Welcome to my blog. As I am assuming, you are probably moving to South Korea soon and will be an English Teacher. Unfortunately, I am not an English teacher, so I cannot give you advice on that, but I can give you tips and packing advice on what you need when moving to South Korea.
Visa, Paper Work, Documents
Okay, So I am assuming you should already have your visa ready to go. If not, then let me say just this… go to your country’s Korean Embassy and get your visa! This is the most important thing when you are “planning” on moving to South Korea. Since I am not an embassy or government official, I can’t tell you what kind of visa you will need, so please check out your city’s Korean embassy website (google it) and see what visa options you can choose from.
Okay, I am assuming you have your visa and are wondering what paperwork to bring.
Make sure you have your visa paperwork on hand when you are heading to the airport. Also, have whatever certificates you need for your visa as well as your passport(obviously) and your contract for the school you will be working for. If you are not going as a teacher, make sure you have the documents you needed to apply for your visa. If you are moving to Korea without a visa (standard visitors visa upon entry, can be up to 3 months stay), then you won’t need any paperwork.
Finally, make sure you have the address of where you will be living/staying in Korea as you will need this when getting through immigration once you arrive in Korea.
What to pack
Packing is not as hard as you may think it is. Many foreigners previously said things will be hard to get in Korea when you move to South Korea, but this is no longer true. You will easily be able to get daily essentials such as toothpaste, shampoo, and other things like that. You can also easily find bedding and other random household items you may need.
Here is where to find things for “daily living”
- Olive Young (Korea drug store for bath and beauty, North American brands YES)
- Daiso (Japanese dollar store, can get everything you need here)
- Homeplus, E-mart (You can grocery shop here & get bedding and even larger sized clothing. Basically Korean Walmarts)
- Homeplus express (for small grocery shopping only, very limited)
- E-mart Traders (Small e-mart version for everyday grocery shopping)
Clothing & Essentials
A small number of daily essentials such as toothpaste, toothbrush, small shampoo, body wash and deodorant. You can buy ALL those things in Korea, however when you first move here, you won’t be getting paid till after 1 month and your pay will be smaller than it normally would because you will need to make payments on things like bills and other fees from your school (only for English teachers). Trust me, you do not want to be having to buy all those little things when money is tight at first.
Which brings me to this, bring LOTS of money. Bring at least over $1,000 USD to cover your expresses for food, transit (how to get a transit card) and some fun for your first month. Setting up your life in Korea can actually be expressive at first because of all the little things you need to purchase. You also will probably want to go out to eat food with your co-workers or friends.
Pack clothing for summer and winter.
It’s hard to know if you will be in Korea for only 1 year or if you will extend your stay. So pack a good amount of clothing. If your a guy this will be easy. If your a girl, then don’t pack too much, because clothing shopping here is amazing for girls and the fashion is so good! But please keep in mind, Korea does not have many “large” sizes. But if you are a size “small” or “medium” then you can shop freely with no stress in Korea. If you are a larger size, make sure to pack all the clothes you think you will need.
Shoes
Remember, Koreans have small feet, if your shoe size is above an American size 7, then you will start to find it hard to find shoes. They do sell size 8, but very limited. If you are a size 7, you will have no issues. For men, I cannot really say, but bring all the shoes you will need if you are a male.
Don’t worry about socks, Korea is sock heaven, there are millions of socks everywhere(which may sound odd but you will know what I mean when you get there), so don’t worry about packing lots of socks. Bring a weeks worth or a few extra. You can buys socks in most subway stations or on the streets.
Medications
Pack any medicine you are on.
Getting your medicine in Korea will be tough as they are Korean brands. Pack extra of whatever medicine you need. When you run out, you can bring your empty bottle to any doctor and they will prescribe you something similar in Korean brand. If you suffer from regular headaches, then make sure you pack some of your painkillers. But don’t pack lots, you can get great headache pills for a good price in Korea. I personally use this one below. However, if you are allergic to Ibuprofen then it is best to pack lots of Tylenol. You can buy Tylenol at most convenience stores such as CU’s, MiniStops and 7-11’s. Tylenol is usually behind the counter or near the cashier. Just ask “Tylenol-u” and they should know.
Birth control in Korea
For the ladies out there who are on birth control and need to continue it when you move to South Korea (for safe sex or for medical reasons) then make sure you bring your bc. If you are okay with switching to a Korean brand then bring you bc package and take it to a local pharmacy and ask for something similar. In Korea, birth control can be purchased “over the counter” meaning you do not need a doctor prescription! Plus, it is really affordable (usually around $8 for 1 pack). So make sure you know what types of estrogen are in your current birth control and get something similar in Korea. If you are not okay with switching your pill, then ask your doctor in your country if you can get as many as possible for your move.
Cell phone
Bring your cell phone
Get your cell phone unlocked at your service provider (call them to ask about it). This way when you move to Korea, you can almost immediately get a sim card for your phone and start using it. I Highly recommend this. Since you won’t know how long you will be in Korea for, signing a Korean contract for a phone is not a good idea. To get your sim card in Korea purchase one from EG Sim’s website. They will deliver it to your address in Korea or you can pick it up at the airport. It’s super easy and really affordable. I usually only get 1 GB of data a month for 20$. This will give you a Korean phone number, a few call minutes and 1GB data. In Korea, EVERYONE uses an app called Kakao Talk to text and make phone calls. So you only need data in Korea on your phone. This is also great for if you get lost or need to translate something. So make sure this is a priority as soon as you get to Korea.
Those are the essentials you should pack for moving to South Korea. if you have any extra room or available weight room in your suitcases, then feel free to pack anything else you want. Of course, this will include things like camera, laptops and other entertainment or comfort things. For food, you can pack anything you will miss eating that is well packaged and dry. But usually, you can find a foreigner food store in Korea. Also, Korea is importing lots of international foods these days. You can find international foods at large Homepluses and E-marts. But it is limited. But you can find spices and sauces and canned goods.
There is a small Foreign import store in Jeongja in Bundang. For those living near Jeongja in Bundang, you can go to a place called I love Cookie, you can find it on this foreigner map of bundang here.
Hair Dye
If you dye your hair regularly then you might want to bring your favourite dye. Korea does not have a large variety for hair dyes. For blondes, you will have a very hard time finding an effective blonde dye for your hair type. There are places you can get dye online such as on Global Gmarket, however, all the dyes are designed for Asian hair. If you are accustomed to self-mixing, finding a level 10 peroxide is next to impossible, meaning all professional dyes come with level 20 peroxide. This is not ideal for us blondes when you’re looking to just place a colour and not lift. If you have no idea what I am talking about then you have nothing to worry about. But if you know what I am saying, then be warned and pack your favourite professional and drug store dyes you use from home.
The only good dyes I found that were okay with my light coloured hair were Wella colours from Global Gmarket. You can see some colours I have used here.
BONUS TIP
Make sure you figure out or ask for help figuring out your Korean Address for where you will be living in Korea. This will be handy for getting your sim card for your phone and also because you will probably want to order things online off Gmarket or get things shipped to you from home. I recommend you use Gmarket for buying anything you need. You can find everything you want (basically) on Gmarket. Plus it overall will make your life easier if you are uncomfortable shopping out by yourself when you can’t speak the language.
Once you get your sim card as I mentioned above, download important apps such as Naver Maps (Google Maps doesn’t work properly in SoutKoreaea) and any translation apps and Korean learning apps. Also, download the Seoul subway app. These are all important for making your life in Korea much easier.
Anyways, Korea is very modern and is constantly bringing in more North American brands and is becoming more and more English friendly. So you really don’t have much to worry about. Life here is fairly easy as long as you get what you need when you get here.
