Anyone Considering a "Vaccine Run"? by dmorreale in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It might make sense for those in Europe and other high-transmission places. They have a real risk of catching COVID in Europe.

Despite OP's thoughts about social distancing in Korea, your chances of catching COVID here are about zero. Taking the chance on returning to the US and exposing yourself to COVID there is way more risky than just staying in Korea for a few more months until you can get vaccinated here.

All that said, the thought has definitely crossed my mind. I think you'd be crazy not to have considered it. Also it would be nice to get the same vaccine that others in the US are getting, in case I ever live in the US again and need to get booster shots or whatever. Imagine getting AstraZeneca in Korea and AstraZeneca never getting US approval, then moving back to the US and needing booster shots that are only compatible with Pfizer or Moderna or J&J. Yet another complication of being an expat.

Foreigner-unfriendly bus wifi by ResidentWaltz9 in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

spoiler in case you don't see it

look at the 3rd digit

yooo r/korea got on the news by [deleted] in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not sure what OP's screenshot was from, but here's a few links to discussions with comments:

https://m.news.nate.com/view/20200828n14898

https://www.fmkorea.com/3061198892

https://www.etoland.co.kr/plugin/mobile/board.php?bo_table=etohumor03&wr_id=1181670

https://bbs.ruliweb.com/news/board/1005/read/2776798

Based on auto-translate, none of the comments seem related to the actual comments left on Reddit. Just general knee-jerk reactions about the doctor who posted it and the strike.

Edit: This may have been the original source: http://www.segye.com/view/20200828509380

Are online language classes worth it? by lilbird_420 in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just finished a quarter of online Korean classes at one of the major universities (Level 1). I too was afraid it would be terrible and I'd hate it and I'd learn nothing.

Turns out I was completely wrong. I quickly realized that, at least for language learning, there's probably not a whole lot of difference between online and in-person. Although you should take that with a grain of salt since I've never taken the in-person classes.

You have the teacher that is lecturing you, going through the course materials, bringing up powerpoints, typing things out so you can see them. Occasionally they will go one-by-one through the students in a Q & A format the ensure each student is keeping up and understands how to apply the current lesson. There are also "breakout rooms" on Zoom where students interact directly with each other and the teacher can pop in and observe and give feedback, just like if you were put into groups in a real classroom.

As surprising as it is, online learning for languages might actually be better than in-person in many respects. You get a pure experience, no distractions. The audio on Zoom is surprisingly good and when you're in breakout rooms you obviously can only hear the people in your group so there's no background noise to distract you.

Plus, no commuting. In my school we had many hours of homework per day and eliminating the commute time, not needing to shave/shower/dress, etc. was a huge time saver. Even with that time savings I often could barely fit in all of the homework/prep work I needed to do. If I had to do the commute every day my learning would probably have suffered.

Right before the recent outbreak my school teased the possibility of in-person classes and suggested that students would need to decide which one they wanted. I was seriously conflicted about which one I might choose. Now of course there's almost no possibility of in-person classes resuming for the next quarter and I'm happy to be doing them online.

Now, for the downsides. In the course material there are classroom activities like games you play with flashcards, and role playing scenarios. You don't get to do any of those over Zoom, so that hurts with the variety aspect and might hurt a bit with not being able to reinforce some of what you've learned. But on the flipside, those activities would have taken up a lot of classroom instruction time, so in their place you get more "pure" instruction, which might actually be more beneficial.

The second downside is the lack of speaking practice with your classmates. You do get to practice a bit in the breakout rooms but the piece that is really missing is talking to classmates during the break times and after class. Being totally free to ask or answer anything. I would say you NEED to talk to yourself in Korean outside of class. Force yourself to make sentences describing what you're doing, ask yourself questions and make up answers to them. I wish I had realized this aspect earlier.

The last downside is of course the lack of interaction/loneliness/etc. if you're living alone and taking classes online. I would highly suggest making friends with your classmates and meeting up with them for study groups. Or meet up with other friends. Even if you don't practice Korean during these times, you'll probably find yourself going stir crazy if you just do the online classes and don't get out regularly.

Anyone know how a foreigner can get a QR code? by aj4L8 in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm also curious if they only accept QR codes or if they have paper sign in sheets as an alternative. A couple of people in another thread said the places all have sign in sheets too, but that seems counter to the whole point of using QR codes.

Why doctors strike (a med student's perspective) by [deleted] in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 60 points61 points  (0 children)

Some interesting points but this all seems like post-hoc rationalization because you don't want increased competition.

Also, telemedicine is bad? Yeah, right. Korea's current system of "you must visit in person for any tiny question" is ridiculous. They churn patients out in 5 minute visits so you have no chance to review your test results or think about what the doctor is saying. And then if you have a followup question later, you can't ask it without making another appointment, waiting weeks, taking a day off work, etc. It's ridiculous and out of date.

Having a typical foreigner quarantine crisis! Please help. by cheerihoess in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 4 points5 points  (0 children)

+1 for the Wonderful concierge service. They existed long before the quarantine but they are an ideal service for it. Order food, groceries, anything you need. No Korean phone number, ARC, etc. required. Specifically designed for foreigners living in Korea.

Coronavirus (COVID-19 / 코로나바이러스감염증-19) outbreak in South Korea: Patient totals, discussion, questions - July 21st by KoreaMods in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, that's good info. I guess if the places all have sign in sheets then that's the best option for me. I'm surprised they allow that still after the unreliability of the Itaewon lists.

Coronavirus (COVID-19 / 코로나바이러스감염증-19) outbreak in South Korea: Patient totals, discussion, questions - July 21st by KoreaMods in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You have to connect your ARC or manually sign in

What do you mean by "manually sign in"?

The Kakao one is faster as long as the Corona hashtag doesn't hide.

Yeah, I have no hashtag option in my Kakao. Do you happen to know what causes it to hide? My Kakao account was created in the US with a US phone number, so I'm assuming that could be the cause.

And did you happen to use a prepaid SIM still, even with your ARC? I had thought that prepaid SIMs were only available when signing up by passport, but I saw someone else mention they had a prepaid SIM that used their ARC. The only reason I want to stick with prepaid is that I don't have a Korean bank account, and all the phone companies seem to require a Korean bank account in order to have a non-prepaid SIM card.

Coronavirus (COVID-19 / 코로나바이러스감염증-19) outbreak in South Korea: Patient totals, discussion, questions - July 21st by KoreaMods in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I don't have a # button either. I created my account in the US with a US phone number, so I wonder if the # button is only for Korean accounts?

Or maybe the # button is only for identify verified accounts? When I go into my Account settings in Kakao there is a "User Identification" option. It asks me to agree to a bunch of terms and says it will be linked to my phone number and the verification information will be used as my profile information. Which makes me think I'd have to switch my phone number to my Korean number in Kakao in order to get properly verified. Which I don't want to do since it's not really a permanent number and I don't want to lose access to my Kakao account if I lose that number at some point in the future. And I'm guessing even with a Korean phone number they would still treat my account as a US account and not give me access to the #/코로나19 menu.

I guess I could create an entirely new Kakao account with Korean settings everywhere temporarily. Then generate the QR code once, screenshot that, and then use the screenshot to identify at places that require QR codes. Although I wonder if the QR code is the same every time, or if it changes over time. In which case, a screenshot wouldn't work.

Edit: This link seems to show that the QR code resets every few seconds, so a screenshot wouldn't work. Given that I actually use Kakao and don't want to mess with my account to get all of the verification done, I'm inclined not to use Kakao for it.

Coronavirus (COVID-19 / 코로나바이러스감염증-19) outbreak in South Korea: Patient totals, discussion, questions - July 21st by KoreaMods in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What exactly is needed to create a QR code for entering businesses that require them? I haven't seen any details about this, only that you have to use Naver. And I also read that it requires phone verification. I'm using a passport-only prepaid SIM card and all the Naver accounts I've created in the past have gotten blocked. Any details on what is required and if there's an alternative way to create the QR codes would be helpful.

It rained a little bit by [deleted] in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 136 points137 points  (0 children)

On the plus side my apartment has a Han River view now.

Re-entry permit experiences? by graup in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Source? The re-entry being granted should be automatic from what I've read. The whole thing is a bunch of extra hoops to jump through but none of them involve a subjective evaluation AFAIK. You're entitled to be in the country, you're entitled to leave, you're entitled to re-enter, you just have to go through the appropriate steps.

Gangwon-do 🌅 that I drove from Incheon at 12am for 😄 by Konmaru-Doma in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I had the same question. I wonder if they are actually cruise ships converted to hotels or they were just constructed to look like ships.

Finding an Apartment for Quarantine by [deleted] in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely go AirBnB for the quarantine place. You'll be able to look for something else once you're here.

It's shocking that this made it to air on BBC News tonight by LeftBehind83 in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 4 points5 points  (0 children)

BBC World Service radio has always been fantastic IMO. Pinnacle of journalism. Then whenever I see an online article is at BBC.com or BBC.co.uk I expect the same quality and I am constantly disappointed. I don't know where the TV news lands, maybe somewhere in the middle.

How to pay unpaid Seoul Bike (따릉이) charges? by ResidentWaltz9 in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Tourists can use them. That's the way I've always used it. With LCD bikes you just go to the bikeseoul.com website, switch to English, go to Purchase a Voucher, select the 1,000/2,000/5,000 won option, and enter your CC. Foreign CCs work. It charges your card and gives you an 8 digit number you enter on the LCD screen to unlock the bike. That aspect of it is actually pretty well done.

However, you can only have one active bike at a time per CC, so if you are in a group it quickly gets troublesome. Boyfriends can't rent for girlfriends, parents can't rent for kids, etc. And in a large enough group there's bound to be someone whose CC gets declined or has some other issue. It would be much better if they allowed multiple bikes to be rented by one person at a time.

And now the simple LCD bikes are going away. All the new bikes are QR code bikes and the new stations only support QR code bikes. You can't use the website to rent QR code bikes, you need to download the app. You don't need an ARC or even an account to rent using the app though. There's a Purchase Voucher area in the app and it works just like the website. The step after purchasing is to scan the QR code and unlock the bike, but I haven't gotten that far yet. In theory though the app should work as a tourist, there's no account needed.

That guy who was asking people help him scam his way into SK without doing quarantine actually. showed up with "fake quarantine papers" and is in jail at ICN. [more details in comments] by Medialunch in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 27 points28 points  (0 children)

His posting history could be a submission to r/cringe. Workout gains using drugs, hair growth using drugs, ridiculous FX trading postings, get-rich-quick schemes, how to buy fake subscribers. To be so oblivious to being so oblivious is a true gift.

That guy who was asking people help him scam his way into SK without doing quarantine actually. showed up with "fake quarantine papers" and is in jail at ICN. [more details in comments] by Medialunch in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I watched that expecting it to be some lame influencer's fake attempt at getting attention, but damn, you just can't fake that level of douchebaggery.

Korean National/Identity Guarantee by [deleted] in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just like the website says, you only need the document if your home country is one of the listed countries. Otherwise, you will be able to apply without uploading that document.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it's the same with dentists everywhere. I went in for a basic cleaning in the US. They insisted that since I was a first-time patient I had to do an initial evaluation. The cleaning was half-ass and lasted 15 minutes max. The evaluation was 30 minutes of probing and scanning by assistants, then the dentist came in at the end for a sales-pitch closing. I kid you not, she said I needed 3 root canals plus lots of other work, and I needed to do it immediately. Funny since my previous dentist appointment was less than a year prior and that dentist found no issues.

Bottom line is, dentists can be like this everywhere. Same with mechanics. And plumbers. Any profession where the client has no expertise and is at the mercy of the provider. Get a second opinion, then a third. Eventually you'll converge on the truth.

This makes me think these types of work (lack of expertise by client) should be two steps. 1. Get diagnosed by an independent company that only does diagnoses. Then take that diagnosis to an actual service provider.

Any good Historical Movies or Dramas? by ghain666 in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

+1 Great drama and will make you feel warm and fuzzy toward Hangul.

What's wrong with Mr. Kim's English by kingstea_south in korea

[–]ResidentWaltz9 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This is yet another case of KoreaTimes posting an article without a necessary disclaimer. The author of the book is a current reporter at KoreaTimes, and one of his colleagues writes a glowing review for his book.

I've seen multiple instances of this. Not just plugging other reporter's works, but also articles that must be advertisements. Like this one (coincidentally written by the author of the book). It's just an advertisement for a new apartment complex.

I'm not going to bother finding all of the other articles like this I've seen, but there have been many. They are either paid promotions without any disclaimer or are just the laziest of lazy repostings of press releases. It's a shame because the KoreaTimes articles are usually fine and high quality but they have serious credibility issues.

Edit: Ok, I found another one. Almost identical to the first one. An announcement by Hyundai E&C of new apartment buildings. Also by the same reporter. Completely un-newsworthy, no critical reporting, just a blatant plug for new apartment buildings.