32nd Birthday Present

For my birthday this year, the Korean government gave me an F-2 visa (it’s like a green card). With it, I can work for whomever I want, whenever I want. In that respect, it's unlike the E-2, which required permission from the visa sponsor (the employer).

It's also good because it means I'm now working legally. For several weeks I’d hoped to get sent to Japan to pick up an E-2, after which SY and I could leisurely figure out how to do the F-2 thing, but it didn't turn out that way. CDI headquarters didn’t send my visa paperwork to the school until the 16th, a full three weeks after they received it.

I don’t know why they waited that long, but by that point we decided we wouldn’t wait for my school to handle things. We paid the nearly $65 application fee and submitted our documents for the family member visa. Today, I picked it up.

Good timing, too. Yesterday, I accepted an offer to be a part-time corporate tutor for employees of a prominent, global accounting company. Three days a week, from seven to nine in the morning, I’ll meet with business people one-on-one to help with their conversational skills.

And rather than wait for that small window at the end of a contract to look for a better position, I’ll be able to do that anytime.

It feels good to have that freedom.