Mistakes & Frustrations

by Jenn

When you move to any new place, whether it's within your home country or not, there are always a certain amount of frustrations you face as you adjust, and if you're anything like me, mistakes that you make. When I move to a new city in the U.S., I like to take a day or two just driving around to explore my new neighborhood or city. Here, being in a smaller city with no subway and limited bus service, we've explored our neighborhood completely on foot. We're still not sure what all is within a 1-mile radius of our complex because it takes so long, especially in this heat.

Yesterday, we had to pick up our alien registration cards from the immigration office (FINALLY. It should NOT have taken this long.) and since Karl's co-teacher was driving him there from school, I was left with the task of figuring out how to get there myself. A quick glance at the city map I have revealed that it would probably be a good 45-60 minute hike up there, and since it was pretty hot yesterday, I didn't really want to arrive all sweaty and red-faced because they might have gotten the wrong idea and denied me my documents. Not really, but I wanted to at least look normal upon arrival. I decided to hop a bus there and then walk back. After doing online research about bus routes that rivaled the amount of research I did for my last term paper in grad school, I determined which bus to take and where to catch it. I managed to get on the correct bus and realized I didn't know which stop to get off at, but this was no problem since the route looked like the bus would go right past the immigration office. Luckily it did, and I hopped off at the next stop. I walked to the immigration office, picked up my ARC and passport in less than a minute (very busy office) and then was faced with the task of figuring out how to get back. I started walking in the general direction of our apartment, but became less and less sure of myself he farther I went. Our city is not laid out in a grid pattern at all, which makes for a lot of interesting diagonal intersections and easily lost sense of direction. Having been blessed with no sense of direction to begin with, this is not a good thing for someone like me. But I kept walking and discovered a little shopping district I'd like to go back to. Then I started seeing some creepy "gentlemen's clubs" and picked up my pace a bit. Finally I saw a major intersection ahead. Great, I thought, I'll recognize something there for sure.

Well, I definitely recognized it. I was right back where I had started, about two blocks down from the immigration office on the same street. Still no issue, though. I had brought more than enough money for two bus fares, although sadly not enough money to check out some of the stores I found. I went right back to the bus stop where I had gotten off to wait for the same bus. The only thing was, there was only one bus an hour, and I don't have a watch. After what I'm guessing was about 30 minutes of waiting, I swore that I would have a watch within the week. I was so relieved to just sit down and finally be on the way back that I just relaxed and took in the sights of the city. Then I realized I didn't recognize where we were. All around us were fields and what looked like villages in the distance. I was positive I had gotten on a city bus, but where the hell was this thing going? Anyway, it would eventually loop around back to my original stop, right?

Wrong.

I found myself traveling through part of the US Air Force Base and onward to the airport, where I hopped off as if it had been my intention all along. It's a good thing I did, because the bus driver parked there. The airport itself was about the size of my parents' barn, and you could tell what a hopping place it was by the group of five taxi drivers lounging on benches, smoking. Thankfully one of them spoke some English, and he was able to convey to the others that I actually didn't want to go someplace on the base, but downtown rather. The downtown-designated driver hopped up and we started back towards town. Finally, I thought, I'm almost back. We can't be that far from the apartment. It had already been two hours since I left for the immigration office and I was ready for some lunch. Well, once again, I was wrong. The airport and the base are quite a ways out from downtown, and the driver had to take the highway to get back. I began to break out in a cold sweat in the backseat as I watched the meter climb at an alarming rate. I had thought that it wouldn't be an issue since taxi rides are so cheap-- usually it's just as cheap for Karl and I to take a cab to one of the big grocery stores we like as it is to take the bus. But taxi rates here are based on distance, not time, and the highway sure made it rise at a nerve-wracking rate. I had about 13,000 won on me, half of it in change, and I began to worry about how I would convey that I had to go up to my apartment to get more money for the poor driver when we arrived. We pulled into the parking lot and I practically shouted "OK OK!" to get him to stop. We came to a rest at 12, 560 won. Whew! I paid and apologized that it was in change, but he just smiled and said "kenchanayo" (it's all right) and didn't even count it! Then he handed me his business card, said thank you in the formal way and we said good-bye. What a nice guy!

Needless to say I pretty much collapsed as soon as I walked in the door. Good lord.

Meanwhile, Karl was facing his own trials. His schools had been withholding his settlement allowance and plane ticket reimbursement until he got his ARC, which seems completely unnecessary to me. They are also holding his June pay until the end of July, which I also think is bullshit. Well, even though he got his ARC, his co-teacher informed him that she wouldn't take him to the bank because the money wasn't ready and that she was just taking him home. She also announced that she had no idea when they would pay it.

I can kind of understand them holding mine since I haven't started work yet, but giving someone a settlement allowance 3 weeks after they arrive kind of defeats the "settlement" part of it, don't you think? We were both so angry yesterday, seeing as how we were told that we would both receive our ticket reimbursement and settlement allowances upon arrival.  The whole reason we moved here is because we can't make enough money in the U.S., so it makes absolutely no sense to me that they just expect us to live off of-- what? our looks?-- for an unspecified amount of time. They also want to make us go to some workshop next week in a city an hour away from here and pay our own way. Karl would be reimbursed, but not me since I'm not working yet. But I "should go" anyway. That's a laugh. I have some ideas about what they should do, too.

Anyway, we brought money to get set up here, but that's it, which means we are quickly running out. Luckily our recruiter is stepping in after we sent a frantic e-mail to her yesterday evening. I am trusting and hoping that she will straighten it out today. I just don't understand what these people expect us to do. We're not here on vacation, even though by the title of our positions, "Guest English Teachers," you'd think we were. Maybe they think we are. I don't know. I am so angry about this and the whole thing is leaving a really sour taste in my mouth before I even start working here. I will probably make a bad impression by not attending this workshop next week, but I can't afford to go all the way over there on my own dime when they're withholding pay. It can't be helped.

If you're coming here to teach, you better be prepared to bring several thousand dollars in the event they try to pull this crap on you, too. Even though you're here to make money. And if you can afford to bring thousands of dollars, then why are you doing this in the first place?