Korean Job Discussion Forums

bogey666 · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Location: Korea, the ass free zone

I'll beg your indulgence if these seem stupid.. I have been surfing around and these forums have been very helpful, so thank you.

I will most certainly try to repay any kindness re info in the future (for now I can tell anyone in Chicago, IL how to navigate the criminal check/apostille stuff in one day (2 hours) and get it all done.

anyways..

I'll be teaching in Siheung.. Anyone know that town/city?

Outside of vacation time which I intend to use for travel, I plan on living fairly frugally... do you think it's unreasonable for to me to expect save say 1.5 million monthly on a 2.1 salary level? or at the very least 1.3 million?

outside of teaching I want to rededicate myself to getting back into serious shape, this means food and gym issues.

I'll probably be living on a basic diet of grilled chicken (at least that's what I'd like to be able to do).. Should I bring over say a George Foreman grill and assume I can buy chicken breast at an E-Mart,. etc?

I'm not familiar with Korean food, and since I am not a big lover of overly spicy foods, I fear I may not be able to eat it often (but who knows? - I'll try going to a Korean restaurant here soon and do a little taste testing)

basically re food - if I can have a solid protein meal with rice and a salad, (like grilled chicken or tuna or good fish) that would just fine..with a pasta "break" every now and then.

think I can get something like that at local restaurants?

now re gyms.

I don't know how Korean gyms are.. I have seen some nice ones in the bigger cities from photos.. but I fear I may not find what I want in a smaller city like Siheung.

basically I kind of need more of a bodybuilder/hardcore gym rather than some fancy shmancy place with lots of bikes and machines.. No.. I need WEIGHTS. I suspect I'll find what I need if I look hard enough but thought I'd ask ahead anyways.

lastly - has anyone bought a bike in Korea and gone bikeriding either for exercise or to merely get around? (or both?)

thanks in advance

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

I make 2.1 per month, and live frugal myself, I save atleast one million per month. send home 500,000 for loans and then the rest I live on. If your debt free, 1.3 is a safe bet. A diet of rice and chicken is easily availabe here. Korean food is cheap with dishes like kimbap, guksu, and bibimbap the local favorites for expats.

I spend around 4 to 500,000 per month, this gives me a modest diet of fruit and vegetables sparced with chicken/pork. a couple nights out on the town when I need to blow off steam, and the occasional coffee at starbucks with friends.

I also have a gym pass, and its a small place but has all the necessary equipment to become bulk, slim, slender etc...... im in busan and price is about 50,000 per month.

Hope this helps, Jesse

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

Saxiif · Joined: 15 May 2003 Location: Seongnam

wuzza · Joined: 02 May 2003

bogey666 · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Location: Korea, the ass free zone

bogey666 · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Location: Korea, the ass free zone

I'll be bringing two appliances with me

laptop and my boombox and both will be beloved enough where I don't want to take the slightest chance of frying them. (I'll bring tons of CD's too)

so what kind of reliable transformer/converter do I need to get?

also re clothes.

since we're dealing with a full range of seasons - seems like I'll have to bring a fair amount (unlike say the warm weather I only had to deal with in S. America)

if I have to pay extra for xtra luggage, or weight.. I don't care.. well worth the price.

or should I simply have my family ship me "cold" clothes in the fall? (like thru UPS/DHL, if it were under a 100 bucks, that's probably worth the price)

should I bring a SUIT/tie? (are there any "special" days in schools where I might have to have one?) (I'll be in a GEPIK school).

MollyBloom · Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Location: James Joyce's pants

If your laptop is fairly new, I think the power supply should automatically convert the electricity (?). With that being said, you ONLY need the plug with the two round pins, NOT the converter box. I think anything else, like a clock for instance, you need the converter box and the round pins. You'll have to check your power supply box on your power cable. Mine says:

Input: 100-240v~50/60Hz 1.5A
Output: 20 v--3.0A 60 W MAX

All I needed was the regional plug with the round pins.

You can get clothes cheap here, except if you are too tall or large. I don't know a lot about men's sizes here, but women with shoe sizes over 8 or something like that have problems. Itaewon has a lot of shops where you should be able to find the things you need.

When I first arrived in Korea I brought a small amount of clothes (probably 20 items, not including intimates and socks). Then I had to visit the US and when I came back brought a lot more with me. Needless to say, when I left Korea for good I donated about half of my clothing and kept the cute dresses/shirts I got in Korea. I say bring a good amount, and if you need clothes your family can ship them for you.

I think it's always a good idea to bring a couple of suits and a few ties. Koreans love a snazzy dresser.

wings · Joined: 09 Nov 2006

Oreovictim · Joined: 23 Aug 2006

ciccone_youth · Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Location: Japan

those are quite colorful!! Shocked

bogey666 · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Location: Korea, the ass free zone

I don't think you can pay me enough to wear those shirt/tie combinations.

besides.. I HATE ties. (and suits generally speaking)

I'll bring along one basic suit and we'll go from there.

I suspect I'd have problems with clothes in Korea though. When in shape, no way will I get a suit combo for e.g. with the right jacket/pants drop differential. They may not make a jacket that big and the pants that would come along with it would probably be more suitable for Fat Albert.

my boombox is probably tons better than any speaker set I can hook up with a laptop (trust me on this) - so I'll take the hassle of transporting it along with a big CD stack (but that's an interesting idea though - I'll ponder it, thanks)

and back to clothes, I like to wear them loose, so for e.g. all of my tshirts are extra large.. I suspect you can't get that size very easily in Korea (or you overpay by a ton if you do) so...

OOH ALARM clock! missed that one! (thought that should be easy to acquire on location, no?)

michael5799042 · Joined: 16 Jan 2008

Don't forget to include bills when you are trying to figure out how much you can save. I have to pay about 100,000 won a month at my apartment for the building fees. Then with internet, heat, electricity and water it is another 100,000.
So, I have to pay about 200,000 a month in bills and I don't even have a phone. This is my second year here and it cost me about 200,000 won a month last year too.

JustJohn · Joined: 18 Oct 2007 Location: Your computer screen

PainterJane · Joined: 18 Jul 2007

I have a bike which I mostly use for exercise... Where I live I find that the sidewalks tend to be crowded which makes it hard to actually ride and annoys me, so it's easier to just walk when I'm going places. Luckily, I'm not far from the river which has a bike path running alongside and goes for miles.

Good luck!