Phone Fiasco

Last weekend, I tried to call Maria.  I got some recording that said my phone was not set up to make outgoing calls, per my request.  I thought that was weird, so I tried to call Diane.  Same thing.  I was not pleased.  Since it was Friday night, there was nothing I could do about it until Monday.  The lack of phone service made for an interesting weekend trying to coordinate a meet-up with Diane, confirming my language exchange with Yeeseul and offering up my couch to Maria.  My phone could receive calls and texts, but not being able to make calls and send texts felt pretty paralyzing.

Monday morning, I brought my phone to Hyunjoo to see if she could help me fix it.  She called my cell phone company and after some research, she asked me if I had done anything to change my bank account information.  DUH.  Before Christmas, I had to close my first bank account and open a new one at a different branch of the bank to enable me to wire money home.  Since my cell phone bill is automatically deducted from my bank account, I hadn't paid my phone bill in three months!  They had been sending me texts to tell me such vital information, but of course, since they were in Korean, I assumed they were spam texts.  Oh Noelley.  (I love that they don't shut down your service, but just disable your ability to make calls...  So Korean!)

So, Monday after school, I traipsed down to the E-Mart building to visit my phone company with a handwritten memo in Korean to present to the phone company worker.  With a few clicks of a mouse, a phone call to Hyunjoo, and a swipe of my debit card worth three months of phone service, my phone was back in business.  Nice.  Today, as I prepare to meet Diane for our weekly adventure in Seoul, I am extra thankful to have a fully functioning phone!