Government

I woke up again at 7 on Monday morning. I think it's jet lag related, but it still seems odd because that would be 6pm EST and it's not like that was a normal time for me to wake up from napping or anything. I had coffee, frosted flakes and took a shower. I still don't have my luggage, but my clothes were dry from being washed the other day (although I still wouldn't really call them clean). I read for a little while until my boss picked me up at 9 to go to Masan to get my alien card.

In Korea (and I'm assuming in most other countries as well) you have to have a visa if you're staying for a period of longer than 90 days. There are different visas for different purposes - studying, working, missionary work etc. For most teachers, we get an E2 work visa. It's good for a year. Within 3 months of entering Korea, you have to go to an office and officially register. You also get an alien registration card (or ARC). You usually need this card to do stuff like open a bank account and get a phone. Luckily I still have my bank account open from the last time I was here and my boss is transferring his phone to me (I still pay the user fee though). It's relatively easy (at least from what I have to do, but then again I stand there for the most part while my boss does the rest) to get the ARC.

You have to have your passport with the visa attached, photos and a medical check. I asked about the medical check, but my boss didn't think I needed to have it when first applying for the ARC - he thought you might be able to do the check later or use a self-check from home (which you have to send with initial paper work in order to get a visa number for the visa application - ok, so maybe it isn't as easy as I think it is). One thing that I find interesting is that Korea changes the rules often and doesn't always tell everyone. I don't think it is in an obvious place to find - like a website or something. I know some things are listed - for example when you apply for a visa with the consulate, everything that you need is listed in a chart and you just follow what it says.

We got to the office and realized that I didn't have any pictures with me. I sent them with my original application which was all I needed to do last year - they used the same pictures - but apparently that has changed and I needed new ones. Luckily there was a photo booth in the office. I guess that happens a lot. I paid 6000 won for 6 passport sized pictures. The only bad part was that I was wearing a shirt that I had been wearing for 4 days and didn't have make-up or anything on because I wasn't expecting to have to take a picture. It's not awful, but it's not the best looking picture either. Oh well, it's only going to be on my ID card that I have to show lots of places for the next year, no biggie.

After getting my picture taken, we started to fill out some paperwork, then talked to an immigration officer who said I needed to have the medical check done first. So then we went to a near-by hospital where we waited in one line only to be told we were in the wrong spot and then waited in another line. The check itself was relatively easy (and I went through it last time too so I knew what to expect). They measure and weigh you, check your blood pressure, do a vision and hearing test, take a blood and urine sample and a chest x-ray. The lady had some difficulty getting my blood (which is typical for me) (and my elbow is still sore 6 hours later!) but eventually found a vein.

This hospital was different because they did everything but the x-ray in the same big room and last time I was in a bigger hospital and we went from check point to check point. This time they also did a chest measurement where the lady literally took a tape measure and put it around my bust line. The other difference is that last time they did some check of my teeth or jaw bones and they didn't do that this time. The whole check lasted about 20-30 minutes. The only problem is that the final results (which you need for the ARC) won't be ready until Wednesday. While we were waiting for my tests to be done, my boss looked up some other information and we found out that we can get the ARC in Jinju, but only on random Wednesdays. So next Wednesday (assuming I passed the med check) we will go downtown and my ARC done.

The funniest part of the whole thing to me was a questionnaire that I had to fill out. It's basically a psychological section because they don't want depressed or alcoholic teachers (I guess). The reason it was funny is because the questions were beyond obvious. You had to say how often you felt certain ways. Some of the questions were things like "I always feel sad" or "I am lonely and have no friends" or "I use alcohol to numb my feelings". Then you had to write any previous medical concerns or medications.

After the med check we drove an hour back to Jinju and chatted. We did a couple of other paper work related things, then I had the rest of the day off. I ate some more cereal, drank another cup of coffee, then went back to Cafe Bene to use their internet. I have been sitting here for over 4 hours now checking email, writing, posting things to facebook and chatting with people. It's probably time for me to go since I need to run back to my apartment before meeting Josh and Dallas for dinner.