Korean Job Discussion Forums

[D.D.]

I went to the pension office today and I had all my documents except for an official form for my account in Canada. I asked why I needed that as of course I wouldn't try to wire my money to the wrong account. they wouldn't budge so I went home to get a bank transfer form. All was in order but at the last second they noticed my mom's name on the bank transfer. I explained it was a joint account and it would be no problem. He wouldn't budge and we stated to argue and at one point he said why don't you speak Korean after two years here.

I said excuse me this is an account name problem and not a language problem to which he said " When in Korea do as Koreans do. I again said I am not sure how this has anything to do with my race or the language I speak. To this he gave me the finger and freaked out and at one point he acted like he was going hit me after coming around the counter.

After 15 minutes he came back and had two energy drinks and they gave me one and we went through the thing again. Still they won't budge on the account thing.

So make sure you have your arc, your pasport, plane ticket out of Korea, and a bank book from your home country or a transfer form with your name on it.

It's funny how just a liitle nudge and so much anger can come out

[Hornbill]

If you don't have the bankbook credential, go to KEB and open an account, an account that comes with a Global Check Card (and has those logos on the back for use at ATMs worldwide). Take the bankbook from that new account to the pension office and slap it down. That will work.

"You should know Korean after two years here..."

Shee-yught. Most Koreans don't even know their damn numbers 1-10 after 5 years studying English, so Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle. It takes 'em a year just to learn their vowels, and that doesn't include the vowel sounds. That's another two or three years of hard, laborious study. And the Koreans love to do homework, practice, and produce our native tongue.

It's good they work hard so we don't have to use an interpreter everywhere we go. If we did need an interpreter at the banks, bus stations, immigration offices, pension offices, and Lotterias, I'd think TESOL in Korea is some kind of a money-transfer sham, given the number of hours Koreans stay in school each day and the amount of $$ they spend on English ed-gee-kation. The Koreans are so fluent, I have to wonder why they even need us. Korea is a shining example of how effective 'good' teachers are.

[PigeonFart]

That was very unprofessional of him to lose his cool. How dare he express anger towards you. The bank should throw him in the back doing some paperwork for a few months until he's able to deal with the general public.

Whenever Koreans mention the fact that you don't speak korean, always reply by saying that you're only interested in learning Japanese (cos it's more important than Korean).

[Mosley]

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=115718

I had the same hassle last time but...I was calm, the pension guy was calm...I just went home, got a bank statement from my Canadian bank, returned to the office and that was that.

The guy in your story acted like a typical Korean ajoshi, but if you've been here two years you should know that blowing a fuse at a Korean gov. office will get you NOWHERE.

[Chris_Dixon]

they wouldnt accept my friends ticket to Thailand, it wasnt far enough apparently...he was coming back to Korea on a tourist visa and they wouldnt budge unless he had a ticket back to Canada....wtf?

[D.D.]

[Raeddie]

Does it really take two months to receive the pension money?

[Mosley]

Six weeks is typical.

[The Grumpy Senator]

[pocariboy73]

The government makes money on investing your pension fund while it is in their hands.

[Xuanzang]

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

They should still always be making up to 5% minimum. They sure as shoot shouldn't be losing anything.

Incidentally do you receive interest on your pension?

Koreans do (wife cashed hers out when she became an NZ resident then I advised her to go on the dole to recoup the $1250 in fees and costs to get it)

[some waygug-in]

What forms will I need to do this?

I did it once afte my first stint here, but I'm sure things have changed since then.

My school won't give me any kind of pay slips or any financial records.
I'm paid by direct deposit, it's a public school by the way.

When I asked for a pay slip, they acted like I was trying to accuse them of cheating me or something, after half an hour of wrangling my co-teacher kept asking "why do you want this"?

I did my best to explain it to her and in the end they agreed to it, but that was several months ago and I still have none.

Not sure how to proceed with this.

Thanks in advance.

[thoreau]

[isthisreally]

I had a similar issue actually. Because my bank is so small in order to wire money I have to send it to another bank with my bank as the account holder. They wouldn't accept that either, I ended up having it put in my Korean account.