some documents already coming back

I think the apostilled copies of my diplomas are already on their way back to me. And if I understand correctly, Monument Visa, which has yet to receive my original diplomas because they're still en route, will hold the original diplomas until they get the FBI criminal background check. A staffer at Monument Visa said it's likely the FBI will provide a PDF version of that background check, so sending the PDF to Monument Visa for the final apostille can happen fairly quickly. But I'll still have to send the FBI's paper original to them for legal/clerical reasons. Once Monument Visa has that physical copy and makes whatever final confirmations it needs to do to be in the clear (cover your ass), the company will bundle up both diplomas plus the FBI report and send all three back to me. And aside from a health report, two letters of recommendation, and a copy of my Sookmyung employment record, that ought to be about it for my ridiculous pile of paperwork.

My ex-boss says he's been teaching kids in small hagweons in his area, and he's still in the middle of doing paperwork, including what feels to him like demeaning background checks to confirm he's not a pedophile who shouldn't be working around kids. Jesus.

So here's my checklist again, but stripped of everything that had been checked previously. All that's left are the "still to do"s:

Job stuff:

☐ 1st diploma copy, converted to PDF & apostilled (arriving soon)

☐ 2nd diploma copy, converted to PDF & apostilled (arriving soon)

☐ FBI criminal background check, apostilled

☐ 2nd letter of recommendation, converted to PDF (coming soon)

☐ 3rd letter of recommendation, converted to PDF (coming soon)

☐ copy of 4th certificate of employment (2005-2008) (SMU)

☐ health check; scan form and convert to PDF for job hunting

Personal stuff:

☐ colonoscopy scheduling

☐ completed (& uploaded) first movie-review ebook ms

☐ sample lessons for universities that prove interested in me

☐ sample lessons for KMA (which probably won't hire me)

☐ lessons for private tutoring (lower priority)—test prep & various subjects

☐ more Substack material to last through September

☐ more interactive quizzes for Substack (w/different question formats)

☐ ebook version of the first movie-review book, published

☐ ms for the second movie-review book (long-term project)—start working on it

That looks a tad bit more manageable.

Oh, yeah—my tutoring ad is now up in the lobby.