well, i still don't have a phone. after my last 'phone' post i headed out to find the indian guy i had heard about. i had an idea where the store was, but wasn't 100% sure. i wandered around the area and found a few shops that had used phones, but they were all really used (read scratched) and they were also not as cheap as i was told they would be. so after going to a few stores i walked to another area of town where i was sure they had regular phone stores - one of the craziest parts about this whole thing is that there is at least two cell phone stores on every block... if not more. so i went into one, and the phones were all around $400, so i moved on.
finally i found a nice looking store with two very helpful koreans, one of whom actually spoke a bit of english. after conveying that i needed a "handypon" (mobile phone in konglish) they picked one out and showed it to me. it was $150 (pretty cheap here) - still a little high, so i managed to haggle them down to $120 !!! yay! so we filled up the contract, they needed my bank account number and alien registration card to verify...something. i picked my phone number, wrote it in my phone book, and paid. then we just had to wait for the activation. while waiting the guy picked out a hard case and a decorative "dangly" thing for my new phone - for free, of course. finally after about ten minutes the store phone rang. next thing i knew he was telling me that i couldn't have it.
from what i understood there was a problem with my bank account number because it isn't associated with my alien registration card, but my passport. remember the long wait for the ARC? well, i had to get an account, so we did it with my passport. i had my passport with me, but they wouldn't accept it... i don't know who was more disappointed, me or the sales guys (for losing the sale they had worked so hard on). but i got my money back and left the store, more frustrated than before. i was so close. i felt like they had dangled the world under my nose and then taken it away.
this whole thing is not normal. other EPIKers have walked into stores with nothing but a passport and gotten a phone... so i guess i'm just cursed. maybe it's karma for the year of free service i had from telus in canada... maybe it's just me... who knows. so i went out and had a couple of beers with some other foreigners. while at the B&G (our bar) i saw a korean english teacher i know - Ellie (she spent a year in canada and is really nice). anyway, she knows a guy who works for a cell phone company and is going to call me at school on monday or tuesday and hook me up. hopefully it all works out - i'm reallly sick of having no means of communication... i finally have some friends, but can't even call them to go out!!! hopefully that will all change soon.
i'll keep you posted...
finally i found a nice looking store with two very helpful koreans, one of whom actually spoke a bit of english. after conveying that i needed a "handypon" (mobile phone in konglish) they picked one out and showed it to me. it was $150 (pretty cheap here) - still a little high, so i managed to haggle them down to $120 !!! yay! so we filled up the contract, they needed my bank account number and alien registration card to verify...something. i picked my phone number, wrote it in my phone book, and paid. then we just had to wait for the activation. while waiting the guy picked out a hard case and a decorative "dangly" thing for my new phone - for free, of course. finally after about ten minutes the store phone rang. next thing i knew he was telling me that i couldn't have it.
from what i understood there was a problem with my bank account number because it isn't associated with my alien registration card, but my passport. remember the long wait for the ARC? well, i had to get an account, so we did it with my passport. i had my passport with me, but they wouldn't accept it... i don't know who was more disappointed, me or the sales guys (for losing the sale they had worked so hard on). but i got my money back and left the store, more frustrated than before. i was so close. i felt like they had dangled the world under my nose and then taken it away.
this whole thing is not normal. other EPIKers have walked into stores with nothing but a passport and gotten a phone... so i guess i'm just cursed. maybe it's karma for the year of free service i had from telus in canada... maybe it's just me... who knows. so i went out and had a couple of beers with some other foreigners. while at the B&G (our bar) i saw a korean english teacher i know - Ellie (she spent a year in canada and is really nice). anyway, she knows a guy who works for a cell phone company and is going to call me at school on monday or tuesday and hook me up. hopefully it all works out - i'm reallly sick of having no means of communication... i finally have some friends, but can't even call them to go out!!! hopefully that will all change soon.
i'll keep you posted...
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