It was the night before going to the Philippines and what should a appear,
A fear of immigration sending me back to Korea-r (sue me! I wanted it to rhyme).
Seriously though, I had a miniature panic attack because I thought that a technicality would keep me from entering the Philippines.
A little clarification, for the past two months, I have believed that I could enter the country for 21 days and then apply for a visa extension for 38 days once I am in the country.
Go figure, the night before I fly to the Philippines, I get nervous that I should have applied for the VISA before leaving. I begin to think that the airline won't let me board the plane because my return ticket is for 56 days later, or worse, they will, but I won't be allowed in the country.
Additionally, I realize that I don't have Soraya's (the women with whom I am working with this summer) phone number, and if something does go wrong, I would not be able to contact her. So, I send her a flurry of emails and Skype messages at 1 in the morning. Surprisingly, she doesn't respond.
2:35am KST: Well, sleep is hopeless.
4:00am KST: I head out to the airport bus 45 minutes early.
4:15am KST: I start worrying that the bus won't stop at this station because my friend told me that once she waited here for an hour and the bus never came.
4:40am KST: The bus arrives 5 minutes before it is supposed to leave the first station (~10 minutes early). Being high strung pays off this time.
Let's skip ahead. I have no problems boarding the plane, or with immigration at the airport. And the biggest barrier to getting the visa extension is that I am wearing shorts and sandals, and there is a dress code at the bureau of immigration. Luckily, the dress code at government buildings in the Philippines is more flexible than those at bars in Boston.
Time to rest easy.
