Good day to all! I would like to leave a review about my impressions of the country I have not seen.
I took a short vacation, went on a five-day trip, and wanted to see one of the most interesting and dynamically developing countries in Asia - South Korea. I applied for a K-eta visa, got acquainted with the sights of the city of Seoul via the Internet, and compiled an itinerary. I booked accommodation in a hotel in the center of Seoul, took out a return ticket, and took out insurance. Prepared all the documents before the trip. While still researching the places I would like to visit, I accidentally met athletes from the Olympic gymnasium in handball, and the guys invited me to a training session. In the correspondence, I assured them that on March 7th, I would definitely come to a joint training session.
I collected my things, documents and set out on the road, with anticipation, to have an interesting time.
Arrived on March 5 at Incheon airport.
While going through passport control, an employee stopped the girl and asked, “Are you our first?” She called another employee and was taken to a room for “interrogation,” as if they had caught a criminal. There I went through a very unpleasant procedure, an attempt to prove that I really came to actively relax and visit the city of Seoul. The interrogation took place with very sharp interruptions of my monologue, the representative, the customs service, why I came to this city. The dialogue ended with the customs officer affirmatively stating that I have poor knowledge of English and Korean, and have no right to visit the city of Seoul. And that I don’t have a direct phone number, guys - athletes with whom I had a dialogue on Instagram. If I had known in advance what formalities I would have to deal with, of course I would have taken the phone number. If I had known in advance what formalities I would have to face, of course I would have taken the phone number. Then other employees took me to the basement, it looked like I was, in fact, some kind of lawbreaker. I stayed there for three days, expecting that some kind of mistake had occurred and that the remaining days would still give me the opportunity to visit the city of Seoul, but the miracle did not happen. I had to return, a day earlier, to the country from which I flew, because the living conditions in the terminal were “a little” different from home. Thanks, of course, to the staff who treated us with respect - tourists who also ended up in the terminal for similar reasons. Words of gratitude, of course, do not apply to those ladies - customs officers who allowed us to have a normal vacation time. Is this really a reason, obligatory knowledge of the language, at the level of a “graduate of the University of California”, to prevent a tourist from getting acquainted with interesting sights? And why should I live in the basement of the airport, and at this time the room I bought was standing empty. Ruined time on my vacation, financial costs, someone has to answer. I think so. Why do you give the opportunity to visit your country. And when you arrive at the airport, you only see the city’s basement and airfield from the window.
Previously, I visited Germany and other countries many times, my knowledge of the German language was much more modest than my command of English now. There were no translators at that time, and yet, I was never refused to visit European countries. And I did not feel any difficulty in moving along tourist routes.
I appeal to those who issue K-eta permits, if you give an invitation to visit your country, then remotely and accept language skills.
I planned to come with my daughter, show museums, national attractions, cherry blossoms, now it becomes scary, imagining the picture: that, upon arrival, my daughter will also ruin her vacation, she will have to sit in the basement.
These are the impressions left...
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