First Month

The first month in Jeju has rapidly come to a close, and I’m feeling incredibly lucky. Basically we didn’t have to worry about anything. Our recruiter was even going to purchase our plane tickets, but we chose to handle that ourselves. When we arrived we were greeted at the airport and taken directly to a training where we were well fed and given a top notch orientation. Finally we were personally escorted to the immigration office and to our apartments.

The immigration office was a breeze. I filled out one short page of paperwork, presented two photos, and paid ten dollars. To make matters better, there wasn’t even a wait. I still have nightmares about the immigrations office in France. In France there was a whole checklist of the paperwork, accompanying copies, and photos that I needed. I went to the immigrations office in France at least three times, and the wait was over an hour each time. The French bureaucracy is notorious, and it’s no stereotype. I was so proud and relieved when I received the long awaited “carte de sejour” that I took a photo of it and made a blog entry. I still carry that card in my wallet everyday. (I really really loved my time in France, and it was such a big goal of mine to go.) Fortunately I had a wonderful family in France helping me every step of the way.

I digress, back to Korea. All the important particulars were easily taken care of, and settling the house in was a fun, adventurous way to connect with our new city. Any minor inconveniences were quickly brushed off thanks to Mike’s love and support. It is clear from how quickly this first month has passed that a year will be done and gone before we turn around.