Last post in Korea

Goodbye classroom

This will be my last post whilst I am living in Korea. I have no internet at home so will be unable to update this blog until March.

Two days before I finished my work, I was called to the administration office. They told me that the old administration had put all my severance money in a bank account. I would have to open an account at this bank and transfer it over to my main bank, even now I still don't understand it.

Normally, you get your severance, flight money and key deposit back two weeks after you finish your contact. They should transfer it over to you home country bank account. But, it seems I have to do all the transferring. Arghhh! So stressful! Main problem is all the Korean teachers are leaving early as it's the end of term. Therefore the only person who can help me is my co-teacher who is 8 months pregnant. I felt awful that she had to travel to the bank with me because she gets tired easy.

Photo booth!

In good news, I finish today!!! It's only a half day because we will all go for an office meal. Yay!! I then have two weeks off until my flight. I am going to spend it meeting friends and saying goodbye.

I think time is going to fly between now and the 28th! Sarah and Sue are going to take me to the bus in the morning of my flight. They want to give a proper goodbye and help me with putting my luggage on the bus. I have great friends!

I'm not really good with goodbyes! But I feel with Sarah and Sue that it won't be goodbye. We will see each other again and keep in contact. When you meet people who make you want to become a better person, you try to keep them in your life.

Photo booth

18 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The hobbit is going back to the Shire!!!

The Beatles story restaurant

Beatles restaurant

I met Clara last week to catch up. We ended up going to the Beatles restaurant at Olympic park. We were the only ones there. I don't know why. The food was okay, but the view was great. It's worth going just for the view.

If you do want to go, it's across the road from the museum in Olympic park. It's on the fourth floor (I think).

The whole restaurant was decorated in Beatles memorabilia. The menu was (Korean style) Italian. We chose the set menu with included a salad, pasta, desert and tea/coffee. It wasn't a bad price. 12-15,000 I think.

Evil bike car thingy

After we went for a walk around Olympic park. Clara wanted to go on those bike car things. Seriously, when I saw people on them before it looked so easy. It really isn't. If the road isn't even, then they are evil. I'm sure I was doing all the work too whilst Clara was laughing at me. All the adjumma and adjusshi were laughing at us too.

Though, after returning our bikes we noticed everyone else was struggling. Some had got out of the bikes and started pushing. Evil bike car things!!!!

We then went to a cafe which served black tea without milk!!! Seriously! First world problems there!

dirty statue........

Grace's wedding.

With the bride

I went to my co-teacher and friends wedding last month. I had been to a wedding before, but I didn't know that couple very well. It was my first time going to a wedding of someone I knew.

I went with the other foreign teacher from my school. It turned out we forgot the invite with the directions on, therefore we ended up getting lost. Luckily, we saw this adjusshi running. He look like he was headed for a wedding so we followed him. He ended up leading us to the right wedding and we got there in time.

We first went to the bride room. This room is where the bride sits to have pictures with guest. I always find this strange, as back home the bride is normally stressed by this point. Though, Grace is the calmest person I know. She never seems to get stressed.

Korean wedding hall

Grace look so beautiful. Grace is always beautiful and elegant, but even more so this day. She was 7 months pregnant at the time but you could not notice the bump at all. One of the teachers from my school brought her daughter. She kept following Grace around because she wanted to follow the princess.

The wedding hall was so elegant with candles everywhere. After, we went to the buffet. I love Korean buffets as there is so much choice. I ate so much (as usual).

I was so happy to see Grace get married This was a wonderful memory for the end of my time in Korea.

LG phone company

If you move to a big city in Korea, I recommend getting a smart phone. They are so useful for long journeys and downloading bus schedules etc. To get a smartphone there are a few options. You can buy someone out of their contract if they are leaving. Best places to look for these are Daves ESL cafe and Waygook.org. 

Or you can make your own contract with a company. You will need a Korean co-teacher or friend to help you here. Most contacts are two years and if you leave early you will have to pay the remaining amount of the phone.

Don't leave before paying. It's the people who don't pay, that give foreigners a bad reputation and make it harder for future people to get contacts. Selfish people! If you are only staying for a year then be ready to pay the remaining amount and the cancellation fee, or just get a pay as you go phone. Or you could just do the above and finish someone's contract.

There are a few companies. My friends with SK have no complaints, therefore I would recommend them. I am with LG. I do NOT recommend them!

LG has to be the worst phone company in Korea. I've had problems with signal from the start. It's always on 2 or three bars of signal. And about 5 times a time I get the no signal message. Some days I don't have any signal for hours. Also, in parts of my apartment I can't pick up a signal.

It's not just me who has problems. I know two Korean friends who had LG and changed companies. For a whole year my phone had no signal and then restarted itself. Even though it was LG's fault, I was told I would have to pay to fix the phone. Remember, the customer is always wrong in Korea. 

This morning for example. I couldn't listen to any music on 8tracks because there was no signal for over an hour!

Anyways, the point of this post is to say that the LG phone company sucks! 

Preparing to leave

I leave Korea in just over three weeks. I've been doing list and getting stuff ready this month.

Things to do before I leave Korea

• Get copies of my police checks from my school
• Get a reference off my school
• Copy down SMOE's information
• Copy down my schools address and email.
• Send all my boxes home
• Get everyone addresses in Korean and English (other wise the post men get confused...)
• Pack

Above, is what I have done so far. Everything else has to be completed on my last week. These include:

• Cancelling my phone. I finished my contract last year so this should be easy. I just need someone to go with me.
• Close my Korean bank.
• My friend has to collect a bunch of stuff I am giving her.
• Clean apartment.
• Eat all food in my apartment.
• Say goodbye to my friends.

I only have 7 working days left. I am ready to leave my work. It's the end of the school year and all teachers move classes when they come back, so I am glad I am leaving in February rather than August. 

I also can't wait to get away from my neighbours. Upstairs have a baby, Whilst next door is persistent in having his TV right next to the dividing wall. Don't worry though. After I finish work next Saturday I will play my TV loud for two weeks.... Revenge! Mwhahahahahaha. 

I really don't know what it will be like when I go back. I don't want to stay there longer than a few months before leaving again. I am so not ready to live there yet. My town is okay. But, everyone knows everyone. You meet a new person and it turns out they are a sibling of someone you went to high school with etc. It's that type of town and I'm just not ready for that.

Saying that. It's not a bad place. It's quite a lovely town and I have a bunch of awesome friends there. My dad loves it. He moved there from Liverpool. I might settle there one day, but just not yet.

I think my mum is trying to get me to stay. She got me a new mattress and is decorating my room. She keeps asking me about colours and wallpapers. My response is always the same, 'Do what you want. I'm moving to London anyways'. She is persistent. But, I give it two weeks of me being home, and she will be trying to get rid of me.