My study abroad program will begin on February 21 but my check-in date is on February 24, which is the day I’ll be in South Korea. For now, I’m going to enjoy my extended vacation and share some pre-departure paperwork I’ve been doing.
South Korea requires students who are studying abroad to apply for a visa. The exception is if the stay is no more than 90 days. The program starts in February and ends in June, which means I have to get my visa.
Here’s where the fun begins.
The state of Florida does not have a Korean embassy or consulate. The only consulate near Florida is in Atlanta, Georgia. The website offers two ways to submit the application either in person or by mail. I’m quite paranoid about sending important documents by mail because I don’t want to lose them. Sending my passport and my certificate of admission to Yonsei University by mail only to find out it got lost isn’t something I want to go through.
The only option I had left is to drive all the way to Georgia to submit my visa application. It was a good thing two of my friends volunteered to join me on this adventure. I was looking forward to this trip because I never drove to another state. We left my house around 3 a.m. and made it to Gainesville around 5 a.m. where we stopped to get some food. I’ve lived in Florida since I was little but I haven’t been to the northern part of Florida, so Gainesville was new to me. Once we were back on the road, the trip became boring. There was nothing but trees and darkness, which I thought would be peaceful but it wasn’t. Driving to Orlando, Tampa, or even Fort Myers was livelier.
We made it to Georgia around 8 a.m. and it surprised me that Georgia was very proud of their peanuts. I was expecting to see more stuff about peaches than peanuts. Another thing I noticed was the massive amounts of billboards, which is something Florida barely has. I have a friend from Texas that goes to USF and when she first came to Florida, she noticed the lack of billboards. It’s interesting how small details can surprise someone.
Some of the billboards in Georgia had funny cartoon versions of peanuts while others advertised adult shops with trucker discounts. It was little things like these that kept the trip entertaining. Unfortunately, I didn’t take my camera out to take photos but if you would like to see some of the billboards I saw, check out this website. Billboards in Georgia.
We made it to Atlanta at 11:30 a.m. and it was freezing. It was the week that the northern states were experiencing extremely cold weather.
The Korean consulate was located at the International Tower near the Peachtree Center Mall. The staff was helpful, directing us to where we needed to go. There wasn’t a long line to get a visa, which was good but I forgot to fill out my application before I got there. I also forgot to print out my official transcript but they had two computers to use and printing out additional documents were free. Always be sure to double check that you have all the necessary documents the consulate or embassy asks for before leaving to another state. It was really quiet and the employee I handed my application to talked very softly. I felt like I was yelling at her whenever I asked a question. After I finished giving all my paperwork for the visa, they kindly gave me a tracking number and told me the process should be done by Friday.
My friends and I had some time to waste since it was barely noon. We didn’t want to leave Atlanta without exploring some of the city. Luckily, we were in walking distance to the Georgia Aquarium, the Coca-Cola Factory and the CNN building.
We decided to go to the Georgia Aquarium since it was the world’s largest aquarium and it would probably be the only time we can go.
Despite the cold weather outside, it was comfortable inside the aquarium. The main thing I was anticipating was the tunnel where you can see the larger fish species they have.
Oh, and the whale sharks. I was really excited to see them for the first time.
That was my adventure in Georgia to get my visa. I’m glad I was able to fit in time to see the aquarium. I’ll post more entries when I’m settled in South Korea. Please look forward to it!
Photo Credit:
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2012/11/24/message-of-the-day-billboards/
http://blog.moveguides.com/relocation-resource-passport-visa-expeditors-a-briggs/
Photos of the Georgia Aquarium, the Coca-Cola Factory and the CCN building belong to me.