Up until yesterday I was worried about two things. The first being whether or not I filled out my visa application correctly and whether I’d missed over a question and that when I received the package from FedEx, it would be a piece of paper saying “DENIED” in big, red, judgmental letters. The second thing I was worried about was something my recruiter had recently e-mailed me about. He gave me a list of things that I would need, and one of them was my letter of residency. The only way to get that letter is through filling out that tax form that I didn’t understand, and thus haven’t completed yet. I e-mailed him explaining that I hadn’t received the letter yet (omitting that I haven’t mailed it out yet) and didn’t hear back. In the same way I was afraid of a big, judgmental, red rejection letter from the South Korean Consulate, I was also afraid of a small, judgmental rejection e-mail saying “Sorry Jean, that you weren’t responsible enough to fill out a simple 3-Page tax form. Have fun in the United States this upcoming year, I hear Walmart is hiring.”
I always imagine the worst case scenarios as being inevitable realities. I’d like to think that I “hope for the best, plan for the worst,” but in reality I dwell on the worst to the extent that when it’s more than likely that things will work out and they do, I’m happily stunned. I was stunned yesterday to receive my passport with my Republic of Korea visa stamped in it. I was equally as stunned when my recruiter called me up last night and when I asked him about the letter of residency he said that I don’t need to worry about it and that I wouldn’t need it for awhile.
So, now, officially there is nothing at all I need to worry about. I don’t need to worry about being rejected from the Consulate, the FedEx truck with my passport in it crashing into fiery flames or my English recruiter rejecting me while employing dry, cutting British humor to do so. I feel awesome right now. It looks like everything is a go and the best case scenario is now the reality.
Last night on the phone I found out that I will have a 3 day orientation in a hotel in Seoul. I’ll be teaching elementary school children and on the last day of the orientation I’ll be meeting my teaching assistant (who is Korean), going to my school in Incheon and meeting my principal. Shortly thereafter I’ll begin observing and then I’ll probably start teaching around October 4 or 5. I was worried about being thrown into a classroom as a teacher immediately following my orientation. Between the jet lag, the culture shock and the overall exhaustion and nerves, I was worried about being expected to teach. I’m not as worried anymore. In general I’m not worried anymore, which is a nice and foreign feeling that I plan to dwell in… for the next 40 hours before I get on the plane to leave the country. I’m going to see how long I can ride this wave of contentment for.
