Buhay sa Korea

I’m not sure if it’s really an Asian thing, being an Asian myself. Back home in the Philippines, I’d read news about men killing or getting killed because of staring. Lately, we’ve heard about the famous Korean actor Lee Dong Gun’s brother who was killed, apparently because he and a friend “looked down” at two Chinese guys.

Here in Korea, being stared is something you have to get used to as a foreigner or if you don’t look Korean. I’d read so many complaints by foreigners regarding this. My friends and I also talked about this several times. One time, my friends and I were in Myeongdong, in front of the now-closed Kosney, when about three girls came and stared at us from head to toe! We just stared back with our eyebrows raised. It is something that not a lot of Koreans can do. I know it sounds immature but sometimes you just have to look back.

My husband and I get a lot of stares whenever we go out. We just think of it as plain curiosity specially if the “stare” doesn’t seem malicious. After four and half years of living here, you just get used to it. And sometimes attribute it to having brown skin, a body needing Curvelle, or just being plain different.

The article below might anger a lot of animal rights activitists. Dog meat is openly traded in Korea. There are restaurants specializing in 보신탕 (bo-shin-tang or dog stew - also 몽몽탕). What can I say? I haven’t eaten dog meat and I don’t have any plan to.

Seoul categorizing dogs as livestock

Seoul will propose to the central government that dogs should be categorized as livestock in order to properly regulate the trade of dog meat and strengthen sanitation inspections…

The categorization allows for the mass breeding and butchering of dogs and serving of their meat at restaurants, but does not let the authorities apply regulations for livestock to the trade of dog meat…

For now, the authorities can only take a legal action against those who butcher dogs in a brutal way or cause pollution to the environment during the slaughter process, according to the Law on Animal Protection and the Law on Pollution, respectively.

Hagwons (학원) are private cram schools that are oh-so-ubiquitous in South Korea. Almost every student in Korea, from elementary to middle and high schools, attend private classes after their regular schools. Some start their classes as early as 5 o’clock in the morning and ends at 11 in the evening. Most of these classes are for English, advanced Math, Korean, History, and some are for special classes like Music, Arts and TaeKwonDo. My husband’s eldest niece, who is just eleven years old, has been attending private schools since she was five! Now that she’s in middle school, she attends classes from 8 o’clock in the morning until 10 at night. At home, she still has to study online. They also have regular school classes every other Saturday and attends private school even on Sundays. They don’t spend their summer and winter vacations doing nothing either. They also have private classes during that time. I’m sounding so redundant!

What I’m trying to say is, I don’t know about the Japanese but Korean students study for so many hours. I wonder how they could fit “cyworld” and “starcraft” into their very hectic schedules! And to think that there are talks the Seoul city government is planning to deregulate hagwons. Many parents are afraid that they might run for 24 hours and will further stress the kids. Come to think of it, why do parents and teachers put up with this culture. They seriously need better parenting advice. I’m a parent too and my son will most likely attend high school in Korea. However, I want him to experience the joy of high school and not just the boring, tedious part of it. After all, I don’t believe that you have to study 20 hours a day to be successful.

Imported cars are so expensive in Korea, what with the duties levied on them. Last night, my husband was reading a story on the internet. It was about a guy who saved up for his first car — a used one — and had an accident before he could even get a private car insurance. Apparently, he tried to avoid a taxi that appeared out of nowhere. Taxis here don’t signal. In the process, he hit an imported car. His ordinary insurance doesn’t cover accidents involving imported cars. So he’ll have to compensate for the damage. Geez, I bet the value of his car won’t even be enough to pay for the imported car’s fender flares!

I’m sure that if you’re a fan of Korean dramas, you’re familiar with 노래방 “norae-bang” or “singing room”. Have you heard of DVD 방 (bang) or DVD room? If you’ve seen “My Name is Kim Sam Soon”, you might remember the scene where Sam Soon and “Sam Shik” went to see a movie privately. It’s almost similar to a noraebang in a way. You pay for a small room equipped with a large television screen and a sofa. There’s a selection of DVD movies at the reception area, where the DVD players are also located.

My husband and I went to a DVD bang before (about two years ago?) just for experience. We paid 7,000 won (about US$7) when we went to see “Spiderman 2″. There was a big projector and a comfortable leather sofa bed. The room was small and there was a glass-covered window on the door (which was nice). Unfortunately, they didn’t have home theater popcorn machines. That would’ve completed the “theatre” experience.

Yesterday, there was moderate yellow sand in the afternoon. It peaked in the evening at an “unhealthy” level. I’ve been reading about the effects on health on prolonged exposure to yellow sand and they aren’t to be taken lightly. If you live in Korea, it would be wise to wear a mask when you go outside and take a shower when you get home. I remember that in the Philippines, we were asked to carry wet hankies with us after the Mt. Pinatubo explosion, so we could protect ourselves from the ash emitted by the volcano. Yellow sand contains a lot of harmful elements from sulfur to asbestos. Surely you don’t want to suffer from mesothelioma in the future.

I’ve received a couple of emails from Filipina women whose husbands are working in Korea. Basically, they just want to know how they could come here with a tourist visa. A tourist visa is only good for up to 90 days. There’s a better visa for dependent families (spouse and children younger than 20) and that is the F-3 visa. This visa will allow you to stay in Korea for a longer time but you’re still not allowed to work legally.

You have to ask your partner to do the work for you first. Remember that you should be legally married to get the F-3 visa. First your spouse need to have the following documents:

- marriage certificate for spouses/ birth certificate for kids (NSO copies if possible)
- copy of dependent family’s passport/s (first and last pages, include amendments if available)
- ARC (Alien Registration Card)
- Letter of Employment
- Tax payment (addtl document to prove employment)
- Application for Recognition of Visa Issuance

Bring the above documents to the immigration office wait for the issuance of the CRV. Once the CRV number is issued, the dependent family needs to apply for the visa at the local Korean Embassy with the following documents:

- Passport
- 2 pcs ID photos
- Application for Visa
- CRV number
- visa fee

The F-3 visa is not available for families of D-3, E-8, E-9 and E-10 visa-holders.