Korean Consulate

First thing first... I got a new hair cut. It is a bit short but I like it. This entry is all about me and my new hair traveling with Joseph to Atlanta Georiga to complete the final interview to get our Work visa to teach in Korean approved. It was a long trip but we made it, and only got slightly sick when we got home!

I made sure I had tons of coke to help keep us going, I am used to the three hour adventures to Boone, but double that and I was not so sure we were going to make it about 3/4 the way through South Carolina.

Once we got there, we were shocked at the sheer size of the City. I always thought bumper to bumper traffic in downtown Raleigh at 5pm on a monday was bad... I will never say anything about Raleigh traffic again. The 8 lane highway we came in on was cramped and was full of people who didn't regard the 55 mile and hour sign, and sped past me going ungodly speeds while I myself was going 75. ( I was shocked because the last time I went that fast I got a speeding ticket) But even the cops passing me were giving me dirty looks like... "can you please go faster)... and this highway was different, it has a posted minimum speed as well... guess they don't take to slow pokes to well over in the Big City!

But we finally parked the car and the random buildings around us were so tall... and speaking of tall, so are their peaches... we saw this gem on the side of the road going up, but I was not quick enough with the camera so I had to take a picture on the way back... but we sure didn't miss it either time. I think it would be so fun to drive around to all the US states and take pictures of their big crazy enlarged items and then make a coffee table book out of it... It would be a good way to see the country. I know they have a giant Golden guy in Tulsa OK... maybe we should go there next! ( I can see hanson while I am there!)

So here is the nitty gritty on the interview. The man in charge was very nice. His english was a great example of what we will be working with over the next months. I knew most of what he was saying, but it was a very awkward interview. It was Joseph and myself, and 5 other girls.. they had 7 of us in one room... and he didn't really ask questions so much as try to induce conversation... which is where he lost most of us... You try starting a conversation with 6 girls and 1 guy about free trade policy when we are all nervous, tired and not sure if we are supposed to be listening or talking... He told us his opinions (" Yeah, it is nice idea") and then moved on to another topic.... All the girls were just smiling and trying to nod and laugh when it seemed appropriate. This lasted for about 15 minutes, and then he finally took a look at our passports and applications. He then proceeded to say a name and ask, why do you want to come to Korea? I think Japan is better!!!.... so we had to say why we picked Korea. Most of us had the same answer and were just excited to be going to a new county, one girl said she had been to Japan before and felt it was too westernized... which Joseph and I agreed with... If we wanted to go to a MacDonalds, we can walk up the street and save alot of hassle! We want the experience and the culture. Not to feel like we are at home. We have the rest of our lives to be at home in america, but only one year to live abroad... we want to make the most of it!

The interview ended shortly after that, and he said "welcome to Korea!"... so I guess we got approved, we shall wait and see in the mail if our passports come back! (crossing fingers on that one... my passport traveling through the mail makes me so nervous)

So on the way home we tried to have a bit of fun ( because the cheap hotel we stayed at was just that... super cheap.... hence no pictures, although I should have taken one so we could remember the name of the place and NEVER stay there again!)

On the way home we made three stops, the first and most fun was at the Firework Warehouse store off 85... this place was HUGE and Exploding with different kinds of fireworks... ( no pun intended... ok maybe a little pun intended!)

Since Joseph enjoys them, I told him he could buy a few select pieces, which ended up being about $30... And we got alot of stuff because it was so cheap and for being the only people in the store, the nice guy at the counter threw in a few free pieces... so that was exciting and we walked around for a good hour. And when I say we were the only people in the parking lot... I mean it... we were the only people in the parking lot. You can barely tell but I am actually standing next to the car holding all of our purchases!

Here are a few of the pictures we took

Also on our way home we stopped at IKEA... in charlotte which is probably the coolest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. Don't be jealous!

We wandered around the Ikea store for a good hour and when we thought we were done with the showroom we saw they had restaurant, so we stopped and had a meal ( which was awesome, Joseph had spagetthi and meatballs and I had chicken alfredo, they both came with salad and we totally shared a piece of the chocolate overload cake! SOOOOO good.) After having our fill, we walked downstairs only to realize we saw half the store... the other half was downstairs, so we did a quick lap, and promised ourselves we would come back when we returned... there were a few lighting fixtures and rooms that we fell in love with... so maybe if we save tons of money in korea we can come and have a shopping spree and buy everything we would want!

We also stopped at the Bass Pro Shop in charlotte ( also another HUGE store, but I left my camera in the car and it was getting late so I didn't get a picture of it) but they had tons of cool camping supplies and a huge waterfall and tank full of extremely large bass fish. It was incredible how big it was. We also saw the boat show room... and this place had a shooting range... but it was closed...

Overall it was a nice trip, but I was so glad to be home. This last picture we saw on the back of one of the many huge trucks in Atlanta, and it made me laugh because Joseph said it looked like the guy was eating his own beard... I thought it looked like poo... so here is to Graffitti in Georgia!