Aaaand more waiting

Still waiting on visa approval.  My recruiter says I should have an approval number by the end of this week (hopefully).  Once I have that, it's time to plan a visit to Chicago.  I could just mail all my documents in, sure, but that involves mailing my passport (yes, the actual passport) so I would prefer going in person.  Plus, one of my good friends just moved to Chicago and is still waiting on her roommate to move in, so I have a place to stay and someone to chill with.

On another note, my friend Ashley got her city placement - she's in Seoul!  She doesn't know where exactly yet, but at least we're in the same city~ I foresee lots of study parties in cafes and lots of regular parties in clubs/restaurants.

I also finally got in touch with the teacher at my school.  Turns out the first email I had been given for him wasn't even his...and now I look stupid before I even get there. Sigh. At least I'm in touch with him now, which is what's important.  All of his answers to my questions were super helpful.  He said the area is newer, which is what I'd heard from a friend who lives in Seoul, and gave me some advice on the apartments.  Apparently all the humidity in Seoul causes mold, so a de-humidifier is now on my "buy as soon as I get there" list. He's also been at the school for a few years (and even left to try another school but returned because this one was so much better), which is definitely a good sign.  He mentioned that a lot of teachers tend to re-sign for at least one more year and that only 2 are leaving in August, both for reasons that don't involve not liking the school.  Low turnover rate/lots of re-signing is definitely good, especially for someone like me who plans to stay for a while.  My other big worry was training - would I be dropped in the deep end from the get-go or would I have some time to learn how things work?  I was hoping for a week of training/observation, but based on his email it sounds like I'm going to have more than one week.  Score.

All in all, it looks like I got very, very, very lucky with this school.