Subtle hurdles for living in a Foreign country.

So, I've settled into my residence for a few days now by the time I'm writing this, and I can safely say that I've spent at least 2-300 bucks (300,000 won) on items for the residence I'm living in. No offense to the prior tenant, but he didn't leave me with much to work with. Despite a few culinary bits, plates, pots, pans and the assorted utensils, I was more or less left with the clothing on my back, and the mass of supplies I brought with me; no worries on that part, I CAME PREPARED! I had enough clothing, bed sheets, toiletries and slippers to last (slippers are another big thing as you always wear them in your home.)

Setting my apartment wasn't easy to be honest, I had no clue how to manage a few major things; number one was the lack of hot water when I tried to take a shower the following morning of moving in. It wasn't pleasant, but there was little I could do as my internet wasn't access able (yeah, wasn't told the pass code and forgot my wire cable at home thinking I didn't need it.) I've come to realize however that many places such as malls and a few coffee shops will have unhindered free-wifi. The misconception of 'free wifi' here is that you need to log into it with your ID card which I did not have. (i'll get to that later) but thanks to some hard searching, I found that the major shopping mall near my apartment and a waffle shop have free public wifi. I was able to send a picture to my Recuriter who was more than happy to provide me with the proper method of accessing hot water.

Yeah, let me touch on that real quick; my internet wasn't accessible at the moment, I had no clue what the pass code was and it wasn't something I could get easily. I hadn't been told by the last tenant and due to the weekend being the time I settled in, the Director was unable to reach me as I also didn't have a working phone. Fortunatly, I've been able to go to the local stores nearby and purchase a 10 meter wire for the network, but its poor quality compared to the wireless functionality, but its all I got to work with until I figure out the pass code.

Anyway, after some tinkering and a few conversations with my recruiter, I got the idea on how to work my water system. Apparently, this little gizmo manages not just your hot water, but the heating of the apartment. Unlike Canada, Korea uses floor heating with hot water pumped from the systems into pipe work beneath the floor. This adds a very comfortable level of warmth, but at the same time lacks the air quality and enveloping warmth of a Heating/AC system like you find elsewhere.. and this causes some serious problems.

Especially since I didn't expect was the mold.

Mold...EVERYWHERE!
Apparently, due to the humidity and the way most Korean homes are designed with heating through their flooring, they lack the same quality air control that North American homes have, in this response, two things radically different tend to happen. 1: people will clean with windows wide open, even in the winter, for better airflow, and 2: mold will ALWAYS grow, no matter how new the building is. There are methods to reduce it, keeping your room/home heated and the exhaust/AC you have running always. Its a bit of a nuisance on energy but it saves for dealing with Mold in the long run. I am fortunate to say that my school is providing a cleaning team to come in this Saturday and clean up the mess and mold, so hopefully for the year I won't have to deal with it.

That said, there is one last thing I want to talk about; Alien ID. I mentioned it before that it was something I needed to get, and let me say its quite important having it. Both Korean Citizens and Foreign residence need to possess an ID card of sorts, almost like a drivers license, but this allows you to connect to the internet in public places, use the hospital, and of course get a bank account, which is why its important that you get it for the school.
I went to get it today, and found that it was quite the hectic experience, so let me play out what people should do so when they go they can figure things out.

First and foremost, you need to have done a Medical check IN KOREA prior, this is important as they send you a sealed envlope with your information. You then need the recommendations from your school (which say you work there) as well as provide an application form which the school gets for you. A pass-port style picture (the one's I mentioned in my earlier post) come into play here as your recruiter will send them to you. Lastly, you need a PHOTOCOPY and the ACTUAL copy of your passport, but you can get that at the Immigration office in Seoul.

When you arrive, the first thing I was told to do was take a ticket number from the Alien Registration section of the ticket giving machine. This is very important as the numbers go up VERY fast. We had run into a guy who had number 07, while I had number 92, so you can see its a very long wait and is always crowded with people, especially since the place opens at 9am and I got there at 915. Once you have your ticket, you have to pay for the ID. This costs at least 30,000 Won (30 bucks for pick up) or 36, 000 Won (36 bucks For Delivery). Once you have the rec pit for the payment, you take it, your photocopies and everything else to the main room where, if you're lucky, your number will come up.
Once it does, after a rather long wait, it only takes a few moments to hand over the paper work, passport, photocopy of passport, receipt of payment, medical check (Mind you, in a SEALED envelope) and of course your application. Once that's done, a two week waiting period meets you and of course, a finger-print scan and then you're done!

Sounds easy? Perhaps, but in reality it isn't. Pictures weren't on my mind when I was there, but its not as complex as people might think; just long lines, no real help, and a rather annoying sense of urgency.

Either way, we got it done, and now, after my third day is done, I plan to sleep.

Night!