thing I have left to do is say my goodbyes, which I'm not looking forward to. Hopefully I'll be able to Skype with close friends and family to keep in touch. :) Pray for my safe travels next week!