OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so frustrated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, if you read my Pre-Korea Blog you would have read that in order to obtain my VISA I had to jump through several hoops, collect many documents and pay tons of money. This process took me over 2 months because I had to collect so many different items and get them notarized and Apostilled.
Well, I got through the VISA process, obviously because I am in Korea, but once you are in Korea you have 90 days to apply for your Alien Residency Card (ARC) through the Immigration office.
I arrived Monday, Aug 23.
Got my Medical Exam Friday, Aug 29.
Got the results September 3.
My boss applied for the ARC on Sept 7.
Found out that the Korean Immigration Law has changed as of Sept 1.
My boss thought I would be ok because I was here before Sept 1. and that it would just take an additional 3 weeks.
My friend got his on Sept 24.
Checked in with my boss on Sept 26 after our holiday to see the status.
Well.....I am lost in translation because I have no clue what is going on. I don't know if I was grandfathered in or not.
Whatever!
Checked my old email account and saw an email dated Sept 8 from my recruiter saying I needed to get 2 more things done because of the law change!
Ok, here I go, more documents, more time, and more money.
This wouldn't be such a huge problem, but I am living in Korea!!!!!!
1) Need a new Criminal Background Check (CBC)
When I first got a criminal background check, I went to the county and paid $18.
Then I found out that the county CBC was no good.
Went through the state and had to get fingerprinted paid $45. Then I waited 2 weeks and when I got the results I had to drive to LA to get it Apostilled for $26.
Just found out that the State CBC is no good. I need an FBI CBC now! More fingerprints, ship it to the USA, wait up to 12 weeks for the results.
The boss took me to the police station to get fingerprints today for free! We went to the post office to send it, but apparently you can't prepay for a return envelope in Korea, so I had to find my FedEx account number when I got back to work. The nice thing is I think my boss is going to pay the $18 to process the prints and for the shipping. We'll see. I should be sending it off tomorrow.
2) New Diploma requirements
For my VISA, I had to order a diploma from UCSD and have it notarized. My original is in a plaque and I wasn't planning on shipping that to Korea. I paid $59 for rush delivery.
New law doesn't want the original anymore---GO FIGURE!!!! They want a copy of my Diploma Apostilled. I could have done this originally when I went to get my State CBC Apostilled in LA, but my recruiter said I didn't need to.
Well getting a photocopy is no big deal, but now I have to go to the US Embassy and get it Apostilled. O, the embassy is in Seoul (5 hours away) and only open during the week. More money...more problems.
At this point....I am realizing that there is no reason to get frustrated because this happens all over the world. JUST DEAL WITH IT!
It really wouldn't be that big of a deal, but I have 90 days to apply for residency (6 weeks have already gone by). It may take up to 12 weeks to process my FBI CBC, so who knows what happens if I don't apply within 90days.
O, also I CAN'T get the following without my ARC which kinda sucks
Cell phone (I'm borrowing one right now)
Bank Account (I guess they'll have to pay me in cash)
Gym Membership
Costco card
I really want a costco card too! I guess i just have to wait....be patient....and relax...I can only do what I can do.
I'm really trying hard not to stress. I have stressed a little on this situation, but after venting on this blog I think I'm over it!
I'll keep you posted when I am clear or you just may be seeing me sooner than we all thought.
Woosa
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Folk Game Day (Monday, Sept 20th)
Once a month at school we have a theme day, and this month we happened to have Folk Game Day. We had FGD the day before we went on our Chuseok Holiday, which is like a Korean Thanksgiving, so we played traditional Korean folk games. Many of the games are similar to games we have in the States.
1) Korean Top Spinning: wrap the string (attached to a stick) around a top and pull it quickly. Once the top gets going, use the string to hit the top. This will help the top keep spinning!
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| Shean is hitting the top here. |
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| top spinning masters |
2) Korean Hacky Sack: Don't use your hands, try to hit the sack as many times as possible before it drops. I did it 6 times in a row!
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| jacks |
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| hacky sack |
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| jacks 4) Eu Nori: This game has the same premise as the game called, "Trouble." This game you have 4 chips and you want to get them all safely home. The way you move is by tossing 5 sticks. Depending on the way they land is how many spaces you move. If an opponent lands on you, you are sent back to start. It is a fun game. |
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| Eu Nori |
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| This little girl tagged along for the day. She was so cute reading a book in English. |
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| Tops |
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| Hacky Sack |
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| This reminds me of third grade! |
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| Wow! He is flexible! |
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| They made up their own boy version of jacks. |
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Yeongdeok for Chuseok
Map of Yeongdeok (google style)
While I was at the BBQ’s at Tony’s on Tuesday afternoon I was invited to go to the coast with a few other friends. The plan was to leave for Yeondeok, which is a beach town on the East coast in the morning. Wednesday was Chuseok, which is the Korean Thanksgiving. The Koreans have a national Holiday Tuesday-Thursday for Chusoek. We took advantage of this holiday and got out of town.
I met up with Collin, Joomi (Collin’s Girlfriend), Gue (her brother), Josh, Mi Young (Josh’s Girlfriend), Tony, Murray, Jack and Hannah at Tony’s at 11:00am, Wednesday, September 22, 2010. Take a picture walk through my journey!
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| I saw this spider on my way to Tony's |
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| Jack and Hannah getting ready to go |
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| It rained all day Weds. This was at the rest stop. |
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| Me and Mi Young |
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| A little girl dressed in a traditional Chuseok dress. |
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| One of the rooms at our Pension (like a time share I guess) |
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| The other room at the Pension |
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| Mi Young and Joomi just hanging out |
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| sweet.....grasshopper |
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| The beach right by the Pension |
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| Fishermen |
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| I was too chicken to go in....it was cold and rainy. |
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| Rainy day at the beach |
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| Our Pension was on the left, super chill |
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| Taking a snooze |
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| Murray cooked up a shrimp KimChi dish! It was delicious! |
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| Playing cards with Hannah and Gue |
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| Fireworks for Cuseok |
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| Be careful Hannah |
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| Ok, I'll do it. |
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| Eels by our Pension |
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| Giant Crab near Pension |
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| Not for sale! HUGE CRAB!!!!!! |
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| More crabs---afterall Yeongdeok is the CRAB hub of Korea |
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| He was not happy. |
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| Gue, Joomi, and Mi Young grubbin |
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| Mi Young and Josh |
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| Just playing a little Wii Bowling with Gue. A few of us ended up going back out to the beach. I went in this time and it felt soooooo good. I should have gone in before. Sorry no pictures. Thursday, September 23, 2010 |
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| The view from our Pension |
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| I sat and watched the water for an hour before we took off. |
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| Good-Bye Pension |
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| We drove about 20 minutes inland to this beautiful fresh water canyon. |
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| 300 year old temple |
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| If you look closely you can see Tony and Murray. I jumped in and joined them. We swam down the way and enjoyed the cool clean water. |
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| What a site! |
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| Battle Wound from the rapids |
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| Another spot we stopped at before we left town This trip was amazing. The people were great, the food was good, and the scenery was even better. I'm really loving Korea so far and I can't wait to see more of it! After we made it back to Deagu, Hannah and I went to a Junjunbang (bath house) and sat in the hot tub and sauna....it was really nice. |
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