Very Bad News

Well, it looks like the Ministry of Immigration is not going to grant my E-2 Visa.  The school administrators have said that they will not allow me to just renew my visitor's permit and keep working after my E-2 rejection is final.  I'm very sad about this, for many reasons.

I made many friends here in a short time, and I don't want to say goodbye to them.  My students love me (well, most of them), even one that I chewed out for not taking notes (and failing as a result), and don't want me to go.  They all say, "Don't go!" and "When you come back?"  My colleagues don't want me to go.  I don't want to leave these kids without a teacher.  Even if I wasn't the greatest teacher, I'm sure I was better than no teacher at all.  I'm sure I will miss my students very dearly.  I wept freely when I told them about my situation.

Also, I don't have a job in the U.S., and the job market there is very tough.  I can't even escape the real world by going back to school, because I can't get any more student loans.  I can live with my parents for a little while, but that still leaves me in debt (only slightly reduced by my earnings here), and I can't live with them forever.

It's a real stinker, that's the only way to put it.  The only bright side is that I will be able to see my family for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But this is not the way I would have chosen to do that.

It seems that the only possible alternative is to marry a Korean woman, which would make me very happy, even if it wasn't necessary to stay in the country.  I've got at least one on my mind, who is very nice, and seems to be available.  The only problem is, how can I win her heart in a few days?  That's all the time I have.  I know that the head of our organization would like to see me marry a Korean woman, but I'm not sure how much influence he has.  I've already e-mailed him about this.

Also, I have Parent-Teacher Conferences tomorrow.  I'll have to tell the parents that I will have to leave in a few days because of problems with my visa and the Ministry of Immigration.  I'll also have to tell them that I don't know who will be taking over my classes.  They won't like that.


Prayer Requests
I really need God's blessing right now.  How I'm going to get through Parent-Teacher Conferences tomorrow, I have no idea.  I don't want to face packing.  I'd love to get married, but apparently I'm terrified of actually trying to woo a woman on such short notice.  Since I don't know exactly what I'm going to do, I have no specific requests.  Just pray for me.