I'm sorry to have kept you out of the Korean loop for so long. I'm sure you were on pins and needles waiting to hear all about my exploits. The weekends have been nothing but wonderful including rooftop card games, epic ferry trips (norebang included), shopping in Seoul (I finally found a thrift store!), birthday parties in Seosan, and "brunchee." I'd like to take a turn in the direction of this blog and start to introduce you to the day to day experiences of being an expat in Korea.
Challenge #1: Banking!
It has taken me nearly two months to get banking squared a way. After receiving my ARC, I opted to open an account with the local branch, Nong Hyup. If you say Nong Hyup anywhere in Korea, everyone seems to know exactly what you are talking about, so "local" is a loose term in this case.
My first experience at the bank was fine. My co-teacher said, "There is a girl at the bank who speaks pretty good English, so you shouldn't have a problem." So I went to conquer this beast. I went to the only Nong Hyup I knew of in town and set up my account. Unfortunately, the girl was not there so I worked with a kind, however nervous, teller who utilized his handy-dandy phrase book. We seemed to be getting everything figured out alright. I even mustered my Konglish, "car-duh," to get a debit card. Little did I know that this would only be the beginning of something much bigger.
Zoom ahead two weeks when I received my first month's pay (via direct deposit) and I needed to do some online banking. I already knew I had to jump numerous hoops to set this program up, but I was more than willing to work with Nong Hyup to get it ready to go. So, during my lunch break I went to the small Nong Hyup chain in my school's town. I got many stares and frightened giggles from the tellers, but luckily there was one man on staff, Sean, who spoke great English. He told me he usually does Commercial Investments, but that I was the exception to his daily work.
So, Sean got me set up. He noted that I wasn't "in their system" so he made copies. I wrote out my full name in the tiny space allotted for it (Elizabeth is a ridiculous name for Korean forms...). I signed my name in the tinier space still. I thought that would be the end of it, but then I tried to send money home online...and nothing.
I went back to Sean where he did banker-y things and discovered that the first teller who set up my account made an error in the string of numbers needed for my account. He fixed it and then said, "It should work now, but text me if there is a problem." So I tried banking online at home, and still nothing.
I text Sean, and after a bit of research on his end, he told me I had to go to the main branch in Taean to get things fixed (Wait, there is another NH bank in Taean? It's closer to my house? The English speaking girl works here?). Sean said I was to meet a man (his superior) who would be able to help me and get things sorted. So, after convincing my VP to let me leave early, I went to Taean. With my bill payments looming, I was ready to be done with this. Again, I was told I wasn't "in their system" so more copies were made and more papers were signed. After explaining I wanted to remit payment to the States, I was directed to a woman who was to help me with the paperwork in person (skipping the online component). However, she told me that she could not help me because she had too much work to do and didn't have time (customer service much?). Distressed and a bit pissed, I went home to try sending money online.
Nothing.
I text Sean.
We set a time to meet - late Thursday evening.
I returned to Sean's bank on Thursday evening where I was told that the person in Taean made a mistake and they were very sorry. One of the primary mistakes being setting up a brand new account (the person who set up my account didn't give me access to international remittance). So Sean set forth to fix the multiple mistakes incurred in my bank accounts short life. He explained that because of all of these mistakes Sean was able to talk big wigs into accessing the banking network outside regular hours (sneaky!). So, we drank tea, filled out forms, opened a new account, closed an account, and sent money home! All was wonderful.
As I had this lovely window to get things done, I asked Sean about an international debit card. He said it wouldn't be a problem, but he wouldn't be able to process it 'til tomorrow. I thought that would be fine. So I signed up for one and Sean said he would drop it by my school the next day.
I got the card as expected and went to take money out at the ATM.
Nothing.
I text Sean (panicked/livid).
I started to take this personally.
Sean felt awful, but said he couldn't help with anything until Monday when the bank opened.
I went back to the bank on Monday. It turned out that the person who created the card made a mistake. He forgot to link my account to the card, so I was simply holding a piece of cheap plastic all weekend. I was told that this mistake occurs maybe once or twice a year. Sean was furious with his coworker because so many bad things had happened to me. From my view, it seemed that a bit of K-Drama had erupted in the Nong Hyup.
Sean said sadly, "I'm sorry. You are very unlucky," and handed me a coffee as he fixed the final problem.
Indeed, I am,
-Bets
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