INHUMANE CONDUCTS BY JAL AND THE JAPANESE IMMIGRATION EMPLOYEE

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This happened 8 or 9 years ago. At that time, I went to Tokyo by Korean Airlines. Of course because it was Korean Airlines, there was nobody who secluded me, I got to eat clean and tasty meals on time, I was able to drink coffee whenever I wanted to, there was nobody who looked at me straight in the eye and spoke coarsely, and when I was getting off the airplane, they were very polite when saying farewell. I arrived in Tokyo, Japan at the Narita International Airport after a pleasant flight. This pleasantness was blown up because of what the immigration employee did to me. The immigration was divided into domestic and international lines, which had over 10 lines in total. I naturally stood on the international lines and waited for my turn. Since the line next to mine was the domestic line, the inspection only took a few seconds and the line was getting shorter at a fast speed; however, the international lines were not budging at all and for each person, about 10 minutes was consumed. That day, the people waiting in the international line were about 97% Korean. Finally it was my turn. I handed all the materials needed for the inspection to the Japanese man. The employee took a look at my passport and out of the blue, started asking me, in a coarse manner, random questions in Japanese. (I thought to myself, how dare you start blabbing to a foreigner in Japanese!)

When the employee asked me in Japanese, I answered him in English. And then, the employee demanded to me, "Show me the money." How dare an immigration employee demand to a female foreigner to show him the money! Where else can this uncivilized action take place besides Japan? At that minute, out of displeasure and shame, I looked straight into his eyes. The employee repeated, "Show me the money." I took out an envelope filled with money from my purse and handed it to the employee. At that moment, the people who were in line were all quiet in an instant, not even a breath could be heard, and when I took a look around me, everybody was looking at the employee and I with disappointment and fear in their faces. * Whenever I travel abroad, I exchange the money into the currency of the country I am staying at and put it in the envelope with the amount always written outside the envelope. Only so, I can know for sure how much I spent while my stay abroad. The employee took the money out of the envelope, put his hands under the table, and started to count it. His fingers and the money could not be seen except for his moving arm. I tried to take a look at what he was doing by tiptoeing, but nothing was to be seen because the table was to high up. After the man was finished counting all the money, he placed the money back in the envelope and handed it to me. As soon as I got my envelope, I took out the money and after spitting at the money, I recounted my money in a dignified manner, while taking all the time I needed. And I purposely confirmed the amount written on the envelope. During that whole time, not a breath could be heard. In order for the Japanese employee to feel shameful of his actions, I intentionally took out the money then and there, added a little spit to it, counted the money and even verified the amount, even though I felt sorry for the people who were standing in line behind me. As I put the envelope in my purse and looked at the employee, he handed me my passport with a smile on his already redden face, pointed to the exit and told me to leave quickly. (While I was counting my money, all the people in line were able to see the employee's face turn red) On the first page of the Korean passport, the following content (We insist to all of you that the owner of this passport, who are citizens of the Republic of Korea, will be aided to pass through without any inconvenience and to be granted any accommodations and protection needed.) which is written in both Korean and English, has the official seal of the foreign minister. Despite this content, they give the Koreans all the inconveniences and act below the standards without any hesitations.

Among the countries in the world, only Japan would ask the foreigners visiting their country for money and count it. Among the airlines in the world, only the JAL stewardesses would not give meals to the passengers using their airlines, act rude and seclude them. If I were to pick two incidents in my life time that offended me tremendously, it would have to be the ignorant JAL stewardesses secluding me and the Japanese immigration employee counting my money.

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