Pension

At the end of a year-long contract in South Korea, Americans (and Canadians and maybe others? not Brits nor New Zealanders) receive back the 4.5% of their paycheck (plus the matching portion the employer has been paying) they have been paying into the pension plan.

I thought that this was going to be an arduous task, but it turned out to be quite simple. I just had to go to a gas station at an ungodly hour (9 a.m.? WHY?) to meet a strange man while carrying my alien registration card, passport, U.S. bank account information, and copy of my e-ticket for leaving the country. Fortunately for me, the strange man had on a shiny suit! (Gotta love Korean fashion~)

He drove me to the pension office, where a guy highlighted the sections of paperwork I needed to fill out. 20 minutes later, I was done and on my way back to Chilgok, nodding off the entire way. (Someone spent the better part of the night all riled up to see her daddy at the airport on Sunday.) Then I was deposited back at the gas station, despite it being about half a mile from school. Oh well. I was early, so Heather and I walked to school, and then I got McDonald's. Because I needed McDonald's in Korea one more time, right? Ha.

Today's classes went as smoothly as ever ("JEFFREY! SIT DOWN! TEACHER IS TALKING!"), with a slight twist of the knife in my heart as my babies told me they were sad. When I asked why they were sad, they said, "Kate Teacher America go." A few of them said they were happy, though. When I asked why, they said, "Kate Teacher here. I love Kate Teacher!" Awwww.

Without the energy (or the clothes) for taekwondo, I went and watched and took some action shots. They'll find their way here eventually--maybe. And here we are. Post-chicken galbi for the last time with my favorite Canadian, our livers still burning from the soju and our mouths still burning from the red pepper paste. It's a shame to go, now, since they know everything from the spicy level to the soju-cider-cola combo, but as I just received an e-mail from my favorite recruiter, who knows? Maybe I'll be back!