Avoiding Deportation and Starvation

As of Monday, I have been here 30 days. 1 month. Aside from the fact that it shows I have survived this long, it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, except that we thought that on Tuesday I would have been here 30 days. Because I was hired and flew off so quickly, I came without a visa, which normally is fine because Americans can stay in Korea for 30 days without any kind of visa. While I've been here I have accumulated the rest of my paperwork, which took a long time because of the insane amount of suff you have to have now to get a working visa, including fingerprints and a background check sealed by the secretary of state. So once the school got everything together, they decided that on Monday the school secretary, Mrs. Moon, would take me to the Immigration office in Suwon to turn everything in for my visa and residence card. We had to leave right after lunch since it takes an hour to drive there (it is between Pyeongtaek and Seoul).

The view from my classroom

I wasn't exactly thrilled about going to Immigration... in Spain we always saw these pictures on the news of Latin Americans lined up outside at 2am waiting days to get in and apply for residency, and when we pulled up, I was met by lines of Chinese people loitering around waiting to get in. But fortunately, they handle Chinese differently because there are so many of them, so I got to sit in a room full of Americans, Japanese, Central Asians, and Arabs. And I sat... for like 3 hours. But Mrs. Moon is really nice, and she ended up teaching me some of the Korean alphabet, so I can a read a lot of things now. So even if they deny my visa, at least I can read! I feel... like I did in kindergarten. When it was finally my turn, it was kind of intense. The man didn't want to accept my paperwork because it was 30 days and a long, involved conversation in Korean followed. I'm not exactly sure what was going on, I just know there was a problem, and I think we had to pay a little more money. But in the end they took my things and told me I should have both a visa and a residence card after the 22nd of Sept. So I shouldn't get deported after all, which is kind of too bad, because I wanted the school to pay for a trip to Japan. I completely blame Cedarville. They wait this long to mail me my diploma, but they can't wait a few days longer so I would actually benefit from it. Good grief. :^)

In other news, I have also avoided starvation. It turns out I'm actually a pretty good cook, and I sort of enjoy it because it gives me something to do other than stuff for school. I can't make most the recipes I brought because you can't get everything here, and I just have a stovetop and a microwave (just got that one, yay!) but I have made some good pasta and vegetables, Mexican grilled chicken, stir fries, Spanish tortillas, and Leslie's wonderful sweet and sour chicken. When I made it, everyone at school asked me where I had leftovers from, and were suitably jealous when I told them I had made it. I also go out about once a week with some of the other teachers, either after church on Sunday or a random evening. My biggest problem with cooking is actually that I am the only one who eats my food (long story) so when I make something it lasts days and days until I am tired of it. But if you think I am getting all domesticated, think again. Nope, not happening.

Thai food- I didn't cook it but I like the picture
Until next time... this is Lindsay, signing out to go eat...