Korean Job Discussion Forums

[BreBre711]

This is VERY long and I do apologize but I just had to post this...it's just too weird...and pardon my horrific grammar

Here�s an interesting story� So just a few minutes ago, I called the Korean Embassy in the Hague (since I am temporarily living in Holland if you didn�t know) so that I could ask them some questions and clear up this transcript issue that is plaguing my soul!

I call and the girl answers �Korean Embassy.� Now I don�t know how many of you have dealt with embassies and consulates but the American Embassy and consulate here in Holland has one of those systems where you have to push a million buttons to get to the department you want. They are also two separate buildings. The Embassy in the Hague and the Consulate in Amsterdam. This could just be my paranoia talking...

I tell the girl that I want to teach English in Korea and so she transfers me to the �Consular Section� and when the �Consular Section� lady picks up I couldn�t tell if she answered in Dutch or English or Korean (I do know the difference between the three) and since I am suspicious I believe that that is important for the credibility. I begin to explain that I want to teach English in Korea and that I have a couple questions. She didn�t really say anything but �Yes?�
My first question was about getting my degree notarized. She didn�t understand me the first time , perhaps because I said diploma and not Bachelor�s Degree and so I asked again a second time clearly stating that I wanted a certificate for my Bachelor�s degree and asking how much it would cost�

She told me Euros 80 and her accent was so thick (definitely Korean because I can understand Dutch accents perfectly now) and so I am still not sure if she said 18 or 80 and I repeated very clearly �80?� and she said yes� (ok so maybe I should have handled that differently...)
Which brings me to my first questions before I move on to this story�

How much did you pay (American currency is fine) to get your degrees notarized or whatever? It is notarized right?


So then, I ask her about my transcripts. I told her that I had read that in order to get a visa to teach English in Korea that one of the things you need are the official signed and sealed university transcripts and proceeded to ask her if that was absolutely necessary, but she was lost�she was quiet and then she struggled to ask me if I wanted to study in Korea and I said no I want to teach English in Korea and then she slowly asked me (still struggling with her English) if I had a contract already and I said no because I wanted to do my research first and that I am waiting until I get my certificate to teach English�

Well that must of really thrown her off for some reason because she asked me to hold. So then I heard muffled noises of talking but it was too muffled to hear what language, but I could tell that the other voice was the girl who I had spoken to earlier. So then she gets on the phone and said that she needed to translate and I said �OK no problem� thinking that maybe the other woman probably only dealt with Korean speaking people�so I went over my spiel again, and the girl would put the phone away (and this time I could hear only the girl and not the lady which frustrates me because I want to know what language this lady was speaking!!) and she began to explain the situation to the lady� in ENGLISH!!! Not Dutch, NOT Korean, but English!!! Now this completely threw ME off�I�ve lived in Europe for about four years now. I have had to communicate to a lot of non-English speaking people. I also have been babysitting for a number of years and have had to learn to speak a little slower, clearer and simpler to little children.

Well, then the girl asked if I had a contract already and I simply told her that I do not have a contract as of yet, and that at the moment I am doing research until I get my CELTA certificate to teach English.

Now this is where I don�t remember what she said, if she said anything. All I remember was that there was more confusion and the lady came back on the phone and asked me in very very broken English if I could call back in an hour�

I am going to post the events of the second phone conversation (if it even takes place) later. I have become extremely suspicious and frustrated and I am not quite sure what is going on myself. I mean, if she spoke Dutch I could have talked to her in Dutch (or at least tried), but the girl was speaking to her in plain English so this just confuses me even more!

Am I just being paranoid or could there really be something shady going on here?

Have any of you had similar situations? I mean, I know about the Korean's bad reputations and shadiness and the nightmare hogwons and the like, but to be brutally honest, and this may be my naivety(sp?) talking but I expected a little bit more professionalism from the Korean Embassy...

Second phone conversation to come later�

Thanks for reading at least!!
Bre

P.S. I matched the phone number I got from the website (which is the one that I called) with the phone number in the Dutch Yellow Pages and they are the same. I mean, that info doesn't help but I figured I should add it anyway

[spliff]

Probably don't have that many (if any) queries about required documents for teaching w/ a f2 visa in the motherland. What sort of school did you go to that doesn't provide certified transcripts?

[BreBre711]

It does provide transcripts, but due to legal issues concerning my paternal figure I am not able to get access to my official transcripts...so basically, I'm screwed.... that is why I need to find out if I can provide other valid proof (uni tuition bills or whatever) on top of submitting unofficial transcripts to balance it out...I am sure I am asking for too much but I'd rather try and fail then not try and sit around the rest of my life asking "What if?" I am going to get my sorry ass to Asia (legally) one way or another!!

OK so I am going to make the second call in a couple minutes...

[Richard Krainium]

OP - From what country are you a passport holder of and what country is the university you graduated from?

[BreBre711]

[ChuckECheese]

OP there's nothing suspecious about them not knowing the procedures of immigration. The requirement of sealed transcript is for the immigration not the foreign ministry.

If you graduated from the U.S. uni then you should contact your old school to send you the sealed transcripts (at least 5 individually sealed) in a large envelope and fed-exed to you ASAP.

[jeffkim1972]

Gee, would someone please just answer this poor man's question!!

How much does it cost to get your Diploma notarized by the embassy?!?!

[schwa]

Transcripts will be on their checklist of required documents. They are sticky about them looking very official. Are you sure you cant access them? You earned them after all.

Also, be sure to deal with the embassy with polite patience. If any rules are gonna get bent, it wont be for anyone who seems confrontational in the slightest.

[ChuckECheese]

[schwa]

You dont get your diploma notarized -- you get copies of it stamped as accepted by the embassy. Some embassies, evidently, require a lawyer-notarized copy before they will authorize it themselves. Thats something you'll have to determine from this Ms Park. 80 euros is way too much & 18 seems steep too. I dont think the woman you spoke to on the phone understood your request.

[ChuckECheese]

Oh, hell! Just take 1,000 euros and get as many copies notorized at the embassy.

[mehamrick]

[BreBre711]

[BreBre711]

[spliff]

Well, if you can't get you transcripts you're screwed, don't really see how anybody here on this forum can help you...are you looking for someone to pay your past tuition fees? And you mean to tell us that you attended university for four years without ever paying any money? This is unfathomable, what school did you attend? Perhaps you should talk to accounting at your school and make some sort of legal agreement whereas you agree to pay so much per month for them releasing you one official transcript but, this is far fetched at best, it's surprising that they even let you have your diploma...good luck!

BTW, have you ever been to the Mellow Yellow" cafe in Amsterdam. I stayed for a month in the Hague w/ a friend after my senior year and it was a blast!