Update on Friday

I can't believe I didn't write on here yesterday! I think it was because I spent so long in front of the computer I didn't want to look at it any more!

Well, I booked my tour with Intrepid, all my flights, and got my travel insurance... and it took hours! Not so much the actual buying of them, but researching, checking, and filling out six million on-line forms! I also organised to get my China visa done, and I'm posting off my passport today to get it put in. Because I'm leaving in three weeks, it seems very unlikely that I will have time to get both my visa for China and my teaching visa for Korea - especially since the recruiter just emailed and asked me to resign my contract with a "thicker pen". He's has it for about four days and only now he wants a different pen? This is why it ends up taking so long! So, evidently, my documents have not been submitted to Korean immigration yet, so my visa number will not be available for over a week, more like two. Good thing I have a plan!

The original plan was to do a visa run to Japan after my tour around China. I did a little reading on this, and man it sounds complicated! And expensive! And Japan is all earthquake and radiation-ful. Ok, not all of it, but I think it might affect all the people emotionally. So, that was looking like it might be a pain in the bum. And then I remembered I'm going to Hong Kong! A quick bit of googling later and it seems that getting a Korean E2 visa in Hong Kong is quick and easy, so I'm spending four days in Hong Kong, getting my visa (hopefully) done there, then starting the tour on the evening of day four. If that all works out, then great, and if not, I'll just have to go to Japan.

As for the rest of the trip, I'm spending five days in Seoul, four in Hong Kong, 20 on the tour around China, one extra night in Beijing, and then am flying to Busan down the bottom of Korea and spending eight days coming back up to Seoul to meet my school on the 11th of October. I haven't' booked any accommodation yet, as I'm waiting for my flights to be confirmed/to get my e-tickets, but I have planned the hostels I want.

Right, well, now I have to go an re-sign my contract with a "thick" pen. Felt pen maybe?