Wooohooo! Yippppeeee! Watch me do the happy dance!! 
I got an internet connection!!!
Hehehe...the little things in life.
So I finally got my resident alien card, which I needed to hook up an internet connection. I asked the director at school how to set it up and she says she'd call. After a couple quick conversations with me and the company she had it organized for the next morning.  The tech guys actually arrived about 20 hours after I told my boss I wanted to get the connection established....which also makes this the easiest thing so far in Korea.
Well...there's more to it than that. Of course.
The tech guys were supposed to arrive at 11am on Saturday...but they rang my bell at 9:30. This being a Saturday, my alarm hadn't gone off yet.  I was forced to answer the door in my PJs because they were already ringing a second time by the time I'd made it across the room to the door. Oh well.
The guy who arrived didn't speak English and just walked over to my computer and go to it. Soon a second guy arrived and they tinkered with my laptop looking confused. Of course I couldn't explain to them that I usually use my laptop with wireless (in fact, having never used the proper plug-in modem) and that they needed to go to Device Manager to configure the system. They weren't about to let me near the machine either, convinced they would figure it out.
Soon, Techie #1 made a call on his cell phone, chatted for 30 seconds and handed it to me. It was one of the Korean girls who works at the school (who I have, oddly, never spoken to before).  She explained that they believed my LAN card was broken and they would have to install a new one for about $30.  I told her that would be okay....if they let me take a look at the computer myself first.
Three clicks later and the thing is fixed.  The laptop recognizes the software and an internet window is successfully opened. (I almost heard the machine sigh with relief.  Wait, maybe that was me.)
Then Techie #2 starts asking me questions....in English. Hahaha. How did you fix it? Why didn't it work? Where are you from? Ohhhh...New York...I like it. (He'd never been there though, I found out on further inspection...but it sure looks nice in movies.)
I had to laugh. Here I am early morning (it is Saturday, remember...9:30 is early. Normally I'm up at 7:30), in my PJs, with two Korean guys in my apartment, tinkering with my prized possession, feigning that they don't speak English...when at least one of them does, and I could have fixed the problem 15 minutes earlier, thus sparing me 15 minutes of this uncomfortable PJ-clad-strangers-in-my-house situation.
Oh well. Such is life. Such is Korea.
The important thing is I HAVE INTERNET!
Which means: email, blogging, phone calls, music/movie/TV show downloading, researching teaching materials from the comfort of home, web cam conversations with friends around the world, recipe research, weather reports, news (which I have sadly not kept up with since arriving), info on how to take care of the plants I've bought, photo posting, financial activities, random fact/question abilities, catching up on friends blogs, shopping, and so on...and so forth. Basically...everything.
One thing though...I'm going to miss the aguma (older lady) at the PC-bang (internet cafe) and the free coffee and tea they give me for being a regular customer...
Not that I am complaining. Believe me!

 

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