Name That Tune

I teach younger students, so we do many songs with them. Our songs for our youngest students are only four lines but some of the other songs are two or three minutes long. The songs for the youngest students also have one or two target sounds such as /o/ or -ace. Some of our songs I've taught so many times that I have them memorized. One time, late at night I was walking outside and I was singing one of the songs. A middle-aged man was on a bicycle and heard me singing the song. He turned around a looked at me, probably because I was singing a ridiculous song. To most native speakers, the majority of the songs are quite stupid, but some of the students really like them. I had one group of students that always wanted to sing the Melinda song, which is about a model who is very beautiful on the outside but ugly on the inside. They even wanted to sing it after they were in a level that didn't do any singing. There was another song about a boy looking for his stolen cookies. I had a student named Andy who really liked the song. It had a banjo and a harmonica in it. When he heard the song, he called it a "cowboy song." He pretended to wave around a lasso. It was really quite cute. I think one day I'll be an old lady in a nursing home who just sits and sings these songs.

Renewing a Visa

There are four different kinds of visas that people have in order to teach English. They are the F-2 Visa, the F-4 visa, the E-1 visa, and E-2 visa. The F-2 visa is for people who are married to Korean citizens or people who qualify under a rigorous point system. The F-4 visa is for people who are Korean adoptees, former Korean citizens, or whose parents were Korean citizens and did not register their child's citizenship with the government. The E-1 visa is for people who work at a university. The E-2 visa is for people who work a a public school or who work at a hagwon, a private after-school academy.

The only visa that I am qualified for is the E-2 visa, like the average English teacher in Korea. When I first got the visa, they had just tightened the restrictions. Americans had to submit an original diploma with two sealed transcripts and a state-level criminal background check with an apostille. (A sample apostille is on the left. It is the certification of documents that will be used for foreign purposes. All countries that signed the Hague convention in 1961. For more information about apostilles, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_convention.) In addition, they had to undergo an interview at the Korean consulate. When I applied for the original visa, fulfilling the education verification was no problem; I just had to wait a bit because I was offered the job before I had actually graduated from college. I also did what was necessary for the criminal background check in Washington state. I received everything that I had needed the day after I got home from college and sent everything off. Then, I was informed that my criminal background check did not have a apostille but rather, a state-level notarization. Then, we had to travel to Olympia to the state police to get another notarization and an apostille. At the police office, we had to wait until the person notarizing it came back from lunch. At the Secretary of State's Office, we found out that a new employee had made a mistake, necessitating the whole trip. I did eventually get my visa, but it took a bit longer because of other people's mistakes.

I have been in Korea now for nearly three years and have been through a few renewals. The visa is good only for as long as one has a contract; therefore, the contract visa expiry date is the same as the contract end date. I've been working for the same school the whole time so I have not had to make any visa runs to Japan that other foreigners have had to make as the E-2 visa must be obtained from outside of Korea. However, anytime that a foreigner changes schools within the same company, the school location changes, or the school is purchased by another company, it must be reported to immigration. The first couple of times that I renewed by visa, it was pretty cut and dry. All I had to do was submit the new contract, my passport, my alien registration card, 30,000 won (around $30), and a couple of documents from the school that certified that they could legally hire foreigners as English teachers. After that, it became a bit more complicated.

I was up for a visa renewal at the end of October. However, the visa rules had changed since the last time that I had renewed my visa. As of September 1, 2010, the certification of education had changed and so instead of submitting an original diploma and two sealed transcripts, I had to submit a photocopy of my original diploma with an apostille. I found out about this only eight weeks before my visa was to expire and I needed to apply for the visa extension four weeks before it expired. For candidates who were already in Korea, it was possible to have the Korean Council for University Education verify it, but it would take 4-5 weeks. The school had dragged their feet on it and so they said that it would be quicker to have somebody in America get an apostille in person.

The school did not really know what needed to be done to get an apostille issued. I got an email from somebody in headquarters saying that I could have a friend or relative take it to the nearest local place that issues apostilles, as if they could just go down to the corner and get an apostille. In addition, they were telling me that I didn't need a notarization, but I had done the research into what needed to be done and a notarization was in fact necessary. In Washington, it is necessary to get only a notarization. However, in Ohio, one must get a notarization and the a certification from the clerk of courts fo the notary's home county before it can get an apostille. Since I graduated from college in Ohio, it was best to get everything done in Ohio to make sure that it would go through as documents needing an apostille needed to be notarized in the same state in which one requests the apostille. I cannot have a document notarized in Florida and then get an apostille in New York; I would have to get the apostille in Florida. I tried to explain to them that I am from Washington state and I graduated in Ohio and it was a long trip to do everything in person, but they wanted me to have a friend or relative do it all in person because it could be done immediately. (I don't know what they would tell somebody who had no friends and was a ward of the court until age 18.) I ended up sending the documents to Ohio and Hiram College took care of it for me thankfully. It was a frustrating experience for me because they were putting pressure on me to have somebody do it all in person but they didn't understand that doing it all in person was at least a three-day trip. After being on pins and needles for quite some time, I finally got everything and then went down to the immigration office. Within two weeks, everything had been processed and I had my visa.

Now that we changed companies from a franchise school to a corporate school, it is necessary to report it to immigration. In addition, my visa needs to be extended by four months. Therefore, I need to follow the rules that started on January 1, 2011. I need to get a national-level criminal background check; the state-level one isn't valid anymore. For Americans, that means getting a background check with the FBI. In addition, it needs an apostille from the United States Department of State. I was informed of this just this past week, but I told them that it would take about three months to get the necessary documents. The people in corporate headquarters know more about visa issuance than at the franchise school so it is less frustrating. Right now they aren't on my case so much about having somebody do it in person, which would have to be done in Washington, D.C. Also, somebody sent me an email with a paper I had to sign so that until I got the FBI check, maybe they could get a third-party check.

The day after I found out I'd need an FBI check now instead of later in the year, I went to the Haeundae Police Station. Throughout the district there are neighborhood police stations, but they don't do fingerprinting. So, I had to go to the main police station in the district, which is accessible only by bus since the nearest subway stop from it is at least a half-hour walk away. I went before work and I thought that it would be just one big building with signs directing people where to go. I went into one building and went up the stairs, but cleary I didn't know where I was going so I left that building. I started walking towards another building and then the police officer who was the sentry at the gate asked me where I needed to go. I told him I needed fingerprints and then he directed me up some other stairs outside. He told me that I had to go through a side door. I felt like I was sneaking into the place because there was no sign and it was not a main entrance into the building. One of the police officers fingerprinted me using the form that I printed from the FBI's website. Afterwards, he made a copy of the paper and of my alien registration card so I guess now my fingerprints are going to be in the Korean system. So, I had better keep my nose clean now. The next day, I sent the necessary documents through express mail to the FBI. I sent the documents necessary for the apostille to my dad since the FBI doesn't send the criminal background check to another government agency. Now I am waiting for all of that to get processed.

With all of the government red tape that one has to go through, it is no wonder that people immigrate illegally. The new regulations for the diploma, in my mind, is less secure than before. The notary is only verifying that it is a true copy. S/he is not verifying that I actually graduated from a real institution of higher learning. I can get an apostille on just about any document that has a notarization or other state certification. I've read on other people's blogs that the FBI background check isn't any better because typically crimes that are on a rap sheet are ones that are comitted over state lines or federal crimes. It does not have a record of every crime I've ever committed in every state.

New Ownership

After I had been working at Haeundae Campus for a little over a year, the school was purchased by our corportate headquarters. Therefore, I am no longer a franchise employee as of March 1. Being a corporate employee has had some good points and some bad points, but overall, it is better than being a franchise employee. For example, I get my own company email now. I had to sign a new contract effective at the beginning of March, the start of our spring term. I had two choices: a contract for a year, or a contract that would end at the end of the fall term, a month after when my previous contract would have ended. (The company didn't want a new teacher coming in the middle of the term.) I chose to have the longer contract so that I wouldn't have to worry about signing another contract for a longer period of time. There are other reasons, but that is for another post some other time.

The manner in which I would be paid changed. When I was a franchise employee, I had a salary and benefits that included an apartment, health insurance, pension, 10 paid vacation days, and 1-month severance pay as required by law. Now, I am paid like a contracter. All corporate employees are paid on an hourly basis and are guaranteed 24 hours per week except during weeks that have holidays. In addition, there are no benefits. For the first time in the nearly three years, I will have to start paying rent. This new pay system though will give me better pay though. This pay system is available for teachers at regular program franchises and it is my understanding that it is the option that most teachers take because the pay is better. On salary, nobody gets anything extra unless they teach more than 120 hours. But, with the hourly pay, you get more pay than normal if you teach more than 96 hours. When they calculated the hourly pay, they added the value of all of the pay and benefits that we would get for a whole year. Then, they divided that by 12. That number was divided by 96, since that was how many hours we were guaranteed in a month. That gave the suggested hourly rate. In my case, they raised my hourly rate from what was suggested since I'd been with the program for so long. In my program, most foreigners stay for only a year; however, I have been with the company for almost three years. They also said that my pay was high for my program. I didn't have a problem with the amount that I was offered.

New School

Shortly after I quit writing, I changed school locations. I was working at a campus that was in the western end of the district, but it closed because our franchise headquarters decided that there weren't enough students for the amount of time that the school was open, so I was told. There was a big SNAFU about whether I would go to one location that was in another district, or go to one that was farther east in the same district. Eventually, I was about to continue working in the same district. That location was within walking district of my apartment but the other one was about a 20 minute subway ride. I felt uneasy for quite some time, but now I think I'm okay.

I'm Back At It!

Well, this is my first post in a year and a half. It has been full of emotions that have kept me from writing, but I've decided to start back up at it. There is a lot to talk about to get this blog up to speed. Bear with me as I give everybody an update of what has been going on for the past 18 months.

They're Crawling Out of the Woodworks!

Yesterday after work I decided to go to E-Mart, which is located at the same subway stop as where I live except I normally take exit 5, but E-Mart is exit 7 (across the street). As soon as I was at the top of the stairs, a woman asked me if I spoke English and if I would fill out a survey. I didn't want to be rude, so I filled out the survey, even though it was a bit deep for me. She stood over me watching me answer the questions and I felt like I had to give certain answers even though the survey was about my personal religious beliefs. Then the lady asked me to listen to her talk about the bible and I hadn't thought of a story to tell her so I listened to her talk. I listened to her talk about how God is not the father, but instead the mother. Her church, the Church of God, sounded awfully feminist from the way this woman was talking. She wanted me to walk with her to her church and watch a video but I told her that I was very busy and she said that she would call me later. Luckily, I did not give her my new phone number, but rather my old phone number. That was the fourth time in two weeks that I had been approached by religious zealots.

A week before, a lady inside the subway station near where I work was handing out a newsletter in Korean and packages of tissues from her church, which was located at that subway station. The package of tissues had directions as to how to get to the church and the times for their services. After work, I was solicited by a group of Jehovah's Witnesses standing outside of E-Mart. They were handing out booklets about problems within families.

The Thursday before I was solicited by these other groups, I was walking home from other store and a young man who was Jehovah's Witness started talking to me. I kept walking, but since I did not ignore him when he was talking to me, he was walking with me and gave me one of the pamphlets that they give when they are looking for new members.

These were not the only times that I have been solicited to join a church here, but the other times were spread out. Because I live in a big city here, I've had more experience with religious zealots here than I had in America. All these people who have given me information or had a conversation with me about their religion were Koreans. Most of them assume that I speak English, but a couple of them have asked. Sometimes I feel tempted to pretend that I don't speak English. I once told my South African friend that he should pretend that he does not understand English and then start speaking Afrikaans.

One time, I was waiting for the subway to come and when it did, there was a Mormon missionary sitting in the train and he saw me and waved. Since I didn't want to appear rude, I waved back. Then, when I got on the train, I went to the other end of the train car to sit because I didn't want to sit by him. That is the most communication that I have had with any foreign missionaries. The other times that I have seen Mormons, either they chose to not talk to me or I made sure that they did not see me.

Not So Happy Meal

Today, one of the Korean teachers came to my class and said that they were ordering McDonald's for lunch and asked if I had wanted to order as well. McDonald's has a service called McDelivery and, like all other take-out food, it is delivered on a motorcycle. I did not want to eat a lot and so I decided to order a Happy Meal, the first one since I was a child. The other teacher was not sure if they had Happy Meals because there was not a big picture on the take-out menu. She asked one of the kids if they had Happy Meals. When the food came, the Happy Meal sandwich was mixed with the other sandwiches and the fries were mixed with the other fries, instead of coming in its own box with the arches handles and cartoons. In addition, there was no toy, which is included in the cost of the Happy Meal. (I did not order the Happy Meal just for the toy, but I paid for the toy.) The meal ending up costing 4300 won, more than the price of a large cheeseburger set, which costs 4200 won. The regular cheeseburger set is 3600 won. Here, the size of the fries and drink to the large set is the same size as the fries and drink to the regular set in America. The size of the fries and drink to the Happy Meal were about the the same size as American Happy Meals, but I don't remember getting a cheeseburger that was the same size as the regular cheeseburger. McDonald's here has some sandwiches that are not available in America, such as a Bulgogi (broiled beef) burger, Shanghai Spice Burger, and Shrimp Burger and the Quarter Pounder is not an option here. I've never tried any of the other sandwiches though. Next time that I order from McDonald's I'll skip the Happy Meal and get just a regular cheeseburger sandwich.

Death of a President

Today, Kim Dae-jung (pronounced joong), 김대중, died at 85. He was president of the Republic of Korea from 1995 to 2000. He is the second South Korean president to die in the past three months. Roh Moo-hyun, 노무현, died in May after jumping from a mountain. Roh was president for the five years after Kim.

I first heard about the news of Kim's death from one of the Korean teachers who told me about his passing. Around 4:50, she told me during one of the breaks that Kim Dae-jung* had died and that he had had pneumonia. Later, when I went home, I took the subway and at the exit near my house, there was a stack of eight-page newspapers that was a special edition published after his death. On the front page, there was a large picture that took up over 3/4 of the page. The rest of it had some ads and quite a bit of information about his life. I picked up a similar paper after Roh Moo-hyun had died as well. It was interesting to me that people would be informed that way because although I never lived in a big city to know, I don't think that the death of a president would be announced by special newspaper anymore. Perhaps it is a holdover from the days when South Korea was not as technologically advanced as it is now, as most Koreans have access to the Internet (high-speed no less) and virtually everybody has a cell phone.

*Until today, I was did not know how to pronounce the second syllable to his name. I thought it was jung with a short u sound, but instead it is an oo sound. Jung is a possible spelling for the family name 정, which can be pronounced with a short u sound, a short o sound, or like 'jong' as in Kim Jong-Il (김정일). When Roh Moo-hyun died, I was not familiar with the family name 'Roh,' but when I saw his name in Hangeul (노무현), I knew the family name Noh. I find that although I read slower in Korean than in English, it easier to read Korean in Hangeul than it is with Roman letters due to different romanization methods and the lack of clear syllables.

Update on my Life

Nothing has really happened in the past couple of months. The last week of July, I had a week vacation, but I did not go anywhere or do anything. If I had planned a trip, then I would have had to stay in Korea or else be in quarantine for nine days, which would have been unpaid leave. This month, the students do not go to regular Korean school and so we have more classes to teach. In addition, we also start earlier in the day. It takes some getting used to because before I did not have to be at work until about 1, but now I have to be there around 9.

In my spare time I have been studying some Korean a little bit, climbing the hill by my house, listening to Korean music. In addition, I have seen a couple of Koren movies. One movie I watched on YouTube (with English subtitles). It is called 200 Pounds Beauty or in Korean 미녀는 괴로워 (Mi-nyeo-neun Goe-ro-wo), which means Being Beautiful is Agonizing. It's about an ugly, obese woman who has plastic surgery from head to toe and then becomes a pop star. The URL for the first part of the movie is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lZ0gU3j20k. The other movie that I saw was Haeundae or in Korean 해운대. I was the only foreigner in the theater watching it there. I went to the box office and said that I wanted to see that movie and the man at the counter told me that it was a Korean movie. I told him that I knew. Many Koreans are surprised when I say a word in Korean or see me read something because most foreigners do not even learn how to read, much less any Korean vocabulary or grammar. I decided to see that movie because it takes place mostly in Haeundae-gu, which is the district of Pusan in which I live. It is about a tsunami coming onto the beach and destroying much of the area. It was a different feeling to watch a movie in a theater located down the street from where filming took place. Apparently, it is South Korea's first disaster movie. Some of it was completed digitally, since it is obvious that all the buildings along the beach were not destroyed and a ship did not lean up against Gwangan Bridge, the longest bridge in Korea, and break it. (See the image above.) It is still in place and I can see it everyday from the hill that I walk up and down.

Jjimjilbang and Public Bath

Last night, I went to Spaland inside Shinsegae. It was the first time that I had ever been to a spa. I knew that there were public baths, but I did not know what else to expect. I had not planned to go there until I got to work. One of the Korean teachers asked me if I wanted to go to the spa with her and one of the Korean staff members. Since I did not have any other plans, I decided to go.

The first thing one does is check-in and get a locker number. Then, one goes upstairs to where the shoe lockers are and puts the shoes inside and takes the key. Then, one goes through the entrance and gets a uniform and towels. The women's uniforms are faded olive green shorts and a maroon t-shirt and the men's uniforms are very burnt orange shorts and a tan t-shirt. Then, one goes into the locker rooms and gets changed. After that, one goes out to where the rooms and outdoor foot baths are. The water was around 40 degrees Celsius. Some of the rooms are very hot, around 60 degrees Celsius. These hot rooms are called jjimjilbang (찜질방). There is a relaxation room and on the third floor, there is a room full of recliners and televisions. The speakers were in the head rests and it was impossible to hear the televisions of anybody else. The spa also has a restaurant, business center, nail salon, hair salon, and massage room. When one if ready to leave, it is time to take a bath. The public baths are entered from the locker rooms. One has to wash before getting into the public baths. The baths are not too different from a hot tub, except that everybody is naked. There is also an outdoor hotsprings. After one gets dressed, one checks out and gets one's shoes.

I was a bit nervous about going into the public baths for the first time because I'm not an exhibitionist, but then everything was okay. I was the only Westerner in the locker rooms. Unlike in many locker rooms in the Western world, nobody went out of her way to cover up in front of everybody, and there weren't really any private showers. The public baths is an experience that is not so bad after experiencing it; however, I would not want to go to a public bath in America.