The Story of My Time Being A Itinerant

I've been here to long! (but still enjoying it!)

2010-04-12T19:55:00.001-07:00

Here's a list of things you know you've been in Korea too long!

Craving rice, I need to eat rice every day.
When I go to make meat into smaller pieces, I look for a pair of long handled scissors.
All of my rock climbing clothing is a shade of pink.
When most of the people you knew 9 months ago, are now in a different country.
You know what time the subways open after being out all night long.
You now carry an umbrella if its cloudy, in the rain and snow.
You buy a huge DSLR camera to fit in.
Your acutely aware of your grammar, and now read every sentence to make sure it's correct. (Even then, my grammar isn't 100% correct!)
You try to study for the GRE and find yourself thinking, "I've heard my parents use that word recently. But can't think of what it means."
When your parents still have a larger vocabulary.
You study for the TESOL.
You laugh now while running and get stared at by the old Koreans.
You can pick out the teachers who've been here longer.

I've been in Korea, now, 14 months. 9 months till I'm off and traveling. Ahh have to save up some more money!

Ice Climbing

2010-02-20T14:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had one of the best experiences of my life, certainly the most challenging. I found myself hanging off a 24m cliff, with two ice picks and metal clamps on my feet. With my friend Sven yelling at me, "1 more meter, get up there now". I looked down, at all of the ropes and people. My arms shaking with fatigue, knees already beginning to swell from being knocked into ice during my first climb up, 6 hours before. I stood up from my crouch position, swung the right ice pick then the left one into the ice. My arms vibrate from the impact of metal and ice. My feet lift up and into the next foot position. And finally I'm there! The challenging last climb is finished, now all I have to do is belay down with ice picks in my hands and a two older men right below me. Ah fun!

I've always wanted to be a sport's person. But growing up my hand ice coordination wasn't strong, nor my team spirit. Team sports were a true success for me. My dad was an avid skier/hiker/fisher so I was half dragged/carried since the time I was two to the Colorado mountains. Its in my blood! I would go to REI and see all of the adults buying their gear, talking of their hike/climb of the day, laughing with tanned faces. I wanted to be apart of that group, but alas, I was only in elementary school.

Finally, I woke up to the realization that I'm becoming one of those adults talking of their climb of the day. Yesterday was only the first time I had gone ice climbing. I'm finally in a place where I can take advantage of beautiful mountains, enough money/time, and access to a instructor who can teach me great/safe climbing methods. The guide of the trip has a 6week clinic starting in three weeks to learn how to properly climb and be prepared to go climbing with small groups of people.

Soo: 2010 is the year of I am: I am a good teacher, runner, climber, and over all person.

woow its been to long!

2010-02-05T15:45:00.001-08:00

Wow, so its been about six months since I've written in my blog. A lot has happened in six months. The highlights:

Going to Thailand, riding on an elephant, being on a Muslim beach
Becoming an aunt again with Zana and Ryan's to lovely sons :)
Dating a Korean guy, seeing a traditional Chuseok at his grandpa's house.
Going home for Christmas and seeing Karen in San Fransisco
Studying for the GRE, thankful my coworker, Jason, is going to be my study buddy for the next 4 months till the big test.

Becoming an active Couchsurfer (couchsurfing.com) :)
My career choice is now: getting an Au.d in Audiology :) Hello grad school for 4 years.
Signing on for year 2 at SLP hagwon. But teaching older kids :) Much better for mental health. Hopefully I'll stop dreaming about stickers and bloody noses.
I'm starting Couch 2 5k for the third time in as many years. But this time I'm fully prepared with two knee braces. :) I wont let two bad joints stop me from the endorphin rush.

Next weekend, Feb 13-15 will be Lunar New Year (Solnal). I'm going to be going to a Buddist temple to experience a traditional New Year celebration with couch surfers and monks. What I have to look forward to: a bus ride that is normally 3 hours will turn into 8 hours due to Korean horrific traffic.

53 heads of Garlic!

2009-06-02T00:47:00.001-07:00

I went shopping at a local market, and got a ton of fresh veggies for cheap! And then came the garlic lady who my friend told me I could get five head of garlic for around $0.75. I ask for five, but the lady said no. And proceeded to grab a wrapped bunch, and cut off all the head of garlic and put them in a bag. My jaw dropped as I counted 53 heads of garlic go into the bag! It was only $7, but there is only me in my house!

So, besides give them away (which I will do soon) what do I do with 53 heads of garlic? How long does fresh garlic last?

The Road Not Taken

2009-05-22T05:00:00.001-07:00

by: Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the tother, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy ans wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference.

11 weeks

2009-05-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

Emotions flow as the ocean tide pulls them toward another west coast
Cultural views are accepted, hoping they are different but equal
Elders are to be respected; the young have to prove their worth
Life revolves around age, school at 5, college till 27, marriage before 30
Creating new bonds, pushing at the strings of fate and travel that bring us together
Finding hope in the love and trust of 7 year olds
Seeing distrust in 80 year olds
The distance between the long hairs and short hairs

I’m finally settling into life in Seoul, the normal routine is down pat (but got to get my butt out of bed these mornings to go the gym!), have to study more Korean. The past couple weeks have been great.
Two weeks ago I joined a church called Onuri English Ministry, it’s the biggest church I’ve ever gone to. It has three ministries in Korean, English, and Chinese. The service is powerful, hearing more than 300 whispering voices gathering in prayer and worship. The small group I’m now apart of is made up of about 15 people, mostly Korean women and American men who are teachers and graduate students. A couple of the Koreans I can relate to and hopefully build lasting friendships with. I was invited via text to go ‘hiking’ Namsam and out to dinner afterwards on Tuesday. I was excited because I’ve gotten able to go hiking a lot over the past couple weeks and was glad to do more. But the hike turned out to be a 30 minute stair climb to the top of a lookout mountain, swarming with people taking in the view of the city. So much for a second climb this week, but it was great to talk with new people and find out who they are. An American, Jason, and I tossed around a football in the middle of MyeongDong, the busiest shopping area of Seoul, at peak shopping time. It was great! All of the curios/glaring looks we got from Koreans. I got ask, “Why” by three Korean high school guys, my response was, “Why Not.” They walked away, not really satisfied with the answer. We played catch with a old man and a clown on silts, one of the guys got pictures of the ‘game’ so hopefully I can post them later.

This weekend three of my friends came up from Deagu to celebrate my birthday and take in the sites of Seoul. It was a crazy 30 hours filled with Palace visits, Baseball game, an underground aquarium, and getting kicked out of a jimjabang at 3 am because two people wouldn’t be quite. So we call came back to my dorm size apartment and squeezed all 4 of us on to sleeping pats and my twin size bed. Classic!
On Saturday, Brian, Sarah and I hiked the tallest mountain near Seoul, Mt. Book Han. It was a tough hike, taking 6 hours to go up and down. The problem I have with hiking in korea is there is no switchbacks up the mountain, were the path is a Z, making it easier to climb. In Korea, you walk straight up the mountain and at really hard parts your aided by metal stairs which are brutal on the knees! Ahh and lots of rock face, which is sweet. The views are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen, and defiantly better than what I imagined from seeing pictures of korea.

My pour digital camera has finally told me its on its last legs, so I’m going to get a nice SLR camera. I can’t wait, but I’m not excited about going to Techno Mart (4 huge floors of every electronic devise you could want) and looking at cameras. Definitely going to do my research at home, before I go out and by a camera in Korean. They don’t do returns here.

Away you go to the… Philippians
A couple weeks ago, my best 8-year-old student, Metis, came to class ecstatic and beaming. She said her older sister was coming home from the Philippians that day, where she had been for the past two years. I asked why she was there, to study English she said. The next day Metis was absent, which was a rare occurrence. My co-korean teacher told me, her mother had pulled her from the school. Both of us were bewildered, wondering why our best student had dropped. Her mother told us a couple days later that she had decided to send Metis and her sister back to the Philippians to study. Metis will leave fifteen days after her mom told her she was leaving the country! Amazing the lengths Koreans will go to insure their children know English and insure their place in global society in later years. My heart aches for Metis’s mother who sent her two young daughters to live with their aunt for the sole reason of a second language.

Grad School?!

2009-04-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

As I've been thinking of going to graduate school for a long time, but didn't know which program/career I wanted to pursue. As of now, I'm going for a Speech Pathologist, which will a 2-3 year Masters program, depending on the school. And about a years worth of prerequisites classes I have to take. My Plan A, is to start taking online prereq classes in Fall 2009, be done with them in Spring 2010 and enter graduate school in 2011/12. And be in Korea through July 2011 (2.5 yr), so that I can pay off my school loans and pay for the prereq classes out of pocket.

I'm really comfortable with this plan, I'm still going to research more about Speech Pathology, so I know what its really like. But I think I'll go for it!

New pics

2009-04-13T05:05:00.000-07:00

New photos on Photobucket
http://s591.photobucket.com/albums/ss351/ktfacet/

Lunch time, ohh Kim Bab! 김 밥

2009-04-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

I'm on my lunch break, after two crazy kindergaden classes, and eatting Kim Bab (typical fast food lunch here :) ) and wishing that I had a Burrito! Its been about a month and half since I've had any type of real American food and I'm feeling healthier because of it. The food here is amazing, most every thing is freshly made with good ingredients. And no, I haven't run into any dog meat yet.

An average day at school so far as been a mixture of frustration of not being able to speak or ask how the kid's days are. (I guess thats what I need to learn next week :) ), joys when the kids use their new words, and laughter when the words are totally in the wront context. Like when a girl didn't have a pencil, she said , "Pencil Nobody". But at least she was using English and thats the main goal for 5 year olds. I can understand why people have a heart for young kids, they are so fresh and 'pure' but have a mind of their own. But they want to learn so much, its amazing.

Last night I meet Hyo-Jung, my korean teacher in Denver, for dinner. It was soo nice to see someone familair and talk about non-school topics. :) She came up for an interview at a company in Seoul, and I'm hoping that she can move up here. As she is living in Deagu right now with her parents, if she doesn't get this job she'll work for a english school. Which she said wasn't a good thing for a korean's resume, but a job is a job when your 24. I'm going to go to Busan with her next weekend, I'm excited to get out of the concrete Jungle of Seoul and on to the sunny beach of Busan.

One Month, finally a tourist

2009-03-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Ah! First month in Seoul is complete. I’ve had many laughs, getting lost, loving and hating my job, and the kids. It’s nice to live in a big city and be able to enjoy all the modern conviences, and finally have a cell phone! And take the subway everywhere, I’m making my lil studio apartment (ok it’s the size of a dorm room!) my own room, since the previous tenant left a bit of decoration pieces, which were nice, so I didn’t have to look at bare walls.

For the past five days Mark came and visited me, its kind of fun to be able to say that I’m the first teacher of the new teachers to have a visitor and I’m definitely enjoying having someone here from back home, talk about things from the past. I finally got a chance to do the touristy stuff in Seoul, as I didn’t want to do it alone. This weekend Mark and I’ve seen COEX, the largest shopping mall in Korea (complete with an aquarium, conference center, huge foot court, doctors offices, and a bank, and its own subway stop.) The Myeoun-dong Fashion District, Cheonggyecheon (the river walk around Han River), Insa-dong traditional Culture Street (complete with every type of touristy vendor waiting to rip off unexpecting tourist. Its better to shop in the subways for good deals) Gyeongbor Palace (impressive and soo peaceful), Korean National Folk Museum, Changdeokgong Palace (Have to go back to the gardens in the spring/summer), and Techno Mark (a 3 story building full of electronics from cell phones, mp3, small appliances, computers).

This past weekend showed me I really need work on my Korean! It’s embarrassing to not be able to answer back in Korea, or figure out how much I owe someone. At least 20 minutes at day is my goal!

On Saturday I found myself wanting to buy shoes, but my normal size 8 American shoes is size 250 in Korean. As always, I’m too large for the Korean stores, they stop making shoe at size 245! Most stores have shoes to 240.. I went to three very high-end stores in Myeoun-dong thinking they would have many size available: nope! I finally bought some shinny plastic shoes for 19,000 W (like $14) that will last me maybe 3 months. It’s a bit depressing to be so ‘large’ at a 5’8, size 8 in Korea. I’d lost weight when I moved home, but now I have gained it all back. Mmm need to hit the gym more and no snacking!

Yesterday I went to the gym at 7:20am and it was empty, awesome! It felt great to work out, be able to use any machine I want, and shower in peace. (I still get my best showers at my gym. My apartment water has two temperatures: Ice cold and burning hot! I’m gradually getting use to it, or maybe my showers are getting shorter and shorter!)

Pictures

2009-03-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

I've uploaded some pictures on Flicker: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36424084@N02/

And Photobucket: http://s591.photobucket.com/albums/ss351/ktfacet/

I'll write descriptions and a story behind them soon :)

First week down, 51 to go!

2009-02-26T20:20:00.002-08:00

So far the two things that have left their biggest impression on me was taking an hour to join the gym, and watching the kindergarten graduation.

With the help of four Korean translators, my fellow teacher, Gordon and I got signed up for the Jamaican gym. After an hour of signing up, I got on their measuring system, and was told that I was fat by Korean standards (I could have told them that one). But still, Americans don’t join gyms to be told that they are fat. Oh well, such is life J. The building itself is amazing, located on the 13th floor, above department stores, Starbucks, and Dunkin Donuts, it has a crazy view of the city at night. I’ll try and take a picture of the nightlife that’s scene from the windows. The gym’s here are cheap, for one year membership its $21 a month, and for 3 months its $35! Granted square footage is still super expensive so the gym is smaller then an American gym, but what isn’t? (My kitchen is 2 x 3’!) I’ve been to the gym twice now, both in the later evenings and have been the token westerner girl. I’m hoping to see another one soon, but I’m not pressing my luck on it. There was only one western guy there also.. mmm so this is what its like being the minority.

The Korean kindergarten graduation was 10:30-2:30, for less than 60 kids! All of the parents took off work to attend their children’s English class graduation, and it was a show. The kids had been memorizing the songs, poems, and plays for over a month. They played out Beauty and the Best, Lady Chongyoun, The Little Bear.. ect. It was an amazing production that ended with all of the schoolteachers (new and old) on the stage dancing to “Dancing Queen”.

I feel like my Korean has gotten worst since coming, all I’ve been saying is Hello and Thank you.. I’ve definite have to start studying, just so I can understand what is being said to me at a restaurant. Soo.. today I’ll look for a language exchange partner, whom I can help with their English and my Korean.

I start teaching classes on Monday! All of my classes are full, with 12 students each. Most of the classes have had english class before, so it'll be easier to communicate and instruct them. All morning I'll be hanging out with 7 year olds (american age 5), it'll be a fun but a struggle to get them to learn english and to adapt to an american. I've heard that most of the korean kids have never been around westerners so for the first couple of weeks half of them will be afraide to talk with me. So I'll be instruding, "Stella", to them. Stella is a huge hippo puppet with a skirt and bright pink lipstick. :)

The world of Seoul aka my tiny 4 block radius.

2009-02-26T20:20:00.001-08:00

I’ve found myself living in on of the largest cities in the world, next to the 5th largest subway station in the city. An you say crowds, neon lights, fish smells, formally dressed workers for businessmen to gym workers. The Koreas have the best customer service I’ve ever seen. With my fellow teachers’ nonexistent Korean, we try to communicate with writing and hand gestures. We pay in big bills, because we don’t know our number’s yet. We struggle with taking off our shoes in each other’s homes, gym lockers, and some restaurants. We wave back to bus loads of giggling, waving school girls. And try not to say hi if we seen other westerner in an elevator. We get stocked in the subway by the retired generations of Koreans (who stand in subway stations, socializing, people watching, and listening to random musicians) they try out their English on us, ask where we are from, and assume we are students. We refuse to wear gym uniforms, believing that we are individuals and out grew uniforms in the 7th grade. Koreans take comfort in dressing the same and being in a communal society. We are told to eat rice w/ large spoons, give and receive money with two hands extended. And get stared at where ever we go, even though we are in the capitol city.

12 hours, 4 Cities, 3 Flights

2009-02-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

After spending a week with Zana, Ryan, and Mom in Sacramento I toured the western seaboard airports. First with a flight to Portland were I missed a flight to Denver by 20 minutes because they said they would be an hour because of the Denver flight control. Off to Seattle I went, on the most delightful 40-minute flight! It was a sweet two hours to be in Washington again, I know that most people would be mad about missing a flight and having to take two extra flights to get to their destination, but I’m relishing it for some odd reason. I guess its because it’ll be the last time I’ll be in these airports for a least a year, which I makes me sad to think I wont be in Seattle for that long. Spending time in the airport lets me have the forced quite time, people watching, and all the opportunities of getting lost that I could crave.

I have five days till I leave! I want to see everyone in Denver before then, and take my parents out to eat Korean. My dad has never been, so it’ll be a fun experience.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve done a lot of things that I’ve wanted to do for a while. First, when Yoko came and visited me in the second week of January! It was so fun to have a visitor from the west coast (#1), and to be able to see Denver through new eyes. We went to the stock show, Breckenridge with Hyo-Jung and Kee Bea, and out on the 16th street mall in Denver. So much fun! Thanks Yoko! Then Mark came from Seattle and we went to the Denver Art Museum (#2), where much to his dismay, I started jumping up and down when we got to the Asian room. It was great to see some examples of Asian history, and it made my heart beat faster when I got to think that I was going to get the opportunity to live there. Amazing! Then Adrienne came out and we go to go snowshoeing (#3) (I’ve wanted to go for years!!) in Empire, CO. And went to delicious Italian pizza with the parents, and went to Garden of the Gods (#4) in Colorado Springs and ‘hiked’ around the beautiful red boulders with Hyo-Jung and Kee-Bea.
After a crazy weekend, I got on a plane to Sacramento and the next day was picked up by Aubrey and went sightseeing in Napa/Calstioga. That area is good for the soul, one day I’ll spend more time in the valley, and really absorb the goodness of it (and all the great wine!) We got to go the hot springs (#5) with her boyfriend, Neil. Zana picked me up and we drove to San Francisco, and went to Colt Tower (#6), where the light rain, smell of eucalyptus trees, with their peeling bark, and the Bay, brought me back to my time at MBA. It feels so long ago, but in reality it was only 5 years since I left Monterey Bay. ☹ I drove around San Fran for a bit, which I plan on not doing for a long time! My new plan for when I get back from Korea is to get a masters at a school in the Bay area, its so beautiful around there! I still want to go to Alcatraz Island, but only in the summer time. And now I’ve been to 4 cities in one day, and on 3 airplanes. Not that I’ve wanted todo this, but it’s a fun way to spend the day.

Three Days till the Long Drive

2008-12-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

Maybe I’m dense, but it always takes a while before my decisions and their repercussions sink in. Seeking my roommates, Karen and Laura, move out this past weekend brought it to my attention that I’m moving to Denver in a week. There is still so much to do before I leave on Friday, but I’m mostly packed! It took 4 carloads to the Goodwill before I was able to pack all of my things. I’m still finding items that I can give away. If I’m not going to take it to Seoul, and it would take more to ship it then to purchase it later on then I’m getting rid of it.

Snow in hilly Seattle only comes a couple years, but the whole city halts and usually brings people out in groves walking to their favorite restaurant or coffee shop. This past snowstorm, on Sunday, had people wrapping chains in their tires, when there is less then 2 cm of snow on the ground! The usual snow deprived kids were wearing their warmest clothes, grabbing anything that had a smooth bottom to try to slide snow the roads and grassy parks. To my Colorado eyes it was a sad silent cry for more snow and desperation of the winter fun that rarely visits Seattle for more then 2 days per winter.

Karen and I stood out on McGraw watching cars trying to drive up the iced cobble stone road, half would make it but the unfortunate people who went to slow or had 2 wheel drive weren’t able to make it up the short steep hill. By mid afternoon the roads were clear, but many people stayed home on Monday morning because they were scared of the ice.

2 weeks to go

2008-12-08T09:43:00.000-08:00

The tradition of blending mine and my sister’s in-laws families together on Thanksgiving is special, a few days out of everyone’s rat race to remember the reason of life and family. This year was especially good, because I knew it was one of the last times I would see my family before I left for Korea. I made the decision of spending a couple months in Denver, after much departing, calculations of rent vs staying at home, staying at Upper Crust, so off I flew to Seattle for 3 weeks.

My laziness/unwillingness of not resetting my clocks in my room as reverted my body clock to its natural state: wake up before dawn! Ok, so your saying that in Seattle dawn is 7:4

5, but now I’m getting out of bed at 5:30 or 6! This has become useful time to pack, try to learn the Korean alphabet, or read the latest book I currently have my nose in. The downside of this: I’m falling asleep by 9pm, so much for a social nightlife.

Given that I have a less then a month left in Seattle, I’ve been actively pur

suing seeing my friends, 1 from Bremerton whose normal drive would be 1.3 hours turned into 2+ h

ours (thanks Hiedi!!). We dined on delicious tapas at Provence, France’s Entre Nous, and I finally got to try Ratatouille! The name as intrigued me for years, and it is rarely on American menus. It was all that I had thought it would be J.

Heidi and I traveled from France to Italy on Saturday, visiting Dolce de Europe’s open house and I trying to purchase every type of chocolate dessert and Panetone (traditional bread for Christmas time) in the store. Then off to Napoli’s Via Tribunali with Karen and Heidi, a pizzeria on Queen Anne that I’ve been meaning to go to for three years. I can say its the best representation of a Napoleon pizzerias in Seattle! And I rekindled my love for Limoncello, J.

2008-11-22T07:03:00.001-08:00

Only 1 train stop

2008-11-22T06:57:00.000-08:00

Imagine riding an Italian high-speed train, Ferrovia, not knowing the next stop because you’re unsure of the ultimate destination. The train has passed several stops that you thought would be fine. But as your getting up and collecting luggage the train speeds passed the train station. You sit back down reluntantly, craning your neck looking out window searching for the next stop. Fellow passengers, who have watched this spectacle multiple times want to help you. They ask, "What are your plans, I'll introduce you to someone who can help you find the perfect stop" or they want to share their experience.

You see the next stop that looks exciting; you tell your seatmate that this is your stop! Please excuse me! You cause a commotion every time you want to exit the train. In the split seconds it takes the train to stop, you gather your belongings, run to the open door. Throwing your bags out the door, and barely squeezing through the automatic closing doors. The passengers quietly talk amongst themselves, mentioning that your exit was so sudden, very unexpected. One passenger mutters that she thought that you were going to stay with her on the train, and was still gasping the idea of being alone.

This is my journey, only one of the many facets of my hopefully long life. I know that life is fragile, can fragment at any time. The steps I take to toward my final destination are full of caution and hurry.

My decision time frame: Rushed

* Tuesday: (Nov 18)

o Find job ad (6:50am) on Craigslist after doing a search for all jobs, ad include RN Nurses, Sign Holders for companies liquidating assets, Administration Assistant, and Teach English in Korea. The recruiting company who had posted the job was Ask Now *I apply right away.
o 7:00 am Received email from Stephanie, hearing that I could be in a foreign country half way around the world by February and teaching English by March.
o 7:15 am text message Diane, "I'm going to Korea!! To teach English". I'm sure it was odd to wake up with that message on her phone, but she is use to me by now.
o 7:20 am Call mom, ask her opinion, she says its a great opportunity, just make sure the company is legit.
o I go into work early (8:15) to research the company more and look through the vast information listed on the website.
o 10:15 Email Dad and ask him to send me my SPU Diploma. Mom had already told him o of my upcoming possible Korean Adventure.
o 3:10pm Request 2 Official Transcripts from School

* Wednesday (Nov 19)

o Research more ESL recruiting companies, decide on also applying to Reach to Teach to assure my ability to be in Korea by March

* Thursday (the 20th)

o Speak to Stephanie about the normal timeline, which is Interview with a Korean school and 4-6 weeks later the teacher is in their new country teaching youngsters to speak English with an America accent.
o Kick around the idea of coming home in January to spend time with the family and take a small break before leaving for 12 months.
o Purchase Christmas tickets from Seattle to Denver, Dec 21 to 29. Excited about spending 9 days with family!
o Order my WA Background check

* Friday (21th)

o Decide, after hearing that all roommates are moving out by January 1st, and finding only one option for a short-term option is at least 3 months. I don’t want to have to pay for a lease, or worry about having a sublease, so.. I'm now moving home the with the parents that the best decision is to move home before Christmas on Dec 20.
o Unsure of my crazy decision to quit my job and move to Denver in the anticipation of moving to Korea by Feb/March.
o Am now wondering if I have to get a CO state background check since that is my official address...

* Saturday (Today!!)

o Cancel Christmas airline tickets
o Look around apartment, and know that I can't fit all things in my car. :( Decide to send much to Goodwill. Only keep the items that I love, this is hard!

*About Ask Now, and the process I've gone through: Speaking with either the recruiter, Stephanie or the CEO, Jason, answer my questions and concerns very fully and sends me links of websites that go into fuller detail of the application and E2 Visa process.