Its a miracle!
I have my ARC! Let me translate - while living in South Korea I need to have an Alien Registration Card, which shows my visa status and my address. I always knew the term 'alien' was basically foreigners in a certain country but most of us automatically think of the little green men from Mars or whatever. But it's fun being an alien :)
To get this stupid little card I had to jump through a few hoops. If you are thinking about coming to Korea to teach, or are here and are about to do it heres the down low...
First, make sure you have a few passport sized pics with you. I didn't have any, and it was a bitch to get more. Then, you take your passport, photo, address and school letter down to immigration. My local immigration office is in Suwon, and I think we caught the 200 bus, but I am not sure. Co came with me so I just followed him around like a little lost duck and we got there ok. We filled out a heap of forms which took forever, because I left my address at home and we had to call the school to find out where I lived. They took ages to find it and Co was a bit pissy at me but he never said I needed it! Then we went and took a seat in the other room. It took over 2 hours. It was the most stupid day of my life. Then the lady took the stuff from me, I paid her 10,000won and that was it. She said I can come and pick it up on the 12th October. I was like ok cool no worries. BIG MISTAKE. For everyone out there reading, you can get the card sent to your school within a week. I had to wait aaaggggeeeessssssss because Co is a tight arse. He said, "Oh, Bonnie, you need to pay a lot of money to have it sent over to the school so its better for us to just come back and get it". It would have cost about $4. Geez!
Anyway, he ended up going and picking it up for me because he had business in Suwon anyway, so i didn't need to go back.
On Monday this week I went into Citibank and opened up an account. So I now have a Korean bank account too... It was really strange, because when I looked in my wallet yesterday I had no cards or money from home. Everything in my wallet is Korean.
And today I got paid!!! but not anywhere near as much as I thought... But still, better than nothing! So i am officially a millionaire! (only in Korea haha).
To get this stupid little card I had to jump through a few hoops. If you are thinking about coming to Korea to teach, or are here and are about to do it heres the down low...
First, make sure you have a few passport sized pics with you. I didn't have any, and it was a bitch to get more. Then, you take your passport, photo, address and school letter down to immigration. My local immigration office is in Suwon, and I think we caught the 200 bus, but I am not sure. Co came with me so I just followed him around like a little lost duck and we got there ok. We filled out a heap of forms which took forever, because I left my address at home and we had to call the school to find out where I lived. They took ages to find it and Co was a bit pissy at me but he never said I needed it! Then we went and took a seat in the other room. It took over 2 hours. It was the most stupid day of my life. Then the lady took the stuff from me, I paid her 10,000won and that was it. She said I can come and pick it up on the 12th October. I was like ok cool no worries. BIG MISTAKE. For everyone out there reading, you can get the card sent to your school within a week. I had to wait aaaggggeeeessssssss because Co is a tight arse. He said, "Oh, Bonnie, you need to pay a lot of money to have it sent over to the school so its better for us to just come back and get it". It would have cost about $4. Geez!
Anyway, he ended up going and picking it up for me because he had business in Suwon anyway, so i didn't need to go back.
On Monday this week I went into Citibank and opened up an account. So I now have a Korean bank account too... It was really strange, because when I looked in my wallet yesterday I had no cards or money from home. Everything in my wallet is Korean.
And today I got paid!!! but not anywhere near as much as I thought... But still, better than nothing! So i am officially a millionaire! (only in Korea haha).
Teacher's dinner
I had been told about the dinners with the co-workers, so I was actually kinda looking forward to this one (which I was told about yesterday) until they said we were having shrimp. Prawns. Gross... I don't eat seafood as a rule. I am terrified of having an allergic reaction, plus I hate the smell. Anyway, first we all got on a bus at about 1.30pm and headed to a temple in some other part of Korea. We left Gyeonggi but I don't know where we went. Its late and I don't care lol. I don't even remember what the temple was called, but it was really beautiful. Not so much the temple, but the forest surrounding it was lovely.
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| That's Mrs Lee in the yellow jacket |
Then we went for dinner. Shrimp. Eewwwww...
We all sat on the floor Korean style and there were gas cookers in the middle of the tables. They were on and heating up, so the ladies working there simply came past with the live prawns and dumped them into the pan. Then the lid was put on and the poor little things were steamed alive. I was totally grossed out, but then they were cooked, and then the teachers were putting prawns on my plate and pouring me beer and soju. When in Korea....
The male teachers got a bit messy, including Co which was a bit funny. Mrs Lee doesn't really drink so she was sitting next to me and chatting the whole time. She loves practicing her english so we always talk together.
It was really awkward when one of the men from school (he isn't a teacher, he is a maintenance guy or something) was wasted and kept talking to me on the bus... He kept saying he wanted to be good friends, and asked my age over and over. I was so over him and all the female teachers were feeling bad for me so they made one of the other guy teachers babysit him. But that was the only downside, the rest of the night was actually really fun!
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| Live prawns in the tubs, thrown straight into the pot poor little guys |
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| First shrimp, then noodles! |
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| My first prawns EVER |
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| Just steamed over salt |
An observation...
Korean men treat foreign women very differently to how they treat Korean women. I don;t know why but they do. And its really obvious when they drink...
Like coming up and getting right in your face, and staring and acting inappropriately. Now, I get that look completely different, but its never cool to be acting inappropriately with work people. So for this guy to be asking my age and if I was single and wanting to be 'good friends', thats not cool. And you know when people are being simply curious about your social status and when people are wondering if you could potentially hook up with them. Do they assume that foreign girls are easy pickings and put out for anyone? Because I am sure that men wouldn't speak so bluntly with Korean women. I hate the double standard, and I kinda find it offensive. Its like reverse racism and I have never experienced it before. Because I am blonde and foreign, does that mean I am a slurry? Does it mean I am easy? Does it make me a prostitute? i had been forewarned that being blonde would mean that many men will assume I am Russian, and therefore a hooker. And its stupid that this is actually true. I have been asked my quite a few people if I am Russian, and its always someone shady. Curious people assume I am from America, shady people hope I am from Russia. Its not good.
I am having so many experiences that are making me rethink the way I treat foreigners at home. I know I am guilty of generalising, but I think I am also guilty of racism which is less forgivable. When I get home I will be so much more tolerant of immigrants and their customs. I get now why Asians are such bad drivers... The roads here have no rules! Or there are rules, but no one follows them! And the pushing and bumping through people - its just what you do! No need to say sorry because everyone does it. And sneezing on people... My god, the list is huge. Spitting in public, thats another gross one... I saw one of the first grade teachers telling a little boy to suck back his snot and then spit it out - the kids are being taught to spit!
So there you go. I am an accidental racist, and I now know how it feels to be a victim of racism. And my experiences have been minor compared to what some foreigners have been faced with.
There is always something happening in Korea.
Till next time,
xoxoxo
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