Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bobbybigfoot]

And yes I have read the FAQ.

I haven't yet run across a comprehensive list from a veteran who knows approx. how much stuff fits into TWO luggage bags. I don't see how telling people to bring 10 Tins of Tim Hortons Coffee is suitable advice, unless travelling costs are not a consideration. Air Canada website says a third bag will cost $175. Not to mention excess weight charges.

Specifically:

How many pairs of pants, underwear, shirts etc...both for teaching and non-teaching. How much winter clothes? What about winter coats? Boots?

And, I was thinking of getting a big hockey bag. Do airlines accept these without charging extra fees?

***IRONING QUESTION: How do i get my nice shirts to Korea without the need to visit a dry cleaner to get all the wrinkles out? Or is it just a fact, that us foreigners arrive *very* wrinkly!

[freethought]

bags:

Depends on the day and the airline employee who checks your baggage in.

Technically your average size hockey bag is an oversized piece of luggage for airlines(there may be an airline/airport with different regulations, though) and it should be charged as such. Some people will see you're leaving the country, though, and not charge you. If it's a less than full flight the same thing may happen. Essentially you take your changes, though those chances may run you the totals you mentioned.

As for how much stuff, this is what I tell everyone, as a new teacher you will bring way too much crap. Stuff you don't need in any way, shape or form, but you want to bring along for reasons X, Y, Z. How much stuff you bring comes down to how hard you are too fit. If you have no pressing issues in getting clothes to fit, then you can pack relatively lightly. Bringing lots of undies would be the only exception to this. You can buy cheap and fair quality knock off stuff in Asia, but undies in korea aren't as cheap as you might like and they're kind of weird...

Other than that, plan to have a versatille warddrobe. If you're school doesn't require shirts and ties (most don't), and if you're comfortable not wearing one at your place of business, then I wouldn't worry about it. Bring a couple of shirts over and a couple of ties if not more than a couple, since ties over here are so pink and sparkly that even my gay friends wont wear them.

Buy/bring khakies and they can be used at work and for going out. Essentially bring a 7 day change of clothes for cool weather, and 7 days for warm weather. If that takes more than two big bags than you're bringing too much.

As for dress shirts, even the wrinkle free will be wrinkled, no way of getting around it. Certain ways to fold help, though.

[peppermint]

don't stress it, but you can fit tons in two regular suitcases if you try.

Once your clothes are folded, you can put them all into big plastic bags (clear is better for customs, but garbage bags will work just fine) and then use a vaccum to suck the air out and compress everything. Seal the bag with a rubber band or two and you've nearly doubled your capacity. This is best done no more than a night before you leave, because it's not completely air tight.

As for things coming out wrinkly, drycleaners here are cheap and plentiful, but just hanging a shirt up in the bathroom while you take a shower should steam out the worst of the wrinkles anyway.

Clothes food and hygiene products are available here, not to mention movies, tv and books. Spices are worth tucking in a suitcase pocket, so are pics of the family and maybe a poster or some art to make the new place feel like home.

If you're going to die without tim's coffee then you might want to rethink the whole moving thing and just work there, they're pretty actively recruiting.

[yayforme]

Hi! I'm a newbie, hoping to come down in august
Here's a personal list I've compiled from forum comments

Basic :
lots of winter clothing
extra clothes cuz apparantly i'm fat
big towels
razors
shaving cream
10 sticks deodorant
dental floss
address of friend/family who can mail things once in a while
makeup
books and mags
candles
twister/monopoly
extra bed sheets -- but what size? twin/full/queen ???
shoes -- i'm a 7 or 8, so i should be fine with finding my size right???
stickers

gifts :
bottle of wine/whiskey
bottle of perfume
pencils pens
zippo lighter

pills :
tynelol
ib profen
multivitamins
vit C
alka seltzer
tums
prescriptions

any thoughts??

[freethought]

God damn hockey game means I'm up before anyone I know is up, so I might as well keep responding.

Basic :
lots of winter clothing--- This depends on where you're from. I'm from Canada, and other than about two weeks of the year, I wear a fleece jacket with no shell, and I do that while riding a motor bike and I'm in or near Seoul. I went to work until the end of October wearing short sleeves. and in november I still wore short sleeves for a while, but wore a jacket to work.

extra clothes cuz apparantly i'm fat
big towels--- yes, full size towels are essentially no where to be found unless you go to Costco.
razors--- very expensive here
shaving cream--- it's here and isn't particularly expensive. if you like high end stuff fit to be a lubricant for an engine, than bring your own.
10 sticks deodorant--- yes, unless you want to smell. It can be found, but in limited supply, variety and it is expensive.
dental floss
address of friend/family who can mail things once in a while
makeup
books and mags--- mags are expensive here, but What the Book in Itaewan has all kinds of stuff or you can order books from them as well.
candles
twister/monopoly
extra bed sheets -- but what size? twin/full/queen ???--- fitted sheets are available. Top sheets are not. You're likely to get a full or queen bed.
shoes -- i'm a 7 or 8, so i should be fine with finding my size right???--- Is that men's or women's? If men's no problem, women's, I have no idea.
stickers


Gifts are arbirtrary.

pills: any specific prescriptions bring along. Or on the birth control pill, bring along. otherwise Korean prices for pharmaceuticals is almost guaranteed to be lower than wherever you happen to be from. Tylenol is available everywhere here, as well.

[peppermint]

if you're a woman, and your shoe size is 7-8, that'd be the same as me, and I never had any real trouble with shoes aside from style considerations. Anything larger than that would be difficult though.

Korean makeup shops are dirt cheap and their stuff is good to great quality. Stock up on foundation if you've got a pinky skintone and maybe mascara, but for everything else you'll be fine. The department stores carry all the usual brands and I always got tons of samples when buying stuff at them.

birth control- bring a couple of months supply, because not all of the same brands are available here. If you do decide to go with a local brand, they're available at nearly every pharmacy, about 1/4 to 1/3 the price of Canadian brands and you don't need a prescription. Lots of female friends recommended Mercilon, but check for something with similar composition to whatever you're on now. Pharmacists can read English, even if they can't speak it, so they should be able to find a close match with a brand from home if given the package insert.

Multivitamins are a very good thing- available but expensive. Vitamin C is everywhere and probably cheaper than at home. Cold medicine might be a good thing to stock up on. If you're dealing with little ones, you'll be exposed to a lot of new bugs.

If you've got any sort of a chest, bring bras. You can get bras larger than a B cup here, but they're hard to find, expensive and often look as if they could support a small bridge.

Don't even think about bringing stickers, pens, pencils and stuff- they're much cheaper in Korea, and decent quality. I used to mail stickers back to Canada for friends teaching at home all the time.

[freethought]

[peppermint]

The Golden Gate is a fine looking bridge, but I don't think it'd be much good at covering nipples

[bobbybigfoot]

Thanks for the replies...

Keep em comin'. I especially like the vacuum trick.

Personally I think the FAQ section needs revamping. Posts from 4 years ago need to go in the archives section. Let's keep it current mods!

[Qinella]

I would definitely not recommend bringing towels. You can find them at EMart, HomePlus, etc. at the same prices you'd see at Wal-Mart in the US.

For pills, I second the advice to bring a multivitamin. Also, if you take pain killers, go over to any drug store and pick up a big bottle of generic ibuprofen (Advil), acetaminophen (Tylenol) or naproxen (Aleve). You can get it all in Korea, but it's drastically more expensive (about 1-2k won for like 8 pills) and each pill has to be popped out of a foil wrap thing--pain in the ass. Hook up with a 500-count bottle for like 7 bucks and you'll be good to go for a long time.

Also, don't waste your money on anything for the kids. In my experience, they don't appreciate anything you give them, and even worse, they'll expect gifts from you after that. Plus, Korean stationary stores trump anything I've ever seen in the US.

[Chamchiman]

[dogshed]

[dogshed]

I'm not a big fan of the Korean underwear either but I can live with it.

Bring about 3 months of your favorite toiletries. This gives you time
to figure out where to buy stuff and time to ship something from back
home if that's better. What's available will depend on where you live.
If you live in the middle of nowhere like me it's cheaper to ship stuff
from home than make a special trip to Seoul.

For the really light weight stuff like disposible razors or dental floss
bring a year's supply. Dental floss is about 250,000 won for 50 meters.
100 yards at Wal-mart in the US is a dollar.

Buy your shoes in the US before you leave. Korean shoes uncomfortable,
expensive and don't tend to come in larger sizes. I wear a 10.5 men's shoe and most shoe places don't have that size. In the US it's concidered medium.

I don't like Korean jeans. Almost all their jeans are fashion jeans. Nothing
like Rustler brand from Wal-Mart.

[dogshed]

[dogshed]