Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Babayaga]

[Banana Bender]

I have one,

Finished playing a game of baseball in Namwon and on the way back we all decided ( read they decided and I found out about it ) to stop for a drink at a very small town about 20 minutes out of Suncheon. I told them that I was going to get some cigs from a store and when I returned a minute later they had all left.

I had no phone so I couldn't call them and I could only find a credit card phone which was no use at all.

Long story short. They got all the way back and where unpacking and were wondering where I was. The penny dropped then seemly. I had found the police station by then and managed to contact them. They where all very apologetic and it turned out to be quite funny.

BB

[Babayaga]

One of my most memorable experiences(although perhaps not the most exciting) was my 2nd trip to Seoul.I went on one of those City tours(the W 8,000 one).Not only was it a great excursion,being comprehensive with great sights as well as smooth(not having to run from one subway train to another),but a Korean lady befriended me and was helpful and attentive in many ways,even paying my museum admissions.We later went to an Indian reastaurant in the Itaewon and had a great time and a great chat.


I thought that was a really pleasant experience.The lady was really sweet! (Boo--hoo,now feeling really nostalgic!)

[kermo]

At this time last year, I was visiting Itaewon for the first time on the Chuseok weekend. Being a complete noob, I didn't know anyone except my supervisor (back in little Jeondae-ri), and had no idea that the ATMs would shut down over the holiday. I also had no clue that the subway would stop running around 11, and that I would be unable to get back to my small town (40 minutes away from Gangnam).

So, I was searching Itaewon for a place to stay that would accept my measly W30,000, and as I walked up and down, I was met by a most tenacious (and treacherous) guy. He said he was a Nigerian interior decorator, but he was dressed in hip hop gear. He offered to show me where the "Seoul Motel" was, but led me down a dark alley and knocked a door of a most inconspicuous residence. We were greeted by a sleepy and unimpressed ajumma, and the heroic gangsta offered to pay for my room. No thank you. He asked for my number, and when I refused, he took my phone and tried turning it off and on to get the number himself. I tried to shake him off with a number of polite excuses, and finally resorted to opening an enormous book, sitting on the sidewalk, and announcing that I would be sitting here, waiting for the sun to come up. "Engrossed in my reading," I ignored anything else he had to say, and he finally wandered off. I seem to remember it was about Victorian literature? Anyway, I watched people go to and fro in the Gomorrah of Seoul (most of you can imagine the scene-- people staggering around, picking fights, hurling random abuse), feeling rather impatient, uncomfortable, and more than a little stupid.

At around 2 or 3, a taxi driver inquired about what I was doing, and I explained my situation. He guessed that there was a bank elsewhere where I could try the ATM (he was wrong) and then offered to take me home if I promised to transfer 60,000 to his account the next business day. Bless his heart. I felt incredulous to be able to lay my head on my thin pillow that night.

[Babayaga]

I also had an experience similar to yours when on a visa run to Osaka. I arrived to find out that my hotel wasn't reserved as I expected. The money my boss gave me wasn't enough to cover the expensive hotel rooms in Osaka. After hours of wandering in the area where the Korean Consulate was, trying to find a hotel,I finally bumped into a French guy who told me about Capsule hotels.Great experience! (Really!)


The next day I went to the Consulate,but because I spent lots of money on frantic calls to Korea as well as the hotel, I didn't have enough to pay for my visa. A kind consulate worker offered to pay for it ,after calling my boss and asking him to transfer the money to her bank account. I thought that was very sweet!