Friday, March 16, 2012

Cellphone! Pt. 1 (tales from the past)

Living without a cellphone wouldn't be nearly as bad if I didn't actually need one right now.  I wasn't part of the generation that started live with cellphones in their hands; I know what it's like to not be perpetually connected.

My situation, it's on the verge of being necessary for survival. Having internet is a blessing, but a very small one.  A lot of what I need answers for is in or will be in Korean, and I just don't know enough to have peace of mind at night. The only, and maybe, best way I can contact my mentor teacher right now is by calling her. I have neither cellphone nor home phone for this task. Why not get a phone, you ask?  Since it's the first month of my time here, and the first month of work, I must pay for any bills I incur with money from my own pocket (until the first paycheck comes in). No problem, you might say, but I'd rather not set up a ton of new accounts when I am already expecting utility bills, etc. with unknown charges at the end of the month.

It really isn't so bad, being without a cellphone.  What's bugging me is that I risk doing things, daily things, wrong (possibly multiple times) because I can't simply call someone up when i don't know or can't find the answer myself.

Why not just ask someone near you, or online?  Two issues with that: First, I cannot count the number of times the leaders and speakers at orientation instructed us to ask our mentor teacher first.  You already see the problem with that.  Second, many of the questions I have are town-specific. For example, what bus would I take to get to and from school, and where are their respective bus stops???? Even if I find someone (another foreigner) in my town, chances are super high that he/she wouldn't know how to get to my school (update: this has been confirmed on several occasions).  Here, most of the information one remembers pertains strictly to his/her lifestyle, and its not like I'm asking how to get to the nearest grocery store.

All in all, I can't wait to get a cellphone.  Once one is in my hand, I will, undoubtedly, proceed to bombard my mentor teacher (and a few others) with new questions of the day.

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