Kimchi, not for me

Hit a bit of a speed bump. Called Delta to make sure Daive was good to go on all three of my flights. My flight from Seoul to Tokyo is a Korean Air/Delta shared flight. This next part gets a bit confusing. The travel agent sold it to me as a Korean Air flight, but somehow at the same time it's a Delta ticket, so the rules/regulations for both airlines must be met/complied. I had called Korean Air a few days ago, and they said that since it was a Delta ticket, I would have to talk to Delta...which I had already done about the last two flights (Tokyo-Atlanta, Atlanta-Pensacola). So I called back today, and was on hold (I have almost committed to memory the music Delta plays on hold) for awhile. Then the lady came back on the line and said that for a pet to go to/through Japan, there were forms that had to be filed, and a quarantine.

Well, near-panic starts to set in at this point. So I'm thinking, "Okay, I'll just change the ticket." I go to check my e-ticket to make sure the ticket is non-refundable, as I'm pretty sure it is, and... of course it is non-refundable. Well, then I happen to look at the fare...1,839,000 won (roughly $1839 US dollars), and it is supposed to be 966,000. Umm...what the...?! So then I start frantically looking for the receipt we got from the travel agent on Friday and can't find it. At this point near-panic has definitely turned to panic. Eventually I found the receipt, which was indeed for 966,000 won...but we put it on Lis' credit card, so I have no idea what they actually charged to her card.

So...I called the Japanese embassy in DC...twice. Automated menus, with no options besides 1) visa questions 2) police testing (or something strange like that) or "press zero for emergencies." Then I called two Japanese consulates in the States (as it's late and they're open)...all to no avail. Couldn't get to a real person there either. So THEN I finally get ahold of someone, who is very kind, but unfortunately not very helpful. He isn't sure who to ask, but does ask someone. Whoever he asked, said they thought it would be fine. (For all I know, he could have asked the janitor.) Long story short (and I do mean L-O-N-G story...ask my sister Jen, she and I were chatting throughout most of this), I accomplished basically nothing. But this funny did come up as Jen and I were chatting. We were talking about how it might work if we pinned some sort of ribbon or sign to Daive stating that, not only was she rabies free, but that her anal glands had even been expressed. Then I said that maybe I *wouldn't* have her anal glands expressed... I could possibly use that as a weapon. Then my sister said this, "Okay ma'am, put the dog's butt down and step away slowly..." (Though she didn't type "butt," and I thought leaving the profanity in made it funnier, but thought someone might get on to me about it, so I censored it.) Seriously yall, I was in such a foul mood because of all that was going on, and just wasn't expecting anything to strike me as funny as that comment did, I almost hurt myself when I laughed. It was one of those laughs that is so sudden and forceful that your body isn't entirely prepared for it...so I scared myself and hurt myself a little bit all at the same time. I'm so weird.

Anyway, I now have a whole different ticket, arriving in Atlanta on February 27. I'll have to buy another ticket myself to get from Atlanta to Pensacola - and I could explain all the reasons why but it would take FAR too long and the details are both painfully boring and confusing. I'm in the process of finding a ticket to Pensacola, but am quite determined that I will not fly AirTran... I think they are ghetto and crappy. Besides, I can get a Delta ticket for the exact same price, and Delta is way better.

Okay...so there you have it. Two weeks and three days. ACK!!!!!!!!!! I *DID* mail off four boxes to myself on Wednesday, and think I am doing quite well at this whole deciding what to throw away, mail, and take in my suitcases process. In fact, one suitcase (the small one) is already packed. I still feel like I have way too much to do, but I think that's a delayed panic reaction to my to-do list from a week ago.

So long as the dog carrier I got off of ebay gets to my sister's soon, and then can get on its way here soon, all will be well. That's the biggest piece that has yet to fall into place.

Seriously...I can't believe I'm actually going. I've thought about going back so much, and talked about going back (for a vacation) so much, and it's always fallen through. It really just hit me yesterday that, "Wow. I'm ACTUALLY leaving Korea!" I compared it to the experience of getting your eyebrows waxed. It's shocking - when they rip the cloth thingy off. It's traumatic, at least slightly. And it's painful. So I feel like it's an accurate statement to say that my life is being waxed right now. It's like a full-life wax. I feel like Korea is the place where I actually became an adult, and had lots of meaningful friendships, relationships, and experiences. It's just really strange to be leaving.

Anyway, it's quite late, and I need to sleep. Still have LOTS to do!