한국에 있어요!
Here I am back in Korea! 한국에 있어요!! ^^
I met Jooyoung at the airport and we took a bus to Hongdae, where I met my roommate, 혜경. So far she is very nice, friendly, and helpful. It seems that I have been very lucky with my roommates in my life. I have never once had a bad roommate. Uh oh... should I knock on some wood? Eh, there isn't any in the PC방 and this is Korea so that probably doesn't work here anyways!
I did a LOT of walking around yesterday and went back to 신촌, the area where I lived and studied last summer. I went to 서강 (my university) so that I could mail my final documents to Footprints/EPIK. I received an e-mail saying that waiting for the Notice of Appointment from the Korean government is the longest process... oh, my. How long does that mean I must wait? Even though I am not usually a worrisome person, it would be nice to know that my job is secure! Especially since I need the contract and the school sponsorship to get my visa.
Speaking of which... Dad and I were not ready for what awaited us at the airport! The Delta employee at the check-in counter asked for my passport, which I gladly provided, but then... she asked for my visa. Americans don't need a visa if their stay is less than 90 days. I was going to get my visa before that period was up, but I suppose the government and Delta had no way of knowing that. With a one-way ticket, I couldn't go without a visa. Buying a return ticket immediately would have cost over $2,000. At that point, you can imagine (maybe, depending on who is reading this) how my father was feeling at that point. Then I asked how much a round-trip ticket to Tokyo would be during my one-week of vacation in late July. That ticket cost a little less than $500, so I went ahead and bought that. Now hopefully that all works out. I don't know the exact process of getting a Korean visa when you are in Japan. However, I just e-mailed Footprints and asked them. They probably have plenty of teachers who do that.
Yesterday was a productive day (I already mentioned that I walked around quite a lot). I bought all the toiletries I had to leave behind and, what a nice surprise! They actually had my EXACT same Dove shampoo. AND it was on sale! They even had the same body wash (although the reason I bought the Nivea body wash in the States was because it's what I used last summer in Korea, so that wasn't a surprise). Although I was disappointed to realize that I cannot find women's shaving cream anywhere. They have men's shaving cream and that Veet fake-razor stuff, but nothing else. I'll have to keep my eye out and just use soap until then (oh, woe is me, haha).
I went to 광화문 to buy some CDs and look at the magazines at Kyobo bookstore but apparently it is under renovation until sometime next month! But perhaps that was a good thing because then I went back to 신촌 and found my way to the music store that was close to my 하숙집 (boarding house) last summer. As I walked from the subway station to the music store, it felt like I had never left Korea. It truly felt like I had taken the same path yesterday, the day before, the day before that, and so on. The gym that I bought a membership to last year (which is right across from the music store) must have gone out of business because the sign was gone and the eighth floor was completely empty. But that was no big deal; I went to the gym that is located right next to 서강. It's 10,000원 cheaper a month AND the gym clothes they provide are better than the ones from last summer's gym (haha, a silly thing to even notice, I know).
At about 10:30pm, 혜영 and I went to her cafe/bar, Mai Thai. When we were in contact through e-mail, she had called it a cafe (and still does), but they also serve alcohol and it's only open during the night. That makes it sound more like a bar, but it's nicer than that. There are sofas and the atmosphere is not typical of what we (read: Americans) would consider a bar atmosphere. The part-timer that works there, 하나 (the same name of my Korean roommate during my Junior year at EKU and whom I met up with on Wednesday), is a student and is the same age. There weren't many customers, but it was the first time since arriving in Korea that I was able to attempt a full conversation in Korean. We had to do some charades and throw out a few words in broken English, but I can still hold a conversation, so I suppose my Korean hasn't gone completely out the window. I also might have secured a twice-a-week, one-hour free conversation job. I don't know what the pay will be or if it is even for certain, but any income is extremely welcome.
I am meeting up with Jooyoung today in about thirty minutes so that we can go on a search for a phone and, what is much, MUCH more difficult... an actual cell phone plan. Being a foreigner without an alien registration card/number (I guess you could compare it to a green card in the States, but not necessarily permanent). I'll keep my hopes up, but I won't be surprised if our search is unsuccessful.
Well, if we can get the internet hooked up in our apartment, I will take pictures and post them on here (or Facebook). If we can't get the internet, I will still try to post some, but since I won't have 24/7 access to a computer, I probably won't feel like bothering as much. I'll also try to keep everyone updated with frequent(ish) posts. That's what I said last year, too. But then I never posted again. I'll at least try to break that record, haha.
I met Jooyoung at the airport and we took a bus to Hongdae, where I met my roommate, 혜경. So far she is very nice, friendly, and helpful. It seems that I have been very lucky with my roommates in my life. I have never once had a bad roommate. Uh oh... should I knock on some wood? Eh, there isn't any in the PC방 and this is Korea so that probably doesn't work here anyways!
I did a LOT of walking around yesterday and went back to 신촌, the area where I lived and studied last summer. I went to 서강 (my university) so that I could mail my final documents to Footprints/EPIK. I received an e-mail saying that waiting for the Notice of Appointment from the Korean government is the longest process... oh, my. How long does that mean I must wait? Even though I am not usually a worrisome person, it would be nice to know that my job is secure! Especially since I need the contract and the school sponsorship to get my visa.
Speaking of which... Dad and I were not ready for what awaited us at the airport! The Delta employee at the check-in counter asked for my passport, which I gladly provided, but then... she asked for my visa. Americans don't need a visa if their stay is less than 90 days. I was going to get my visa before that period was up, but I suppose the government and Delta had no way of knowing that. With a one-way ticket, I couldn't go without a visa. Buying a return ticket immediately would have cost over $2,000. At that point, you can imagine (maybe, depending on who is reading this) how my father was feeling at that point. Then I asked how much a round-trip ticket to Tokyo would be during my one-week of vacation in late July. That ticket cost a little less than $500, so I went ahead and bought that. Now hopefully that all works out. I don't know the exact process of getting a Korean visa when you are in Japan. However, I just e-mailed Footprints and asked them. They probably have plenty of teachers who do that.
Yesterday was a productive day (I already mentioned that I walked around quite a lot). I bought all the toiletries I had to leave behind and, what a nice surprise! They actually had my EXACT same Dove shampoo. AND it was on sale! They even had the same body wash (although the reason I bought the Nivea body wash in the States was because it's what I used last summer in Korea, so that wasn't a surprise). Although I was disappointed to realize that I cannot find women's shaving cream anywhere. They have men's shaving cream and that Veet fake-razor stuff, but nothing else. I'll have to keep my eye out and just use soap until then (oh, woe is me, haha).
I went to 광화문 to buy some CDs and look at the magazines at Kyobo bookstore but apparently it is under renovation until sometime next month! But perhaps that was a good thing because then I went back to 신촌 and found my way to the music store that was close to my 하숙집 (boarding house) last summer. As I walked from the subway station to the music store, it felt like I had never left Korea. It truly felt like I had taken the same path yesterday, the day before, the day before that, and so on. The gym that I bought a membership to last year (which is right across from the music store) must have gone out of business because the sign was gone and the eighth floor was completely empty. But that was no big deal; I went to the gym that is located right next to 서강. It's 10,000원 cheaper a month AND the gym clothes they provide are better than the ones from last summer's gym (haha, a silly thing to even notice, I know).
At about 10:30pm, 혜영 and I went to her cafe/bar, Mai Thai. When we were in contact through e-mail, she had called it a cafe (and still does), but they also serve alcohol and it's only open during the night. That makes it sound more like a bar, but it's nicer than that. There are sofas and the atmosphere is not typical of what we (read: Americans) would consider a bar atmosphere. The part-timer that works there, 하나 (the same name of my Korean roommate during my Junior year at EKU and whom I met up with on Wednesday), is a student and is the same age. There weren't many customers, but it was the first time since arriving in Korea that I was able to attempt a full conversation in Korean. We had to do some charades and throw out a few words in broken English, but I can still hold a conversation, so I suppose my Korean hasn't gone completely out the window. I also might have secured a twice-a-week, one-hour free conversation job. I don't know what the pay will be or if it is even for certain, but any income is extremely welcome.
I am meeting up with Jooyoung today in about thirty minutes so that we can go on a search for a phone and, what is much, MUCH more difficult... an actual cell phone plan. Being a foreigner without an alien registration card/number (I guess you could compare it to a green card in the States, but not necessarily permanent). I'll keep my hopes up, but I won't be surprised if our search is unsuccessful.
Well, if we can get the internet hooked up in our apartment, I will take pictures and post them on here (or Facebook). If we can't get the internet, I will still try to post some, but since I won't have 24/7 access to a computer, I probably won't feel like bothering as much. I'll also try to keep everyone updated with frequent(ish) posts. That's what I said last year, too. But then I never posted again. I'll at least try to break that record, haha.