Korean Job Discussion Forums

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

Well, I've gone and signed my life away and I'm heading across the Pacific next week. Shocked

Aside from the obvious--clothes, toothpaste, Lord of the Rings--what should I bring along with me? What do you wish you'd brought with you but didn't think of beforehand?

Also, do I need to bring a power converter or something for my laptop & other essential electric stuff? (I'm in the US btw)

~krats

supaness · Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Location: knee deep in kindergartens

Hey, I've been here for about 4 months and I 've been hounding my mother to send me things. biggest one for me was having a hobby to keep me busy/not go insane, besides drinking every other night. so bring whatever it is you do in your spare time, paint, draw, knit, musical instruments. wahtever, although you can buy hobby type stuff in Pusan and Seoul. if you have good board games ie; monopoly , trivia pursuit scrabble, BRING THEM. you'll be glad to have them in your hogwon to keep the kids busy. My friend just reminded me of the lack of hard bristled tooth brushes, if small soft ones bother you. Deoderant is good to stock up on; condoms, because the korean ones suck. If your bigger person, you'll have a fairly hard time finding clothes that fit, and by big, I mean a guy over 6ft, or for a girl, anything over 5'6" and 125 lbs. so, bring stuff that you think you might want clothes and shoes wise.
and Yes, bring your power converter if your bringing electronics from home. that's about all I can think of for now. good luck.

[quote[color=darkred]]"Dad what's a muppet?" "Well Lisa, it's not quite a mop, and it's not quite a puppet.....but man!....so to answer your question, I don't know"[quote]

peppermint · Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 11:32 pm Post subject:

If you can possible fitr them in, western style sheets are a godsend in the humid Korean summers. What Koreans call a bedsheet, I'd call a blanket.

lots of pictures of family and friends, maybe some western food, multi vitamins, although I've seen those around lately, English novels if you are a reader, and I usually bring some posters, or art. they take up next to no space in the bottom of a suitcase, but really help a place feel like home.

kylehawkins2000 · Joined: 08 Apr 2003

Bring an open mind, an open heart, and a big smile.

Corporal · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

waterbaby · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Baking Gord a Cheescake pie

Lots of advice for you in the following threads...

What should I pack?

1. What Does a Girls Wear?
2. What Teaching Materials to Bring as a Newbie
3. What Should a First Time Bring to SK?
4. What do you wear teaching?
5. New and Hopefully Coming to Korea

little mixed girl · Joined: 11 Jun 2003 Location: shin hyesung's bed~

.....

Homer · Guest

Now corporal,

This new teacher will not necessarily be working with you or in a job like yours..so he might not have to deal with retarded co-workers and a *beep* boss... Wink

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

western birth control (condoms) and buy must-read books because good books aren't so easy to come by here.

The rest, for me anyhow, can be found here. Unless you have some particularities to certain things. For example, I like to write with certain pens and I'm oddly particular with shoes. So I always make sure I have those with me before I come on across.

Birth control and must-read books are the two main ones in my existance here, probably different for everyone though..

Corporal · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

ahahahahah Homer...

actually, that was a little funny. Wink

tomato · Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2003 4:00 pm Post subject:

Hello, Krats!

I'm hoping that your school is well-supplied, but don't bet on it.
The safest assumption is that your school has nothing but textbooks.
If the director says the school is well supplied, don't listen.
If the director says the textbook is enough to keep the students interested for the whole hour, don't listen.

Bring lots of picture books, songs, and educational games.
If you can't find educational games, start making them now, so you will be prepared for the first week.

I hope myWebsite will help.

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

Thanks for the replies everyone... they were very helpful.

I suppose I should have mentioned that I'm a woman. Very Happy

Tomato: very cool website! These are tips I could have used in my classroom in the States too! Thanks!

Homer · Guest

Heck Corporal,

It was not meant to be funny.. Exclamation

Give the newbie a chance to find out what he thinks about Korea on his or her own without giving him some of your "bitter wisdom"... Laughing

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

I don't know what kind of power converter you are thinking of getting. If it is the little plug adapter they sell in the travel section of stores, don't bother. It's practically useless. Even if you change the plug, you're still getting 220v out of the wall. (A few apartments have one 110v circuit, but you almost never see this anymore.)

If you need to run 110v appliances, you can get the necessary converter here. It's a heavy box. Someone else can tell you what they cost, I haven't bought one in many years.

Most laptop computers can run on both 110v and 220v. Check the power brick. In that case you only need the plug adapter, which is very cheap here.

As far as birth control more of interest to women, you can get the minipill without a prescription, and tri-phasic pills with a prescription.

You can now get real American tampons in Korea! What a breakthrough! I'd be even more excited if I still used them...

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

Thanks OiGirl... so I should just wait till I get there to figure out the power thing?

OK, this may be a stupid thing to ask but can you get stuff like peanut butter there? My brother lived overseas for 2 years and kept writing home begging for peanut butter. I can't live for a year without it. Should I bring a stash or can I find it in Seoul?