Final things to do before leaving Korea

My good friend Chris in Gwanin posted this to our Cheorwon FB group. He'd been inspired by something he'd read on Dave's ESL Cafe. I thought I'd spread the word because there's some solid stuff in here. I won't be leaving any time soon, but many of us are leaving this month are preparing to leave this year.
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1. Paying final bills - You or you should ask co-teacher/K friend to call the gas board/elec board and tell them the final day you will be leaving the apt - ask them to come the day before and give you a final reading and to give you the bill there and then on the spot.

They can write them - then go to the bank, pay the bills and give the receipts to your finance lady at school - this will speed up your contract comp bonus - or your school is super disorganized and will just give you it anyway (even if you haven't paid your final bills)...

2. Ask for a written reference BEFORE you leave the country! - this might not be important immediately when you get home but it can sometimes be a pain to get one once you leave the country - Co-teacher moves on/ 'too busy' writes you a shitty one (always harder for them to do that 'in country' and then look you in the face after they've done it) - loads of people here say ' you write it and have them sign it. I’d say that's a bad idea for many reasons......So why not ask them to write it in Korean, you can get it translated and notarized for 70-80 bucks and it all looks legit and nice! Also tell the specifically what you wanted included in the ref. and ask the principal to stamp it.

3. Get a Korean police background check - Cheap and they'll print one out for you as you wait - Why? You never know, you might decide to do teaching/something else where you must prove your clean criminal history throughout your life. It's a real pain to do that once you leave Korea. Take your alien card with you to do this too.

4. Sort out your pension stuff before you leave.

5. Leave your school in good terms (if you can!)

6. Take original/photocopies of all of your pay slips back with you – you might need them in the future