Woo hoo! Finally, after months of effort and a few thousand dollars, I got a call today from the Korean Consulate in San Francisco. They gave me a Korean marriage migrant visa. I’m in!
I left Korea for Oakland on Jan 21, and had my packet of forms, documents and my passport in the mail the next day. Three days later, I got a call from the consulate saying they got it, but I needed a more recent Certificate of Entry and Exit for Myung. I called, she got it and EMS’d it to me. It came 5-6 days later, and I sent it on to the consulate. A couple of days later, I got a call saying they got it and everything looked in order, but that woman didn’t have the final say. So I’ve been on pins and needles, waiting for a call from the person in charge. That’s the call I got today, and I can pick it up any time. I’ll go tomorrow.
After all this time, I was worried that what can go wrong will go wrong. There have so many unexpected hurdles. Whew! Now, about the only worry is passing my COVID PCR test within 72 hours of departing for Korea. Of course, the flight has to be not cancelled or changed by the airline to a time more than 72 hours from the testing result. I’ve called around, and there are a couple of places I can be tested and get the results the next day.
So that’s the big news. I’ve been mostly sitting around doing nothing while waiting. I’ve walked outside with my friend, Mary, a few times, gone to Stockton to take care of some matters regarding my rentals, visited with my men’s group on Zoom and once in person, widely spaced. I go to the stores as little as possible, as COVID is rampant here. So I’ve been literally just sitting around a lot, mostly with my computer. watching TV on it and surfing.
I have some photos. The first is of Lake Merritt, about a five-minute walk from the airbnb apartment I’m staying in. The others are from the beach in Alameda, where I went today.
It’s very nice weather here, for the most part. Myung tells me it’s nice in Gyeongju these days, too, not much colder than here. It was cold before I left. Check out the views looking out our windows one day before I left.
That was the only snowy day, actually. Gyeongju is in Korea’s banana belt. Mostly, it was cold before I left, with lows usually around 10 degrees F and highs around 30 degrees F, give or take about 5 degrees. Some ice, but weather was usually clear. The city just made a Garden of Lights in the park by our apartment. The photos don’t do it justice. The colors change to music being played.
Here are pretty pictures of the walk to Bulguksa Temple.
Myung and her friends walking to Bulguksa
So, that’s it for now. Happy Korean New Year next weekend. Be well and be safe, all of you.