The story thus far…
Our hero, Emoinacloset, is at risk of having come to Korea in futile. At first excited about the prospect of interning in Korea, he hears on the first day of duty that he cannot work because of problems with his visa. The boss-man tells Emoinacloset he will look into their New York branch to see if they can accept him as an intern but there is no guarantee.
Part 1
Part 2
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For the past week I have been sitting in the house with nothing except a computer for company. Thank God my neighbors haven’t set up a secure wi-fi connection. When I first came to Korea I was so excited for my internship I carefully watched how much I ate so I could look good in my suit, despite the fact my grandmother here spoils me with food. However, when I got the initial phone call telling me I would not be able to work there I gave up hope. That day I gorged myself with Korean rice cakes I had been abstaining from to fill up the despair I felt inside.
I didn’t know what to do with myself. It’s frustrating to come all the way to Korea for a no-show internship and be put in a situation where all I could do is wait for the company to call me back with some kind of news, good or bad. I felt like punching someone in the face could tip the world back into balance, at least a little; at least that way I’d be doing something. Is it strange to feel like this? The only thing that made me feel somewhat better was lying on my bed, staring into the fluorescent light above me, listening to Amy Winehouse, and slitting my wrists.
I couldn’t sit around doing nothing. I started to look into other internships I could apply to as a contingency plan in case things didn’t work out for me, but then my mom said she was willing to let me come back to the States to get a visa and then go back to Korea. She had calculated the cost of a round trip ticket back to the states vs. the cost of living and rent doing an internship in New York and it was about the same. Besides, it seems like such a waste to throw this opportunity away just because of a visa problem. With that knowledge, I told the company I was willing to go out of the country and do anything to get the visa I needed.
So after telling HR this, I went to the immigration office Wednesday morning to figure out exactly what my situation was and it turns out I might be able to work with a C-4 visa (for short-term employment). On top of that, I don’t have to go all the way back to the United States to apply, I can just take a short trip to Japan and go to the Korean consulate there. I told the company everything Wednesday, but it's Friday now and I don't know what's going on. I just called them and they said they haven't started processing the documents I need yet, and that I should hear from them sometime next week.
There’s a sliver of hope, yet at the same time I can’t help but feel uneasy. If I’ve learned anything from what’s happened thus far, it’s that Korean companies are shady.
-Emoinacloset
