Welcome to Gaia! ::

So I'm leaving for Korea in just over 2 weeks so it is time to get my visa. This was a two day adventure.

So I got the email last week that my contract had finally arrived and made an appointment to go yesterday to my agency to pick up all of my paperwork then head to the consulate in Toronto to drop off all of my visa documents and passport. Sounds good, I had Wednesday off and had plans to have dinner with friends in Guelph (kind of half way between Toronto and London) before heading home and work Thursday afternoon..... that was the plan.

So Tuesday night, I gather all the documents I need from home, double check them twice and set them all on the table to take with me in the morning.

I set out Wednesday morning, in the back of my head thinking I'm missing something. To this I reassure myself that I had packed everything, I have nothing to worry about. I make good time all the way till Milton, just outside of Toronto and then it hits me.

I had left my passport at home, in my printer as I needed a copy of the information page for my visa.

I pull over and call my dad, on the verge of tears as out of all things to forget I can't believe I forgot my passport. My dad agrees to leave work, go home find it and drive to meet me half way to give it to me. I call my agency to let them know I'm likely not going to get to the appointment on time but I'm hoping. As the consulate only takes visa applications till 12p.

So I drive an hour back the other way getting to the meeting point and noticing the time. I call a my friend who I was going to meet for dinner in Guelph and she offers that should I need to I could stay the night in Guelph as I was to teach today (Thursday) at 1.

So I call my agency back, asking if I could still pick up the paperwork today and go to the consulate Thursday instead and hopefully make things faster. It is during this second phone call that they (and I as I did have a Korean student tell me this...) August 15th is like Korean Independence Day.... The consulate is closed.

That is right. Closed.

At this point my dad is almost to the meeting point, and I'm almost on the point of laughing as it is either dumb luck or something that even if I had had my passport, I wouldn't have been able to drop off the application anyways.

So to wrap things up, I did pick up my papers, stayed overnight in Guelph borrowing my friend's clothes and toothpaste (I had a toothbrush in my purse...) only to set back to the consulate today to drop everything off.

I still didn't get back to London in time to teach, but I emailed one of the teachers last night to give them the heads up and it was covered. So now the application is in, and I am now going to hope it is ready by next Wednesday when I'm on my way back from visiting family in Ottawa. I was told "About a week, check online" but I really don't want to make another trip back. I hate Toronto driving.

Although, if I do I've decided that I'll park at one of the subway stations on the edge of town and transit in. It will be worth the $15 to park there.

Also, I leave Aug 31!

That sounds really stressful! I'm glad it worked out though. Let us know how life in Korea is!