Immigration...

I went to bed pretty early last night, so naturally, I woke up early this morning. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got dressed and headed to the coffee shop down the road. This coffee shop has quickly become one of my favorite places to go on my free time. It's a small coffee shop on the corner, about halfway between the school and my house. It's so cozy and quiet. There's a set of stairs at the back that leads to a small loft. (It reminds me of somewhere from a movie!!) Today, I took a book with me and had coffee and read in the loft for about an hour before class. It was a wonderful start to my morning :)

My middle school lesson today was about going to the doctor. We talked about different body parts, how you make an appointment, and typical dialogue between a doctor and a patient. For our activity, I paired up the students: one was the doctor, one was the patient. I gave each group a card, describing an ailment. Their assignment was to create a dialogue between the doctor and the patient using the ailment they were assigned. Then, they had to present it in front of the class to practice their speaking. All of the students did really well, and of course, there were some who went above and beyond. I paired up two students, David and Bart. Out of the entire class, they are definitely the best speakers and can understand English better than their peers. I gave them a card describing a broken leg from a football injury. I expected they would give the patient crutches and put a cast on their leg. Little did I know what they had in store. Their solution to a broken leg was to call up the surgeon and have the leg amputated. What else should I expect from a group of middle school boys, right? It was a really fun class. Their grammar and pronunciation was excellent, so I can't complain :)

Darren gave me all the information I needed to go to the Immigration Office today to apply for my Alien Registration Card (ARC). I needed my passport, my medical papers, a photo ID (of course), a paper from the school proving my employment, and 10,000 won (or about $10). Darren printed off directions for me about where to go. The paper said I had to take a bus from work and ride for "approximately 67 minutes," and "go through 33 bus stops" before I reached the Immigration Office. Darren also told me that I would probably have to wait in line for about an hour, too, so I should bring a book or something. SO RIDICULOUS!! Fortunately, I have back-to-back breaks and planning time on Tuesdays, which totals about 2 1/2 hours, so Darren told me to go during that time. I opted to take a taxi instead of the bus.  The taxi ride took about 20 minutes, and I only paid about 8,000 won each way. Not bad!

I went to the Information Desk when I got inside, where I was directed to an office down the hallway. I took a number and went to the paperwork counter to find out what I needed to fill out before my number was called. I walked up to the table and said, "E-2 Work Visa?" The lady looked at me and said, "No English." I was so clueless. Then, I heard a voice behind me say, "What is it that you need?" I turned around, and there was a guy about my age, SPEAKING ENGLISH!! Turns out, he has been teaching for 11 months and was at the office to submit paperwork for leaving the country after his contract ended. He told me exactly what forms I needed and actually helped me fill them out. He knew how to read Korean WAY better than I do, so he was more than helpful!! Also, my number came up after about 30 minutes, so I didn't have much time to wait at all. All in all, my Immigration Office experience went a lot more smoothly than I anticipated. The only downside to the whole thing is that it takes a month to process, so I won't get my ARC until after August 26th. That means, I STILL won't get paid for another month...It's a good thing I can access my American bank account from Korea because I didn't anticipate having to bring enough money to last me this long :)