Hey guys. I’ll try to keep this brief. I’m an American guy (18 years old) and grandson of my Korean US Resident Alien maternal grandmother. I look mostly white and most are surprised to hear I’m anything but, but I grew up extremely close to my grandmother and our culture. I’ve been trying to learn the language on and off on my ownnsince before I hit double digits and grew up eating the food and always tried to learn more about the culture and history. I’ve wanted to become fluent in Korean and visit Korea ever since I was little with the possibility of maybe even living there.
I’m enlisting in the US Air Force soon with the hopes of being stationed at Osan AB, but I’m sort of wondering about my eligibility for an F-4 Visa. My grandmother is a little short of 70 years old and I know we have family registries and stuff like that in our family records, but I’m not sure what I’d need for the visa, what my eligibility would be if/when my grandmother passes away (part of my hurry to figure it out is my worry that I could become ineligible after she passes), or how my military service might interact with it. Would I even need a visa for anything if I’m stationed in Korea?
Sorry if this isn’t the place for these questions. I have some family in Korea if that helps any, and some Korean relatives here in the US as well.
As for some bonus questions, I’m sort of wondering, is it even possible to really live and work and have a fulfilling life as an emigrant to Korea? I’ve heard it can be really hard to get a job and be accepted as a foreigner and I know obviously my heritage means jack-squat for anything except that possible F-4 so I’ll be treated like any other Yankee Joe, especially so when I’m enlisted. I’m not really sure what I want to do after the service, maybe something in counseling or international relations or design or something? But I know those things can be very hard to do as a foreigner in Korea. I dunno. Trying to get some opinions and advice and stuff. I’m just a young guy trying to figure everything out I guess.
Thanks so much for reading! And if this post is out of line or meant for somewhere else, please let me know and I can post it elsewhere.
submitted by /u/SorryUncleAl
[link] [comments]
