Pre-travel woes

Where to begin?

Well in order to get an E2 visa to work in Korea I needed to get a few different very legit documents.

1. FBI Background check with an apostle seal from Washington

2. Copy of my college diploma with apostle seal from Madison

3. Health Check

4. Copy of my passport

To do this took some time! Your background check takes up to 6 weeks to get completed, then they send it to you and you have to turn around and send it right on back to Washington to get that raised seal.

So I did all these things, sent it off to Korea, and that’s really where my woes began. Me, the unexperienced person with sending international mail didn’t realize when the man at the counter said “oh and it weights under an ounce… so you can send it first class!” In my head I started thinking of all the fancy things I would consider first class and I thought “Oh dang! Perfect way to send it!”

I was wrong.

It gets even worse because I still remember that day at the Post Office right before I walked out the door I got that gut feeling. The one that makes you stop and go…. Wait a second…. I should get tracking number. Then I dismissed that gut feeling. I walked right out without a tracking number. Note to self: ALWAYS TRUST THE GUT FEELING! L

My documents never arrived at the school in Pusan. After about 3 weeks I began to panic… and so did the foreign teacher who I was working with. In the panic, I cursed and hyperventilated and through myself on the floor and cried all night. (yes, I have a flair for dramatics) But then I got up the next morning and did something, one of those redeeming qualities I have is that I do not give up. I re-submitted all my documents. I called to postal service to report my missing mail. I grew a whole new chunk of grey hairs.

Then I waited. Mind you, aint nobody got time for that. It was now May 20^th and I was to start my contract on June 17^th. Time was of the essence. So I started calling the FBI every day to harass them. They wouldn’t help me. No even after I gave them my whole sab story.

Here’s where it turns around a bit. I got some great advice from Jerry at church to call my senators because they can help you cut through the red tape… and let’s face it…a senators is  a lot more important than me. So it was my mission to find an important person to advocate for me. Mr. Shupper at school made some calls, I made some calls, and I got into contact with Senator Tammy Baldwin’s office in Madison, she has someone on staff who actually helps for these “important document situations”.

After Tammy’s office called things moved very quickly. By Tuesday they had my background check done. Expedited it 1-day shipping through fed-ex because I was a “high priority client” (Thanks to the senator and my supervisor friend at the FBI office.) I’ll never forget that last call back to him. “What now Sarah, your calling to harass me some more?” J By Thursday my seal was on the background check and Friday it was in my hands.

When in doubt, call your representatives! They can help you!!

By Friday night I had my flight details and my new super huge, very upsetting woe.

Song of the post: Local Natives Who Knows Who Cares. This song has transformed in almost all the situations I have had in my life that have caused me a great deal of stress. This song just seems to fit.

“You can let it down, jump into a river baby. Easy as it sounds never quite as easily done. The current has us now but its okay, take into a count that its all about a change.”