Wrapping Up

Hey Everyone,

I just wanted to let you all know that this will be my last travel post in South Korea. I have returned home in the United States and working on more professional development. I will not be updating this blog anymore because I'm not in South Korea anymore. However, I am still active on my skincare blog. Check it out here! If you have questions regarding about teaching in South Korea, you can shoot me an email at chui(2 letter e) glam@gmail.com. I will be happy to answer your questions. If you found this blog helpful please like my facebook and follow me on instagram. 

Thank you for all your love and support! 

XOXO chuieeglam

Renewing Contract in Korea

July-December 2015
June

-Health Checkup

Jinyeong Hospital with my coteacher

Before resigning my contract for the following year, I had to get a health checkup to make sure I don't have any diseases, illnesses, and etc. Upon getting one, I had to make sure that I have brought my passport photo, passport, money ($50), and my arc card. My co-teacher had gave me a list of hospitals that would accommodate for the necessary health checkup that is required for the renewal. It was mostly in Korean so it was a bit difficult but he pointed to the ones that was the closest  hospital. He mentioned that I also been to the Jinyeong Hospital when I arrived in Korea to get a health checkup last year but to be honest I didn't even remember because I was so jet-lagged. All I remember was the science teacher who spoke the most English at the school picked me up. (Barely)  He drove me around to get several things done. Also my memory of getting their was very vague since we used a car. I really did not know how he thought I was getting there. Anyways, I had to go back and double check with him before wandering off to find the hospital. My co-teacher than insisted on taking me to the hospital near our school. The hospital was about 35 minutes away from Chodong. I had an early leave for school for the health checkup so, I was exempt from teaching after school classes but after we headed back to school where I sat at my desk until the bell rang. 

-Passport Photos

Finding a place to take passport photo can be a bit difficult, especially if you've live in a small town. I walked around my neighborhood were most of the shopping stores where located and I was able to find a family portrait studio....but it was closed...I have seen a photo booth of some sort at my grocery store, homeplus. I took the chance to head over and to my amazement the booth was a small photo booth for passport photos. Theses are the one you would see back home to take pictures with your friends and etc but this was dedicated to specifically professional photos for applications, visas, passport photos, and etc.

By this time I am a sweating pig walking to Homeplus, my hair was slowly getting soaked along my hairline. My pit sweat was seeping through my underarms. It wasn't pretty. As soon as I got to Homeplus I looked for the passport photo booth. I sat there for a good 15 minutes to cool down and dry out my sweat. It was literally like a mini photo booth except it was for passport photos. It was 10,000 Won ($9-10 USD) for about 15 passport photos. Phew! Mission Accomplished!

-Contract Renewal Process

The question that was brought up to me after the first couple of months working in Korea was "Will you resign for the next year?". I was flattered that I was asked to resign but my answer was not definite. I was still getting the feel around South Korea and still trying to figure my way around the spectrum of teaching. So I simply said, "I don't know yet." After a year flew by, I decided to resign my contract to save money and pay for my undergraduate loan that has accumulated over the years. I have resigned my contract with the main school principal that hired me along side my co-teacher. The salary was incorrect so I have told my co-teacher and he said that he would fix it. I firmly told my co-teacher that I trust him so I've signed it since I was hesitated on signing the contract. Here goes to another year of happily teaching English. I have to say time is flying by faster than I've expected while I'm in South Korea.

-Busan Immigration Office

After resigning my contract for another year, I had to go to the immigration office and extend my stay in Korea or else I will be illegally living in Korea. Which will most likely result in deporting my butt to the states. The immigration office has changed location from the last time I went. It is relocated near Seomyeon. It takes about an hour to get my arc card renewed.

How to get to Busan Immigration office from Busan station:

Walking out from the main entrance of the station, make a left and walk along the sidewalk and walk until you pass an overpass. Keep walking straight until you see a nice vintage coffee boutique. You will see the Korean Air building, walk up those steps and once you enter it is right in front of you.

The address is 146 Jungang-daero, Jung-gu, Busan. In case you get lost, call the office 051-4613-0916.

The immigration office services include registration, visa application & extension, citizenship and other immigration related matters.

Just a fair warning, some of the workers at the immigration office are not as friendly as they are so busy.

Korean National Pension Office

So there is an important step before leaving South Korea after working 2 full years or more. Retrieving the national pension lump-sum that has accumulated over the years.
There is an option of doing overseas but  I prefer doing everything before leaving SK.

First, find the location of the branch that is near by clicking the first link or going to the national pension service tab and click on "contact us". This is where all the locations of the regional pension office are held. Hovering over the location where you live and click it, on the right side it comes up with a list of the offices. Choose the one that is near.

SS http://english.nps.or.kr/jsppage/app/english/contact/contact_01.jsp#jisaContent

After finding the location of the branch, plan a day to get there, either ask to leave early from work or on a desk-warming day. The pension office are open Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm, closed on weekends.

The one that is closest for me is Gimhae-Miryang Regional Office

Before heading over to the office make sure to have the following (Only for those applying before departing from Korea):

1. An application for Lump-sum refund (available at the office)
(If you like doing it before hand, here is the application.)
2. Passport
3. ARC: Alien Registration Card
4. Bank Account
5. Flight ticket out of SK

For abroad procedures and others check here.

How foreigners apply for lump-sum refund

Application for lump-sum refund

How to transfer money from South Korea to US for FREE

1. Make sure to have a US Citibank account. Simply apply online, here is the link: Applying to Citibank online

2. Applying to Korea Citibank, which requires to come in to a branch in South Korea.

There is a Citibank in Busan, South Korea which is the one I went too. I came out of town. I took a train from Miryang to Busan. 

From Busan station, I walked out to get to the subway and took the subway to Seomyeon station, Exit 9, turn left at Hanabank, walk straight down, it is on the left side near the police station. 

Make sure to have a passport, ARC card, USB.

Also make sure to ask them for online banking, a card will be issued with code numbers.

3. I had issues with signing online so I called the customer support center and Sang Min helped me all the way through which was awesome. Here is here number, just in case your having trouble too: Sang Min 02-3704-7711

4. Once settling down from all of that. After Sang min's help I was issued a certificate on to my USB which needs to be saved safely.

   1. Plug in USB with certificate
   2. Go to citibank.co.kr on Internet Explorer
   3. Click on sign on certificate
   4. Click whichever disk it is located in, EX. Disc (J)
   5. Enter password
   6. Account is shown

5. Reissuance/Issuance Certificate

   1. Go to Sign on > Certificate Center > Click your situation
   2. Fill in information.
   3. Confirm via phone.

6. Let's transfer some moolah!!! Go to citibank.co.kr on internet explorer or else it would not work.

7. Sign on > Banking: There will be a select certificate screen that pops up. Click the location of the certificate and enter the password. It will grant access to your account.

8. Go to the Banking > F/X Global > Remittances > Citibank Global Transfer

9. Agree to the 2 terms. 

10. Click on T/T to Frg/non-Res, fill in information that applies to you.

11. Click next, confirm and enter the code. 

12. There will be a pop up of the overview and password is needed. The screen will show if the transaction was successful or not.

I hope this helps. I know for sure I had a headache trying to figure it out on my own but I was surely on my way with the great customer support that Citibank provided. I was able to happily transfer money over. 

There is NO fees, which I love about Citibank! Until next time! :)

3D Feathering Eyebrow in Busan

My eyebrows are really sparse and not as full (Seen below). I decided to take advantage of the 3D Feathering Eyebrow in South Korea while I'm here. It was very difficult finding places that actually did 3D Feathering Eyebrows since my Korean is not as fluent. Here is her work from previous clients. Check out her blog: http://cafe.naver.com/cocolily2/812 (It's all in Korean but her work is shown by pictures)

3D Feathering Eyebrow is also called eyebrow embroidery. It is a cosmetic tattooing which is a semi-permanent makeup known as pigment embroidery. It is very common procedure done in Southeast Asia. 

The thoughts of thinking about eyebrow tattoos is not the ones with a high arched, straight line with a weird discolored that looks bluish-gray or the fact that they were drawn on with a crayola crayon. It's not!!!

Eyebrow embroidery is a cosmetic procedure that is a semi-permanent pigment. Pigment is pushed into the surface of the skin with a fine blade that mimic the growth of your eyebrow hairs. It creates bolder, natural looking full eyebrows (After the procedure).

If would like to get your Eyebrows done in South Korea, I highly recommend her! Keep reading. I will post about how to get there and the process done for my natural looking eyebrows. It is by appointment only so call to book an appointment. Her English is not great so speak really slow 010-9326-1606. The cost of the 3D feathering eyebrow is 150,000 Won. It includes an eyebrow consultation, touch up, and ointment after the procedure. (Price is from 2015, Price may change)

How to get to the 3D Feathering Eyebrow Boutique in Seomyeon, Busan:

1. From Busan Station, take the subway to Seomyeon.

2. Take Exit 2, walk straight out until Olive young is on the left. Take that left and walk straight down.

2. Walk down this street.

3. It is in this building called SSang Yong Apartment. Once at the intersection, turn right.

4. Cross the street and enter the Ssang Yong Apartment building. 

5. Take the elevator up to 12. Her place is in 1216. 

Inside is a very nice set up area. She has a white vanity on the left on the right she has a nice comfy bed laid out. 

Let's start with the procedure:

1. The tattoo artist will draw the outline of the eyebrows. She did a look what she thought looked good. She does a really good job!!! (She is a artist and she showed some of her work. It was pretty!)

2. She will place a numbing agent on your eyebrows with a plastic wrap to cover it. The wait game begins for about 20-30 minutes.

3. After the numbing cream has started to work it's magic, she told me to lay down on to the bed. She starts to begin the procedure. The tattoo artist uses a new micro-blade and she starts the eyebrow design. It feels like scratches for the most part but it did not hurt at all. (bleeding can happen, I bled just a little)

4. Afterwards, she adds a thick pasty pigment all over my eyebrows for about 10-20 minutes. 

5. She will wipe off the pigment paste and add extra strokes if needed and I also told her to add some strokes on places I've thought she missed.

6. After the process is done, there will be an ointment that needs to be applied. It is almost like Vaseline. I've applied a rice size amount in the morning and night for about 2 weeks. 

The instructions are in Korean but I will write it in English here. Make sure not to scratch or wet your eyebrows as much for two weeks. The peeling starts on the end of the 1st week or second do not pick it. HANDS OFF! Let it fall off naturally. Picking it may cause scarring. It may look dark but it will fade as the week goes on and it will look natural.

On the instruction card, the tattoo artist has written the days for when the touch up session should be scheduled. It is usually a month later and the procedure is quite the same.  

Here are my before and after pictures: 

I have also took a friend here and she LOVES her eyebrows. Here is a glimpse of hers.

UMF Korea 2015

It was amazing as I love EDM. Check Ultra 2015!

How to apply to become an English Teacher

1. You need money about $3000 USD. 

The reason why I suggest having that much money is because of the documents that must be obtained, cost a butt load of money prior to submitting your application. 

Taking the TESOL and TEFL course are also pricey. I took advantage of the 150 hours online TESOL course available on Groupon which was about $69 and a 20 in hour TEFL class in New York which cost $700 including transportation and hotel fees.

 Groupon has two TESOL online courses available but are not always there so snatch it when you can.

This will also cover the airfare that will to be purchased after you've got hired. This will be reimbursed after 1 month of working in South Korea.

I've used Korean Horizon. Alistair was my recruiter and he did a good job. My experience using Korean Horizon was fast and efficient. There are other bloggers that didn't have the same experiences as I did. 

Here is the link: 

https://www.koreanhorizons.com/sub02.php

Good Luck!