Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Adam J]

I've narrowed my collection down to about 150 books. Should I store them in a friend's garage in the U.S. or bring them with me to Korea? I'll be in Korea for at least two years, and more likely three or four years. I haven't looked into shipping prices, but I'm sure it's not cheap. But would it be prohibitively expensive?

[Zenpickle]

[Leslie Cheswyck]

You will turn into a chain smoking, skirt chasing, soju swilling, PC bong zombie. You will not have time for books. Leave them behind.

[VanIslander]

Leave them there!
Plenty of books in Korea available quickly through online sellers
like www.whatthebook.com

[mindmetoo]

I agree with the previous poster that books = currency. It all depends on what kind of reader you are. If you ride the subway a lot, you will read more books.

In Korea I read about 3-4 books a month. Buying used means that's about 8,000 won x 3 = 24,000 won a month I spend on books. 4 used books gives you credit for one different used book at a used book shop.

So estimate each book you pack is like throwing $6 into your suitcase.

Bring as many books you want to read here. Don't pack (many) books you'll have to move home.

At a minimum I would pack 1-2 months worth of literature. You have books to read while you get your Korea legs, bank money, and find the used bookstores.

Pack clothes and deodorant and other hard to find things first. Pack books in the available space.

Books are be imported into Korea without duty, I believe they're considered educational material. However, most people find it best to have books mailed to their school address. This way Korean customs can be sure. Make sure "school" is on the label and your name is like John Smith TEACHER.

It's winter so pack your winter clothes but if you want to save space, mail your summer clothes to yourself. Clothes weight less than books as well and are cheaper to mail.

[HamuHamu]

I'm such a book geek....its one of the things I really miss about having a HOME...nat an apartment, but a real HOME. My bookshelf. It made me happy....refrence books, history books, etc etc. I wish I had been able to bring them.

But, reasonably, I say clothing that you love and that fits you, plus other "things" - photos, little personal items that make your surroundings more "you" and toiletries, are much more important to fill your space/weight limits. Bring old journals that you may have that might make you happy to read through, and bring a few that you like to read over and over again for comfort. BUT, I would also say don't bring too many that you will not want to leave behind here. Packing to go home can be a pain and often you are forced to leave things behind. Well, unless you're truly organized - and I guess I'm not.

The ones I really really miss are my cook books.....I love to cook, and here I find I am worn out from the same thing over and over, and as much as you can get new recipes online, it's just not the same reading it from a print-out as it is from a book that's stained from last try's drips. And, fiction novels are easy to get here, but English cookbooks aren't

[Busanchick]

I'd leave them behind-- I just managed to swap books with all of the other teachers around. Sides you'll be so busy doing other stuff you won't have time to read anything unless it's in Korean.

[matthewwoodford]

Bring them over and give them to me....I mean, I'll store them for you.

[captain kirk]

If you're up in Seoul, you can go to a couple of used bookstores there. A used novel is four bucks, or something like that. Or five. And the selection is 'ok'. Well, compared to a used bookstore back home.
I'm in Canada, and there's a place called Tramps, a used records and bookstore. I like sci-fi, but haven't read lots of it. Just here and there. Poul Anderson, Asimov, Clifford Simak, James Blish, Robert Silverberg. Paperbacks from the sixties, seventies, and going for a buck each, buck fifty, two bucks.
Well there's NO way I'd be finding this stuff in Korea, period, let alone for a buck a book. Sure, they're thirty, forty years old paperbacks. But they're from sci-fi's golden age. The imagination and vision in these novels is...Korea is conservative. I don't know where the golden age of sci-fi came from, but perhaps it paralleled the '60's generally. Hippies, Summer of Love, expanded awareness, whatever.
They're a feast. Sure they're 'flakey', a bit. But they're stories, the basis of the Star Treks we see today on TV.
So I'm boxing these babies, and leaving them behind, because of the airfare baggage allowance. When, in Korea, I've run out of books, just notify the folks to send out a box by surface mail which takes two months. Have the boxes of books lined up, back home, and sent over gradually, box by box. Saves spending too much, or running up to Seoul.

[simulated stereo]

Books in Korea are like cigarettes in prison.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Make sure you will have room for books in the place you will be living. If you are going to live in a shoe box, you may regret hauling them over.

Surface shipping between Korea and the US is reasonable. 40kg for about $40. Just get the address of your new place and take the boxes to the post office and ship them. Delivery takes from 1-2 months. It's an option to consider.

[panthermodern]

Mail them to yourself.

[matthewwoodford]

I mailed myself 3 boxes of books, surface mail, & it cost almost as much as the plane ticket!

[Manner of Speaking]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I've bummed so many books off friends - I'm glad I used the space in my suitcase for other things. Just make the right kind of friends, or be really nosey when you know people are going to be leaving soon and can't take everything with them.