I have a visa number. I got an email which was timestamped at 1:53 AM.
This is what this long, Kafka-esque waiting has been about. So now, I'm over the hump, and I'd hazard a guess that I can officially consider myself employed by the Yeonggwang County schools. Monday, I'll go to the Korean consulate, and submit my number in exchange from some shiny stickers for my passport, and then I can return to Korea and begin teaching.
I'm excited. There will no doubt be a few more bureaucratic humps to pass over, but I feel much more optimistic, now. I'm trying to decide if there's any last touristic thing I want to do in Fukuoka, before I go, but honestly, as I've been saying, I'm feeling pretty ennervated with regard to the rootless travel experience. I may decide to just kind of be lazy these last few days.