A couple of weeks ago, my phone dropped out of the stroller at the playground and then someone took it. It was literally only 5 minutes between the time I dropped it and when I went out to look for it, but someone had already snagged it. Stupid teenagers. So, I had to have my friend Aimee drive me around all over the place getting the paperwork I needed to be able to file the insurance paperwork to get a new phone. Talk about a huge headache. If we were in the states, this really wouldn't be a big deal, but everything here is harder because they do things differently and because everything is in Korean. In case you were wondering, I don't speak Korean, so the whole thing was just a big mess.
To be able to file an insurance claim here, you have to go to a local police department and file a report that your phone is stolen, then they'll give you a paper which you take back to the phone store, and then they fax the paperwork. All of this doesn't sound so bad until you remember that I don't have a car, I don't speak Korean, and police stations don't look like police stations here. Not to mention, there's obviously no sign out front that says police station, since we are in Korea. But, Aimee was super patient and drove me and my kids around, and we did eventually find a police station.
After my phone came in, they shipped it to a store downtown instead of the px, so I had to get directions in Korean from the lady at the px to give to my taxi driver. Luckily he knew exactly what her writing meant and took me straight to the store. Yay! Really fast, I have to explain something. Shopping and stores here are a lot different than in the states. There aren't really malls or strip malls. Every street is lined with shops. Every single one. And all the shops are small and covered in pictures and writing on the outside. My service provider here is kt olleh, and there's a kt store about every 4 stores, especially downtown. So, the fact that he found the right one right away is pretty amazing.
The guy in the store spoke English and was super helpful, so I got my phone no problem. Getting home was kind of an adventure though. I couldn't call a taxi because when I tried they didn't understand me, so I couldn't explain where I was. Dang. So, I found a taxi that was just sitting on the street and got a ride in that one. I told him camp George and he took me straight to camp walker. And since I don't speak Korean, I couldn't tell him it was a different place, so I just got out. I was hoping to just get a different taxi once I got on base, but the wait was like 40 min, and the bus wouldn't come again for another 45 min, so I just walked. It's probably like 2 miles or so. Not bad at all. I was wearing flip flops, so that was kind of a hindrance, but overall it was fine. So, that's the story of how I got my phone.
Going without a phone while living overseas was kind of terrifying actually. I was afraid to go anywhere outside my house because I didn't want to get lost and not be able to call someone. Not to mention, I was completely out of touch with my family and friends back home. It was a really rough week, but I got my new phone and I watch it like a hawk, so hopefully this won't happen again. Here are some pictures.
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| she does this all the time now. Cracks me up |
