(no subject)
Pretty much caught up now, will update whenever I write something.
Day 9
As advised by the management, I got up and dressed up in my swanky suit, (my idea, when in an extremely capitalistic foreign country, and traveling further outside your own comfort zone than usual, it pays to look like you have money) and got in a taxi, to take the subway, to take another taxi to go get my resident alien registration card. got up and dressed, but left the apartment later than I would have liked, got to the subway station nearest me, and with a few false starts, get headed to Suwon, where the immigration office is located. I meant all along to get my photo taken at one of those generic photo booths in the subway station and pay extra for the passport sized photos such as those places usually want. Unfortunately I forgot, and by the time I got to Suwon, where the subway had turned into a normal train line, there were no photo booths to be found. I did see a Lotte Mart from the train not too far from the station, and being that they have florists and other amenities, I headed there. They did have a photo department, but it took an hour. I at least got to wander around Lotte Mart and take a few pictures of Korean strangeness there with my digital camera. I got eyeballed a lot, even more so than at the Lotte in Anyang City. I'm not surprised, as it is a more remote location with fewer foreigners, but getting gawked at is rarely a comfortable thing. I got my pictures, got another taxi to immigration, and stood around for about 4 hours until my number came up, at which time I was told that my visa was only a travel visa (I knew this, so should have the management that sent me) and was sent away empty handed. so I get back to the subway, and only going in the wrong direction once, get back to the station that is only slightly farther from work than I would want to walk. After walking to work I have been lazy and played with my laptop, and recieved a cell phone from my most immediate boss. even with several hours of frustration, up to now I would count today as a positive-sum day.
Day 10
I arrived a few minutes late to work because I walked and decided to try a new route, but it's not like it matters. I'm actually beginning to worry about my job security, I've heard of teachers getting hired and then dismissed simply because there isn't enough work to go around. After Christmas there will be an intensive session during normal school hours, but that's three weeks away. In the mean time I have lots of free time at work. I am attempting to solve a Rubik's Cube and spending lots of time on the internet, between meals out of the building, but on the clock. Completely off-topic, my time card for this month and last both have me listed as Brain. It's a simple misspelling, but quite amusing. I think my immediate superior also calls me this, though to western ears the Koreans' vowels are a little fuzzy. Knowing what I know about Korean phonetics, this is not the case, as there are 10 distinct vowels in Hangul, but it's hard for me to pick up on it. Assuming I still work here in a week, I'll be going to Fukuoka to get my visa, because after thr 15th the new law takes effect and people will have to travel to their home country to get a proper visa, in an effort to make it more difficult for fugitives to flee to Korea. I am really feeling like I'm not doing my share. I show up and sit here and log hours, and my employers seem to be doing their best to get me settled at comfortable, but I prefer to be working when I'm on the clock.
Day 11
I was just informed that I'll be taking over for all of KAC's classes, and that he'll be moving to another Hagwan owned by the same people. This was news to him as well, but there's been some bad blood between him and the boss of which I'm not wholly cogent, or at any liberty to go into detail about what I do know on my public blog. I'm glad I'll be getting to teach, but this isn't how I really wanted to get to it. It also doesn't give me a good outlook of my future working relationship with the people around me. So now I get to learn some basic administration of the forum that the kids all post their answers on, as well as pick up all of his classes with a minimum of experience or guidance from KAC. This also means I'll have a lot less free time to work on this starting immediately.
On a completely unrelated note, the Korean woman whose desk is across from mine is humming Country Road by Bob Denver, I'm not sure why this amuses me as much as it does, maybe because I don't think she speaks any English whatsoever, and it's a very strange thing to hum, if that's the case, and partially because I'm looking for something amusing to keep me from acting bummed out that KAC is leaving. He says the planned poker night is still on, though.
My photos can still be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/seoulinlimbo/
Day 9
As advised by the management, I got up and dressed up in my swanky suit, (my idea, when in an extremely capitalistic foreign country, and traveling further outside your own comfort zone than usual, it pays to look like you have money) and got in a taxi, to take the subway, to take another taxi to go get my resident alien registration card. got up and dressed, but left the apartment later than I would have liked, got to the subway station nearest me, and with a few false starts, get headed to Suwon, where the immigration office is located. I meant all along to get my photo taken at one of those generic photo booths in the subway station and pay extra for the passport sized photos such as those places usually want. Unfortunately I forgot, and by the time I got to Suwon, where the subway had turned into a normal train line, there were no photo booths to be found. I did see a Lotte Mart from the train not too far from the station, and being that they have florists and other amenities, I headed there. They did have a photo department, but it took an hour. I at least got to wander around Lotte Mart and take a few pictures of Korean strangeness there with my digital camera. I got eyeballed a lot, even more so than at the Lotte in Anyang City. I'm not surprised, as it is a more remote location with fewer foreigners, but getting gawked at is rarely a comfortable thing. I got my pictures, got another taxi to immigration, and stood around for about 4 hours until my number came up, at which time I was told that my visa was only a travel visa (I knew this, so should have the management that sent me) and was sent away empty handed. so I get back to the subway, and only going in the wrong direction once, get back to the station that is only slightly farther from work than I would want to walk. After walking to work I have been lazy and played with my laptop, and recieved a cell phone from my most immediate boss. even with several hours of frustration, up to now I would count today as a positive-sum day.
Day 10
I arrived a few minutes late to work because I walked and decided to try a new route, but it's not like it matters. I'm actually beginning to worry about my job security, I've heard of teachers getting hired and then dismissed simply because there isn't enough work to go around. After Christmas there will be an intensive session during normal school hours, but that's three weeks away. In the mean time I have lots of free time at work. I am attempting to solve a Rubik's Cube and spending lots of time on the internet, between meals out of the building, but on the clock. Completely off-topic, my time card for this month and last both have me listed as Brain. It's a simple misspelling, but quite amusing. I think my immediate superior also calls me this, though to western ears the Koreans' vowels are a little fuzzy. Knowing what I know about Korean phonetics, this is not the case, as there are 10 distinct vowels in Hangul, but it's hard for me to pick up on it. Assuming I still work here in a week, I'll be going to Fukuoka to get my visa, because after thr 15th the new law takes effect and people will have to travel to their home country to get a proper visa, in an effort to make it more difficult for fugitives to flee to Korea. I am really feeling like I'm not doing my share. I show up and sit here and log hours, and my employers seem to be doing their best to get me settled at comfortable, but I prefer to be working when I'm on the clock.
Day 11
I was just informed that I'll be taking over for all of KAC's classes, and that he'll be moving to another Hagwan owned by the same people. This was news to him as well, but there's been some bad blood between him and the boss of which I'm not wholly cogent, or at any liberty to go into detail about what I do know on my public blog. I'm glad I'll be getting to teach, but this isn't how I really wanted to get to it. It also doesn't give me a good outlook of my future working relationship with the people around me. So now I get to learn some basic administration of the forum that the kids all post their answers on, as well as pick up all of his classes with a minimum of experience or guidance from KAC. This also means I'll have a lot less free time to work on this starting immediately.
On a completely unrelated note, the Korean woman whose desk is across from mine is humming Country Road by Bob Denver, I'm not sure why this amuses me as much as it does, maybe because I don't think she speaks any English whatsoever, and it's a very strange thing to hum, if that's the case, and partially because I'm looking for something amusing to keep me from acting bummed out that KAC is leaving. He says the planned poker night is still on, though.
My photos can still be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/seoulinlimbo/