Did you get the memo?

It seems that everyday another item comes up that needs to be addressed during my trip, and I'm starting to stress out. I'm soooo tired of the corporate red tape and worried about the lack of support network. I'm irritated that new projects keep popping up for the LCC, when they can't even handle what they've got right now. I'm concerned about taking on "training" tasks while not receiving any back-up for my regular workload. April is the busiest month for me in my normal category, usually leading to mad amounts of overtime. Last year I had 2 temps devoted to help me and barely made my deadlines. This year I have no temps, 3 more styles and have to re-name all of my carryover product...supposedly I can use the LCC to help me, but isn't their lack of training the reason I'm going over there in the first place?

To top it off, one of our PLM's told me a story about being tricked into eating "cows blood soup" while out in Korea. When he asked if that was tofu floating in it they explained it was coagulated blood & mucus. Yumm-o. I'm down to try new things but if anyone tricks me into eating something gnarly I have no problem retaliating with projectile vomit.

**Footnote: The LCC is the new PA team in Seoul. We use a lot of acronyms at work - I have a binder with at least 3 pages of them and I swear we come up with a new one every week. My personal favorite is MIU. It's what I do when someone submits an URGENT request but doesn't explain what they need. I just Make It Up.

Benny Hill is alive and well

Do ya'll remember when Benny Hill used to have those moments set to music where everyone was running around in caos? Well, this week was a lot like that for me. The best example was this afternoon when we had conference call planned with the new team in Seoul. Apparently H gave D the wrong number to call, so we ended up talking to the big boss (IK), who was unable to either transfer us or give us the correct number to call. We didn't know what our number was either, since we were in an unfamiliar conference room. So, we had IK call *company* to ask for the conference room in order to procure the correct number so he could relay that to the team in Korea. If my explanation sounds complicated and insane you should have witnessed the actual "meeting." I have deep concerns that this whole trip is going to be complicated and confusing. Moving on...

My travel has been officially booked and I will be leaving the states on March 7. I leave Korea May 2 only to return to Portland 2 hours earlier the same day after a 15 hour flight. The space time continuum has been breached. I will be flying first & business class, for the first & probably only time so I plan to take pictures regardless of the dirty looks I get from fellow passengers.

This afternoon I submitted the paperwork for my business visa and received my corporate American Express. I find it ironic that the two have nothing to do with each other yet sound the same. Anyway, it took me 3 tries and multiple phone calls to get the paperwork in order for the visa. I love when you are instructed to "fill the form out very carefully" but not given any instructions. I didn't have any of the info in regards to my sponsors, local address, type of passport (mine is an "OR" for ordinary) nor did I have my full itinerary yet, which I was supposed to enclose. Not to mention the fact that all of the date formats were different on the form (i.e. 2008/02/21 v. 02/21/2008), I mean, shoot - how hard is it to pick one and stick with it?

I'm sorry if this blog is disconjointed (is that a word?) but it's been a nutso week. To exit on an up-note I will include a video from my new crush. His names is Jason Castro and he is on American Idol...normally I kinda loathe that show but this kid just makes me happy, so enjoy.