The day before.

It's now Friday, August 21st, as I'm sure you can see in the date stamp. But I just want to point out the date because it's an important one - the day before I leave. How am I feeling about that?

"OMGOMGOMGjaksdljfasdfewyru..........EEEE....whoa." That SORT of sums it up.

I've had the luxury of not being nervous about it until last night, thanks to on onslaught of anxiety dreams. For example:

I receive a letter in the mail from my recruiters based in Seoul. The letter reads: "Dear Stacy, we are writing to inform you that we do not think you are a very nice person. You recently ruined your recruiter's vacation by constantly badgering her with your silly questions. Also, our records indicate that you highly enjoy Drew Barrymore movies. This is an offense we do not take lightly; therefore, we are adding one point to your criminal record. Should you do anything to jeopardize your job in the future, you may be eligible for termination."

I think it's a perfectly logical fear to have - Asian employers seem to drop potential employees for silly and unfair reasons, but I am hoping my fondness for 50 First Dates doesn't poorly influence my teaching ability or value as a human being.

In all seriousness, I have been reading in various forums that the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (my employer) has been making last-minute job cuts for its English teachers. Like, LAST minute. Orientation begins Monday and some people are just hearing about this today. Please, hope and pray that I still have a job when I get to Seoul! I believe I will have other job opportunities if SMOE becomes unavailable, but it will be a real pain to have to go through the application process again. So, for now, I'm just going to go in there pretending I know nothing of these cuts.

To sum things up... it looks like even in other countries, there is no such thing as job security!

I leave tomorrow morning from Tulsa, OK at 6 a.m. I have a layover at DFW, then I arrive at LAX around 9... and depart for Seoul at around 12:30, arriving at 4:55 P.M. Korean time on Sunday (which, in case you are wondering, is 2:55 A.M. Central time... nearly 24 hours straight of travel, bring itttt).

At the moment I'm about to finish packing, and then I have about a bajillion errands to run today... I need to buy rain boots. Apparently monsoon season in Seoul is somewhat moist.

I will try to update once more before I leave the country... love you all and I will miss you SOOO MUCH!