Sorry for the delay in my updates... but I have finally arrived in Jeju! Jennie and I took the 3:05 plane from Gimpo airport to Jeju airport and we got to our venue after dinner time. We had to wait for more TaLK scholars to arrive and fill up the bus, so our first meal at Jeju was Lotteria... Eh it wasn't the best thing I've ever had. Yesterday was basically checking in, unpacking, and resting.
Today, I set my alarm at 6:30AM and got ready for breakfast which was at 7:20. After that, we had a tour around the campus and the area, and we found out that the walk from our dorms to our lecture halls is well over 30 minutes... I'm not too sure how I feel about the walk back and forth, especially in this excruciating heat...
Well, I'm awfully sleepy so I'm just going to finish off this post with pictures! :]
Jennie and I on row 57, the last row on the plane... :O
This be my name tag that I cannot take off EVER
The view of Jeju a few minutes before landing!
This be my room for the next three weeks!
First breakfast! Hello Mare <3
brilliant idea + terrible selection = buy a new cup of coffee
Skyped with the boyfriend last night and I was ecstatic to see him for the first time in a week! We last saw each other last Sunday and from then, we only talked over the phone and didn't have the chance to Skype because I didn't have Wifi... I was a little goof last night over Skype and gave him a hard time but it was all out of love babe <3
I currently am waiting for Kyochon Chicken which we ordered for lunch. I decided to stay home for another day because I'm really enjoying the painless sensation in my lower back :D I have plans for the following two days so it would be best for me to rest it up well today.
I still have to make my presentation for TaLK orientation about my hometown and I started making a Prezi powerpoint but... I got bored so I stopped after making 2 slides... YAY FOR PROCRASTINATION!
My flight out to Jeju is approaching awfully fast and I'm excited! I bought all my toiletries, and the three large bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel is weighing down my luggage quite a lot... My flight ticket says that I'm allowed two bags for checkin but over the phone, they said I'm only allowed one... Those two luggages that I brought were only summer clothes :[ I didn't bring any winter clothes and I'M ABOUT TO LOSE HALF OF ALL I HAVE... So I slept late last night because I was trying to filter through my clothes and take out things I absolutely do not need. 21 years old and yet I still struggle with my bad habit of overpacking.
CHICKEN JUST ARRIVED! That means I abruptly end this post.
Met up with my freshman year roommate yesterday at Gangnam for dinner.
Yes, it's the place that gained global attention thanks to Psy's Gangnam Style.
Weather was AWFULLY hot yesterday and there was occasional rain which brought out a tiny bit of my ugly side, but the night was fun overall :] We grabbed dinner at a DonKatsu place and it was a success!
The white sauce? That's not sauce, that's CHEESE!!!!!! It was SO good. Then we moved a couple feet and went into Chatime, a 5-story bubble tea place :]
We Caught up on 2+ months worth of stories and the short time together was overall a success despite the downpour toward the end. I took a Seoul bus alone for the first time from Shinchon station to Yatap station and I was SO scared that I might miss the stop, but thankfully, I got off at the right station after fighting off my sleepiness.
July 26, 2014
I woke up today with pain in my lower back... I usually get awful throbbing aches in my lower back after a long day or a lot of walking, but it usually goes away after I wake up. The pain was pretty horrific last night and it lasted through the sleep, so we decided to get it checked out. We walked into the doctor's office and I was the only non-elderly patient in the entire waiting room... I had a couple words with the doctor, got my x-ray taken, and it turns out that my lower spine looks a little different from normal. He tried explaining but I'm guessing that the difference is significant yet not outwardly noticeable...? It seems to be an infection of some sort so they gave me a shot on my bootie and prescribed 3 days worth of medication. The total came out to be 30,000 won, which is way cheaper than what I would have paid for a regular checkup back in the states... but my aunt was surprised that it was expensive because I don't have medical insurance, and I won't have any until TaLK starts. Well, I'm glad that it's nothing terrible, and the pain did decrease.
After that, I had dinner with my dad's side of the family. We had KALBI!!!! 11 people had 13 servings of both marinated and non-marinated kalbi and NO REGRETS. After that, we came back and my cousin tried to get me Wifi. It turns out, I had access to Wifi in this house ALL ALONG yet my aunt didn't know about it... I have all of my devices connected and I'm happy that I have access and I FINALLY CAN SKYPE WITH MY BOYFRIEND!!!! I had my first phone call with him last night after I left Incheon airport because I needed to save the remaining 1.9 GB of data since that's all I have for the next MANY weeks. It was very short but I was extremely happy that I got to hear his voice, and now that I have Wifi, I will wait patiently until he wake up :]
So that was it for today! Didn't go to Seoul but it was good to rest after four consecutive days packed with schedules. Hopefully the pain in my back stops soon! Thinking about staying home another day and catch up five days worth of internet-less days.
Sorry for the lack of updates! It has been a real struggle without a working phone or shared wifi in the house... I'll do a quick recap! (No promises on it being short tho.. :])
July 23, 2014
I met Jennie, a fellow 13th generation Jeonnam TaLK Scholar at Ewha Woman's University (이대) and we had albap for lunch!
Albap is like bibimbap except it has raw fish eggs in it :] It may sound exotic but it's DELICIOUS so please don't hesitate and get yourself a bowl!
Here is a picture of Ewha University, and my stupid picture does not do its beauty justice. Please forigve me, I realized that my picture taking skills is nowhere near where it should be... BUT It's definitely interesting to see such a nice campus in the middle of the city :]
We walked around for a bit until it started to rain so we went into the nearest cafe which was Tom N Toms, one of the bigger cafe chains here in Korea. When the rain stopped, we traveled two subway stations to Hongdae, which is where Hongik University is. Another area with heavy pedestrian traffic, cafes, restaurants, and shopping.
We suddenly got super hungry so we walked in a BBQ restaurant and had samgyupsal, my FAVORITE.
Here's my new friend Jennie and I, all excited to eat :D
Right after dinner, we HAD to get this one dessert that was eyecatching and a good amount of people were carrying in their hands.
This is yogurt ice cream with fruit dipped in chocolate, all on top of one of Korea's favorite dessert, boonguhbbang (붕어빵, translates to fish bread). The ice cream part is tarty and perfect to my taste, then with the bread part, you can choose one of two fillings: sweet bean paste or custard cream. I didn't know which to choose so I asked the guy which one was more popular and he told me that people usually go for the cream so I decided to follow the crowd :] Was it good? You know my answer.
Last stop was Hello Kitty Cafe and I'll be honest, before going in, I was a bit excited... but after I stepped inside, there was this odd negative energy... this spooky vibe because everything was SUPER pink and SUPER red and SUPER hello kitty... Should have expected the intensity of the decorations but it's definitely an interesting place to visit if you're at Hongdae.
Didn't eat anything here because their cashier wasn't working or something like that so we just sat upstairs and enjoyed the AC. Also, the vandalism took away from the cafe... (pretending like I didn't write anything).
July 24, 2014
I don't have too many pictures from this day... but I met one of my best friends from college at Shinsa (신사역) to go to Garosu (가로수길), again, another favorite hangout place. We went to a cafe called Bloom & Goute (no pictures sorry :[) and it was okay... haha not worthy of suggesting for a visit. We had chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream and they weren't special. We sat there catching up until our dongseng (동생, a term used to indicate that someone's younger than you in Korea) joined us, and we got out of the cafe to look around a little bit. Then we went to Pier 17 which our dongseng suggested.
It says Cajun but it was somewhat American, somewhat Italian, and somewhat Mexican... Can't really describe it... but it was GOOD. Our dongseng did all the ordering and treated us with dinner, and this was one of the things that was most memorable, Shark Attack.
The waiter brings out light blue slushie drinks, and two plastic sharks with red syrup in it. He pours the syrup out of the shark which is supposed to mimic blood, hence the name Shark Attack. It was yummy and refreshing and definitely an interesting sight! Then we went to CoffeeSmith, a HUGE semi-outdoors cafe and chatted the rest of the night away :]
July 25, 2014
I'm taking a little breather today and I don't have any plans earlier in the day. Just relaxing at home, updating Tumblr and enjoying the AC. The weather was VERY rainy and gloomy the past two days but the temperature was perfect. Today, the rain stopped but... oh boy... the humidity and the heat that I feared came back... SO I'm going to sit here a little longer with AC blowing in my face :] I'll be going out later today to Gangnam and I'll update with that later this week!
I landed at Incheon at approximatey 4:05 AM and Korea welcomed me with a rush of its HUMID breeze. The 14 hour ride wasn't pleasant, but thankfully, it wasn't as bad as I had imagined it to be. There were these two babies, one at the front of the cabin and one at the back that kept alternating with their breakdown moments which kept me up more than half of the ride so I'm quite groggy right now... BUT I must fight throug this to overcome being jetlagged :D
Placements came out today and I will be teaching at Jangheungnam Elementary School in Jeonnam Jangheung :D I was hoping for a bigger city like Gwangju or Yeosu... but I'm excited to learn about Korea's SUPER rural areas firsthand. I haven't done much research on Jangheung yet so I can't really say much... I'll definitely be back with more!
Lastly, today marked the first day of our long distance relationship. It's really annoying that I can't connect my devices to Wifi here in Bundang at my grandparents' place... So I'm confined to using my aunt's cruddy old desktop... I'm thankful that I at least have this. I really miss him and being apart for a day felt like a year... but I know we can pull through! Love you hun and take good care of youself until we see each other again!
One more hour until we load up the car and head toward JFK International Airport. Yes, all my bags are STILL a smidgen overweight (limit is 23kg) and I'm hoping and praying that they go easy on me because the difference is maybe a pound or so for each bag.
I'm dreading the 14 hour flight but I have faith in my Advil PM to knock me out until maybe 30 minutes before landing :D
Said my final goodbye... or shall I say 'see you soon' to my boy today and thankfully, there weren't any tears of separation sadness. We promised each other to overcome this separation and hopefully, we'll try to work it out so that he can visit me in December in Korea :] (I'm trusting you babe so MAKE IT HAPPEN <3)
Finally finished packing and I'm set to go. One about-to-explode carry-on and two oversized checkin luggages that are fractions overweight... We're hoping that the time of day that I'll be checking the bags in (past midnight) will loosen up the weight limitation rules just a tad :D Now that everything's packed and ready to go, I'm currently in bed, about to spend my last night at home before I leave for TaLK.
I've been going through an emotional roller coaster this past week because as much as I was excited to go to Korea, I was saddened by the fact that I'll have to part from my manfriend of two months. International long distance relationships doesn't sound like the easiest thing, and I'm very aware of the possible struggles that I may face in the near or far future. However, we've decided to try our best to work this out and look at the bigger picture instead of worrying about not being able to see each other physically for the next year. Many tears were shed, and at this point, I honestly feel as if there's no tears left to be shed. Yes, I'll admit, I'm a crybaby when it comes to separation. Hope he understands that this equates to how much I love and care for him ;]
Well, here's the beginning of a whole new chapter in my life. I will Teach and Learn in Korea for the next year of my life, and I expect this to be the best time of my life! I have wonderful family and a loving boyfriend supporting me so I have no fears!
Hey I was searching up Jeollanam-do and stumbled across your blog! I'm a 13th gen heading to Jeonnam too :D
Hey! Nice to meet you :] Sorry I'm a bit late in responding... I've been busy trying to pack because I'm leaving tomorrow night! I'll be seeing you soon? :D
Less than a week left until I leave the states, and today, I finally received an e-mail announcing the change in my application status! To this day, I had conditional acceptance to the TaLK Program because of the delay in processing and sending my Criminal Records Check, and it has finally made its way to the Seoul Office after weeks and weeks of struggles. I thought I'd never see this day come but it finally happened and I am super happy at this moment :]
So, I spent the past few days trying to shop for formal wear and shoes since I didn't have any, as well as running errands for my relatives. I must say, the running errands part of these past few days were rather frustrating and exhausting, but it seems to be coming to an end. Thank God, I really just want this all to be over.
Looking at the piles and piles of shoes and clothes that are laid out in my room (including things that my relatives asked for), I don't know if I'm going to pack everything in 2 luggages with a 25kg cap. Hopefully everything will work out and I won't have to bear the burden of any fees at the airport.
Honestly speaking, as much as I was excited to leave, I'm very saddened by the fact that I won't be able to come home for the next year and see all of my friends and family in New Jersey. Although I go to school in Boston, home was just a bus ride away and I always had the option to come home for the weekend. Flying over to Korea is a whole different story and I'm a bit nervous for being away for such a prolonged period of time. I'm going to make the best out of my remaining days at home and hopefully, I won't get homesick too often :D
2 things that I got done today in preparation for my departure:
Got my International Driving Permit
Bought a spiral bound Sketchpad
INTERNATIONAL DRIVING PERMIT
Am I going to have a car in Korea? Nope! However, I decided to get a International Driving Permit anyway JUST IN CASE there's an opportunity to rent a car :] Chances are, it's going to sit somewhere under a pile of teaching material and never see light until the day I start packing to come back home... But I figured, it's better to be safe than sorry! Hopefully I'll use it at least once so that my $15 doesn't go to waste.
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SKETCHPAD
I wanted to collect every little thing starting from my flight ticket to Korea and ending with my return flight ticket back to the states during my time as a TaLK scholar. I looked online and in stores to find a plain spiral bound notebook or a sketch pad to use as a very rough scrapbook for whatever I may want to save in Korea. Mother and I walked into Five Below in hopes of getting gift ideas for my future students (candies or small goodies) but walked out with a $5 large blank spiral-bound sketchpad instead. The ones online started from $17 so I'm super happy that I saved a difference of $12! To my future students, I WILL FIND SOMETHING GOOD FOR YOU I PROMISE! It's just... Five Below didn't have anything that I wanted to bring for you kids :]
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Only 11 days left... I still can't believe it and I don't even know what I want to pack. My Certificate of Residency still has not made its way back but I'm not too worried about it. I have a few more things on my shopping list and my todo list, and I decided to add one more thing. I'm going to get my hair done in the states before I go. Yes, I know, Korea does it better, but there's no guarantee that I'll get the look that I want over there, and I can get a good deal here so why not? I want to look good the moment I step on Korean soil :D
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After I got my International Driving Permit, mother and I went to Best Buy Mobile to upgrade mother's 3-year-old Galaxy III. A fine looking gentleman greeted us and helped us throughout the whole upgrade process. We went in looking for a Note II and the upgrade fee with a 2-year contract was $49.99, and Best Buy was offering a $50 gift card if you were to upgrade your phone. On top of that, mother's old phone was eligible for a trade-in for $22. So essentially, we upgraded mother's phone for free and with the difference, mother received a free flip cover case for 7.99 and the sales associate asked us if we wanted anything else. Anything else...? What more could we ask for? Well, this NICE AWESOME FRIENDLY man offered to discount screen protectors for $10 and he put one on mother's phone and one on mine! I was debating whether or not I should buy a new screen protector because I had a slash through the center of mine but problem solved! Thank you so much friendly sales associate whose name I cannot remember :D
Mother woke me up at 10AM today to take care of a few of the many things on my todo list that I must get done before I leave the states.
First stop was the post office to FINALLY send my apostilled CRC to the Seoul TaLK office. HUGE weight taken off my shoulders!!! It should arrive within 8 days and I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE MY APPLICATION STATUS CHANGE. Thank goodness my CRC came back with the apostille instead of a rejection letter like the past two times... Shame on myself for not being careful but I'm thankful that I was able to send it off before my departure :]
Next thing on my list was shopping! We went to Bergen Town Center in hopes of finding a Longchamp tote but we failed. HOWEVER, after going through piles and piles of clothes in Banana Republic's fitting room, I walked out with 2 blazers, 2 skirts, 1 sleeveless shirt, and 1 pants, all for $33. Yes, $33!!! Banana Republic had an AWESOME sale and had everything in the store 50% off. Mother brought along 2 reward coupons worth $50 and $20, and then we also used a $25 giftcard so the only difference that came directly out of the wallet was $33 :] Talk about GREAT SHOPPING! I also picked up a pair of black Cole Haan flats and a laced white cardigan before we started heading home.
One 11th Gen TaLK scholar told me that he ended up not wearing his suit once because it was so hot and I'm hoping that doesn't happen to me... But I'll be honest, I'm worried because i have terrible heat tolerance. We'll see what happens!
The last thing that I got done today was sending in my Leave of Absence form to my university. I wanted to wait until my departure was finalized just in case, and now that I have booked the flights and I have signed the contract and my CRC is sent, I felt ready to scan and send in the form to our Office of Academic Services. Things are getting REAL!
One last update! We received the 13th Generation Important Arrival Information document today and it included arrival and registration information for when we arrive at Jeju Airport. Also on the document was a list of essential items to pack, and a short blurb about a 2-3 minute orientation presentation that we'll have to make about our hometown. I got started on this but being the super procrastinator that I am, I quickly got bored and saved the very few powerpoint slides that I made on Prezi. What caught my eye the most was the revealing of the orientation venue! the 13th Generation orientation venue will be the Jeju English Education Center in Seoqgwipo-si, Jeju-do. I haven't found out a lot about the venue yet so I think I'm going to end this post here and start my research on our venue!
I've gotten SUPER sick after my losing consciousness and fainting at Dominican Republic. My whole body's aching, my throat's swollen, I'm coughing and sneezing all over the place, and I have a fever that comes and goes. Went to the doctor's office today and mother and I waited over an hour for less than 10 minutes with the doctor and it turns out that it's nothing more than a severe cold. I was prescribed medicine but we decided to skip a visit to CVS and just get good rest in hopes that the cold will go away soon.
On a brighter note, the day that I've been waiting for has finally come!! Third time was indeed a charm and my apostilled CRC was left in front of my door earlier today. The apostille itself is nothing more than one sheet of paper which makes it seem like such a futile step to completing this whole CRC business but I'm absolutely glad that I got it out of the way and I can send it off to the Seoul office tomorrow!
Less than 2 weeks left before my departure to Korea and I still can't believe it... I haven't been packing, I haven't gotten everything that I will need, and I haven't even turned in the form for a leave of absence at my university. Someone needs to slap me across the face and make me realize that I'll be at JFK airport before I know it saying goodbye to my family. Oh boy!!!
Today was an interesting last full day of our family trip to Punta Cana. I had specifically asked my parents last night NOT to wake me up this morning because I wanted to sleep in. My parents, being the early birds that they are, decided to wake me up at 9 and successfully persuade me to get dressed for the beach. We got settled under a parasol on the beach that my parents had thrown our towels under earlier in the morning before all the other guests swarmed the beaches, and we had an hour of fun at the beach just enjoying the breeze and jumping waves.
Then it was time for lunch! We went to Gaby Beach, a beachside buffet-style restaurant. Food was okay, not the best, not the worst. Then father came back to our room to watch the world cup and mother, sister, and I went back to the beach and sister and I started jumping waves again. Father joined us in the waves after the game ended and we burned off all our calories from lunch in the ocean.
After we had enough of the beach, we moved over to the pool and I personally had Green Island, a light green coconut flavored cocktail from the poolside bar. One cocktail was enough for me, since my alcohol tolerance is horrendous. Asian glow kicked in and we left to come back to our room, wash up, and get ready for our 8PM dinner reservation.
We had decided that the order for shower was sister, mother, me, then father. When my turn came, I went into the shower, and it was a bit cold so I turned the knob over so that the water would be warmer. I started lathering shampoo into my hair when I started getting really dizzy. I stood still trying to balance myself, but the dizziness got worse so I leaned on the wall in the shower. After a while, I tried standing up straight again when I passed out for a second, pulled down the curtain in the shower, and fell out of the bathtub onto the floor. I was down for quite a while and mother was yelling at me on the other side to open the door. I did have consciousness but I couldn't get myself to get up, and it was quite a while before I finally managed to get myself to open the door, only to fall back on my knees and back against the wall. My head kept falling and when mother held my head up, my eyes started going back and forth against my will. Mother asked sister to bring a cold bottle of water but I couldn't swallow it and I drooled it all out. Dad carried me over to the bed and I laid down for another 30 minutes or so until I was able to get back into the shower and wash the shampoo out.
Thank God I didn't hit the toilet or the marble wall during my fall. The only things left from the accident are my bruises, but that's it. What a way to put an end to our family vacation to Punta Cana. I'll definitely remember this one for the rest of my life.
I'll be heading back to the states early in the morning! Really want to spend the rest of my time meeting up with friends back home. Well, goodnight for now!
Yesterday was the first full day of our stay in Punta Cana and the first time that we set foot on the beach at our resort :]
I'm so sad that this picture does not do it justice. The water wasn't cold, wasn't warm, but JUST RIGHT :] My family (yes, including the parents) stayed in and jumped waves for HOURS.
For dinner, we went to The Grill and had some DELICIOUS steak :D
Skirt steak, sausages, and... I forget the last thing that was on my plate but I destroyed this. The dessert was a bit disappointing however..
We tried one of everything and the one to the far left was the most edible... I'm going to guess it was some kind of apple crumble...? The one in the middle... GOD KNOWS WHAT THAT WAS. It had pieces of watermelon on top of it and the cake itself was really... strange. Burgundy in color, consistency was really pasty... The one on the far right was a complete mystery. The top cream tasted like... marshmallow? That's the closest I can think of... then the cake was... juicy... yup. Not the best dessert I've had in my life.
Then at night, they had a Dominican show in which the history of Dominican Republic was introduced through interpretive dance :]
There were 4 male and 4 female dancers that danced for an hour straight and I was quite surprised that they were the only ones on stage because the choreography of the 10 or so different dances seemed quite rigorous... So kudos to you! I really enjoyed it! It definitely would have been more interesting had I known the history of Dominican Republic.
Today will be an interesting day as we have an afternoon activity planned and paid for. We'll be on a cruise ship and the package includes snorkeling with stingrays out in the ocean! Although the weather's the hottest and the most humid that it has ever been so far during our stay, I'm really looking forward to this!
(They better fix the wifi in our room before we come back from the cruise or else I'm going to throw a fit.)
I just landed in Dominican Republic this morning! We left the house at 5:45 in the morning and arrived after a 4-hour flight. I must say, the humidity during the day was grueling and I was not a happy camper when we first arrived at Melía Paradisus Punta Cana Resort. We were hungry and the humidity/heat exacerbated our irritated states, but we did have a brief moment of relief when one of the resort workers served us 'Strawberry Mango Daiquiri.' It was my first time trying it and I'm pretty sure I'll have many more within the next 5 days of our stay :]
As soon as we checked in, we went to the beachside buffet and stuffed ourselves with rather disappointing food... But quality did not stop us from pigging out for our first meal. After our feast, we got settled into our suite 1244 and got ready to swim! My guilty pleasure during this trip will be the poolside bar that's included in the package. Tried 'dirty monkey' for the first time and it was DELICIOUS! WHY DID THEY HAVE TO SERVE FRIED CHICKEN AND FRIES AT THE POOLSIDE BAR??? I definitely ate too much for the day and yet we have a dinner reservation at 7:30 at Mole, a Mexican restaurant.
I currently am enjoying the A/C blowing into my face :] There's one bathroom for the four of us so I offered to wash up last. Water's dripping down my back from my bun and I'm still in my bikini. Dad's watching the USA vs. Belgium game and sounds pretty upset that USA's losing...
This is the last family trip and family-bonding time that I'll have before I go to Korea and I'll be honest, it's a bit bittersweet. I haven't spent an entire year away from my family and it'll definitely be a challenge trying to live on my own in Korea. So I'm going to try to enjoy and appreciate every minute of this trip! :]
I finally booked my flight from New York JFK airport to Seoul ICN airport, and from Seoul GMP airport to Jeju CJU airport!!!
I know there's less than a month left before my departure to Korea but I didn't pay for my tickets until today, just had them on reserve.
<FLIGHT KE086>
Departure: New York (JFK) John F Kennedy - 21JUL14 - 00:50
Arrival: Seoul (ICN) Seoul/Incheon - 22JUL14 - 04:15
Flight Duration: 14H 20M
<FLIGHT KE1229>
Departure: Seoul (GMP) Seoul/Gimpo - 30JUL14 - 15:05
Arrival: Jeju (CJU) Jeju - 30JUL14 - 16:10
Flight Duration: 01H 05M
Honestly, I can't say I'm looking forward to the 14 hour flight so that's why I chose the 12:50 AM flight so I can sleep through most of it :]
It's been over two years since I last visited Korea and I still can't believe that I'll be leaving in less than a month to experience what will probably be the best year of my life. The ticket purchase itself wasn't enough to slap me into reality, hah!
Well, I'll keep it at that for now. Must pack and get ready for tomorrow's early morning flight to Dominican Republic with the family :D
Mental Preparation for Orientation :] (and Alien Registration)
I meant to write a post yesterday but I got caught up trying to shed a pound or two more before our family vacation so I chose to spend an extra hour on the exercise bike.
Yesterday, I spent the first hour after waking up on YouTube, watching every video of the past TaLK generations' orientations as I meticulously balanced my Macbook on top of the handles on the exercise bike. I never knew an hour of exercise could fly that fast! The orientation videos kept me quite entertained! I must say, I hope that we're taught the banana song during the 13th generation orientation as well. All of the past scholars looked so tightly knit with one another within their generations and I'm really looking forward to meeting my fellow 13th gen TaLK scholars :]
And... Just when I thought I was done with the dirty paperwork business after my third (and hopefully last) submission of my Criminal Records Check for the apostille... I come across the paragraph on the TaLK website about the Alien Registration Card!!! Ahhhhh!!!!! This seems to be an infinite process of paperwork after paperwork and preparation after preparation!!!!!
So, for fellow 13th Gen TaLK scholars and prospective TaLK scholars...
If you want to stay in Korea for over 90 days, you must register at the immigration office within 90 days from the day of your entry, or else you risk being punished. In order to register, you need to submit an application at a local immigration office that has jurisdiction over the place of your stay either by visiting yourself or by proxy.
The required documents are as follows:
Application Form (Downloadable)
Travel Document (ex: Passport)
2 Passport Photos (3cm x 4cm)
Fee of 10,000 won
Other documents according to the type of visa that you have (seems to only apply for D-3 & C-4 visa)
If your application is accepted, your passport will be stamped and you will be issued an Alien Registration card, and it usually takes up to 4 days to physically receive your card.
Now, if you are going in with the F4 visa (like I am), you can apply for the Alien Registration Card OR a notification of Domestic Residence for Korean nationals.
The Domestic Residence application is for (1)Korean nationals that obtained foreign permanent residency status, (2)Korean nationals that are residing in a foreign country to obtain its permanent residency status, and (3)overseas Koreans with foreign nationality that entered Korea with overseas Korean (F-4) status.
The required documents for Korean nationals residing overseas are:
Passport
2 Color Photographs (3cm x 4cm)
Notification application of domestic residence for Korean nationals residing overseas
Documents providing acquisition of permanent residence or long-term residence status
Permanent resident card or long term residency visa
Family register (issued within the past 3 months)
void resident tenor (issued within the past 3 months)
The Required documents for Overseas Koreans (like me!!!) are:
Passport
2 Color Photographs (3cm x 4cm)
Notification application of domestic residence for overseas Koreans
Certificate of nationality/citizenship (documents that can prove acquisition of foreign nationality)
Family register or family register removal tenor showing the loss of nationality (issued within the past 3 months)
**Those with unresolved family register: loss of nationality certificate, those whose name on the family register differs from that on the foreign passport: Authentication from the government office on the said country or its embassy in Korea, or certificate of marriage if the change is due to marriage**
The service charge is 30,000 KRW and in order to apply, you must reserve an appointment in advance. The processing time is immediate upon submission!
Well, that's one more thing on my list of things to do and things to keep in mind before I pack up and leave for Korea! I hope this helped some of you (or at least one person!!!) save time and facilitate the document preparation for the application :]
That was probably the longest post that I've ever made! I hope all this worrying pays off and I don't forget anything before I leave the states. Here is where I'll put an end to this post!! Any questions or comments are always welcome :D
