My well-traveled visa

This passport (with my visa in it) has been to more countries in the last 24 hours than I have in the past month.

And it may be delivered... sooon...

I see England, I see France. I can see your underpants. 

If "Out for Delivery" means it's in a truck that's heading up our snowy little mountain, then,

Packing for Korea

I've got a tricky situation in that I'm going skiing with my parents right before I head to Korea. Then I have 5 days in Seoul before going to orientation. So, here's my packing strategy. It should also give you an idea of what sorts of things people are taking for the Spring 2013 intake. Well, what I'm taking. I have no idea if I'm taking the right things. I decided to do a trial run.

Bag 1 (Hardshell)
After spending days and days looking for hardshell suitcases with clips (and not zippers) because my dad is worried that Bad Guys will open the zip and stick drugs in my bag, leading me to be holed up in prison for the rest of my life without trial...

I'd sell her for a pack of smokes if she wasn't the only other English speaker here...

This bag contains:

• winter shoes (hiking boots, trainers, teacher/smart shoes for orientation, flipflops)
• long-johns (2 sets)
• thick, fluffy and ski socks
• tights (2 pairs)
• smart-casual pants
• suit 
• jeans (2 pairs)
•  scarves
• coats (raincoat, ski jacket, denim coat)
• jerseys (SO MANY JERSEYS! Lots of different kinds, with the idea of layering).
• flannel PJs 
• warm-ish gym clothes 
• bras (SO MANY)
• 3 large spray deodorants, and 3 roll-ons (they last a bit longer, I find)
• ski jacket and ski pants (X2)
• thick winter skirt
• smart-casual skirt
• hats and gloves
• frequently used toiletries and makeup

Bag 2 (soft shell - to be wrapped in 8km of plastic until arrival in Daegu)

Ensuring that the dead bodies in the bag stay dead.

• 
  Swimsuits
• more undies
• shorts
• jeans (x1)
• summer dresses (X2)
• smart-casual pants and skirts
• gym t-shirts
• smart-ish t-shirts/tops
• some jerseys that didn't fit in bag 1
• sarongs and other such beachwear
• summer hat
• sandals
• high heels
• infrequently used toiletries and medicine
• small towel
• handbags
• teddy bear
• scuba fins 

Hand luggage:

Mary Poppins' Handbag:

• kindle
• kindle charger
• ipod
• ipod charger
• travel documents
• camera
• GPS
• notebook
• pens
• re-spectacles
• smaller clutch bag
• sudoku book
• extra hat and gloves 
• flash sticks

Pull-on suitcase:

• Orientation documents (certificates etc)
• hairdryer and hair straightener
• gifts for co-teachers, principal, etc
• posters for class
• books and resources for teaching
• backpack
• scarf
• jewellery
• scuba mask

Laptop bag:

• laptop
• cables
• flashdrives

And on the plane I'll wear a pair of jeans, long johns, jersey, heaviest coat, scarf, and some winter boots. 

I think that's me sorted. I'm not that attached to any particular spices or foods so I don't really see the point in bringing them with me, as they'd add extra weight. And if there's anything I do desperately crave, my mom said she'll send them along to me. I am a bit sad to leave my wetsuit behind, but as I'll only be diving in the summer, that will be one of the things I will ask my mother to post to me.

I haven't weighed anything yet. To be honest, I am afraid to. I'd take photos of what my packing looks like, but I've lost my camera charger, terribly conveniently. 

Some tricks that I used to pack can be found in the video below:

Note:

From what I've seen on the interwebs, there are several items that they recommend you bring with you because they're either hard to find or very expensive in Korea. I've touched on that before, in this post.

My contract is in the mail!

Come on, come on...

You've got 9 days left to get to me, before I go overseas and things get unnecessarily complicated.

Edit: Spoke to my recruiter last night and he is couriering it to me today, which means it should be here either tomorrow or on Monday. YAY!

Time to:
 - Download and fill out the residency form for SARS
 - Check that I have everything I need for the visa application
 - Complete the pre-orientation course. I'm find it repeats a lot that I did in Linguistics 1&2, PGCE and TEFL, so it's a bit of a pain, but I'll be done with the boring bits soon and can move on to the Korean culture, history and language bits, which I'm more interested in.
 - test-pack my luggage
 - Work on my basic Korean skills, which I've been slacking on a bit
 - Buy gifts for staff and students at the school

I'm also doing pretty well on my diet and exercise plan - only 2kg to go before I'm the weight I said I was on my application. Being over it is not an uncommon problem, but I've heard of people being sent home because they lied about their weight. I didn't have a scale, so I guessed, and was off by about 5kg. I am quite keen to get in shape, so this seemed like a good goal to start with. If you're interested in stalking my health kick, I'm sweatywaygook on Fitocracy. And that's all I'm going to say about that, in this blog. I might talk about keeping fit in Korea when I get there, but less about me, more about the facilities or things I try.

Placement at last!

I've been placed in Daegu! I'm so ridiculously happy about that. I mean, I would have been happy pretty much anywhere on mainland Korea, but I was seriously thinking they'd place me all the way out in Jeju, and ruin my bucket list plans, which heavily rely on day trips round Korea.

Daegu baby yeah!

And my pre-orientation course email has just arrived in my spam folder. If only my internet was working properly, I could go and do it...

Maybe I should head to my dad's nicely air-conditioned office for the day and slog through it.

Feels like things are moving forward again. Yay!

Cycles of Anxiety

Daegu has started sending out placement emails. Not to me, yet, though.

*hyperventilating*

*obsessive email checking*

*list-making*

If I get the placement I asked for, in Daegu:
-I will know people there already
-I will know things about the city such as where to drink
-all my research has been focused on it
-travel around Korea will be really easy
-I will know pretty soon where I'm going
plus all the good things that made me choose it in the first place, such as the 'small city' feel despite it being a big city, the hiking, nearby templestays, the general vibe...

If I don't get Daegu and all the research I've done means nothing:

"Where the hell is Naju?"

Start again...

Things to prepare for

My recruiter posted this amusing list on Facebook today:

Now that you're going to Korea, there are some things you need to prepare for.

- Pedestrians share the sidewalk with automobiles and motorcycles...

- Restrooms don't have toilet paper or paper towels...but restaurants often have loo paper at each table

- Every child you pass on the street will say 'hello' to you...

- Children love arm hair...

- Every city bus will have at least 2 teenage boys sitting in each others laps and playing with each others hair & they're straight

- People think you should board the train first before allowing people to get off...

- You leave the house almost every day with the hem of your pants/skirt soaking wet...

- Cell phones are meant to always be turned on...

- People love to know your blood type...

- Growing a beard ages you by 20 years...

- Kids and non-smokers are invincible to second-hand smoke...

- Trash can fires are not just for the homeless anymore...

- You are at risk of being hit by a car the second you walk out of your apartment...

- There are more oscillating-fan-related deaths than shootings...

- Other foreigners fascinate you...

- People think that it is really nice to meet you once again for the 300th time...

- Most laws are merely suggestions...

- All food is "delicious" with no exceptions...

- You never shut your bathroom door for fear of drowning...

- You only hear Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga's names twice a week now...

- The school bell makes you crave ice cream...

- The apocalypse has not arrived... it's just some guy selling fish...

- Naked man is doing unnecessary lunges in front of the mirror in the gym changing rooms...

- You carry your empty coffee cup for a long time after you finished it...

- The smell of kimchi, garlic and soju is an aphrodisiac...

- Every woman under 30 is incredibly good looking...

- Everyone is fascinated by their own face and like to take lots of pictures of themselves...

- You need to start making a schedule of your laundry waiting period...

- Fish and rice belong at any breakfast table...

- Walking backwards in a circle is a great way to exercise...

- It makes sense to remove your face mask if you need to sneeze...

- There are only 2 languages ever spoken - Korean and English...

- Little kids traveling alone on public transit is nothing to be concerned about...

- Loud construction workers are Korea's answer to the alarm clock...

- Any decent man's tie should sparkle...

- Animals love to advertise their own consumption....

- Everyone, including 7 year old's, has a nicer cell phone than you...

- Even if you are fast asleep on the subway or city bus, you won't miss your stop...

- At least once a week you crawl across your apartment floor to get something you forgot after putting your shoes on...A lot of these won't make sense to the first timers but bookmark this list and check back in a few months :-)