Korea blog: conveyor sushi and Run DMC

I took this picture from a tv in my hotel...scratch that, motel tonight. They even had the adidas on, but they were laced up...Korean rap, you should've heard it.

I've been staying in this small room for the past 3 days waiting to move into a another place and begin work. The motel is close to the beach which is nice; I did swim in the ocean today, but I'm starting to feel like Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now, where he goes nuts in that hotel room in Hanoi waiting for his mission. Fortunately I move out tomorrow and begin work so I might get away without any smashed mirrors or cold showers.

The problem with motels is that you have every means of shelter with the exception of food, I had to leave 3 times a day to forage. Tonight being my last one, I wanted to get something more original than 7-11 ramen. So, I went to an automated sushi bar. This is a Japanese innovation on the traditional sushi bar...a bar you sit at and the "bartender" slices raw fish and serves it to you. The cooks placed the dishes on this conveyor belt which cycled around the restaurant. You simply pick up the dishes you wish to eat and stack them beside you afterwards.

The dishes are actually color coded so that you know which ones are the premium and which are economy. They even had bottles of booze making the rotation. Must be a Korean innovation.

I was so full....

Fly by Night

9:30 am Thursday, June 28th Columbus, Ohio to Atlanta - 1:25 hrs... 3 hour layover. Atlanta to Incheon, South Korea - 14:30 hrs...2 hour layover. Incheon to Busan - 1 hour 9:05pm Friday, June 29th.

I had forgotten how excrutiatingly boring trans-pacific air travel is. They now have those on-demand style screens behind every seat where you can choose from a balanced selection of hollywood currents and classics. I think that makes it worse! By the third movie I become very much aware that it is my third movie in a row and I have no interest, concern or even reaction to Cate Blanchet's sublime portrayal of Bob Dylan (I am not there...great movie, I had to turn it off so I could actually enjoy it in the proper frame of mind).

Anyway, ... where was I going again? Oh yeah, Korea.

So, I'm on the beach at Haeundae by 10:30 having a beer and remarking on the fact that everything is completely unremarkable. Like I had never left. I mean, the honeymoon period ended before I collected my bags in the airport. By the time I got to the cab I had remembered how to give directions in Korean. By the time I got to the hotel, I had remembered how to say thank you. Today, I took the subway to the school I'll start at next tuesday without even thinking twice on how to get there. I even did all of my prep and photocopying for the week. S'like I never left.

It is for only two months, and I do have a residence and a class schedule waiting for me come autumn.

Still, despite it all I am far from indifference. I must have that fresh "new carpet" smell about me as I have noticed some odd things today. For instance, I enjoyed a sideways glance from everyone around me on the subway. Maybe that was always the case before and I had just become oblivious. Also, people here make weird noises and it smells funny. And they act super awkward around me when I need to deal with them (cell phone store, super mart, PC room...etc), and no one watches where they are going.

None of this bothers me...at all. Jet lag rules!!

This smile is for the Delta agent at the check-in counter at the Columbus, OH. (CMH). I think his name was Dave or Derek, or Dumbassed Dickhead...whatever! The guy who told me my bags would go all the way to my final destination and I wouldn't have to collect them and re-check them after clearing customs in Seoul. I even asked you twice Dave, or David...I'll just call you Dick.

Dick, have you any idea what re-entering a secure customs area in a foreign airport to collect your unclaimed baggage because you didn't collect because you told me it would go to my final destination involves??

Do you?

(Actually, it took me all of five minutes. I just told security that the Americans lied to me and they laughed and gave me a personal escort...but the point is that you can get bent!)

South Korean E-2 Visa: A Step by Step Guide to the New Rules

I have decided to return this summer to South Korea and have spent the past month undergoing the new visa application procedure which is remarkably more tedious than the 3 visas I had acquired on previous contracts in SK. It used to be a matter of a single visit to any consulate and a 24 hour waiting period. I decided to post my personal experience with this new process

(Please note that the regulations seem to be in a state of flux and this only represents a chronology of my own efforts to obtain a visa from the South Korean Consulate in Toronto, Canada. Also, all days are business days and exclude weekends and holidays)

Day 1

Request Police background check and a vulnerable sector check.

This should be done before even thinking about anything else (what school to work for or agency to emply). The background check is easy, but the vulnerable sector check is time consuming. It must be done in person in a city you can prove your residence (driver's lisence, bell bill, or lease will do the trick). I did mine in London which took 7 days, I've heard it can take from 2 to 6 weeks depending on the city. Check the police websites.

Request transcripts (4) from university and original diploma (if necessary).



Day 6

Obtained police and vulnerable sector check. (transcripts were rushed and available on day 3)

Day 7

Arrived in the South Korean Consulate with:

• notarized police/vulnerable sector background check
• notarized copy of degree
• sealed and signed transcript

The consulate notarized the documents with their offical seal (2.20$/doc)

(any lawyer can notarize these documents, they usually charge 20$ a doc...you can even show up at the consulate and they will give you a business card which will direct you to a lawyer's office 10 minutes down St. Clair where they'll do it on the spot...you don't need to notarize your diploma if you are willing to send the original, but it might get folded up or damaged)

This is definitely the first hurdle, but to progress any farther you will need to have found a school to work for. The school will give you a contract to sign and request that you send them the documents you had notarized (a second time!) from the consulate in addition to a signed contract, 2 sealed and signed transcripts, 2 passport signed photos (you'll need 5 total).

Day 7 (con't)

Purolated the documents to the school/agency.

Don't do it online, go to one of their offices and if you can your original diploma to fit into one of their document pouches (I couldn't hence the notarized copy), you can save a lot of time by having them officialize the package as "documents only". This will fast track the package through customs in SK.


Day 10

Purolator package arrives at the school in SK, they take it to the local immigration office. It is said to take 3-4 days to process.

Day 13

Package arrives.

Day 17

School e-mails me a confirmation number. This number belongs on the top right of the visa application form you can download from the consulate site:

http://www.koreanconsulate.on.ca/en/?b_id=77&c_id=343&mnu=a02b03&start=1

Filled in the form and affixed my 3rd passport photo to the box on the top right hand side (the other two photos will be needed upon arrival for your ID card). Arrived at the SK consulate with:

• completed visa application form
• passport with 6 months validity left
• sealed/signed transcript
• 55.00$ visa process fee

At this time I was given an appointment for an interview and an interview checklist to fill out along with a receipt (Don't lose the receipt, you'll need it to retrieve you passport).

Day 21

Arrived at the consulate for my interview with my checklist completed. The interview was short and...well, I was asked 3 questions; the first two concerned my name and birthdate.

Day 22

Checked my visa status on-line and it said it was ready to be picked up!! Now I just need to make my 4th trip to consulate and I am ready for legal employment in South Korea.