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I'm moving to Seoul Feb. 15, any advice?
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CustomX



Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:19 pm    Post subject: I'm moving to Seoul Feb. 15, any advice? Reply with quote

I gave up on using a recruiter over a month ago and have been working 60-65 hours/week for the last month saving $ for my plane ticket and extra cash. I'll be arriving at 9:30 at night, which is the only part im really nervous about. I'll be looking for a job in person, which seems to be the way to go rather than using a recruiter and locking yourself into a 1 year contract for a place you've never seen by signing the contract in the states. Anyone care to give me any advice before I leave?
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osangrl



Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Location: osan

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ya dont' come.

haha Razz
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chronicpride



Joined: 16 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:30 pm    Post subject: Re: I'm moving to Seoul Feb. 15, any advice? Reply with quote

CustomX wrote:
I gave up on using a recruiter over a month ago and have been working 60-65 hours/week for the last month saving $ for my plane ticket and extra cash. I'll be arriving at 9:30 at night, which is the only part im really nervous about. I'll be looking for a job in person, which seems to be the way to go rather than using a recruiter and locking yourself into a 1 year contract for a place you've never seen by signing the contract in the states. Anyone care to give me any advice before I leave?


Is that a round-trip ticket? Also, how much surplus cash are you bringing, if you don't mind me asking?
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Daechidong Waygookin



Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Location: No Longer on Dave's. Ive quit.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bring a lot of money.
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Swiss James



Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 7:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pick an area you'll base your search from, find out which bus to take from the airport, then get the location and (possibly) number of a yeogwan / motel near the bus stop you'll arrive at.

After the long flight the last thing you want is to wander around with all your luggage
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CustomX



Joined: 25 Aug 2004
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i should have around $4,000. and i bought a RT ticket that returns march 17, which gives me 30 days to find a job even though I dont plan on coming back to the states. i was thinking of just staying at a regular hotel like the sheraton or something my first night, and then go to a yagwon after that until I find a job.
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manlyboy



Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I'll be arriving at 9:30 at night, which is the only part im really nervous about.


No need to be nervous about that. I'm sure you've heard how safe it is here? Well, it's true.

Quote:
i should have around $4,000. and i bought a RT ticket that returns march 17, which gives me 30 days to find a job even though I dont plan on coming back to the states. i was thinking of just staying at a regular hotel like the sheraton or something my first night, and then go to a yagwon after that until I find a job.


Sounds like a good plan. I came in with a lot less money than that, and no return ticket back in 2002. The doors started opening in no time. But then again, I'm a lucky dumbass.
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 10:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CustomX wrote:
i should have around $4,000. and i bought a RT ticket that returns march 17, which gives me 30 days to find a job even though I dont plan on coming back to the states. i was thinking of just staying at a regular hotel like the sheraton or something my first night, and then go to a yagwon after that until I find a job.


Christ man! Don't give the Sheraton your money!! Unless you really want to drop a big wad on a not so nice hotel.

Two words. Love Hotel. Seriously.

They offer the best rooms at the best prices.

A good Love Hotel can give you for 60,000 won what the Sheraton couldn't do for 260,000 won.
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ajuma



Joined: 18 Feb 2003
Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your best bet in finding a place to stay: Go to one of the "tourist info" kiosks and tell them what you want! Most of them will pick up at the airport as part of the room-rate. Some will even pick up at bus stops in Seoul.

No friends here to help you with the luggage? THAT will be your biggest problem! Hard to move from place to place dragging 140+ pounds (yeah, us lucky N. Americans!) of extra baggage around with you!
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zappadelta



Joined: 31 Aug 2004

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It would really help if you could learn to speak Korean fluently before you got here.
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SuperFly



Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Location: In the doghouse

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



SEJONG cultural center...

Inn Dae-Won, in Chongo, just ask around someone will show you the way....it used to be cheapy cheapy...lotsa hippies though...so if you no like that..then by all means go and pay out 60 bucks a night....but this was five years ago man...don't even know if the place is still standing. Wink


Quote:
inn daewon is 360,000 a month. when you get to the airport you can call and reserve a room for 20,000 or the dorm (four beds in there) for 15,000 a night. there's a kitchen, the landlady will wash your clothes, there's a central hangout area like a jungle it's so full of plants. about the table are foreign teachers, backpackers. very friendly and central. tvs with cable in the rooms. 738, 4308, or 735 7891, or hp 011 787 4308. it's totally cool drinking beer and yaking with fellow packers. at kwangwamun subway stop
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chronicpride



Joined: 16 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with the Inn Daewon. That will put you in a good networking environment. Frankly speaking though, I think if I was the OP coming in at 9:30pm to a disorienting, strange, foreign country, after a hella long plane ride, and I had a big reserve of cash like that, I'd lean towards staying at a nicer place for the first night and get myself oriented. Not the Sheraton, but there are lots of cheaper 3 star places that are at Hotel Phone/Map Kiosks on the arrivals level, that will be no hassle for him to get to via airport shuttle buses. It's easy to recommend love hotels, downtown dorms, goshiwons, hasuks, or even 24hr jimjilbangs, after you've been in country for a bit.

Get yourself settled, comfortably and hassle-free for the first night, and then venture further into some social environments, like hostels, on the next night.

(Note: if you were coming in on a shoestring budget, the advice would obviously be different)
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bosintang



Joined: 01 Dec 2003
Location: In the pot with the rest of the mutts

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

CustomX wrote:
i should have around $4,000. and i bought a RT ticket that returns march 17, which gives me 30 days to find a job even though I dont plan on coming back to the states. i was thinking of just staying at a regular hotel like the sheraton or something my first night, and then go to a yagwon after that until I find a job.


A night at the Sheraton will cost you as much as the rest of your "trip". Find a cheap love motel..there's plenty of them. If you can, find a ������ (goshiweon) (also called a ������ -- go-shi-tel)n on your first day or two. You can stay for a month for quite cheap (like 250,000 to 350,000, depending on what facilities are available). If you're concerned about money, pick somewhere *north* of the river, and even better, on the fringes of Seoul.

You've been looking for an awful long time now, haven't you? Why don't you just take a plunge and take *something*. A mediocre job is better than nothing, is it not?
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trevorcollins



Joined: 02 Jul 2004

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 9:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

osangrl wrote:
ya dont' come.

haha Razz


Funny, when I read the thread title I thought exactly the same thing..... Laughing
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osangrl



Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Location: osan

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2005 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

great minds think alike.
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