Buhay sa Korea

Don’t you just love having credit cards? I went out with some classmates for lunch yesterday and I didn’t have a single cent with me! I was supposed to withdraw some money but I couldn’t find a branch of our bank nearby. I don’t like paying the bank fees they charge you when you withdraw from another bank.

Our low-interest credit card saved the day for me. Just like the commercial says, I could go out without cash but I wouldn’t dare without our card. Having a credit card here is so convenient. I also like that our card has a rewards program so I could accumulate points whenever I buy something.

When my husband is on a business trip, he brings with his the company’s business credit cards. He just doesn’t spend a lot when he has it. I remember him telling me that some of his colleagues would even charge their duty-free purchases on their company’s credit, but not him. Yeah, he isn’t that “wise.”

For those who are afraid of overspending, prepaid credit cards are better then. They can only spend what they have on the card and no more. At least, they still get the other conveniences of having a credit card, like purchasing online.

Auto insurance is what every vehicle owner should have. One of my nephews, A, had an accident last year in Ohio and luckily he wasn’t seriously hurt. However, the car he was driving (which he borrowed from his cousin) was totally wrecked on the passenger’s side. My niece, C, who owned the car had to replace it. Fortunately, she had a really good collision insurance so she didn’t have to spend so much for a new car.

The cost of insurance is worth the peace of mind it can give to the vehicle owner. I remember that three years ago, our car stopped in the middle of an expressway. We were lucky that we have a good coverage and we were taken care of really well.

If you want to find out the most appropriate auto insurance for your needs, you might want to read more about car insurance.

I have a sick child at home. My son has a fever (that started last night) and a sore throat but his sickness didn’t stop him from his desire to watch “Cars.”

Korea has an affordable national health insurance program that is available to all citizens and legal residents. The insurance card looks like the one in the picture. The system is co-payment, meaning in-patient or out-patient pays a percentage of the charges while the NHIC pays for the rest. The insurance system is good for basic health and dental health services (like root canal surgery). It doesn’t cover cosmetic procedures (surprise! surprise!) and Lasik though. One thing that a lot of people are not familiar with is that the operation for removing sweat glands is covered by insurance.

My son and I visited a local pediatric clinic near our home. It was just before lunch and there were lots of kids (vacation time) so it was really noisy inside. We waited for more than a half hour before we saw the doctor. I like the clinic’s equipments, which are specially made for kids. The consultation lasted less than 5 minutes. Clinics in Korea aren’t immune to the “palli-palli” or rush system. ㅋㅋㅋㅋThis is true in almost every doctor’s office that I’ve visited. However, there is one doctor who spends about 20 minutes whenever I go to him for consultation and he always talk to me in English.

We payed 2,000 won (US$2) for the consultation and were given a 3-day prescription. I sometimes don’t get why the doctors would only prescribe for three days because it’s sometimes inconvenient having to go back to there. Anyway, we payed 1,500 won (US$1.50) for the medicines that we got from the pharmacy. We’ll go back to the doctor after three days.

Find more information on Korea’s national health insurance from the NHIC website.

I live in a country where you are almost always judged by how you look. I didn’t wear makeup whenever I go out before I came here. The women here are known for their “3 inches of make-up” but I know that I don’t have to put on that much or else I’ll look like a corpse. You won’t catch my mother-in-law nor my sisters-in-law out in the neighborhood convenience store without makeup. The first thing they do in the morning is wash their face and put on makeup, before they even prepare breakfast. My MIL would always complain to my husband before whenever I try to go out without putting on layers of sticky cosmetics on my face. LOL

Since I’m going back to school, I’m thinking of updating the cosmetics I use. My must-haves are Chanel lipstick and Lancome mascara. I’m starting to use local brands now as they are more economical since makeup expires and I always feel like wasting money when I have to throw them out before I even use them all up.

I am learning so much from this makeup guide that I’m pretty sure now of the things I need to buy.

Last year, 6,166 people died in 211,662 traffic accidents in Korea (source: Chosun Ilbo). Korea ranked 27th out of 29 OECD countries when it comes to traffic fatalities in 2007. This is one of the reasons why I always insist on using a car seat for my son wherever we go. There is a law on the use of car seats here but you’d still see babies and kids seating on their parent’s lap in cars.

For my baby shower, my friends here contributed to buy an infant car seat that could also be used as a carrier. When we traveled to the US in Nov 2006, my brother bought us a Graco Snug Ride which is a really good infant car seat model. It is roomier than the other one we used and also doubles as a carrier.

Since my son is now two years old, he’s now in a convertible car seat that he could use until he’s 4. I’d have to admit that my son cried a lot in his car seat when he was a baby. However, I really insisted that he should be in it whenever we travel.

Have a child? Make sure you use a car seat for them. Check out this car seat buying guide for more info.

My son and I were at the Yongsan station last Thursday afternoon. There is a bookstore at the mall connected to the train station. I prefer going there because it isn’t as crowded as other bookstores are. I bought new puzzles for my son since he had mastered the old ones. After shopping, I decided to eat first but thankfully I found some lockers where I stored our stuff. It’s kinda difficult carrying things while running after your toddler.

When I was in school, I always enjoyed the convenience of school lockers and gym lockers. It’s really difficult to carry more than 10 books everyday. I just do my assignments at the library and leave my books and other stuff inside the metal lockers the school provide.

Now that I’m all grown up and living here, I appreciate the steel lockers that are available at the subways and supermarkets. For a small fee, you can store your belongings safely. There are locker benches too that saves space and keep things safe.

My husband asked me this morning if I could give him 20,000 won ($20). (I manage the household finances.) I told him I can’t but I could give him 100,000 won ($100). He asked me to say it again. It seems he’d forgotten that it’s possible.

There are only three notes in Korea: 1,000 (천원 cheon-won), 5,000 (오천원 o-cheon-won) and 10,000 (만원 man-won). Cashier’s checks substitute as 100,000 won notes. They are called 자기앞수표 (ja-gi-ap-su-pyo) in Korean and are issued by banks and withdrawal even from the ATM machines. As a legal tender, it can be used in groceries, department stores, etc.

I asked my husband before why bills more than 10,000 won are not available. I’m not sure if he was serious but he said it’s to fight corruption. South Korea is not free from corruption but it isn’t as rampant as in the Philippines, which is now the most corrupt country in East Asia. When I was applying for a driver’s license in 2000 the LTO “civil servant” told me upfront that I could get one for 200 pesos and I don’t even need to take the driving test. One of my friends has a professional driver’s license even if she doesn’t even know how to turn the car engine on. “Under the table” seems to be a misnomer in our country.

If someone wants to bribe a public official with $1 million, he would need boxes of 10,000 won for that and there are CCTV’s everywhere! Transferring money bank-to-bank is too risky as it’s traceable. (And yet there is still corruption here)

I never needed to sign on a cashier’s check when I use it to pay for groceries. I only keep bills just in case I need to buy a drink or street food. I prefer to use the credit card even if it’s just to buy a single bread from Tous Les Jours. I get discount for our Samsung card and our Kookmin credit card has a really good points system. In fact, my son’s electronic car was purchased through the points we’d collected on that card.

Will there be a 100,000 won in the future? The government will issue 50,000 won and 100,000 won bills next year. A prominent woman in her times, Shin Saimdang, will be featured on the 50,000 won bill. I remember that female activists protested this as they thought it’s anachronistic to feature someone who was only a “mother” on the bill. To this, my husband said Yi Yulgok would not be the prominent Confucian scholar respected by Koreans that he was if not for his mother.