I survived!!! Dec. 2nd I left S. Korea with only the proper send out that Korea knows how to give...at least for me. The last month was insanely ridiculous. I had an unbelievable amount of shit to do for work. Including trying to enjoy and say good-bye to everyone and everything I wanted to, to make a few last good memories of Korea. Because I had so much to do, I hadn’t touched anything in my place to packed or clean until the day after I was suppose to be finished. I tell my supervisor this because I know they want to come look at my house to determine if I get my deposit back. Did they listen? Of course not. Next thing I know, they tell me they wont give me my deposit because my place is basically a disaster. “Yes, I know.” I tell my supervisor. “That’s WHY I spent 15 minutes of my day yesterday talking to you about it.” After wasting another 15 minutes of my day, I convince her to have the lady come back to my house tomorrow when I have actually packed and am ready to leave.
After work I used my last night spending it with my favorite people. This did not help me get anything accomplished. After getting home at 3am from a local fried chicken place (because that’s exactly what you want to eat before you are to be in a swim suit for the next 3 weeks) many beers, and many coke/soju/beer pounders (the curly form of a boozie) later, I wake up at 7am to pack/clean my place by noon so I can be paid my last pay check by 2pm, go to work to sign for the check, take all my stuff to the post office and go to the bank to close my account by 4. Oh my gosh, did that day suck, some how I managed. Sally Teacher, who came to my place to determine if I was to my deposit back for the second time, came and was SO impressed that I was able to get my place cleaned and packed. Ya, I’m an American, it doesn’t take me that long to get shit done... even if I’m tired and hungover. Now, it was time to find the post office and mail all my boxes! After I carried one to the post office, which wasn’t that close, I decided to take a taxi with all my others. Once I got there, I realized I needed addresses because they weren’t all going to the same place. Perfect, computer packed, can’t get them (Post office awesomeness number 1). Next, I try to send my snowboard home. Post office people or sorry, the lady who was helping me the whole time (who spoke maybe 5 words of English) tells me, no I can’t send it home. Um, What?!!! I asked before hand, and was told it was ok. Nope, she wasn’t having it, as now I have a group around me of post office workers and other customers helping to translate for me. Me angry, annoyed, frustrated...how the heck am I suppose to get it home?!! I call and complain to John, he says he’ll figure out how to send it to me (Thanks John) (Post office awesomeness number 2) Through out all this the lady is asking me if we can be friends, asking to exchange emails, telling me her son is learning English.. “Super lady. I don’t like Korea, I don’t want to be your friend, I just want to send my shit home as fast as possible so I can get all the other shit I have to do done!” Obviously, I don’t say this out loud, I give her my email with a crooked smile saying sure, let’s be friends! (Awesomeness number 3) Then, the next box up is my Germany box, clothes and computer. The lady shakes her head, I’m looking at her like, now what? I’m thinking she’s going to tell me that they wont mail to Germany and I’m going to have to pack that shit around with me in Thailand but instead she proceeds to tell me that she wont mail my computer. WHAT?!!! Are you kidding me?!! The two most expensive things I own I can’t mail and I have to leave in Korea?!!! The time is now 3pm. I haven’t gone to my work to sign for my paycheck, the bank closes at 4, and now I have to deal with this BS! I’m so annoyed, frustrated, stressed at this point that I’m pleading with her and the supervisor there to please send it. Finally they give in, they open my stuffed-to-the-max box, took 10 mins to decide how to bubble wrap my computer, as I’m trying to step in to make them wrap it faster and not think so hard about it. Finally they are happy with the way it’s wrapped. We put it back in the box using all our bodies to get the box to close. Using a whole roll of tape to keep it closed. The lady finally puts the postage on it and I’m free to leave. Thank god. It’s now 3:30. I Swing my board bag on my shoulder and jog as fast as I can with my knee throbbing as I’m been walking with all the extra weight from my lugging the boxes around. I drop the bag at my friend Johannah’s house so John can get it later. I get on a bus and make it to the bank at 3:50 to close my accounts...did I mention they close at 4. Made it!
I let out a deep breath as I sit down, relieved that I made it in time. The teller I have actually speaks good English too, Yay!! I tell her I am leaving Korea and need to close my account. I want 400,000w cash for travels and I want the rest transferred to a different Korean account number, which I give her a piece of paper with the information on. (I didn’t want to send it to my US account because the exchange rate was so bad.) Next thing, I know she’s giving me 900,000w cash. I’m puzzled but whatever, I’ll just use it to exchange for traveling rather then using my ATM card). I don’t think anything could go wrong with her transferring my money to the account number I had given her. She tells me I’m finish, I give the paperwork she gives me a quick glance, money transferred, bank account empty... looks good. I leave to go to LCI to sign my last paycheck since I couldn’t do it before. I get there, sign my pay stub, realizing I need to look and print off my itinerary so I know when my actual flight out of Korea is (I’m not about to miss it)....and all my other flights in Thailand and Germany. In the mix of things I pull out my bank paper to really look at. I have to refocus my eyes as I see, the bank teller transferred my money, NOT to the account I asked and told her to but my US account where I made ZERO mention of. Really?!! WTF, Korea?!! So to make this story short, Korea (again) screwed me out of hundreds of dollars, about $600 to be exact .
I couldn’t have asked for a better send off to engrave the hatred I have for that country. Thank you, Korea. Good-bye.
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| Yongju= 1part coke, 1 part soju, 1 part beer....dangerously delicious. |
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| Mina showing us how to make it. |
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| My kids hard at work. I partnered them up so I didn't have to work as hard. :) |
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| Teacher love squeeze! |
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| Saying good-bye. It's so hard having them be so much a part of your life, teaching them their first English words to be able to communicate and knowing that you'll most likely never see them again. Tears were shed and not just by me. |
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| Last meal with a couple of my favorites before the flight out. |
