Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MUOhio82]

So I'm heading over in 3 weeks, Gwangju to be exact.... I've read countless things on here, both good and bad, taken it all in, and am anticipating just reaching my own conclusions after I get there Bring it on!

Just a few things I'm still curious about....

1) What the hell does one do with THIRTY SIX HOURS of travel time to get there? My longest flight to date is 9 hours to Germany every year. Laptop batteries only last so long...

2) As an admitted bookworm, is Amazon going to be my best choice for books while there?

3) I keep hearing the summer is VERY hot while the winter is VERY cold... exactly to what degree of hot and cold are we talking about here? Keep in mind that I'm from Ohio, where we have two DISTINCT seasons, which are "let's go to the pool" and "hey have you seen my snow shovel?" One phrase I heard did scare me, something to the effect of "the SIBERIAN winds come through in the winter"..... As a former resident of Hawaii, cold weather scares me

4) I have accumulated 6 months worth of deodorant, bought a lot of toothpaste, and made sure to shedule a haircut right BEFORE I leave. Other than that nothing is coming with me except clothes, my laptop, a random sense of humor and my hiking pack. I figure if I wanted to bring almost all of home with me, why not just stay home in the first place?

Any other great advice out there?

[KrazyInKlamath]

I hope you have a wonderful adventure here in Korea.

As for things being very hot and very cold, I really think it depends on how you handle each kind of temperature. For me, summer reminds me of summers spent in South Carolina and my aunt's house. The temperature is not the killer (at least for me), but the humidity. Coming from a place which is hot and dry in the summers, this was a shock.

As for winter temperatures, I do not think it is too cold. Of course, I love the cold and prefer it. It is a pretty dry cold (at least in and around Daegu) so make sure you have lotion handy if you are prone to dry skin. The wind can be a bit bting, but if you have a decent winter coat and gloves you will be fine.

If you like ranch dressing or making tacos, I suggest bringing some packets of each so you can make them here.

I haven't ordered from Amazon here yet. I am a bookworm also, but I tend to enjoy the classics and Kyobo has quite a few of them to keep me happy. I did have my family send me some books that I could not get over here and they just added them to their care packages (seeing as the US Postal Service has made it all priority and they have flat rate boxes for overseas).

Hope this helps.

[IncognitoHFX]

[MUOhio82]

Thanks guys, all very good things to do.....

Humidity makes me cringe, I have super curly spirals on my head, and when it gets humid... well, you know how that works...

Incognito, I'm doing the hagwon thing, no public school for me. And no, not dog sled, but I think with layovers, transfers, and everything else it gave me a travel time of that. So we'll see, maybe MUCH shorter and better

I've read all the negative things on here, yea, but I think you have that anywhere.... I'm not much of a complainer though, I try to take everything in stride and just smile and do my own thing.... On the bad side, I am a horribly picky eater, and just the DESCRIPTION of kimchi is enough so far to make my nose wrinkle.... but I won't knock it until I've tried it, lol.

[Chris_Dixon]

books are easy to get, kyobo is in most large cities with a semi decent english section
Also, my homeplus has started selling deoderant so thats no longer an issue.

summer kills me though, im used to relatively hot weather but not humidity. I hide away in my bat cave until its over.

[Ya-ta Boy]

1. It takes me 24 hours from my door here to my mom's door in Iowa. The only thing you can do is put a fat novel in your carry-on bag and hope to fall asleep on the plane. I'm not good at the sleep thing when traveling.

2. Amazon is good, but be ready to just about double your expenses with the shipping rate added in. There is a good bookstore in Itaewon where you can order as well. I also found that Kyobo Bookstore (the largest chain in Korea) will also order for you. Don't despair. Suggestion: read up on culture shock. You'll need it.

3. I'm from Iowa. Believe me, winters here are mild compared to home. This is the beginning of June. I still have a light blanket on my bed because nights are still cool. This will last about 3 more weeks. Then we have the rainy season (about 6 weeks of drizzle). By the end of the rainy season (late July) it will be hot--low 90's and humid. That will last until early September. It's nasty, but no worse than home and much shorter.

4. Bring the deodorant since it's hard to find here. Toss the toothpaste and buy it here.

[MUOhio82]

Well the toothpaste is already paid for, so I might as well just keep it, lol....

I once learned the entire Iowa fight song (good friend of mine is from Cedar Rapids) and then had to sing it in front of an entire restaurant of Ohio State fans... this was not a good idea.

Mild winters are good to hear, I thought I was going to turn into an ice cube...

I read a book called "Culture Shock" (yes, lame, I'm a nerd, I know) so I guess I have a rough idea of what to expect, but then again, not really, since I've never set foot in an Asian country and my only experience with culture shock was moving to the States when I was 8....

I'll be in Gwangju, so hopefully they have good books there, and as for the plane, I think 4 books should cover me... or if I get bored maybe I could make toothpaste sculptures, lol.

[articulate_ink]

I fall into the 'not a fan of Korea' category but the place does have its perks. A few thoughts from someone who's on his way out after 3 years:

1. I've got the spiral curls too. I buzz them off. Much easier.

2. Plan to use lots of lotion in the winter. It only recently got humid here, so your skin will itch viciously for about half the year if it's at all sensitive.

3. If you take vitamins or supplements, either bring a year's worth or plan to have them shipped. You can get basic multivitamins here but they're expensive.

4. Whatthebook in Itaewon has a good website for ordering books; you won't need Amazon, although it's good for browsing and finding titles you want.

5. Don't close your US bank account. You'll need it when you travel.

6. Try not to arrive broke. It limits your options and makes your first month suck.

Good luck.

[Ya-ta Boy]

It's good you learned the Iowa fight song. Someday it will pay off. Somehow.

There is nothing wrong with the book Culture Shock. Any book that gives insight into how to deal with the problem will help. A LOT of the crankiness you see displayed here at Dave's is a result of people handling it poorly. Try not to be one of them.

Other ideas for the plane ride:
a) Look up on the internet some exercises you can do while on the plane and in the airport. Yoga kind of things. They help some.

b) Bring a notebook and pen and practice writing Korean. With any luck you'll have a seat mate who's Korean and he/she will volunteer to help. Learn to say the numbers--you'll need those before anything else.

[oskinny1]

Books-

I suggest getting something like an E Reader by Sony or the Kindle by Amazon. It took me awhile to get used to my Sony, but now I love it and carry it everywhere. The Sony shop had every book I looked for and I am sure Amazon (which makes and sells the Kindle) has tons more. It is small and the battery lasts forever.

Sony- http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10151&mpe_id=1908904905&identifier=S_BrandShowcase_Reader

Kindle- http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-Device/dp/B000FI73MA

Oh, and if you ever made it up to Bowling Green in the winter and survived, Korea will be nothing.

[nolegirl]

Yeah, 36 hours... you must have long layovers.

From Miami to South Korea it is 18 hours ( 45 minute layover).

Your school booked you a shi**y flight.

I would recommend taking a Xanax that way you can sleep the whole way and arrive refreshed!!!


Good luck

[MUOhio82]

Hahaha, my flight isn't booked yet, but everything I've looked up on the travel websites have these insane travel times and I was figuring 36 hours was the norm.... I'm heaving a huge sigh of relief that this isn't not the case from what everyone has written here

Bowling Green huh? That's nothing, I love -15 with windchill weather, complete traffic standstills due to one inch of snow, and the inability of every Ohioan to lose all driving capabilities as soon as the first flake hits the ground.... Now Chicago, that's COLD.

I'm trying to learn the whole language thing, and no pun intended, every Asian language at this point looks Chinese to me. Seriously. This is coming from someone who speaks English and German fluently, and studied French and Italian. I look at my Korean book and I see a huge question mark above my head when it comes to pronouncing anything... hopefully this will go away once I actually HEAR it.... we'll see

[icicle]

One thing which will help get the question marks out of your heard as to how to pronounce Korean ... will be learning the Hangul alphabet ... One good thing about Korean is that the alphabet is relatively phonetic (unlike English) so that each letter has a specific way of being pronounced ... And once you know those ... at least pronouncing it will be easy ... The real key is not to try to learn how to pronounce things by using the romanized korean words ... but to learn to pronounc from the hangul ... It is much much easier and more accurate to learn it from the hangul than the romanised ... And doesn't take too long ...

Actually learning to pronounce it is the easy part ... Learning what it means is a lot more difficult

[BS.Dos.]

Bring thermal underwear for winter and a good sized coat. It gets pretty perky throughout Dec, Jan, Feb, which caught me by surprise TBH as I hadn't really packed for Winter. As I'm only 9-months into my 1st contract, I can't tell you first-hand about the summers other than it was awful when I arrived at the end of last August so I'm guessing July (I'll be in cooler climes in August) is going to be even hotter. I can remember last year walking to school (about 5-mins) at the end of my first month and my shirt being covered in sweat by the time I got there. This was at about 08:15.

Think my flight in was around 30 hours also, although the two flights only added up to 14-hours, but I had a 10-hour layover in Hong Kong. My GF is from NYC and she can get home in around 20-hours, so it looks like you're going to be 'lounging' out in a terminal building somewhere for a few hours by the sounds of it.

GL for the next 12-months etc.

[Bigfeet]

How many bags are you bringing? I will be a newbie too and I own a 22" and a 28" roller. I'm wondering if I should buy another suitcase?