Waiting to leave...

At the moment I am stuck in Ontario awaiting my Korean work visa to be processed. Over a week ago (Sept. 22) I had my visa application couriered with UPS to the Korean Consulate in Toronto, but I have run into some issues over the last week. As I was in the process of moving from Winnipeg back to Ontario I decided to courier my visa application ahead of my arrival in Ontario. I was unaware that the Korean Consulate does not accept packages sent via UPS (or any other courier besides Canada Post) so my application and passport were re-routed back to Winnipeg late last week. Fortunately I was able to have those important documents shipped from Winnipeg to Ontario, which I received today. However since the visa offices at the consulate are only open from 8-12 on weekdays I was unable to make it in time for processing the same day. Added to the delay is a Korean holiday on Wednesday October 3 which will close the consulate for the entire day. This means I have to wait until Thursday October 4 to visit the visa offices in Toronto, the very day I was planning on leaving the country. This has been a frustrating ordeal but I am optimistic that now everything will fall into place rather quickly. With a little luck I'll be leaving sometime this weekend or at the latest next week. The standard time to have a visa processed is five business days, but my employer has written a letter to the Korean Consulate asking for an acception to speed up the process. Hopefully this will be enough to get me to Korea only a few days behind schedule. This has been a frustrating week but it is also allowing me to spend a few more days with family and friends before I leave for a year (or longer). Stay tuned for later updates.