Our medical results came back this week – the school sent us off during one of our “free” periods (in which we sit around in the office anyway) to walk up the hill to the hospital and retrieve them. After some haggling with the Korean-speaking desk nurses we managed to get them and returned to the school. “So, can we apply for our alien cards now?” I asked Sarah. (“So that I can then get a bank account, get my airfare reimbursed and get the fuck out of this wretched place?”)
After some vague half-answers and umming and erring (all of which is typical to Koreans) I ascertained that it would take maybe three hours to apply for my alien card – what with transit time and waiting in line and all that. So Sarah suggested that we go during the upcoming holiday break (starting on Friday the 24th).
This is the break I’m planning to flee during. Which will require my passport. Which I am supposed to turn over to the immigration office for however long it takes to get an alien registration card.
Tony chose this exact moment to stop being a pushy, assertive New Yorker, character traits I had found greatly useful in a colleague, as I myself am a doormat/pushover/yes-man when it comes to employers. He was totally cool with applying for it during the summer break. I tried to push my case a little more, but it was hard to do so, since I couldn’t really fault their reasoning. We operate on two different frames of mind. They are of the opinion that I will be here until June 2010; I am not. I can’t exactly say, “well, I’d really prefer for you to set me up a bank account NOW, so I can skip the country immediately rather than spend several more weeks trapped in a classroom with those evil little goblins.”
Let’s establish a timeframe here:
Friday, July 24: First day of summer break, first day I can conceivably apply for my ARC
Friday, July 31: (estimate) Day I will receive my ARC
Monday, August 2: School resumes. Immediately talk about establishing a bank account, school no longer has any excuses.
Saturday, August 8: First payday. If I’ve stuck around until the 2nd, I may as well hold out one week longer and pick up my first paycheck, which should be between $1000 and $2000, depending on how many advances I “need” between now and then.
But! Banks aren’t open on Saturday (or are they, in Korea?), so I may have to wait until Monday before the money shows up in my account. Because I live in the school building, I also need to flee on a weekend, when there’s less chance of people catching me in the act. So I’d have to serve another whole week here.
But! The next Saturday, August 15, is Korean Independence Day. I’m not sure how that will affect public transit and airlines.
The fact that I’m even looking at August 15 – a full month from now – as a viable departure date is quite upsetting.
I’m going to press them about my airfare this week as much as I can. Maybe they’ll pay it to me in cash. My reasoning is that I need it to live off, otherwise I’ll have to ask for paycheck advances every week.
The way they duck and weave every time I bring it up is typical Korean inscrutability that almost seems to be about ripping me off, but probably isn’t. It really isn’t unreasonable to wait for a bank account to transfer that much money ($967 AUD). It really isn’t unexpected for Sarah to be brushing me off, because she’s demonstrated several times now that she has no idea what she’s supposed to be doing.
But I hear enough horror stories about hagwons (and Wonderland in particular) to be wary. I guess I’ll have to be firm throughout the week: GIVE ME MY FUCKING MONEY.
It’s really just a race at this point to see which wins out: my avaricious nature, or my desperate desire to get the fuck out of here.
18 comments
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July 14, 2009 at 9:46 pm
chris
in the MONTH from now you stay in korea, i earn upwards 2600. also im enjoyng myself. whilst you rot.
i seriously dont get why you just bail now and earn MORE at home in less time and less pain?
July 14, 2009 at 9:48 pm
chris
i just say this coz you are complaining in EVERY shape and form about korea. on grub street on face book on gmail. on busses on milk cartons. staying this extra month will get you a thousand dollars.
a thousand dollars dude is fuck all… you could earn that in two weeks back home.
and you dont have to work in coles remember
July 14, 2009 at 9:58 pm
grubstreethack
It’s closer to $2500. It’s also because if I get SOMETHING out of this then the time I have already spent won’t be in vain.
Plus I would feel a lot more comfortable, for whatever nonsensical reasons, coming home after 1 month rather than coming home after 2 weeks.
July 14, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Petite Mystere
heres a dandy and strange idea, but hear me out: stop focusing on being bitter and complaining, and at least TRY to enjoy it a tiny bit.
stay the month, get ur money and do the runner if u really want. the independence day will probably disrupt the public transport but not the airport and flights i wouldnt think. get a taxi to the airport and leave then. personally i would have thought it easier then because everyone would be out of the school celebrating…. then again, it could also be cool to experience their celebrations? leave the day after maybe? they’ll still be hung over anyway :P hehe
July 14, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Petite Mystere
ps. i also think it could be worth giving them the 20 days otice. after all this is korea we’re talking about… id hate to be breaking a contract with THEM. they’d probably drag u back and put u in jail for some ridiculous amount of years befitting an armed robber in australia
July 15, 2009 at 6:52 am
chris
yeah im with the less complaining thing. sure it sucks man… but every post and most email is just you being miserable. either do something about it or deal with it untill you get out. its your philosophy to so dont get mad at me.
hoss love
July 15, 2009 at 7:25 am
sunrise089
In fairness though, Scarecrow IS doing something about it, right? I mean, there simply isn’t an exit strategy that offers immediate benefits without additional costs. So while I certainly hope Scarecrow is rational enough to realize his current situation sucks less than the available short-term alternatives, it still sucks in absolute terms, which seems enough to me to warrant whining online.
Also, what are the job options back in Australia? IIRC the Korean plan was the best way to earn money for the round-the-world tripstravaganza, but are there good domestic alternatives?
July 15, 2009 at 8:00 am
grubstreethack
also bear in mind that the internet is the only place i have to vent right now
July 15, 2009 at 12:01 pm
chris
all i think is that you are going to waste this month HATING every second of it. you should either try to change your attitude drasticaly to suit your situation and try to make it better or get out… why endure another month of contempt. its just the amount of emails and posts i have read from you about how miserable you are, are just to many. what ever you try to make sound remotely good there is always some bad thing raping it in the ass.
July 15, 2009 at 12:01 pm
chris
also elisha use your real name. everyone knows its you
July 15, 2009 at 6:23 pm
grubstreethack
Okay look – the JOB fucking sucks and the nine/ten hours a day I spend there is shit. Everything else is fine. Not great, not good, but fine… just like things were back home. But I still have this stubborn rationalisation that no matter how bad things are, any day not spent in Perth is a good day. The amount of time I stay away is exponentially related to the amount of time I get to spend back home before that awful ennui sets back in.
And like I said, you’re not getting an accurate picture. The internet is the ONLY place I have to vent my frustrations. I’m not really mentioning the good things at all. Although the only good thing, really, is that I’m doing somthing unusual/foreign/different.
July 15, 2009 at 8:16 pm
chris
you just miss me dont you
thats why your all huffy
July 15, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Alex
This all sounds so much worse than you made it out to be in person. I’d say that all transportation will be swamped during the holidays, but I still think you shouldn’t cut loose until they reimburse you for the money you paid to get here.
July 15, 2009 at 10:24 pm
grubstreethack
Well, again, online venting isn’t a great impression. When I’m not working I enjoy my life here more than my life back home. When I am working, however, I want to die.
July 16, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Alex
Understood. I sympathize. Falling into a bit of a funk myself.
July 16, 2009 at 1:21 am
Petite Mystere
haha chris u douchebag it automatically shows me as this user name coz im signed in. so shut up haha
so mitch is it just that u hate the kids then? if u enjoy life outside of when ur working? coz i was gonna say u should just spend more time hanging out with the other teachers instead of the net and by developing better friendships not only will u enjoy ur time more but u will find another way to vent and someone who will probably sympathise with u haha… and heaven forbid they should be able to actual help you when you tell them your problems.
July 16, 2009 at 6:58 am
chris
unlike us who hate you
July 16, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Petite Mystere
haha didnt say that. we’re just not much help is all.