Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itiswhatitis]

Next week I will be leaving Korea for good. I laughed, I cried, met some of the best people and some of the worst people in all my life.

Before I leave I will:

-Head to the bank to wire home all my money
-Go to the pension office to claim my pension
-Pay off my Iphone and pay to cancel the contract (I am headed to mainland China and they use the same model of Iphone 5 so all I need is a new SIM card.....yes the phone is factory unlocked but it's best to pay your bills).
-Ship some things ahead of time to lighten my travel load
-Say goodbye to close friends

Anything else that people have had personal experiences with gitten bit down the road with are most appreciated.

Specifically, I worry about tax documents. I am Canadian and I know that the non-residency form is not a requirment and that the Canadian government is not likely to care about my income in Korea. As an aside, it could be very difficult to know anyway since some hagwons are not transparent and 2 of my former hagwons are no longer in business.

I also worry about reference letters/references. Since I'm headed to China I wonder about proving that I have 2 years of teaching experience (often a requirment in mainland China). My reference letters are photocopies and I do not have the originals with the INK on it. Yes I could try to contact my old boss but I prefer to not bother them if it is not necessary. Any personal experiences with how strict China is with regards to the 2 year experience rule?

Thanks in advance. It's been quite the journey!!! Good luck to everyone.

[NilesQ]

Go do the DMZ tour if you haven't yet. The one that goes right into Panmunjom. I never did. Thought Id get back to do it. I didnt.

[Big Mac]

You might want to tell your employer where they can send your tax return money. When I left I kept my KEB account open and they put 700,000 Won in tax return money in it about six months later. If you don't ask, they'll just keep that money. In fact my first year I didn't even know that the government gives the tax return to the employer who is supposed to then turn it over to you. I'm sure my employer just pocketed it.