Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hojucandy]

peanut butter is readily available here in the larger supermarkets (e-mart, lg-mart, careefour, homeplus)

as for your voltage thing... check with your computer's manual or manufacturer. many power adaptors for computers are multi-voltage. they either automaticallty switch or have a switch somewhere yu flip to 220/240volts. otherwise a new power-pack is needed - also check with your computer's manufacturer. try their website....

bring underwear. korean underwear is uncomfortable.

bring any nice chocolates or food treats yu like. cheese is bad here. good coffeeis rare and expensive. remember to declare all these things to quarantine on arrival - they will check them and give them back to yu. be responsible about this please (i worked in quarantine for many years).

some spices are hard to obtain. black pepper, indian spices for instance. though i know a little shop in ansan.

books - yes - but they are so heavy.

music - plenty available here. but if yu like country (like me) yu may find it hard to get here. encode all your cd's as mp3's, get an external hard drive and bring that. i have 70gigs of mp3's on mine.

if yu ever need to use heavy painkillers like codeine, bring them. they are not over-the-counter here. same goes for salbutamol for asthmatics.

i am told that make up and skin preparations here are very harsh. if yu have sensitive skin and use any of these products, bring them with yu. there are body shops here - but v. expensive.

also - a sense of adventure, an open mind, a thick skin, and some assertiveness.

[tomato]

Hello again, Krats!

I'm glad you like my Website.
Peanut butter is sold in most large supermarkets.
You've probably heard of Itaewon.
That's the area of Seoul where the US miliary base is located.
It abounds with wegook supermarkets and wegook bookstores.
But unfortunately, I don't know of any place where buttermilk is sold.
If I knew of such a place, I would take a monthly trip there and buy enough buttermilk to stock up my freezer.

There is no Taco Bell here--at least no place I've ever been.
If you can cook, and if you like Mexican food, you'd better bring a Mexican cookbook.

[camel96]

If you're teaching kids - a big fat book of wordfinds. You know the ones where they have to find a word in amongst a great big mish mash of crap! Each word find keeps the average class busy for 30 mins or so while you read the newspaper. They seem pretty popular and keep things a little less chaotic than games like snap or Jenga and you can justify that they're learning word recognition and improving their memories. Just don't do them with the same class too frequently or they'll get bored of them quickly.

[krats1976]

Wait a minute... no Mexican food? Hmm... maybe I should rethink this. Oh well, as long as there's peanut butter...

So, is it worth wasting suitcase space on a curling iron or hair dryer whose voltage is probably too low? Would I be better off just buying new ones there?

BTW camel.. great idea on the wordfinds. I hadn't thought of those, though I should have cuz they were lifesavers in my classroom here in the States last year. There's a great website if anyone is interested where you can build your own: http://www.puzzlemaker.com/WordSearchSetupForm.html You can make all sorts of word games & puzzles. Pretty cool.

[kylehawkins2000]

Hey Krats,

My advice is that you don't waste alot of space bring those sorts of things. Just about anything you want can be found here....especially if you live in Seoul. Need to find something? Put a post up here and other's will come to your aid!

[krats1976]

Thanks again for the input.

Just thought I'd update: I'm in Seoul in a very tiny but very clean and new apartment. I went grocery shopping and definately found peanut butter. And the lady at the Dominos Pizza down the road speaks English. I will survive after all!

Any suggestions for learning Korean? Should I take a class or try to find someone to trade private lessons with?

[waterbaby]

Here are some earlier threads about learning Korean

1. To Study Korean - where's the best?
2. Sogang Korean Course for Waygookin
3. Chosun University Korean Class
4. Korean Language Classes?
5. Does Jeju National Uni have Korean Classes for Foreigners?
6. Learning the Korean Language
7. Korean Language Resources

and here's a list of institutes in Seoul that offer Korean Language programs

[amberflannery]

whats the deal with korean underwear? whats so different about it?

[Homer]

[tomato]

You can only get boxers here.
They don't make briefs.

[hojucandy]

[chronicpride]

http://wiki.galbijim.com/What_to_Bring%3F

[Carla]

Any particular seasoning you like that isn't like... salt and pepper. I brought Tony's, a southern blend that is hard to find some places.