Wrapping it up in Korea

I'm finally back in the US, so this post will be dedicated to tying up all the loose ends in Korea and my final days with my squad.

When preparing to leave, it's important to pay attention to these things in no particular order:

1. end your phone contract
2. pay your final heating and electric bills
3. get letters of recommendation
4. close your bank account
5. apply for your pension refund
6. clean your house
7. give up your Alien Registration Card (ARC)

The first thing I did was apply for my pension refund. In korea, you pay into the national pension, but when you leave you can get up to 2 years' worth of that money. I was here for 18 months, but I was bad and didn't pay for 6 months, so I got 12 month's worth of pension back. If you are going to Korea: Don't be like me, pay your pension and think of it like a private savings account. You have to apply for your pension about 1 month before you leave to ensure you'll get it on time. Remember to bring a Korean you trust, like a mentor teacher, co-teacher, or trusted colleague.

You have to bring several things to the NPS (National Pension Service) office, including your plane ticket and the account number for your AMERICAN bank. This is so they can send the money directly to your account. You can priovide a billing statement to meet this requirement. Of course, you can also choose airport pick-up, (which I did, but failed...) but be sure to make sure you have the option to have direct deposit too. Ask about it, it is possible. When you are close to the end of your stay, the NPS will send you a list of things you need to get your pension back. 

After that, ask your mentor teacher(s) for a letter of recommendation. This is just in case you want a similar job in the future. I asked for 6 copies. 3 of the copies are in case I want to apply for JET within the next 2 years, but the others were for EPIK and other places. You NEVER know. Give your MT plenty of time to do the letter. Tell them that the letter has to be sealed and they have to write their name over the flap to prove it. They don't do that in Korea, so be sure to explain it thoroughly.

The next thing I did was pay for my final heating and electric bills. This is important because In korea, you pay for your usage at the end of the billing cycle. You pay for march usage in april. April usage in May, and so on. You have to contact your providers to see what you owe and pay it when you leave. I just paid it directly to my landlord to make my life easier, but you can also pay directly at the bank.

Next is ending your phone contract. Ending your contract can get pretty expensive depending on the phone and when you end the contract. You also have to pay your final bill (also based on usage). If you haven't paid off your phone, the rest immediately becomes due so if you got an expensive phone, be sure to pay a pretty penny for your phone. You can deactivate your contract at any store that belongs to your carrier. I used Olleh, and thus I had to go to an Olleh store to deactivate the phone. Altogether I payed about 250,000 won to deactivate my phone because of the final phone bill, the amount left to pay for the phone, and the severance fee. It could have been MUCH more expensive. The good thing is once you end your contract, your phone is then unlocked and you are free to use it in the US if you so choose (I did, for the next few weeks ^^).

Remember to pack and clean your apartment. If you start doing this early, you won't get swanped in the end. I packed everything about a month before I had to leave and basically lived out of my carry-on suitcase. This made it easy for me to clean my aparment, expecially since I'm already a pretty neat person to begin with. If you try to clean bit by bit, you'll get it all done.

After you pay all your dues, it comes the time to close your bank account. I did this on my last full day in Korea, the day before I left. It's just easier that way. You have to go to your bank and ask a teller to do this. Be sure that a Korean is with you or that there is a teller who speaks English. I closed my account in Seoul, so I didn't need my mentor teacher, there is always at least one English speaking teller in Seoul banks. You will need your identification, your bankbook, and your bank card. The teller will close out the account for you and take out what was in there, and give it to you cash. It's an easy process, so don't be too nervous.

Lastly, you will have to give up your ARC at the airport. This means that your visa is officially expired and the next time you go to Korea it will have to be with a different program and you'll have to get a new ARC, or as a tourist. I didn't want to give mine up, but unfortunately that wasn't an option. It was then that I realized I wasn't going to be coming back. It was a bitter-sweet thing.

Welp. That's all for now. My next post will be about my personal experience getting my French visa in Seoul. This post will be relevant to anyone applying for a visa abroad.

Cheers~~