Traveling Korea/ Japan 2014

Long ago I promised an informative blog with travel links and tips that I spent many days of my life hunting down, translating, calling and sorting conflicting data to travel between South Korea and Japan.

The first thing that I did to really help me was make a spreadsheet with all the information from the various sources. This is a link to that and the picture below gives you a sample.

While I was traveling between Korea and Japan there were some smartphone apps that were extremely helpful. They are also all free!!! I tried lots of different apps and these were my favorite.


Currency ~ Most of the time I didn't need to use a conversion app, but this one would retain the numbers that I'd looked up even once I left an internet source. Most other apps would try to refresh and therefore lose the data I'd previously had. This app came in most handy when someone tried to rip me off and I could show them that I knew what they should be giving me.


Korean Builder ~ My favorite Korean language app. There are the general categories you can click on but you can also start typing (in English) and optional phrases and words in romanticized letters and in Hangul will appear so you can show someone the sentence or word even if you can't say it. It also has the option to use honorific, formal or polite forms. It is a free app so there aren't all the words you'll look up but there are plenty enough to get your point across and you can also update to a full version. This app also does not require internet access which in Korea isn't a huge problem, but nice to know none the less.


Korean Flashcards ~ A nice app for a few of those basics. You can choose whether you see romanticized letter or Hangul or both. And since no internet is required it's also an easy app to use when you're desperate to communicate.


Learn Korean Numbers ~ My favorite Korean numbers app. Korean numbers are tricky because there's two different sets and they use each set for different things and both for telling time, so it's important to be able to reference both quickly. Most apps only have the Sino-Korean set. This app is free and you can practice the numbers as well as practice telling time in the app. Super helpful!


Maps With Me ~ This app lets you download maps of a specific city or country to your phone so you don't have to have a wi-fi connection to see where you are. This app was really really really helpful in Japan where wi-fi is scarce and never free.


Subway ~ This is the number one app for using the subway system in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon and Gwangju. The system is super easy to maneuver anyway with color coded number systems posted everywhere below as well as above ground. I travel a little bit and Seoul is an easy place to get around. I did not have the opportunity to use this app outside of Seoul so I can't comment on its effective in the other cities. However, this app is a must have as you can pull up the subway map with romanticized stop names so you can figure out where you are if you don't read or speak Hangul. You do have the option to use it in Hangul as well as Japanese too. The app gives you the fastest route to and from where you'd like to go and timetables for departures. I can't say enough about how good this app is!


Talking Translator ~ One of the translator apps I liked using but it does require an internet connection. It gives you options to hear the translated word or phrase, keeps your history and will even give you daily words in a language of your choice.


Translate ~ Of course Google translate is also a go to translator option but beware to only use it for basic sentences and words because it doesn't translate larger sentences correctly at all. I'm being very serious and have had ample experience when I first moved to Korea and couldn't speak a word, nor could my neighbors speak a word of English. Hours were spent trying to communicate through translator apps and Google doesn't work with anything remotely complex. Talking Translator often did better with longer sentences than Google.


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India seems so far away

It has been a long haul already and unfortunately, I'm writing this update from my childhood twin bed in my childhood bedroom with the same carpet, same wallpaper, same curtains, and even the same sheets on my bed. There's just a few extra boxes and an elliptical machine to remind me I no longer live here permanently....yet.

It was in August that I agreed to a job in India and said yes, I can leave in three weeks when the company in India hiring me asked if I was available right away.

Back then I had 7 months before my passport expired.

I did Skype interviews, sent resumes, videos and pictures and was emailed a nice contract and everything seemed on track...until I tried to get my visa.

I went to the Atlanta passport agency the middle of August to renew my passport just in case and was told that I couldn't do so quickly without an exact travel date like an airline ticket.

Since my passport was not going to expire right away and I didn't want to send it off in the mail for a month and a half to renew it without an exact travel date, I decided to just wait and renew my visa overseas.

After receiving all my documents to apply online I did so on Labor Day and emailed to confirm the next day that the consulate had indeed received my application. They emailed me back the following day affirming that they had received it. Online it listed a set of steps to follow and I had completed step one and was now waiting for an email to complete steps two and three. After 5 days (the website stipulates a 3-5 day processing period) I tried emailing. All my emails were returned undeliverable. The next day I tried calling. There were three numbers on the website. Only one actually rang and I would sit and wait for a half hour plus numerous times throughout the day and on different days and no one would ever answer. This went on for a couple of weeks and finally my agent went to the embassy in the town near his location and was told I should just keep pestering them. Wish I could right?!

So I tried calling again and magically, I got through. About time it was. I was asked if I had received emails and I was like, nope. I can't even email you or call you. I was told to schedule an appointment to complete my paperwork so I scheduled one for the very next morning.

After waking at an ungodly hour to drive to Chicago to get there for my mid morning appointment, waiting in line, being told I had the wrong application, redoing my application, being told I needed additional paperwork, getting that paperwork, and then attempting to submit everything for processing, I was informed that since my passport no longer had more than six months before expiring that I could not submit my visa application. I explained that to get my passport renewed I needed an airline ticket and to get that I needed my visa, but to get my visa, I needed a renewed passport. Oh the joy of red tape circles.

Since I was nearby, I walked to the Chicago passport agency and when the lady called me up and asked if I had my travel dates I started explaining my situation. She kindly interrupted my story and said I couldn't get my passport back today but they would mail it to me in a few days. Whoopee!

I came back to Chicago in a few days instead of having them mail it, picked it up and returned to the visa application office. After another round of more paperwork and yadda yadda I finally got it submitted. The head lady there said she'd never seen a submission like mine. Guess I'm the exception. I shouldn't have been so surprised.

Anyway, I happily left the office thinking that in a week (according to their website and the email I had specifically written to confirm this, the processing time is 3-5 days) I'd have my visa in hand and be getting a ticket to India post haste!

Wrong again...

Turns out the consulate can't decide what they want to do with my visa application so they requested a detailed schedule of my upcoming performances, venues, etc. I'm not going to go into details about how that's impossible to procure, but the Indian company trying to hire me kindly supplied me with more documents to try and appease the consulate here and get my visa processed.

Then I got a phone call yesterday.

It's always scary getting a phone call from a government agency.

They told me they'd received the documents I had emailed earlier that day and still couldn't decide what to do and now the whole department is taking a five business day holiday so they won't consider it again until next week sometime. In the meantime, they asked if I'd like my passport back. The unfiltered response would have been, yes, with my Indian visa inside please.  But the filtered response was, no thanks, I'm not planning on any international travel in the next couple of weeks. I'm really hoping to travel to India the next time I use my passport!

Sooooo, I'm still waiting still waiting still waiting stilllll waitinggggg.............................

Maybe someday I'll get my Indian visa. This has certainly not been easy and not been fun and not been ideal in any way. There is still a good chance I won't even get to India after spending hundreds of dollars, completely reorganizing my schedule for the last few months, and turning down work because of the posted processing times. I still want this gig and hope I get it, but if I do, I think it will be the last time I apply for an Indian visa.

If any of my readers have any tips or hints for Indian policies or visas or for traveling in and around India, especially Mumbai, please let me know.