Contract in hand, awaiting visa, flight booked !

Yesterday I got my contract and necessary paperwork directly from EPIK Seoul - FedEx had a delay so I had to pick up the documents myself. Everything is becoming a reality now, I feel kind of nervous all of a sudden - early this morning I went to the Korean Embassy to apply for my visa. I had my first taste of Korea and the representative of the embassy was very friendly and helpful indeed. She approved all my documents and the 1 year E2-visa cost me only €40. If everything goes well I will have it by Friday afternoon.

Now to talk about the flight - Although I did not get my visa yet, I was afraid that prices may go up if I don't book as soon as possible so I got a very reasonable one-way fare directly through Emirates' site and I booked it last night - Dublin-London Gatwick-Dubai-Seoul Incheon - leaving Dublin at 06:40am on 17 Feb and arriving at Incheon Airport at 16:00pm on 18 Feb. It looks worse than it really is because there is a 9 hour time difference between Ireland and South Korea. The best part is - I will have my first flight onboard the new Airbus A380 on the Dubai-Seoul flight so I am really looking forward to that.

Today I started with the required EPIK pre-orientation course which must be completed online before we arrive for orientation on 18 Feb - as most of my things are sorted already, I should have sufficient time to complete this.

Watch this space ... André