Tell me about moving to South Korea.

July 7, 2009 1:26 PM

We're moving to South Korea! We've never been to Asia! Tell us what to expect! More inside! (!!)

So, my wife and I will be moving to South Korea at the end of August to teach English in Gwangmyeongnam. We're excited about this! We've both traveled extensively across Europe, the USA, South America and a little bit of Northern Africa. We've lived in rural middle America and have made Brooklyn our home for the last year. So, we're not too spooked about packing up and moving someplace foreign.

However, there are a lot of mysteries involved. I guess what we're looking for is "101, Welcome to South Korea" starters kit. I poked around MeFi and found some posts, but they were all a few years old. I wanted to make sure we were up to date. We've also donea ton of reading, but, well. That's reading.

Some general Q's and then I'll just say, "Tell me what you wish you'd known":

We'll be teaching in a public school, so hopefully we'll be spared some hagwon hijinks. Still, are we likely to be screwed on this? What's the public school experience like? I'll be teaching Elementary, my wife will be in a high school. How liberal are they with vacation etc.? Are there a lot of "federal" holidays?

Stuff we should bring: I've been told deodorant and clothes that fit. Anything else?

As far as laptops go- I'm guessing we'll need new power supplies? Or will a converter do the trick? (I fried my Powerbook once in Germany. Maybe it was coincidental)

Are there things we should start learning now? Stuff we should start preparing for?

The won: Down, now back up a bit. A bad currency to hold on to? We'll make about 2.1 mil a month, each. What're living expenses like? Utilities?

I guess I secretly have an enormous number of tiny questions that are part of a big question: What's it like? What do you wish you'd been ready for?

posted by GilloD to society & culture (14 comments total)

I hated the 6 day workweek and the fact that the roads in/out of town were jammed solid on Sundays.
posted by bonobothegreat at 1:33 PM on July 7

Unfortunately, you'll be late for the 10th anniversary meet-up, but I figure the folks who are chiming in there could be of more help than I. Good luck!
posted by filthy light thief at 1:39 PM on July 7

Your vacation is usually in your contract. The number of holidays this year and next kind of sucks because many of them fall on weekends. South Korea doesn't usually shift holidays over to Monday or Friday, like Western countries do. Besides that, though, you should ask your school to give you a work schedule.

Bring some comfort food. I love Korean food, but it's nice to have some comfort food once in a while.

Many modern electronics work all over the world. You just need the appropriate plug. My laptop, TV (long story), camera, and external HDDs all convert power through their power supplies. Check the voltage on the back of your power supplies. If it says 100v-240v (the second number is the only important one), you'll be fine.

Learn how to read Korean. It's not hard (and yet many foreigners don't bother to learn. *sigh* Actually, you might find that you don't really like the expat community in SK. There are lots of...weird people here.)

The won goes up and down. Transfer money back home when it's favorable to do so. It'll cost you about 100,000 won/week to live (food, basic supplies). Add another 100,000 won/week if you go out on weekends. Beyond that, the cost of living depends on your lifestyle. You'll probably save money, but you won't save that much on 2.1m/month. I'd say about 10m/year is reasonable. I saved about 18m my first year (without doing privates), but I made substantially more than 2.1m.
posted by smorange at 2:07 PM on July 7 [1 favorite]

I have to say- Maybe the only think we're really spooked about is our fellow employees. It seems like there are a LOT of complainers and/or lazy dudes on forums and the like. We kno we're going to work, we know it'll be kind of stressful, we know we'll just kind of have to laugh a lot of things off. I'm afraid of being stuck with a bunch of English speakers just looking to make a buck.
posted by GilloD at 2:19 PM on July 7

Don't pay attention to the complainers in forums. There are tons of people having a great time in South Korea -- they just don't have the time to post all their thoughts on the internet. ;)

(I'm in Busan, btw.)
posted by canadia at 3:03 PM on July 7

It seems like there are a LOT of complainers

There's a reason for that, they work you extremely hard. I considered teaching English in Korea and my mother's friends (who live in Korea) all warned me not to go, saying they sometimes make you work 7 days a week and until 9-10pm on many nights. They told me that Epik is the only program worth applying for, it's through the government.

As far as things to prepare you, make sure you can eat the food. Being a picky eater always makes traveling more difficult.
posted by BrnP84 at 4:37 PM on July 7

I lived in S. Korea (Kunsan) for 6 months about 10 years ago, so all of my information is out of date! I can tell you that it is a great idea to learn how to at least read Korean. I traveled around a lot on trains and buses, and many of the signs weren't in English. Luckily I knew enough Korean to read city names, and was able to get around. I really loved it there. It's a beautiful country, and the people are lovely. Go to Sognisan National Park! It's amazing. And definitely try the public baths.

You might want to bring a toaster oven or a small, portable convection oven. Your apartment will only have gas burners, most likely, and you will probably want to bake something at some point. Peanut butter was impossible to get, so bring that if you like it.
posted by apricot at 8:46 PM on July 7

Yeah, there are reasons for all the complaining. Some of it is "Korea's" fault (mostly hagwons, but also Korean culture, some of which can be hard to accept even after you take the time to understand it); some of it is the ex-pats' (untrained and unprofessional; unwilling to learn the language or the culture; unable to deal with cultural differences).

Some people here are genuinely crazy, or they're in Korea because they failed at life back home. You'll be able to spot them and avoid them fairly easily. Also, I weed out irritating expats by asking how long they've been in Korea, and then asking if they can read Korean. If the answers are: "longer than 6 months," and "no," then I write them off. These people tend to be complainers, not coincidentally. This makes me a bit of a misanthrope, but I don't care; I have enough friends. And I'm sane.
posted by smorange at 8:54 PM on July 7

Peanut butter is easy to get now. It's expensive, though, unless you go to Costco.
posted by smorange at 8:56 PM on July 7

On my visits to Korea, the thing that struck me the most is "OMG I can't read anything!"

So, learn to read hangul. It's phonetic, so relatively easy to learn to the point where you can actually pronounce things, and from there you'll be able to bumble your way through a lot better. I learned a reasonable percentage of hangul via sitting around listening to the announcements and watching the signs on the Seoul train system. And have now forgotten it all, of course, but I'm not in Korea.
posted by that girl at 10:58 PM on July 7

I taught myself to read Hangul in the course of a few days with a copy of "Korean For Mormon Missionaries" from the 1970s. Of course, my vocabulary was for shit, but getting to the point where you can sound out words is really easy even if you have no idea what they mean.
posted by Juliet Banana at 8:45 AM on July 8

How liberal are they with vacation etc.? Are there a lot of "federal" holidays?

As noted above, it's a bit of a warning sign that you don't know this. Although contracts can and do get ignored, it's important to be familiar with exactly what you're letting yourself in for.

Stuff we should bring: I've been told deodorant and clothes that fit. Anything else?

Spend some time browsing through the English language site of Gmarket. Search doesn't work so well, because many items are only listed in Korean, but the categories are in English. This should give you an idea of what sort of things are and aren't available and affordable in Korea.

We'll make about 2.1 mil a month, each. What're living expenses like? Utilities?

Depends how western you want to live. It's possible to live very cheaply if you eat, relax, furnish etc. in the local manner, but virtually no foreigners do that 100%. However, your comfort zone for living like a Korean will be a major determiner of your living costs.

I guess I secretly have an enormous number of tiny questions that are part of a big question: What's it like? What do you wish you'd been ready for?

My very short answer to this request for qualia is that it's interestingly odd. My slightly longer answer is that there are two aspects of Korea that make it interestingly odd. Firstly, it's hard to overestimate quite how much the country has changed in the past half-century, possibly more so than any other nation on earth, and the psychological and sociological effects explain a lot of what at first seems bizarre about modern Korea. Secondly, Korea has a surface appearance of being Westernised, especially in the hi-tech, urban environment, but under that lies a strongly Confucian culture which can catch you out if you judge by the outward appearances.

Maybe the only think we're really spooked about is our fellow employees. It seems like there are a LOT of complainers and/or lazy dudes on forums and the like. We kno we're going to work, we know it'll be kind of stressful, we know we'll just kind of have to laugh a lot of things off. I'm afraid of being stuck with a bunch of English speakers just looking to make a buck.

That's a valid concern; a lot of the English teachers in Korea are not doing themselves or Korea any favours. However, there are moaners in every walk of life and the same tactics apply. Smile and nod when they rant, then get on with making the most of your life. Expand your circle of friends if necessary; since you're only half an hour from central Seoul by underground, that shouldn't be hard.

There's a reason for that, they work you extremely hard. I considered teaching English in Korea and my mother's friends (who live in Korea) all warned me not to go, saying they sometimes make you work 7 days a week and until 9-10pm on many nights. They told me that Epik is the only program worth applying for, it's through the government.

It's fair to warn that some Hagwons do have horrendous working conditions, but Epik is not the only way to be treated fairly. Especially if you have teaching qualifications and experience (or connections!) there are many jobs with sensible working weeks.
Indeed, anyone who has qualifications and experience in teaching English as a Second / Foreign Language is welcome to MeMail me and I can suggest some great places to work.

You might want to bring a toaster oven or a small, portable convection oven.

These are now widely available in Korea.

Yeah, there are reasons for all the complaining. Some of it is "Korea's" fault (mostly hagwons, but also Korean culture, some of which can be hard to accept even after you take the time to understand it); some of it is the ex-pats' (untrained and unprofessional; unwilling to learn the language or the culture; unable to deal with cultural differences).

Precisely. And when you get out and meet people who are making the most of their time here, you will discover they are far too doing that to bother with the negativity on the forums.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 12:00 AM on July 10

ike there are a LOT of complainers and/or lazy dudes on forums and the like

I live in Japan, but we have lazy dudes too, and the people who will seek you out to say things like it is soooo great to meet another American or I HATE Japan/Japanese people/this stupid langauge/etc. In the end, you have to 1) play anthropologist and treat them like a weird subculture that lives around you and/or 2) find the subgroups with better attitudes. Last, recognize that you will also find things you cannot stand about the country/people/language, and will sometimes need to whine about it. But this is equally true in Houston as it is in Korea.

Also, do join Costco. They sell a lot of the products/sizes that you cannot get in the mainstream stores.
posted by whatzit at 11:05 PM on July 11

Busy Old Fool hits many of the main points. I'll add:

This essay from my long-neglected site (and possibly some others there) might yield some useful tips.

We'll make about 2.1 mil a month, each. What're living expenses like? Utilities?

If you're pulling 4.2 a month, you're earning large. If you're on an E2 visa, your employer is legally required to provide housing or a housing stipend, because of the 전새 system of massive deposits (70-80% or more of the apartment value, returned when the tenant moves out), which makes it impossible for most teacher expats to secure housing, even if they knew how. (Some places will rent monthly -- it's rarer outside of the major centers. A monthly rental fee will vary based on the size of the deposit -- my wife and I had a nice brand new loft in Seoul a few years back for $400 a month with a returnable $4000 deposit, as a point of reference). Your employer generally will pay utilities too (which are minimal anyway -- you'd be hard-pressed to spend over US$150 to $200 a month all in, even running the aircon all summer).

Even if you eat out every day and hit the bars on weekends, you should be able to easily bank more than 3,000,000 a month (or something like $2700 US).
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:26 PM on July 14