Work Visa (4th Reminder)

The rest of the day went quickly.  The 4 PM class was pretty normal; I wanted to kill the kids at 5 PM.  They are some of the densest people I've ever met!  In the next class there were only 3 kids (of the normal 8).  The others were at various camps or at a big concert at Munsu Soccer Stadium.  Famous singers like Boa and Se7en were supposed to be there.  When I was walking this morning around 9 AM people were already beginning to arrive for the 7 PM concert!!!! 

Again, I can't help but think that when the kids are able to insult each other in English, they've reached a high level!  They even used the idioms we're studying!  Zach said, "I'm crazy about Cleo meat," while Cleo responded, "Zach looks like pork."  At one point Cleo told Zach, "Please shut up" so I taught them that you can say "Please be quiet" or "Shut up," but that you can't mix the two.

The last class was very boisterous, yet good.  There were lots of cute moments and I was a lot sillier than normal with them.  I didn't have to give out any punishment; I think they may have learned my limits.  It certainly took them long enough!  The best part of the class was when Alex and Mike were reading the dialogue and instead of saying, "What's your favorite animal?" they changed it to "What's your favorite monster?" and proceeded to make a conversation out of that.  I gave them lots of praise; they demanded money.  I asked if points would be OK; they acted shocked that I could give them points.  Sure, I'm your teacher, aren't I?  The only problem is, since I share that class with Matt, they don't show up when I sign in to the computer system.  I'll ask Matt tomorrow to sign in under his name so I can add the points.

I finally caught Mr. Kim toward the end of the night.  He had been in and out for several hours, meeting with parents, on the phone.  I asked him if he had been to the immigration office, he looked at the date on the phone, and somewhat sheepishly replied "No, this week."  It expires August 2!  I was expressing my frustration to Matt and Tanya, and they said that you have a week from when your visa expires to leave the country.  That's not what EFL Law says (quoted below).  According to that site, if you don't leave by the date your visa expires, you get fined.  In my case, it's not just a matter of asking for a couple of extra weeks; it's more like 2 months.  Besides the fact, if the visa expires on 8/2 and I continue working and Mr. Kim goes to the office after that date to get the extension, then the office knows that I've probably been working after that date.  He'll most likely get it done in time, but it makes me nervous to think of the possibility that it won't get done.

Qn: After my contract expires, when MUST I leave Korea?
Answer: Your visa will expire on or about the same day as the contract. That is the date you MUST leave Korea or you will be fined by Immigration. BUT, if you want to stay after your contract expires, you MUST go to Immigration before the Visa expires, tell them the contract is expiring on such and such a date, but that you would like to stay in Korea (preparing to leave) and Immigration will grant you an extension of 10-14 days. It is possible to get an extension to this depending upon your circumstances.
BUT remember to go to Immigration before the working visa expires!