My last day in Yeonggwang

This is just a temporary message.

I spent most of my last day cleaning and packing. I also went to the main NongHyup bank to wire all of my money back to the States. The bank manager (Mr. Kim) was a KATUSA when he served in the Korean Army so he speaks English and he was able to help me. Sadly the exchange rate was up to 1173 Won to the dollar. Kim Jong Il owes me $300 because his decision to send artillery south de-valued the Won.

A random picture - not Yeonggwang

My final payment

My final pay slip included my November paycheck, my apartment deposit (900,000 Won), my flight reimbursement (see below), and my 1-month bonus (2,472,520 Won). The pension withholding was the normal monthly amount of 112,450 Won and the same was true for the medical insurace (70,980 Won) so it appears that there are no withholdings on the end-of-contract bonus. The total payment to my bank account on Nov, 25th was 6,989,440 Won.

Base pay: 2,500,000 Won
Airfare reimbursement: 1,350,750 Won
Apartment deposit; 900,000 Won
Retiring allowance (bonus): 2,472,520 Won

DEDUCTIONS:
National pension:112,450
Medical insurance: 70,980
Lunch fee; 50,400

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My flight back to the US cost $1108.69. I bought it on September 11th but I was told I wouldn't be reimbursed until my final payout. I made a summary sheet on Excel that explained the amount I wanted to be reimbursed.

Cost of ticket in US Dollars; $1108.69

OANDA rate on September 11, 2010: 0.000856 KRW to USD

After 3% lost on transfer to US bank: 1,295,199 Won*
* This is the amount that needs to hit my account for me to be fully reimbursed.

A) Won before 3% conversion: 1,335,256 Won**
** This is the amount that I need to send so that after I lose 3% I get 1,295,199 in my account

B) NongHyup Bank remittance charge: 7,500 Won
C) NongHyup Bank cable charge: 8,000 Won

TOTAL Won to English Teacher: 1,350,756 Won***
*** sum of A, B, and C

On my final payslip it was noted that I received 1,350,750 Won (so I got really close)

NOTE: On November 26th when I actually received the money the OANDA rate was 0.00087 KRW to USD so I am essentially being reimbursed 1,274,356 Won instead of 1,295.199. However, I did get them to cover the 15,500 Won cost of wiring so losing 20,842 Won doesn't seem so bad.

PS - Here's the story behind the picture above. I tried to show two 3rd grade girls how to make paper snowflakes. I made the one on the bottom. We always say in the States that 'no two snowflakes look alike' but that is not true in Korea. Koreans replicate everything, so rather than making an original snowflake Elle make a replica of mine. Trust me, it's classic Korea.

My 1-month bonus

My monthly salary has been 2,500,000 Won. This includes:

1) a base of 2,200,000
2) 200,000 for being in a rural area
3) 100,000 for teaching at two schools

About a week before my departure I was told my bonus will be 2,472,520 Won. They have some funny math that they use to determine the amount of the bonus. All that I could understand was that it depended on the number of days in the month(s). I long ago stopped asking questions. Sorry DD, I'm sure this is completely wrong but I'm too busy to worry about 27,480 Won.

My school asked me to fill out the form you see below. I thought it was a bit funny especially since I am both the applicant and the 'retiree' so I had to enter my name in both sections. The 'registration number' was my ARC number and I was able to remind them that they already had my bank account information (since they pay me every month).

My "Application for Severance Pay"


The other odd thing is that I arrived on Nov. 30, 2009 but they have my contract start date as December 1st. That doesn't matter one bit to me but I received an email from the Yeonggwang Education Office stating that "your final workday of november(30th) will be register on sick trip in administration network system for convenience." I don't think I'll see any of this paper work but I think it could have been avoided if they had stated my contract dates starting November 30, 2009 and ending November 29, 2010.

I was originally told that I would not receive the bonus, apartment deposit and my airfare reimbursement until November 29th. I explained that I would need some time to get to the bank on the 29th so it would be easier to get the money on Friday (11/26). My principal agreed. Then when I turned the severance form the office administration woman suggested I would get that money on my last pay day (11/25). We'll see what happens.

My apartment appliances

I have pictures and instructions for the washing machine and rice cooker in different posts. Below are some notes on my appliances.

This is one of my heating pads. I bought it for 27,000 Won at the Yeonggwang General Store (see the Oct. 21st, 2010 post). My apartment is very cold and drafty so I used two of these. I put one on the bed for sleeping and one on my sofa to keep me warm while I watched TV and updated this website.


A simple dial that allows you to adjust from level 1 to 7. If you try to sleep on anything higher than level 3 you will wake up sweating.


You can see the red light indicating the heating pad is operating. There is no automatic shut-off feature so make sure to turn it off before you leave the apartment.


The microwave is rather simple. It doesn't have many settings or options.


I always leave the top dial pointing to the right side (3 o'clock position). The lower dial is simply the number of minutes you want it to run. I usually go for 2 minutes at a time. There's no 'on' button, it starts moving as soon as the door is shut. Also, if you remove something early and shut the door again it continues to operate until the timer reaches zero. Or, you can push the timer dial counter-clockwise back to zero.


The water boiler. It brings water to a boil in under 90 seconds. You just push down on the black tab you see at the bottom of the handle. It shuts off automatically when the water is boiling.


You can see the orange light that comes on when you push the black tab down.


The coffee maker. This was not provided with my apartment, I bought it at E-mart in Gwangju for 46,000 Won (if I remember correctly). If you drink coffee then you already know how it works. The hot plate does not shut off automatically so remember to flip the switch before you leave for school.


The Phil Green Juicer. This was another E-mart purchase (around 32,000 Won). I use the flat blade and small container (pictured) to grind coffee and the tilted blade and larger contain to make smoothies. All you have to do is thread the the blade attachment to the container, set it in to the appliance and give it a slight turn clockwise to lock the plastic tabs into place. Then you just press the button and let it grind away. My coffee beans take less than 15 seconds.


The picture is a little blurry but this is the correct amount of coffee when making two cups. Basically 2/3 of the small container.


This is the second space heater that I bought. I'm pretty sure I bought it at the Samsung store for about 45,000 Won. It uses a halogen bulb so it heats much faster that my red space heater. I highly recommend getting this kind since you want to heat you apartment as quickly as possible.


Here are the dials for this space heater. The left knob looks like a timer but I never use it. The right knob has 4 settings. The center (as pictured) is the off position. One notch to the right is Low-on, two notches to the right is High-on. One notch to the left is Low-on with the oscillating feature. Two notches to the left is High-on with the oscillating feature.


This is what it looks like when it's on. It has a shut-off switch on the bottom incase it gets knocked over but I never leave it on when I am out of the apartment or sleeping.


I tuck the cord under the door and set it up in the bathroom for a good 20 minutes every morning. This is the only way I can make the bathroom comfortable enough to take a shower.


Very few apartments have aircon but everyone gets a fan. Beware of fan death (ask Tony when you get here).


The fan dials and buttons. The left knob looks like a timer but I never use it. The right knob controls either a stationary setting or the oscillating feature. The far left button is the off button. Moving from left to right the next three buttons set the speed on low, medium, and high.


This is the first space heater that I got. Some Korean teachers grabbed it during my jet-lagged shopping spree on my second day in Yeonggwang. It works but it's much slower to heat the space than the orange one so I wouldn't but it again.


The control dial. The lower right setting with the gray background is the off position. The upper right is high (as pictured) is the high setting that uses all three bars. The upper left is the medium setting that uses two bars and the lower left is the low setting that uses a single bar.


You can see the top bar starting to glow orange.


The 2-burner stove isn't attached to the counter. Here is a picture taken when I moved it to clean underneath. Just be REALLY careful not to pull the hose off and open the gas line.


The vacuum cleaner.


There's a simple sliding button on the handle that goes from low to high.


You pull the extension cord out manually and retract it by pressing the yellow tab. Sometimes the cord doesn't full retract and you need to pull it out 8-10 inches to reset the spring mechanism and then hit the yellow tab again. The cord is about 15 feet long. If you pull it far enough you'll see some yellow tape that let's you know you're at the end. You don't want to pull it any further or the retracting spring might break.


The black dust compartment easily detaches so that you can empty the dust.

A few random photos

These pictures really aren't important. They are just some random and funny pictures that I wanted to keep to remind me of my year in Yeonggwang.

Excellence in plumbing. This is the men's room sink at Storm.


Blue Blockin'. Koreans like to put blue foam blocks on their car doors to prevent minor dings. It's also a way of reminding your neighbors that your car is new and shiny. It reminds me of the fad in the mid-90s when teenagers would purposely leave the tags on their new ball caps.




The Vanette. It's a mini-minivan that seats 4 people.





Korean trucks remind of the toys I used to play with when I was a kid.







The Matiz


The KOPEC dumpster kitties.

The national healthcare plan

All teachers are covered by the Korean national healthcare plan. At some point during your first two weeks here your co-teacher will take you to the local hospital for a 'health check'. It's a fairly simple process. They record your height and weight, have you read an eye chart, take a chest x-ray, read an eye chart, have your teeth looked at (I have no idea why) and give both a blood and urine sample. I have been told that the blood and urine are checked for HIV and illegal drugs but don't quote me on that.

You will be asked for a passport-sized photo when you go to the hospital so bring one with you. If you arrive in Korea without extra passport photos there is an automated photo booth in the lobby of the Gwangju immigration office so you can get photos when you go to apply for your ARC.

There is some English spoken at the hospital. Nearly every doctor and nurse is from the Seoul area and had some amount of English. Once you're in the healthcare plan visits are not very expensive. I paid something like 8,000 Won per session when I did physical therapy. I don't recall exactly but the one time I had an x-ray it was less than 20,000 Won. Also if you want a Japanese Encephalitis shot wait until you get here. I was quoted something like $600 for that in the US and here it was around 30,000 Won.

A few days after your health check you will be given a card that you bring with you whenever you go to the hospital.

Pepero day

Pepero Day is November 11th. A pepero is a thin stick-shaped cookie that is dipped in chocolate. The story that I heard was that the date 11/11 looks like 5 pepero sticks. Anyhow, all of the students come to school with pepero sticks and several of them were given to me.

The National Pension Office

While you are working in Korea pension money is taken from your monthly paycheck. Your school contributes 4.5% and you contribute 4.5%. At the end of your contract you have to go to NPS (National Pension Service) and arrange to have your money wired to your account at home.

Here is the English website for the National Pension Service: http://www.npc.or.kr/jsppage/english/main.jsp

The woman at the counter spoke fluent English. She gave me a packet of about 10 forms stapled together but I only used four of the pages (pictured below). She made photocopies of my e-ticket home, my US passport, my ARC and my voided check. She explained that my school's last contribution date for my account would be December 10th and that my lump-sum distribution would probably be send on or around December 31st.

Most of the information required for the process was what I expected. The form asked for my US social security number which surprised me a little bit. It also asked for US phone number and I currently don't have one so I just wrote down my email address. The third form was for my bank information. It asked for my branch location details which don't really make sense for large US bank chains. I filled in the bank's routing number instead.

You can download the forms in English from the website. I had a little trouble finding them before I went to the office but the woman showed me. From the main page click on 'Sitemap' in the upper right corner. On the sitemap page scroll down to the Social Security Agreement section and click on forms. The forms are number 20 through 11 on the first page and 10 through 1 on the second page. The US and Canadian forms are #4 and #3 respectively.

- 4 - [U.S.]Application for Korean Benefits under the Korea-U.S...
- 3- [Canada]Application for Korean Benefits under the Korea-C...

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http://www.npc.or.kr/jsppage/english/scheme/scheme_04.jsp

Here are the documents the website tells you to bring:
- An Application for Lump-sum Refund (This form is available at any regional office.)
- His/her passport
- His/her Alien Registration Card
- A copy of bankbook or similar (registered in the applicant's name)
- A copy of an airline ticket.
(the date of departure has to be in less than a month from the date of the claim)

I brought a voided check from my US bank account (either bring your checkbook over or at least a bank statement with your account number and name on it). I have an e-ticket for my flight home so I just brought a print-out of the e-ticket. I had my paper contract with me but they did not ask to see it.

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http://www.npc.or.kr/apppage/english/contact/contact_01.jsp

There are three NPS offices in Gwangju. I'm not sure which one I went to because the Yeonggwang employee drove me. I do know that it's on the same major road as the Gwangju bus terminal but heading away from downtown. Based on the descriptions below I assume it was the Buk-Gwangju Regional Office because it was on the first floor.

Gwangju Regional Office

Zip Code : 506-724
Address : 3rd Floor, Kukminyeongeum Gwangjuhoegwan Bldg. (국민연금 광주회관), 1582-4 Usan-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju
Phone No. : 062)958-2096
Fax No. : 062)455-3002
How to get there : Get on Bus No. Songjung29,Chumdan70, 20, Bongsun 37. Get off at Station of IlSin APT or Honam Hospital.
If you get off at station of IlSin APT, Walk straight about 200 meters to Honam Hospital.
You can find Kukminyeonkum Gwangju Building around Kukmin Bank or Honam Hospital.

Dong-Gwangju Regional Office

Zip Code : 501-025
Address : 8th Floor, Amore-Pacific Building, 5 Gumnamro, Gwangju
Phone No. : 062)230-0771~3
Fax No. : 062)4553029
How to get there : - The way from Gwang ju station : About 15 minutes toward the Amore-Pacific Building by walk
- Public transpotation
① Bus : No 19, 38, 39, 57, 70, 79, 160, 170, 180, 180-1, 1187, get off the bus at Lotte department store
② Subway : Get off at Gumnamno 5 ga station, take exit No. 1. It takes about 2 minutes.

Buk-Gwangju Regional Office

Zip Code : 500-864
Address : 1∼2nd Floor, Songgang Bldg.(송강빌딩), (33-42 Yu-dong), 291 Keum-Nam-Ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju
Phone No. : 062)520-8110
Fax No. : 062) 455-3041
How to get there : It is across from HanGuknochong(한국노총) at Yudong Intersection. Go to the 2nd floor.

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The sign in front of the office. It's next to a KEB building.


The building across the street.


You can see an E-mart sign in the distance. It's not the E-mart at the Gwangju bus terminal.


The entrance facing the street.


From the lobby of the building.


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I noted all of the required fields with a purple highlighter.

Here is the first form I filled out.


Just my full name and signature on this form.


The form asking for my bank information.


Just the date and signature on this page.


At the end the woman who helped me handed me this summary of my account. The current balance is highlighted in purple (2,222,420 Won). This shows the balance after 10 months of working it doesn't include contributions for my October or November paychecks.