Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jgarci17]

So tomorrow I fly out to begin my teaching journey in Korea! While I'm anxious to get there and start, I'm dreading the travel journey. I have 3 flights in all in my trip, and I have a couple of questions in regards to my travel there and about exchanging money. What's a sensible time to get to the airport tomorrow? I've never traveled abroad before, and my first flight leaves at 6PM, and I have connections to make along the way (fly out of Atlanta to L.A., to Incheon, to Busan). So I'm not really sure about the process I have to go through, so I just want to plan ahead. Any tips to make this process smoother would be much appreciated. Also, I have question in regards to exchanging money. I've read that I can do this at the airport in Incheon, but I'm just wondering if I can do this at the Kimhae airport in Busan as well. I don't have long in between connecting flights, and I'm not sure how long it will take. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks for the help!

[excaza]

The general rule of thumb for when to arrive at the airport is ~1.5 hours before your flight is scheduled to leave for domestic flights and ~2.5 hours for international flights. Usually, it's overkill, but it's always good to give yourself a buffer if you've never done the flight before.

[madoka]

1. Just make sure you exchange your money in Korea and not any where else. You may exchange enough to get by and do the rest later when you get a feel for the exchange rate.

2. Bring lots of things to keep yourself busy: laptop, DS/PSP, books/magazines, portable DVD player, etc.

3. Bring sleeping pills for long legs of your trip. Similarly, sleeping mask, earplugs, neck pillow - if you need these to sleep.

Good luck and come back to post your impressions so that the peanut gallery here can rip you to shreds for being a newb and tell you how you should feel.

[oldtactics]

The other two posters covered most of it -
My advice is just to stay calm. Airports can be stressful and confusing, but ultimately they're there to serve you, the customer. If you need help finding anything, even once you're in Korea, just ask someone.

Besides that, just follow the crowd when you leave the plane at Incheon.
Find your departure gate well ahead of time and wait there - better to be bored there than rushed once they announce boarding.

Incheon's main departure hall is huge but everything is labelled in half a dozen languages, so you should be okay - domestic check-in is to the far right. It'll be busy. Older Koreans will be pushy and may not wait in line. This is normal, don't take it personally.

You can change your money in Busan, no problem. Big currency exchange signs just past the baggage carousels. Change some at Incheon if your stopover is longer than an hour, so you can buy a snack or lunch.

That's it! If you get overwhelmed, take a breather and just focus on the signs. Enjoy the trip and let us know how your first week goes.

[nathanrutledge]

walk on the airplane. Get up, walk around, stretch your legs, AND your butt. My first flight to Korea was fine, save for my legs being very tired and sore when I arrived. My first flight to the US however, I sat down at Incheon and didn't stand again until L.A. and I sat on my tailbone wrong, must have damaged the nerve because to this day, if I don't sit properly, my tailbone will go numb/get sore very quickly. SO, make sure you get up and walk up and down the aisles a few times during the flight and sit properly, back on the backrest, upright, on the plane.

[NYC_Gal]

Definitely get a neck pillow.

[tyrobinson]

bigger airports are damn near fool proof. if you figured out all the paper work involved in getting your visa lined up, then negotiating a few connections won't be a problem. most of the time you can just follow the herd.

forget the neck pillow. forget the mask and ear plugs. you need pills and booze. repeat, pills and booze. do it right and you'll be in korea before you know it.

[NYC_Gal]

Pills and booze do help, but you'll have one sore neck when you get here if you skip it. I've only gone one international flight without one (and it was only 7 hours) and my neck was killing me for days after that (and that was with xanax and wine).

[aske]

Don't mix sleeping pills and alcohol. That's really idiotic.

I think a neck pillow is more of a burden to yourself and annoyance to other passengers than anything else.

[excaza]

[aske]

[excaza]

[imoscardotcom]

[NYC_Gal]

[kyopoopa]