How I Almost Didn't Get a Korean Visa

I had been putting off going to the Korean Consulate, because it is really just a few blocks from where I live. Being so close, I saw no reason to rush it. I knew I could drop my passport and paperwork off in the morning and go back in the afternoon to get my visa. Simple, right?

ummmm....

On July 1 I had surgery on my throat for sleep apnea. My tonsils and uvula were cut out and my soft palate was somehow reduced. Recovery was hard, draining, but progressed slowly. Finally, after seeing my surgeon one week after the surgery and getting a thumbs up on my progress and permission to change from Vicodin to Motrin, I started feeling human again. I decided on Thursday afternoon to go to the consulate, thinking I could pick my visa up on Friday. Simple, right?

ummmmm....

The last time I went the guy asked me for my diploma. I didn't realize I needed to bring my diploma. Fortunately I lived close-by. I was able to come home and get it. This time I took no chances. I made a copy of my diploma, transcript and included my itinerary, so they could see I had no plans to stay beyond my three weeks.

I handed over my paperwork to a lady behind a glass window. She leafed through the papers, handing me one I forgot to sign. She looked up at me and asked, "Are you going to teach English?" "Yes", I replied.

She continued leafing through the papers and then asked me, "Where is your background check?"

"My what?"

"You need a criminal background check".

I was feeling a bit weak still, this being the first day I had really been out and about. I started to feel a familiar feeling that arises when I have to deal with idiotic bureacracy that makes me want to throw a fit even though I know I'm not supposed to.

"I did not know I needed a background check. I went three years ago in the same program and didn't need one then."

"Something changed. You need a background check."

"There are other teachers going in the same program and no one told me they needed to get a background check. I'm leaving on Thursday", I said as calmly as I could.

"If you don't have a background check you can't get a visa"

"Ok, tell me how I need to do that", I responded, beginning to lose my cool.

She went and asked one of the other clerks about it. I was hoping I would get out of it. I was thinking about coming home and sending Jenny, the woman in Korea who runs the program, that I did not want the hassle and was not going to come. She could contact the consulate on my behalf if she still wanted me. Otherwise, I was happy to forfeit the money, pay whatever penalty I had to on my ticket, and spend three weeks in San Francisco getting ready for my longer trip in August.

She returned with a paper with information about the background check. I had to go to 850 Bryant - where the jail is located - one of my least favorite places to go. I despise the criminal justice system and want to have as little to do with it as possible.

She was explaining to me where I had to go and I was thinking that I was not going to go to Bryant Street when a woman who had stepped behind me in line reached in and said, "It's ok, he is in the same program as me."

It was Sue, a colleague from City College who is also going to teach in the same program. She told me she had the same problem.

The woman behind the window said, "Oh, you are doing teacher training?"

"Yes", I answered.

"You told me you were going to teach English."

"Well, we are doing both. We are teaching English teachers. Isn't it in the contract I gave you?"

"Yes", she said, with a non-verbal indication that I had just caused her to lose face. Argh, I hate this face-losing stuff.

And so she proceeded to look again through my paperwork. I turned to Sue and told her how careful I was to include everything they could possibly ask for and how shocked I was to hear that I needed a background check. I was speaking loudly and being very New Jersey. I knew the woman could hear me. The face-losing continued.

The lady behind the window told me I could pick up my visa on Monday.

What luck that Sue showed up when she did. Otherwise, I might not be going to Korea.