* Bank Account (IBK, 6/3/08)
Documents required: alien registration card and passport
Just like many other different countries; Korea has many banks you can choose from. I decided to go with IBK (Industrial Bank of Korea) simply because it's the closest one to my place. To open an account is fairly easy even for foreigners. You just need your alien registration card and your passport, and of course fill out some paperwork. Although, I think it would be difficult if you don't speak Korean or don't have somebody who speaks with you. I was fortunate that my Korean co-teacher went with me, so she played the translator, which made it a lot easier.
So I opened a bank account and also get a check card (different than credit card, it directly draws money from your bank account). In general, foreigners are not allowed to have a credit card in Korea because they're afraid that you might run back to your country and not pay the debt. Although another native teacher at my school, Vanessa (who has been in Korea for 5 years), said that it is actually illegal for banks to discriminate foreigners to receive a credit card, but most banks just don't want to go through the trouble of having to do credit check from another country and also the fear of not having the credits pay off. Vanessa said therefore, it's possible to get one, but you have to fight for it. And of course, most foreigners probably wouldn't do that cuz of the communication barrier.
* Cell Phone (activated, 6/13/08)
Documents required: alien registration card & copy of bank acct info
Cell phone plans are extremely expensive for foreigners. The selections are limited and the base fee and the charge per minute are at least twice as much as if you were a Korean native. The cell phone plans here work different than back in the U.S. In the U.S., you can select a plan that includes certain number of minutes allowed in a month with a fixed monthly charge, plus most of the plans have unlimited weekends. If you select a more expensive plan, you also get unlimited nights and/or unlimited mobile to mobile. Here, you pick a plan according to its base charge. For example, you pay a base fee per month (whether you use the phone or not) and additional charge for every minute you call out. That's another difference comparing to the U.S. Back home, the number of minutes allowed per month include INCOMING and OUTGOING phone calls; here, INCOMING calls are FREE, you are charged only when you dial out. In conclusion, cell phone services/plans are fairly cheap for Koreans, so if a foreigner wants to get a cheap deal on cell phone plans, he/she would either have to ask a trusted friend to buy the phone and service or (it's a joke among our native teachers) marry a Korean person:)
Due to the high price of cell phone plans for foreigners (the plans are expensive and also very limited, you are not allowed to dial out of the country and the charge per minute is fairly high too), most foreigners buy a phone and purchase a chip (but i heard that's kinda pricy too). I was fortunate that my Korean co-teacher agreed to buy the phone for me under her name, so I get the korean native deals (the base fee is only about $12 US per month, and i'm able to call out of the country with additional charges). So, the phone/service is under her name and it's linked to my bank account, so the money will be drawn out of my account every month. A lot of Koreans would not want to be in this situation though because if the foreigner decided to run away, then the Korean person would have to take care of the bill. (I told my Kate that I would never do that to her^^)
* Internet (KT, 6/7/08)
Documents required: alien registration card & home address
There are also several options for internet service provider. One of the biggest one is called Korea Telecom (KT), which is the one I signed up for. KT has really good service for foreigners and also offers discounts. The procedure is simple, you can do this on your own even if you don't speak Korean ( that's what i did). You first dial "100" on any phone and then press "81" for the English service (it is the case in my area, not sure if it would differ in another region). The lady speaks pretty good English, and then you would need to fax a copy of your alien registration card with your home address on it. I signed a year contract and received a 5% discount for the monthly charge and also installation free. (so, at the end, it's about $37 U.S. per month). The billing statement is sent to the home address every month. You could also have it set up so it automatically draws the $$ from your account on a monthly basis.
* TV (Anyang Broadcast, 6/28/2008) Happy 1st B-day Isabella Hope!! <3<3<3
Documents required: alien registration card & bank account info
I was surprised at how cheap the cable service is. The one I signed up is the very basic one, you get about 30-40 channels for just $8 U.S. per month with one-time installation fee about $44 US. If you would like to upgrade the service, you can get about 90 channels for about $12 U.S. per month. (That's such a blow up deal to me, probably would never happen in the U.S.). I was also surprised at how many eng. programs they have (so far i've seen a channel which plays American movies, also, there's the FOX channel and several popular American shows). In addition, there's a Chinese channel, which has news from china, Chinese/Taiwanese dramas, and other entertainment programs.
The little downside is since my educational company provided the TV and it's old, so i can only get about 10-20 channels out of the 30-40 channels i'm suppose to get. So a lot of my channels are fuzzy. I told Sam about it, and he hasn't get back to me on a solution yet... [it's actually simple, they just need to get me a new or newer TV! =P]
*Paying bills (6/26/2008)
As mentioned before, there are 2 ways to pay your bills. One is to have it set up so it automatically comes out of your bank account every month. Another way is to bring the payment slip (billing statement) to a bank and pay it there. Normally, when you get a payment slip, it'll have the account number you would to wire it to, and then just make a wire transfer from your account to the designated account. At my bank (IBK), the one closest to my house, i just go up to the counter and hand my bank book and payment slip to the teller, and she/he does the job. I've also heard, at some banks, they have the special ATM machine where you can put in your payment slip, the machine will read it, and you can make a payment with your check card. Also regarding the ATM machines, i was worried that i wouldn't be able to use it because i don't know Korean; however, most of them have options in English and Chinese, so I'm able to operate the machine.
* Paycheck (6/18/2008)
Finally got my first paycheck today. Well, I didn't actually get a "paycheck", the school wires the money directly to my account every month, and then i get the pay stub. Since I didn't bring much $$ with me from the U.S. my first month, so by the time I got paid, i only had about $20 U.S. dollars left. One thing worth mentioning, I thought i would get paid for a full month, but then i was told that it only covers till the end of the previous month. For example, when i get paid in July, the pay period would cover from June 1st to June 30th. The system is weird to me, I'm used to the system that each pay period covers till the pay day (for example, if my pay day is on the 15th, then in July, i would get paid for the period from June 15th to July 15th). According to the system of my education company in Korea, it would always be 15 days late. They told me it was stated in the contract, I guess I just didn't really understand it that way when i read the contract.
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