Skip to main content

Tips for Moving to Korea from the U.S.


Tips: Before going to Korea:
  1. Get google-voice number, and Vonage/Magic-jack phone: Obitalk.com
  2. Take US cell phone?  probably, if it’s unlocked and recent.  Probably not, if it’s old.  US service will work, though expensive.   Barb’s sister gave us a cheap phone on her plan, which we keep as emergency.  However, Korea phone service, cable, wi-fi is a bit cheaper than US; and our school gets package deal with KT.  Newer US phones probably can convert to KT service.
  3. Electronics: voltage=220, plugs are round.  Take 1 or 2 plug adaptors.  Most electronic equipment is multi-voltage, but not all:  check it, and try not to take 110volt-only items.  Can get plug adaptors in most hardware stores.  School typically supplies 1 transformer per house.  School provides MacBook to each teacher, so you probably do not need to bring your own laptop, unless you prefer not to carry back and forth.
  4. Things to bring:
    1. whatever to live for 2 weeks in summertime without shopping
    2. boardgames, books, playing cards, photo albums, underwear;
    3. personal sports & hobby equipment & supplies, make-up, stick deodorant
    4. internet-phone (magic-jack or vonage, etc), slingbox, Xbox, etc
    5. less important: socks, jackets, shirts, suits, knitwear, shoes, baseball
  5. Starbucks, Costco cards do not cross borders -- Korean store cards are unique.
  6. Housing: will be pre-stocked with basic food: Dominos & PizzaHut & McDonalds will deliver, but may not speak English.
  7. Fashion -- dress well:  t-shirt/shorts/flipflops are not street wear.  There are plenty of good shopping opportunities.
  8. Money: CreditCard--keep a US bank and bankcard, tell them you will be in Korea, make sure online works. US debitcard/creditcard should work in Korea.  Korea ATMs are ubiquitous, typically charge less than US.   Exchange money?  Use ATM.  If you must take cash, buy KRWon here if possible.  (Does school give a cash packet on arrival?)
  9. Helpful websites: theArrivalStore.com, korea4expats.com, waygook.org, visitseoul.net
  10. Language: learn hangeul (app=Hangeul101) both to read signs and also to understand the sound system; learn standard transliteration pronunciation; special concern about vowels e, ae, eu, eo, o, u, a
  11. Keep a US postal address to treat as permanent address.
  12. KoreaPost:  School can receive all our mail and deliveries.  Packages/letters may be inspected, even just papers.  Special difficulty with importing electronics.
  13. As soon as you arrive: check all your electronic devices, confirm the timezone.  Walk out in the sunlight as soon as possible every morning!

In Korea:
  1. Country/culture: brusque, no eye-contact, no “how’re ya doing?” though AnYungHasseyo is an all-purpose greeting.  (emphasis on the final syllable O)
  2. Banking: use local debitcard as much as possible (signature often necessary, but never confirmed) even for small transactions; can get local creditcard, but not necessary;
  3. When outside, always carry your destination address with you, in easily-read written form in Korean, to easily show taxi driver or helpful pedestrian
  4. Get cellphone number soon; and then KakaoTalk i.d. linked to that number
  5. School students often cross paths, but staff have little interaction across schools.
  6. The two main Korean search websites are Naver.com (pronounced like Waver) and Daum.net;  driving directions and precise
  7. No tipping, no calculating salestax!  That’s wonderful!
  8. Purchasing power: easiest to treat Won same as dollar & cents: 1000won=1dollar
  9. Transport: use T-money card for bus, subway, taxi
  10. Bus can take cash, and even make change; taxi may accept debitcard also
  11. Taxis all have GPS!
  12. Transport workers rarely speak English -- be prepared with question or addresscard.
  13. Shopping: Costco, e-Mart, local grocerystore delivery; plastic bag fee;  American goods at Costco, 3 stores in Itaewon area:  goods imported from US are typically double US price.
  14. Seasonality much more apparent in food and clothing available
  15. Climate -- winter clothing, footwear, fashion are readily available, at all pricepoints
  16. Phones: cell phones, wi-fi, KT.  Countrycode=+82, seoul areacode=2, KTmobile =10.  When no countrycode, add a zero-prefix, for example (010)2740.9924.  Within areacode no need to type areacode.
  17. Important abbreviations:  YISS, IBK, KT, ARC, HBC, SFS, SIS, KIS, APIS
  18. Names:  Yongsan-gu, Bogwang-dong (-si=city; -gu=borough; -dong=neighborhood)
  19. Daily schedule: teacher-schoolbus pickup morning 6:35 and evening 4:15 and 4:55
  20. No bottle-deposit; recycling is generally done but not obsessive.  Must purchase special garbage bags.
  21. Suggestion: Get official business cards from the school
  22. Carry passport or Alien Registration Card (or photocopy) with you always.  Official transactions usually require actual ARC card, not copy.
  23. Learn to use chopsticks; learn to eat kimchee
Mailing address style changed in 2014, from Japanese to US-style: from San 10-213 Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 140-210; to 285 Itaewon-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul 140-210.  Many people still use the old address style; GPS knows both styles. http://eng.juso.go.kr/support/AddressMainSearch2.do is a converter webpage.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Jerusalem, Jerusalem: How the Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World

Jerusalem, Jerusalem: How the Ancient City Ignited Our Modern World by James Carroll My rating: 4 of 5 stars Fascinating comprehensive worldview, with Jesuitical logic in a broad sweep that links religion in a circular way to violence and the solution to violence. The author shows a great command of history and religion, with extensive endnotes to support or expand upon most of his claims; however, some sweeping indictments will certainly be resisted by the more fundamentalist People Of The Book (that is, the Abrahamic religions). A core symbolic thread is Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac on Mt.Moriah, the supposed site later called Jerusalem -- the author deftly cites that scene throughout the many centuries since the original event, demonstrating the human tendency to misinterpret that near-sacrifice in order to rationalize our own tendency to violence and scapegoating. I started the book in audio form, but found it unlistenable -- the author's c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kite Runner is with us again

 Six or so years ago, I taught The Kite Runner to three successive sets of tenth-graders, and marveled at the effect the novel had on me and on these adolescents.  That age is a marvelous time for a humanities teacher, as we see callous children grow out of their self-centered cocoons and flex their world-empathic feelers.  They grow into the world outside them and realize they truly have agency -- or will have agency and responsibility for human actions.  Amir, the main protagonist of Kite Runner is so identifiable with those adolescents learning to take responsibility for their callous actions.   And of course we think of Kite Runner now that Afghanistan once again plunges into Taliban rule -- we particularly worry about the fate of the Hazara (news stories already cite random executions of Hazara men).   We can only wring hands and pray that the Taliban will have to adapt and tolerate more than they did before -- but I am not optimistic. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Related Reviews: This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race then Attack Surface

This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth My rating: 5 of 5 stars And the hits just keep on coming! This excellent book details an unrelenting onslaught of cyberattacks, and outlines the author's own gradual realization of the dangers of internet warfare. It is a lengthy but worthwhile read -- actually, I lost the book for a while because I did not want to read it at bedtime, for fear of nightmares or disrupted sleep! Indeed the book is changing my stance toward online security -- multi-factor authentication, definitely! As with most of us, the author first downplayed the fear tactics promoted by sellers of security packages; but after years of research she has come to wonder that more disaster has not happened yet. She briefly but baldly calls out the recent presidentical administration for wreaking havoc on US defense, by eliminating a cybersecurity department, incensing the Iranian and Chinese gover...
Post a Comment
Read more