Smartphone or Go Home

Within a week of arriving in Korea, I got a smartphone.  I was actually pretty lucky to get a hold of one so soon since I don’t officially have an Alien Registration Card (nor will I until October.) Signing a phone contract requires Korean identification but I was fortunate enough to be able to just take over the contract of another teacher who was on his way out.  My first few days here I learned that using a basic phone, even in a technologically savvy country such as Korea, can be incredibly archaic.  I was also highly persuaded to get a smartphone for another reason.  Everyone here communicates on an app called KakaoTalk.  Through this app, texting and phone calls are free, anywhere around the world, to another Kakao user.  And if you have a smartphone with unlimited data, this also means communicating any time.  And my coworkers often communicate and coordinate through group Kakao messages.  Definitely glad I went the smartphone route, mainly because I want to fit in with the thousands of Koreans playing on their phones on the subway.

However, shortly upon receiving my iPhone, I realized the speakers didn’t work.  No ringtone, no alarm, no music.  Even though my phone is almost always on silent anyways, I do use my phone as an alarm.  Luckily it was still under one-year warranty and I had heard of a place to take defective phones.  Phone contract in hand, I got directions to the service center and went by cab since it was close by and would inconveniently involve two subway transfers.  In the area, I had a bit of trouble locating the service center, and actually walked right by it, partly because I didn’t know what I was looking for.  A friendly Korean man helped me out through a map on his own smartphone and pointed me in the right direction.  I took a number to wait for iPhone repair but, within 2 minutes and to my surprise, I was called to the counter.  I could not communicate much with the customer service technician but he easily acknowledged my problem.  Seeing that my phone was under warranty, he simply pulled out a new one from the back and I was on my merry way.  I don’t think customer service has ever been this convenient at any point in my life in America.  Plus one Korea!  Now I just need a new screen protector, essentially a thin peace of sticky plastic, which for some reason unbeknownst to me, is overpriced here.

(To make my experience even better, on my way back from the service center I found an incredibly cheap produce stand! I got 7 small eggplants, 10 oranges, and more cherry tomatoes than I know what to do with for 6,000 Won. Suspiciously cheap actually…but the prices were clearly labeled.  There was some kind of misunderstanding at the register and I tried to clarify prices but they agreed, 6,000 Won, and along I went with two bags of cheap produce! No complaints here…)