92 Hours til Takeoff!

I leave for Korea in FOUR DAYS. Sometimes when I think about it, my heart stops for a second. It's really, really happening. Weird little jolts of emotion have kind of been jumping out at me. I took a picture of my parents' coffee pot this morning because, "my parents make coffee every morning... Koreans don't do that and I'll miss it." This past Wednesday, I was sorting socks at my friend Joy's house, in a moment of calm after finishing my mural and before the trip to NYC. Suddenly, I thought "G-d, this is so nice," and my eyes welled up.

Around midnight this past Wednesday, Sara, Tristan, their son, Ambrose, and I left for NYC for my visa interview at the Korean Consulate. Ambrose, by the way, is 17 weeks old (born 10 weeks early) and he braved the whole trip like a CHAMP. I was only on fours hours of sleep from muraling the day before, so Sara and Tristan slept and drove in shifts, while I slept in the back, waking to feed little 'Bro when he got hungry. Close to 9am, we rolled into Hobokin, NJ and met with Tristan's sister, Melissa. She and her husband Rohit invited us to stay at their apartment for the trip and crash we did until about 11:30am. Rohit gave us directions to navigate the subway into Manhattan and over to Park Ave. Thank G-d I didn't try to Greyhound it and navigate this part myself--I don't know how I would have done it without Rohit's directions or the reassuring (and spatially inclined) company. My appointment was at 2pm and I arrived at the Consulate at 1:45. SCHWHEW!

Inside the Consulate, there was a waiting area made up of two rows of seats. The front half of the room had a queue for visa services on the left and passport services on the right. I got in the visa queue, and stood alone in front of the only window with someone in it. The woman working didn't look up or acknowledge me in any way for about 10 minutes and I started to think "eh, am I supposed to approach the window (despite the "please wait here" sign)? Am I even supposed to be here for an interview? If I don't let someone know that I'm here, they'll think I'm late--and it's already 1:55!" A Korean man walked in front of the queue and while half the people at the Consulate were Korean, I figured only an employee would walk in front of the queue. I stopped the man and asked him if I was where I was supposed to be and he let me know that I was. I used Korean for the first time, thanking him, saying "gamsa hamnida." He giggled at me (Lacey said I pronounced it funny) and said, in English, "you're welcome."

After a few more minutes, I was called by the woman at the window, told her my name, and was asked to have a seat. I sat and noticed that the speaker system was not very loud, nor did the attendants call someone more than once, so naturally I worried about missing my name. I read on and off, going back and forth between trying not to be nervous waiting and not wanting to have my attention divided. After 30 minutes, I started worrying that I had missed my name, but I had heard one woman say her visa appointment was at 2:30 and she hadn't gone back yet, so I thought, "calm it down, they're just running behind." Well, at 2:45, she went back and at 2:50, I decided to get back in the queue and find out what the score was. As soon as I got to the front of the queue, the woman behind another window said "Miss Belden?" and a little confused, I said "yes?" and approached the window. She rifled through my paperwork, had me refill out a form, traded my check for cash (thank G-d I had gotten out cash for tolls and hadn't used it!), and asked me to come back for my interview. As I walked back in my sister's heels, about 3/4 of a size too small, I briefly feared that the front end of my feet would explode in a giant blood blister. "I don't think that's possible...but that would suuuure suck."

I had spent four days memorizing the formal hello, "annyeong hasihmneeka," for meeting my interviewer and when I finally met her, was worried about which chair to sit in and waited for her signal. I was pretty bummed about that after. Well, all in all, the interview was about 10, maybe 15 minutes. She asked why I wanted to teach, why in Korea, what I knew about Korean history (I forgot about the influence of Confucianism! Damn it!), why I was born in Germany, what my long-term plan was, and what I would do with my free-time. Then she let me know I was finished, I thanked her, and left. Out in the lobby again, I got back in the queue one last time and asked if there was anything else to do. The woman at the window said that was it and that my visa would be in the mail in the morning. I hoped that meant that I had "passed"and left the building, glad that step was at least finished. I had a cigarette, and met back up with the Myer-Green Troupe at the Borders across the street and got THE HELL OUT OF THOSE SHOES. They had walked to central park for a bit, but the sun got to be too much for Ambrose, so they hung out in the book store. We all got some grub and then Melissa gave us a bit of a tour before meeting up with Rohit for dinner at an AWESOME Greek restaurant in Chelsea.

When we got back to back to Melissa and Rohit's around 11pm, for the first time, I didn't want to go to Korea. I thought, "Oh shit! What did i get myself into?! I couldn't understand anyone's body language or accents at the Consulate--and communication in Korea will be really difficult all the time at first! I don't wanna go!" But that only lasted about half an hour... And it's pretty natural for me to get scared. It will be difficult--but well worth the adventure!

We left the next morning around 9am. Sara and Tristan (and lil 'Bro!) got me back to my parents' around 5:30pm on Friday, just in time to go with my family to the high school to see Ally conduct the marching band for Parents' Night. It was wonderful to see her conduct and the potential of the show is pretty exciting. My parents are going to send me videos!

And this morning, my visa arrived! I really did "pass" and I'll soon be on my way. Tomorrow, Mom and I getting the last few things for my trip and Tuesday, we're all going to Waldameer Park!