Life as a teacher

I am now exactly on my 5 weeks working as a chemistry teacher. I can remember how nervous I was when I first met my students. I can also feel how nervous my students were when they first met me. Most of them were shy and hesitant to speak loud even while introducing themselves.

Now we have all become more comfortable with each other. The students have built friendship in small groups and I can laugh with them once in a while.

Today I felt particularly upset by one of the students. While I encourage students to express their opinions to me all the time, I still expect them to show full respect to me as their teacher or even as an adult.

There is something about this girl that is not right!

How to get an authenticated NBI clearance

NBI criminal record clearance is another document needed for applying for the working visa in South Korea. Similar to educational certificates such as diplomas and transcript of records, NBI clearance should also be authenticated in DFA.

The first step is to apply for an NBI clearance in the office located in the fifth floor of Victory central mall in Monumento. Luckily it is only 20 minutes away from our home. The step by step process may be read in this link http://www.blog4charity.org/how-to-apply-nbi-clearance/ if you want to apply in the Philippines. If you are in abroad like me, you can go to the Philippine embassy in Korea bringing a passport photo with white background. There you will fill up the application card and fingerprinted in front of the appointed person in the embassy. Bring some IDs too such as your current visa and passport for identification purposes. It costs me 33,500 Korean won for this service. I then sent this together with an authorization letter and copies of my two valid IDs to my mother. She submitted it in behalf of me in the NBI office and got the certificate only after 2-3 hours if there are no records found. It costs me Php 155 for this service.

Once I got the certificate I submitted it together with my diploma and transcript of records to DFA to be authenticated.

How to get your diploma and transcript of records authenticated in Philippines.

Preparing documents such as authentication of college diploma and transcript of records required for obtaining proper working visa in South Korea can sometimes be daunting. It is very important to first know where and how these processes are made, and what requirements are needed.

When I was preparing such documents the first thing I did was asked the Philippine embassy in Korea if they provide such services which they do not. They told me that the proper way to get an authenticated diploma and transcript of records is to go to your school then to Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and finally to DFA. True enough when I verified this information from my school, Mapua Institute of Technology, they told me the same thing. Actually my school Mapua can do all this process in behalf of you in 15 days. Imagine that is an awful lot of time and for someone like me who are used to fast transactions after living in Singapore for six years, I find it unbearable. So I tried to seek more information and found out that you the time can be reduced to one third if you handle it yourself.

The first thing that I did was to bring a photocopy of my diplomas and transcript of records to the registrar office of Mapua. In order to speed up the process you have to show them a proof of urgency in the form of your visa if the expiry date is imminent, a contract and e-ticket. The fee is only Php 200 per set of documents. After signing a form and giving them your diploma and transcripts you can get the documents back with school stamps and signature by the registrar the next day. They told me to come after two days since the person in charge of the microfilm is not around according to them but I insist that I need it soon thus they finished it in one day.

After getting the documents from Mapua I then went to CHED. It was located at the second floor of HEDC Bldg. C. P. Garcia St., Diliman, Quezon City. The guy there Jimmy was surprised to see that I am handing it over myself so I told them that it is because of urgency. I can feel that he believes me but he still ask me when I am going back to abroad and ask for my e-ticket which I do not have at that time. Still he processed it for me on that day itself and I paid Php 40 per set of documents.

Now that I have the certification from CHED I went to DFA, located at the gate 1 Roxas Blvd. Pasay City, to have it authenticated. I first fill up a blue form and then queue for about hour. I gave my documents and form to them and paid Php 200 per set of documents for expedite process, meaning you can get your documents back in one day. The regular process will cost you half as much but will need four days to get back. The next day I dropped my receipt in one of the boxes in the releasing area and wait for 45 minutes before my name is called. I received my documents safe and sound and went home.

Medical care needs in South Korea

After almost a year of living here in Suwon, it was only yesterday that I visited a doctor for the first time. Thanks to my husband, who had printed a list of doctors for me around our neighborhood here in Yeongtong, I was able to find one easily. The great thing about the list was that it also tells you if the personnel are capable of communicating in English. So I found this facility called Seoul Mi Skin Clinic, which is around 10 minutes from our house. Equipped with my insurance card I went inside to have this bad rash checked. The clinic looked posh, but despite that they only charge me a mere 4,300 won (around $4) for a consultation and a shot (buttocks...ouch!) just kidding, amazingly it does not hurt so bad. The nurse was really good. After this I went to a pharmacy where I bought my prescriptions, which only cost 5,900 won. It's quite weird though here in Korea, you won't get back the prescription receipt before you leave the pharmacy. The medicines are already pre-divided in small pouches for each dosage so its easier to take it. Now I am putting my whole faith on this medicines, because this rash had been very harsh to me. I wanna say bye bye from it soon.=)

Korean class at Suwon migrants center

Today was my third week attending the beginner level of Korean language at Suwon migrants center (http://smwc.co.kr/introduce_smlc.htm). My teacher (선생) is Ms. Choi Su Jeong (최 수 정). She speaks pure Korean at class but can speak English fluently with me. I have learned Korean before in Singapore for about 2 months, so I can generally read the words however, I am quite poor in conversing, specially in understanding it through listening. I hope that I can start conversing Korean soon. I am glad that there are few migrant centers here in Suwon which offer three levels of free Korean class (Beginner, Intermediate and Advance). In my class, there is Bow (피날팟) from Thailand and Tegi (태기) from Mongolia. I hope to be friends with them as well as with my teacher.

Is it laziness or what?

My husband has this habit of bringing a glass or a bottle of water, tea, juice, or whatever beverage he is drinking at that time, in our bedroom. He has this small, three layer shelf beside his bed where he puts his stuff. Often times he brings the glass or cup of his drink, and place it in his shelf without bringing it out to the kitchen after using it, until it piles up. I have once told him about this, particularly at one incident when I was feeling irritated, and in total bad mood for unexplainable reason. After I told him, "Is it hard for you to pick up after yourself once in a while?", he responded negatively and a huge fight broke out between us. His opinion is that, since I am at home all the time, does not have a job yet, and mostly doing nothing big at home, that doing this small things after his hard day at work should not irate me. Yes, I know that some of you might think that he has a point, but for me it feels like contempt. I know that I have not done any meaningful thing these past few months while staying at home, but I do have a lot of ideas in my head. All I want is to have the time to think about my past, and where I will be heading. I want to correct some of the shortcomings, I think I had, in the past. I wanted to be sure of what I want in life, particularly in my career. The thought of all these, coupled with fears of failing myself, and other worries for the future may have well been the reason for my mood swings lately. Of course nowadays we don't fight about this petty things anymore, because I learn to shut up and just do it. It's a small thing actually if you think of it, and not worthy of a fight. I guess being married, you learn to swallow your pride more and more. Please don't get me wrong, my husband is a wonderful man. He is a good provider, loving man, who will do anything to make me happy. There are just times when both of us had a bad day, that small remarks result to colossal arguments.

Singing as a hobby or a career.

Since she was 4 years old, she always loves to sing. In the morning while her mother is voice taping (during the early 80's this is one way to show how they were doing to her father working abroad), she started singing songs by Claire dela Fuente, which are her favorites. Whenever I hear this voice tape, I cannot help but wonder if her mother had honed her skills, she could be a professional singer by now. Although she is now working in a marketing division of a company, she would sometimes join singing competition, or engage herself to singing in different programs in her company during holiday seasons. Her talent had become a hobby. But who knows, maybe whether or not her mother sent her to a voice lesson school, she might still end up not being a professional singer. This makes me contemplate on what destiny really mean for each one of us.