I am Baeksu?
Korean life June 24th. 2006, 9:46pmOne of the requirements of a teaching visa to enter Korea is that you have a sponsor that allows you to stay in the country. As such, to stay in the country for a significant amount of time, you need to be employed. In my experience people without jobs usually have about a week or so to find work before they need to worry about immigration. I’m not sure if this is a legal grace period, or just the result of the slow processing at the immigration offices. I’ve never been in the situation for an extended period of time to know.
Anyway, I am now the sole unemployed person in my Korean family. My father in law, a seasonal manual laborer that goes through draughts of unemployment is currently working, and my brother in law has passed his driver’s exam, meaning he has all the requirements for employment set out before him by his last interview. He’ll be moving soon to make phones in Gumi, another city known for industrial jobs. This poses a problem, as we are going on vacation for two weeks and need to find someone to take care of our dog Yoshi.
Now I’m the only person that doesn’t have a job.
My first day of unemployment was actually fairly good, as days go. The wife and I got up at 4AM, took a taxi to the edge of town, and watched Korea lose to Switerland (He was OFF SIDES! Really bad referees!) Anyway, after catching a bus back to our part of town, we took two extended naps and did some laundry. It’s probably one of the most relaxed Saturdays I’ve spent in the longest of times. After our second nap we got invited over to eat Sam-gae-tang (Chicken with Rice and Ginseng) at my In law’s house.
Currently my plans are to get my employment documents organized and find out all I can about another university hiring for a similiar position to the one I just left. I have two weeks to look for work before we move the house and go to the States on vacation. After that, I have up to a month or more to look for work when I return. If things aren’t looking up by then, I might feel the sting of unemployment instead of it’s endearing qualities of excessive freetime and a chance to sleep in all day.
2 Responses to “I am Baeksu?”
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June 26th, 2006 at 9:06 am
Those endearing qualities wear off after about a month. Trust me, I know. Having been marginally employed for the better part of a year and a half, take work if you can get it.
June 26th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
Noted.
I’ve still got a few jobs calling me, and even one willing to get rid of someone so that I can take their place on the staff that I talked to today. I have offers.
I’m going to be looking into one really nice job at another university, but if that falls through, I still have options sitting on the table. There just aren’t people with this much experience looking for work most of the time, so I can still afford to be a little picky. Also, I’ve got someone supporting me, boh In the country, financially, and emotionally. I don’t have the desperation that my fellow unemployed teachers face of needing work to stay in the country.
If I’m still looking for work in August, then I think the despair will set in. Right now though, I’m enjoying what would have been my vacation had I kept working anyway.