advice for living/working in south korea~

[Pugnacious Banana]

i'm teaching english for a year in south korea (if i can get all my paperwork completed in time. sweatdrop i need to somehow get a new passport between july 7-august 7th..)

i don't know a lot of korean but the company director said there are a lot of places where i can get free lessons and learn quickly.
i haven't been to south korea before and i don't know a huge amount about it since i really wanted to get a job in japan but it's seeming impossible so i gave up for now and decided to try to get experience somewhere else first.

does anyone have any tips or advice? 4laugh

the thing stressing me out most is trying to take belongings with me. emotion_8c how does this work?

[EmpressZ]

If you're living in Seoul, learning Korean will be fun and useful, but not essential.

When I applied, I also had to rush my passport. You pay extra, but totally do-able!

once you get your cell phone: 02-1330 is the most amazing hotline. they speak perfect english and can help you with anything. I have handed the phone to a Korean lady once so they could translate for me.

For banks, i recommend KEB, they always have an english-speaking teller and their site is lovely.

Don't worry about missing anything--they have convenience stores everywhere and Dongdaemun has awesome, cheap clothes.

[badtzmaru]

omg puggy, that's awesome!! xd you're gonna loveeee it! where are you teaching? i taught english in korea through a really awesome program that provided a month long orientation, accommodation, buddy system, money for cultural programs, etc.

i think the only thing korea doesn't really have is deodorant, lol. you should be able to find everything else in neighborhood supermarkets like 7-11s or large retail stores like costco or e-marts.

when you get to korea and download kakaotalk, add me!! xd i'm not fluent, but i can try to help you with some korean or any other questions you have.

[Pugnacious Banana]

i read it's a £110 fee for rushing my passport (added to the £72 passport fee already) emo i'll ask them if i really need to renew my passport before i go or if it's okay to do it while i'm in korea, since that would be cheaper and i don't actually need the new passport until next year
since i'm going to have 0 money and a lot on my credit card already after the visa fee and apostilles and stuff..
i have some money saved but i'm keeping it for buying food and stuff before the first pay.

i'm living/teaching in the south in jeollanam-do. i get a teacher buddy who will help me with getting a phone and bank account and stuff~ my orientation is only one week though.

how do people live without deodorant? emotion_8c

[badtzmaru]

Ooh, I haven't been down there often; you'll have to tell me how it is! You're gonna have a thick country accent. xd

It's actually really interesting--most East Asian people have this gene that gives us dry earwax and fewer apocrine sweat glands in our armpits that attract BO-causing bacteria. (x) I thought it was weird how I never needed deodorant until I found out about this. emotion_c8 I've heard that you can find deodorant in Korea, but it's very hard so I advise to bring some of your own!

[Pugnacious Banana]

question:
if chuseok holiday is september 7-9 (or 8-10 assuming 10th is a holiday because 7th is a sunday)
do teachers at public schools get all of those days off?
sweatdrop

[badtzmaru]

Yep, they get Chuseok off from school because it's their Thanksgiving. smile I think you only get the day before and after Chuseok off, so if Chuseok is on the 8th, then you'll probably have class on the 10th.

[Pugnacious Banana]

i read that because the 7th is a sunday there will be a holiday on the 10th instead
i hope i don't have class on the 10th emotion_8c

[badtzmaru]

Ooh, nice! What're your plans on the 10th? emotion_c8

[Pugnacious Banana]

i kind of really want to go to a concert in fukuoka on the 9th so i guess i wouldn't be able to get back to korea until the 10th sweatdrop

[Nodalec]

Ah, jeollanam-do is very beautiful! That's the area I went to view cherry blossoms, I think! smile

According to my friend who works in public school, public schools will get Sept. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10th off, so if you want to go to Fukuoka for a concert, you should be able to! It's super cheap to get from Japan to Korea ($200 for round trip or so if you take Peach Airways).

Deodorant, and if you like a specific brand of toothpaste...you should bring that too XD

Most of the teachers I know have used Talk to me in Korean (http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/) to learn at least some Korean. It's a very user friendly, newbie friendly site.

Learning Hangul is also pretty easy. honestly, it shouldn't take more than a day or two to memorize all of them... smile

For things to do in Korea, http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp is a good place to find festivals and such. smile

[Pugnacious Banana]

thanks~
i already know hangul and some random words and phrases
i should be able to go do stuff in japan on the 8th and 9th then right? >__>
(not like i'm planning doing fun stuff on days off when i didn't even start the job yet or anything)

[Pugnacious Banana]

sad maybe someone can help me here

i'm going to korea mid-august but i don't actually start work with my school until later in august
apparently i can't apply for my ID registration card until i start work and it takes 3 weeks to get the card
but i've arranged a trip to japan from korea on september 6
since i'm a UK resident i can technically go to japan and korea for 90 days as a tourist without working but obviously i'll have a single-entry working visa in my passport
can i go to japan from korea for a few days as a tourist without my korean ID card ??
i'm really stressing over this since i've bought tickets for a bunch of stuff in japan that i've been planning to go to for months and spent a lot of money on..

(long version: earlier this year i bought a ticket for a concert in tokyo in june. i arranged a trip to tokyo pretty much centred around going to the concert. then the concert was postponed and i went to tokyo anyway but obviously didn't get to see the concert which was kind of the whole point. so the concert in tokyo was rescheduled for a date in september i can't take off work. but there are shows in hiroshima and fukuoka during chuseok holiday so i bought tickets for those since i won't be working during that time, even though i don't even get paid until the end of september and i'm kind of maxing my credit card and borrowing money from my grandparents to be able to go. so yeah i'm going to be seriously devastated if it turns out there's no way i can go to either of these shows since i've spent a lot of money/energy/time CRYING FOR HOURS on it..)

[Contru]

Hello.
I am currently in Japan (on vacation) now but I teach in Korea. Maybe I can help you. As far as I know you will have your visa to work in Korea attached to your passport. I don't think you need the Korean ID card to get back into the country as long as your visa in your passport says that you can be in the country at that time. My co-work is from the UK and his passport also says single entry as well. He is currently out of the country on vacation. If you give me a week I can find out what the deal was from him.
I would not stress too much. People travel outside of Korea all the time.
I hope this help a bit.
-Contru

Pugnacious Banana

sad maybe someone can help me here

i'm going to korea mid-august but i don't actually start work with my school until later in august
apparently i can't apply for my ID registration card until i start work and it takes 3 weeks to get the card
but i've arranged a trip to japan from korea on september 6
since i'm a UK resident i can technically go to japan and korea for 90 days as a tourist without working but obviously i'll have a single-entry working visa in my passport
can i go to japan from korea for a few days as a tourist without my korean ID card ??
i'm really stressing over this since i've bought tickets for a bunch of stuff in japan that i've been planning to go to for months and spent a lot of money on..

(long version: earlier this year i bought a ticket for a concert in tokyo in june. i arranged a trip to tokyo pretty much centred around going to the concert. then the concert was postponed and i went to tokyo anyway but obviously didn't get to see the concert which was kind of the whole point. so the concert in tokyo was rescheduled for a date in september i can't take off work. but there are shows in hiroshima and fukuoka during chuseok holiday so i bought tickets for those since i won't be working during that time, even though i don't even get paid until the end of september and i'm kind of maxing my credit card and borrowing money from my grandparents to be able to go. so yeah i'm going to be seriously devastated if it turns out there's no way i can go to either of these shows since i've spent a lot of money/energy/time CRYING FOR HOURS on it..)

[Pugnacious Banana]

Contru

Hello.
I am currently in Japan (on vacation) now but I teach in Korea. Maybe I can help you. As far as I know you will have your visa to work in Korea attached to your passport. I don't think you need the Korean ID card to get back into the country as long as your visa in your passport says that you can be in the country at that time. My co-work is from the UK and his passport also says single entry as well. He is currently out of the country on vacation. If you give me a week I can find out what the deal was from him.
I would not stress too much. People travel outside of Korea all the time.
I hope this help a bit.
-Contru

i'm worried because the person i'm in contact with for now says she doesn't think i can go out of korea and come back without having an alien registration card sad but i can't get the card in time because it takes 3 weeks for the application.
i'm going to japan whether they let me back into korea or not. >__> i just kind of don't want to get stuck in japan and look bad to my new job if i can't make it into work.