Wow, it’s been a while! Now that summer’s over and we’re in full swing Autumn-almost Winter here in Korea, I thought I’d upload all the vacations I’ve had since I saw you guys last starting with my May trip to Hong Kong with my awesome co-teacher. If you’re going to Hong Kong, definitely check out:
Disneyland Hong Kong
The Walk of Fame
Sky100 (if you’re not terrified of heights like I am!)
With so many people living here, it’s no wonder that it’s so easy to grab any kind of public transportation you want in Korea. Whether it be plane, train, cab, bus, subway, there’s always a way to get where you need to go. The transportation I take most often, however, would definitely have to be the bus. I take the city bus to school everyday, but it’s the inter-city buses that stole my heart away within the first few weeks of being in Korea. Of course you can just stroll up to the terminal at any time and ask for the next bus that will take you to your desired destination, but I quickly learned with my first few visits to Seoul that sometimes just hoping and praying isn’t necessarily going to help you get the ticket you want when you want it. If you’d like reserve a bus ticket definitely the best way to do so is through https://www.hticket.co.kr/main.action.
*NOTE: It will greatly help if you or someone you know is able to just read a little Korean so you can read your city name.*
*NOTE 2: You will need EITHER a Korean Alien Registration Number or Korean bank account number for the transaction to go through.*
1. If you have a Korean keyboard you can type in ‘이지티켓‘ in Google or Naver. There may be two top options, but please click on the one about ‘hticket’.
2. Once you click on the website it will take you to this page:
3. On the left hand side 출발지 (Departure place) is the first option. This is where knowing your city in Korean will be crucial, but after the first time you find your city you can just go by the number to the right hand side and it will be easier to find.
Since I live in Chungju I will choose the [460] option.
4. Now for your second option, 도착지 (Arrival). When coming from Chungju I can only choose options for Seoul, so I’m going to choose the Gangnam (Central City) [020] Terminal because I go there most often.
5. Now you’re going to choose your departure date. I’m going to choose Friday’s date because nearly everyone is trying to go to Seoul on a Friday (but seriously). So, next to 출발일시 (Departure date and time) choose your date!
6. As you’ve probably guessed, 출발시간 is the time you want to leave. Be careful here that you choose morning or afternoon appropriately. I’ve had that mishap before…:P
7. Don’t worry about the last box. but click on 조회 to continue!
8. The next page is like the Terms and Agreement page so to continue click on the bottom left hand option that says 확인.
9. Now you can choose your bus time and what kind of bus you’d like. The more expensive buses, the one that says 10,900 won, are typically Express Buses and are more expensive because they’re more spacious and allow you to get your own seat if you choose to. However, if you’re in for a shorter journey and don’t mind sharing the space, the cheaper buses are just as comfortable and, well, cheaper! Pay close attention to the times of each buses as well as the prices on the far left hand side, and then, once you’ve chosen your bus, click on the blue button on the far right that says 선택 (Choose).
Scroll down to the bottom and click on the green button on the right that says 이천 to go to the next page.
10. Before you can choose your bus seat, choose how many adults will be riding at the top next to where it says 어른. Then you can slick on any seat number that does not have a red [x] already in it.
Scroll down to the bottom and click the green button that says 예약하기.
11. You’re almost there! Here on the last page there’s going to be a lot of information but don’t let it deter you! At the very top of the page it’s going to have all of your ticket choice including your departure and arrival cities, time of your departure, seat number, the whole shebang. This is your last chance to check everything out to make sure it’s correct.
Now scroll down and, in the second gray box that starts with 이용약관, click on the only open box to make a check mark.
12. Last step! Now it’s time for you to put in your card information. Next to where it says 카드구… you won’t have to click on anything as long as the first option is already clicked. The next box down, however, is where you’ll put your card number. It shouldn’t matter whether this is a The next two boxes are the expiration date, and the bottom is the last six digits of your Alien Registration Card number. These digits are your birthday starting with the last two digits of your birth year, followed by your birth month and the day.
Once you’ve put all that in, click on the green button at the bottom for the all clear! The next page it should take you too should have two choices for you to put in either your card number or Alien Registration number to confirm your reservation. You are also able to cancel your reservation by clicking on the 최소 button next to the reservation, though it will be a small fee to do so.
And that’s all there is to it. Happy reserving!:)
The first time the words casually came out of my mouth I was shocked.
During a week long vacation in September I went to Tokyo to just kind of get away for a little while, but also to start on my “I want to see it all!” fantasy. The trip was great, but on my last night as I sat in the living room of the hostel with about a dozen others I sighed and mock lamented, “Man, it’s going to be so weird speaking Korean again when I get home.”
A few people nodded in understanding, one of my new friends giggled a little, but no one acknowledged what I had said because they obviously didn’t understand the implications. I remember tensing up a little because for the first time I realized that home was not where it had always been for the past 20+ years of my life. I will admit it was slightly terrifying to think that when I said ‘home’ I didn’t mean a suburb in Texas, my extended families’ homes on the East coast, or in any of the United States in general. Subconsciously I had been calling my little studio apartment in the middle of Chungju ‘home’ for months, but saying it out loud was an affirmation that I had abandoned any pretense that it was anything more than a place I simply lived.
My home in Korea is the first one I have made for myself with only the slightest of guiding hands. I’m the
one who decided that decorating my apartment meant just taping pictures on the walls, that found out which restaurants are healthier and, therefore, to be avoided at all costs. No one else in my family back home knows the places I like to eat at that are simply closer to where I live, the cooks who know my name and face because I’ve been so often, or what I like to do on the weekends when I’m not doing my best to imitate a hibernating bear. I know all of the intricacies involved with taking a bus, a train, the subway, even flying. I have favorite foods now that I’m not sure whether or not I’m going to have withdrawals from when I finally leave. I have hobbies that are entirely my own (for a brief moment I took up cooking…?), I’ve conquered fears, learned a new language (sort of), met new people and taken myself on journeys I never thought were possible.
It’s a combination of all the little things that have helped me to make this place home, but the moment I bought my plane ticket back to Texas to visit my family was the first time I realized how attached I really was. I was actually on the verge of a mini anxiety attack as I searched for flights. After a long minute I finally discovered why I was being so weird. So small but so glaringly obvious, I nearly slapped myself when I realized the problem was that, while I had been searching, I hadn’t clicked ‘Roudtrip’.
Immediately after I subconsciously recognized that I was, in fact, coming back to Korea I relaxed. My shoulders 
completely relaxed, my heart stopped pounding, and I laughed a bit at my overreaction. But it wasn’t an overreaction at all because for a second I truly thought that I was losing what I’ve taken so long to build: my new home.
This past month, nearly exactly a year to the day, I finally visited my friends and family back in the good old US of A. Of course I was excited, happy to finally be somewhere where I understood everyone and I knew exactly where to get all the products I’ve been without while all the way across the ocean. But in the back of my mind, late at night so I couldn’t examine it too closely, I found myself wondering what was going on “back home”. I couldn’t exactly remember if I had turned off the heater and nearly groaned at the bajillion won bill I was going to find if I hadn’t. I wondered what my friends and Korean families were up to, if the kids I saw once a week were studying hard, if the very nice barista at the Starbucks down the street from my apartment was going to think I had moved away or died since I see her at least once a week and hadn’t been in nearly 2.
I’m not going to be so dramatic as to say I was itching to get back or that I would rather be in Korea than my original home. I absolutely treasured every moment I had in America like it was my last, but I also acknowledged that it was no longer the only home I had. It’s not crazy that I finally think of this place as more than a foreign country or just my place of employment. It has been over a year after all! It is however, strangely comforting, to find that I finally find myself equally comfortable in both places, something that I didn’t think was ever going to be possible no matter how much I loved living here.
In short, anywhere I feel comfortable enough to dance around the room in my underwear while doing laundry is home to me and honestly probably always will be.
Happy new year everyone! Hopefully you all rang in 2015 the best way you knew how all around the world just as we did. Of course, it wouldn’t be the start of a new year without something slightly out of my comfort zone, so this year I’m allowing it to come in the form of a blog post. I’ve actually waited this long to post about this topic because I wanted to have lived here for a significant amount of time before trying to speak on the subject.
Oh snap, here we go. Before we get started, I want to go ahead and preface that these experiences are my own with a few of my other friend’s of color’s stories mixed in. This is a delicate subject for most (everyone) people and I already anticipate differing opinions, but I feel like it’s important for me to actually speak on what I have seen and done in reference to my race while here in Korea.
When I first decided to come to Korea, I admit I was absolutely terrified about how I was going to be received because of my skin color. It’s not a secret that Korea, like many other countries in the world, celebrate paler skin and more Caucasian features. That’s not to say that they are deliberately racist or anything of the sort, but Korea specifically is more exposed to Hollywood and other Western stereotypes that perpetuate that white is beautiful. Of course there are two sides to every coin and whatnot, but the general consensus from what I have seen is that pale skin is more popular. There have also been many different cases of racism and stereotyping when it comes to people of color by Korean celebrities and regular people alike. Whether this is simply from ignorance or the fact that people here genuinely see black people in a certain light, these questionable moments have happened, and knowing they have happened made me extremely wary before I even stepped off the plane.
When I first arrived I was in the protective embrace of orientation where everyone was from somewhere else and we were all fish out of water foreigners, so really at no point did my race come up as anything other than “What country are you from?”. It wasn’t until we went on our first field trip to Jeonju, a beautiful city not far from Daejeon where orientation was held, that I felt it. Now, I understand the situation wasn’t a normal one. There were basically a million foreigners storming the streets of this village like town while the natives were also out in full force, staring us down. Of course, now my reaction seems a little silly, but at the time I almost had a genuine panic attack in the midst of such a crowd goggling us like we were a TV show. I’m getting anxiety just from thinking about it now.
My reaction to people looking at me didn’t stop in Jeonju. When we got to Chungju, where I currently live, every time we went into E-Mart and I accidentally got in someone’s way or made eye contact, even just felt someone’s presence around me, my reaction was instantaneous. I would mumble out an apology and physically shrink into myself like I was about to be hit. Now, back home, this reaction would have been beyond strange for me. I’m not necessarily known for being shy in any way shape or form, so for my reaction to be so strong and instinctual was something that required some soul searching. After months of this ongoing strange behavior, along with everyone’s the comments when they realized what I was doing, I found the cause. It was because I continued to wait for someone to have a negative reaction to my presence, and I was literally mentally and physically repelling it before I had a chance to examine anyone’s reaction at all.
As time went on I finally stopped being so afraid. It’s not because I no longer notice, because I do, or that I no longer care, because that would also be a lie, but because now I’m actually curious. Sometimes I will stare at people and they will stare me back down, but at least now I know, for the most part, that they’re just trying to figure me out.
Rather than looking for blatantly negative moments, it’s the subtle ones that happen every once in awhile that really bother me. Like when the students that come in for the week automatically think I’m from Africa or Jamaica. Or when they only have Obama or hip hop videos as reference to what they think my life is like in America. Something inside of me dies literally anytime anyone says, “Yo yo, what’s up man?!” to me simply because they think that’s how I talk on a regular basis, as if I would ever speak like that in a classroom setting or even on the regular for that matter.
Most of the time my race doesn’t come up at all. My co-teachers in particular don’t ever comment on my skin color, merely the fact that I’m a foreigner. Unfortunately, I know this cannot be said for all of my friends here in Korea. Especially when the Ebola virus broke out, even Korea, thousands of miles from anywhere that had anyone who was infected, started panicking and looking suspiciously at all black people. I was on the subway with a friend of mine who is also of color and has natural hair and an older man laughed, pointed and loudly exclaimed as he was walking by, “Africa, ebola!”
Needless to say, neither of us found this even slightly amusing.
Another time a friend of mine came to visit from America and as we walked through the subway this drunk ahjussi screamed, in albeit slurred, but detectable, English, “GO BACK TO YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY!” Now, there was also a foreign couple right in front of us who turned to see who he was talking to, and there’s no way to know if it was about us being foreign or both my friend and I being black, but it was shocking nonetheless. That has been the only event that has truly stuck out in my mind as obviously negative. There are of course the horror stories you’ll hear about taxi drivers not wanting to take someone somewhere because of their color, or someone making a blatantly rude comment, but for the most part I haven’t had more than those few small incidents happen to me.
For the most part, despite my physical appearance, I often feel just as comfortable as I do at home. Racism exists everywhere, in small doses or large depending on where you live, but for the most part here it often seems to be less about my race and more the fact that I’m a foreigner. Of course people see that I’m black, but I’ve gotten less commentary on it here than I do at home. In Texas I’m constantly aware of the fact that I’m a different color. In Korea I’m more constantly aware that I’m simply a waygook and people are more likely to look at me strange because I can’t figure out my damn recycling than anything.
What I’m really trying to wrap up with here, in a long-winded sort of way, is that my initial fears of being something of a social outcast in Asia because I’m African-American were completely unfounded. Of course, this is just my take of things because I know others have had different experiences. However, though I’m certainly I’m happy when I see others who look like me, but it’s not a huge deal when I don’t. I no longer try to count the amount of other black people I see when I’m walking down the street in Seoul, nor do I no longer scramble for some kind of unseen social foothold. I feel as accepted as if I simply moved somewhere else in the States. If your only reasoning for not wanting to move abroad is your race, as I know several others who actually struggle with this, I say don’t worry about it. Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
Or something like that.
Though we’ve lived here for over 8 months, last month I found myself as an actual tourist for the first time since arriving in Korea! A friend of mine came to visit and we spent 4 awesome days finding things to do in Seoul which is, unsurprisingly, not that difficult. Here are a few things we managed to check out in the time that he was here and a couple of things I wish we’d gotten to do.
1. Namsan Tower
So if you’ve ever seen any Korean drama EVER you know Namsan Tower as the place where couples go to “lock their love away” on the wall of key locks, or to enjoy dinner at the top of Seoul Tower late at night (which, by the way, is EXTRA expensive), or take a super romantic 
cable car journey up to the top of said Tower for dinner. While our trip to Namsan was absolutely not romantic, there were still a million places to take pictures and eat so big bonus for eatery plus scenery! Also I may have re-enacted a few dramas while we were on the cable car on the way up…I regret nothing.
2. Shopping in Myeongdong
Everyone knows that Myeongdong is the place to go for basically anything you’re looking for. Shoes, clothes, food, everyone and their brother is out there seemingly just for you! Why it’s great for tourists: There’s a ton of cheap shopping and nearly everyone speaks English because, hello, it’s in Seoul, and also they deal with so many foreigners a day it’s a wonder they’re not fluent in at least a dozen languages by now, let alone English. There are also conveniently located currency conversion banks all over the place so even if you don’t 
plan on eating or shopping (which, why would you not want to do at least one of the two???) you can at least get cash for something else.
3. Gyeongbokgung Palace
This awesome palace is one of 5 beautiful palaces, and don’t let the picture fool you, this place is HUGE. Royalty lived in style even by today’s standards, and it’s always interesting to see the many places modern and and past culture collide. My personal favorite is the picture where you can see the huge buildings in the background through the archway from hundreds of years ago…
4. Han River Ferry tours
So this is one we didn’t actually get to do but was something I super wanted to! There are a ton of different kinds of ferry rides that you can take that take you around the Han River, including one that includes a Magic Show, another a buffet and another that has a live concert as you ride along. You can leave from several locations, Yeouido, Jamsil, and Tteukseom, and you can get a full schedule as well as actual locations here!
5. EATING ALL THE THINGS~!
If there is one things Korea has to offer, it’s food, and Seoul is absolutely no exception. My favorite place to get Kimchi cheese fries (They are amazing, absolutely DO NOT knock em til you fall in love with them…) is in Gangnam, but I can chomp down a burger like no other in Hongdae at Burger B. Also literally ANY food in Itaewon is going to satisfy you, but Ben’s Cookies on Market Street is one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten in my life. I could give you guys specific locations til I’m blue in the face, but truly you should try the street food anywhere you go. It’s cheap, it’s fresh, and more than likely if it looks delicious it is delicious.
In the past month since I actually posted a blog post (see, what had happened was…), I have had some stellar opportunities and experiences that, I promise, are worth not having posted in quite sometime. Back in September I got to live out a childhood dream by going to Tokyo for a week’s vacation. Dream or not though, I was super nervous about going before I even hit the airport. I was excited sure, but I was also about to do basically everything that I’ve been told was dangerous from birth: travelling, internationally, alone, as a female, staying in a hostel (again, lone female), and then wandering through a huge city thousands of miles away from home with virtually no contact at my disposal outside of Facebook and KakaoTalk in the rare moments when I had Wi-Fi.
By the end of my trip any traces of nervousness were a shadow of a memory and I actually tried to plan it out to stay longer. I had never felt so free doing simple things like managing to successfully navigate the subway alone, or when I made it on my own to the hostel, or even just ordered my first meal by myself. It was like all of a sudden I had this grand epiphany in the middle of Harajuku that I was small but absolutely capable of handling situations like a proper adult…sort of. But sort of is better than not at all!
Though I had plenty of opportunities growing up to go out and see most of the continental United States, with a couple of cool trips abroad sprinkled into the mix, I always had my family or someone else with me. Coming to Korea was the first decision I had ever made to go anywhere where I was truly going to be by myself. Even in college I already knew several people straight on arrival, and I wasn’t far from home at all. To say it is scary to suddenly decide you’re going to hop on a plane and just go, metaphorically of course, where “no man has gone before” is an understatement.You’re going to be at least a little nervous no matter who you are.
I actually almost cancelled the entire trip to Tokyo out of sheer, irrational terror. I suddenly had to make all the decisions on my own: where to sleep, how I was going to pay for things, what I wanted to do once I got there, how on Earth I was going to communicate. Not to mention the fact that if anything happened to me, how were my parents going to know? How was anyone going to know???
I am one of those people who worries about everything, a type-A control freak who would rather learn to fly the plane than allow my life to be in the hands of experienced pilots because that’s just how I am. The unknown is not a good look for me. If, like me, you’re worried about going abroad alone, whether it be to Korea, Japan, Thailand or anywhere you may need to cross an ocean, I have very sage advice to give:
Don’t be.
I know, Earth shattering right? What would you do without me? But seriously, I spent quite a few days before leaving both America and Korea for parts unknown worrying about what was waiting on the other side. I’m not saying not to go prepared, I’m just saying not to hold back because you don’t know what’s going to happen. Once you get to the plane and reach your destination, honestly the hard part is over. Things you’ll probably worry about that you shouldn’t:
What am I going to do when I get there???
If you’re the type that likes to make a detailed list of what time and where you’re going for everyday of your vacation or trip that is absolutely, beyond fine. I actually envy you. If you’re like me with only a vague sense of what there even is to do, this is for you. If you’re going to an even remotely touristy area it’s totally okay to play it by ear while abroad. Sure you’re going to find cool things to do on the internet that everyone knows about, and chances are that they’re cool for a reason and something you should check out. But once you get there chances are that locals are also going to be able to tell you about equally cool, if not more so, things to do. That’s how I got dragged into a random dance battle while on the street in Tokyo and to say I planned that would be a flat out lie.
How many clothes is too much clothes…?
No matter where you’re going there is more than likely going to be a washing machine, and if not that, water and some soap for your clothing needs. Bearing this in mind, I would say not to pack a ton of stuff. Keep in mind seasons of course, planning for the Winter can be especially excruciating, but for the most part I say pack essentials that you can wear more than once (aka JEANS), and tops that you can layer so you can also possibly get away with wearing those more than once too. You’re probably going to be running around all day doing God knows what, there’s really no need to worry about packing all of your clubbing clothes plus a ball gown. Also, if you wear something twice in a row it’s basically vintage so there’s that.
What if something happens and I’m out there alone?!
Unless you plan on getting stranded in the Sahara Desert or a mountain range in December, I’d say you’re going to be ok. However, it’s obviously really important that someone know where you’re going to be with a way to get in contact with you like Facebook or even e-mail. I gave several of my friends and family back home deadlines of when they’d hear from me, whether through FB or otherwise, along with my hostel’s phone number and my school here in Korea’s contact info. If they didn’t hear from me they were to try and contact me first, then the hostel, then whoever was in Korea in that order for word on my sudden appearance if there was one. Though I’m sure if anything had actually happened my mother would have sent half the US Army out to find me which would have made my carefully made list of emergency contacts moot. In retrospect this may have been a bit excessive, but to be fair I was travelling to a country where no one knew me and my phone wasn’t going to work, and I felt better for having been prepared. Also, always carry some form of ID on you at all times. I was too nervous to carry my passport in case I lost it, but I had my Alien Registration Card from Korea and my American ID on me always just in case.
Also, always know where your country’s closest embassy is in any country. This is going to definitely come in handy when/if any kind of disaster strikes. See: literally any emergency movie ever.
I don’t speak a lick of the language where I’m going…
This was one of my biggest concerns but it turned out to be one of the things that I most definitely should not have worried about. You’d be amazed at what sign language and the 5 words you looked up online while you were in the airport can accomplish.
Whether you’re going near or far, for a long or short period of time, I say go big or stay home. There’s no use wondering ‘What if?’ because I would have kicked myself hard enough to leave a mark should I have actually given into the urge to stay home. Remember that any adventure is an adventure and should be treated as such: with no expectations, an open mind and a hearty dose of ‘Well, here goes nothing’. Go forth traveler, whether alone or with others, and may the Force be with you!
” Actually, not many people know this, but I tried to come to Korea before I came through EPIK, and when it fell through I was absolutely devastated.”
“You want to…teach. In…South Korea? Why?”
“What on Earth is in South Korea?”
“What happened to you wanting to be on TV?!”
When I told everyone my decision to move to Korea, I got questions like this all the time. As my 6 month anniversary in Korea rapidly approaches I feel like I am finally allowed to sit back and marvel at the journey I’ve taken. There were lots of reasons why I eventually chose to move halfway across the world to a country I had never been before where I could barely speak the language.
Quite frankly, none of those reasons matter now.
What matters is that I’m here, doing something I literally never thought I would be, fulfilling dreams I didn’t know I had.
In the weeks before graduation when I told my immediate family that I wanted to move to South Korea, to teach of all things, they were more than slightly confused. After all, I was about to graduate with a Television Broadcast degree, and at long last it seemed I’d be starting out on my path to becoming the next Oprah, a dream I’d had since I was a child interviewing my teddy bears (Literally. I was crazy.). Though they were outwardly supportive, I honestly don’t think they took me all that seriously until I was offered an actual reporter position not even two months after graduating. I mentally, physically and emotionally struggled with my decision to take this job for days. I was already in the process of trying to come to Korea, and I knew if I took that job I was never going to make it overseas.
In the end I obviously turned the job down, and I have yet to regret that decision even in the turmoil that 
followed. Actually, not many people know this, but I tried to come to Korea through a private Hagwon before I came through EPIK, and when it fell through in August, weeks before I was expecting to step on a plane, I was absolutely devastated. I had turned down a job for this opportunity, put everything on the line only to have my dream forcibly taken from me. When I randomly ran into Greenheart Travel online just after this devastation took place and found out I wouldn’t be able to come to Korea until February, I gave up all that was left of my already dwindling hope. My thoughts were racing with negativity: I had to get paperwork together far too quickly, there was no way I’d be able to scrounge up $1000 in 4 months, and could I stand to go through everything all over again just to be rejected once more…?
Ultimately, I couldn’t tell you what made me finally decide to go through with it, gather the paperwork again and pull myself up by my bootstraps, but I know that from the moment I made the decision to get here I was working my butt off. At one point I was working 3 jobs to save up for both a plane ticket and for when I actually got to the other side of the world. I wasn’t sleeping, I certainly never saw my friends, and my family was starting to worry that I’d gone crazy. Still, I had a goal and a million reasons so I was sticking to it.
When I finally got my placement in late January, I’m not ashamed to admit that I opened that e-mail and cried like a baby. I had been through what felt like Hell and back and what I had wanted for years was finally, finally, real. I had no idea what I was walking into really, but I knew that I had been studying the language and the culture for over 2 years and that I wanted, needed, to make this work because I wanted it more than anything.
6 months later I still acutely remember how stressed I was just over a year ago when my plans first fell through
,
along with every bump in the road that came after. While those memories remain, they’re overridden by new ones. Like crazy summer nights on a random beach. That one time I took a crazy 9 hour bus adventure with friends and slept on a stranger’s floor (do NOT tell my mother). I remember (and also only kind of remember…) any and every weekend I’ve spent in Seoul with friends old and new. Instead of thinking back on the tears and frustration I prefer to remember laughing uproariously in noraebangs as we screamed ‘Hey Jude’ into a mic, or when we celebrated absolutely nothing on a Friday night in a bar the one time I had to go in to work the next morning (the results, as you may have guessed, were tragic).
The reason coming to Korea is the greatest thing I could have done isn’t the fact that I overcame so many obstacles, or anything so dramatically ‘Remember the Titans’ worthy as that. Coming to Korea was the greatest thing I could have done because for the first time I did something entirely for me, free falling into an opportunity in which I had no idea what was waiting on the other side. And you know what, I feel like I’m finally making the difference I’ve wanted to make since interviewing those teddy bears at age 5 .
I may not be mic’ed up and ready to give the world’s greatest interview just yet, but walking into the classroom everyday to my students excitedly yelling “TEACHER!” gives me the same feeling as walking onto any stage. Giving out stickers on homework is my new “And YOU get a new car!” equivalent. On very rare bad days when I miss the simplicity of talking into a camera, students will literally half mime-half speak the world’s best broken English and cheer so loud when I understand them I feel more important than any celebrity on the planet.
Basically, my decisions and reasons for coming mean virtually nothing in comparison to what I’m actually 
accomplishing now that I’m here.If you’re on your way here, whether in a week, a month, a year or 10, your reasons don’t have to be ginormous or profound or spiritual. Your reasons for coming aren’t that big a deal, it’s what what you do while you stay that truly matters, and it took me a long time to see that.
I plan on staying for a while yet, and even though not everyday is perfect, it’s the perfect days that remind me why I fought so hard to get here in the first place. I’m sure I’ll get back onto the path of Oprah eventually. For now, I’ll pretend that moments like the ones where my students tell me how much they learned and how much they hope to achieve have been captured on film, and that’s really enough for me.
With a new influx of English teachers planning to begin their journey here in August or September (or whenever you’re coming!), here are a few things that I, and others, often wish they had brought before coming! If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that you don’t have to pack super heavy to get here. South Korea is different, but it’s still an urban country with a lot of the same resources you would get back home. However, it is in fact a different country so there are a few things that you should bring with you.
1. Deodorant!
You’ll hear from a ton of expats to bring deodorant because you’re not going to find a lot of it, and if you do, it’s going to be off your rocker expensive. A friend of mine found a tiny, travel size Lady Stick in Seoul for $13 and I was just like…no.
2. Warm clothes
It is not going to be summer forever, and Korea is less ‘Frozen’ wonderland and more ‘March of the Penguins’ when it comes time for winter. I wouldn’t suggest too many clothes because more often than not you can buy ones that are more suitable for the weather here where the weather actually sucks. Still, it would be mega helpful, especially if you’re coming in the February intake, to pack enough sweaters, scarves and the like to last you a couple of weeks. This way you have something to tide you over between when you get here and you get your first paycheck to ransack the clothing stores.
3. Clothes for the summer
It will also not be cold forever, and things like shorts and pants can be fairly difficult for most of us to find . I’m a fairly average/slightly smaller person back home, but this is only helpful when it comes to buying tops. Even then, because I’m pretty chesty and the ‘no cleavage’ rule is a pretty big thing here, t-shirts are really all that I can manage in the finding a top department. Pack enough shorts or skirts or shorter bottoms of your choosing so you’re not struggling too hard when it comes to finding something suitable come May.
4. Shoes
If you have larger feet it is pretty fair to say that you will not find your size in Korea. If you do, it will be a rare find. I’m a size 7 1/2 at home but a 245 here in Korea which basically means my feet are huge here. Pack accordingly, especially tennis shoes and comfortable walking shoes because you’ll be doing a lot of that. Also, for ladies, I wouldn’t worry about bringing dressy heels because you take your shoes off when you get to school anyway, which means your feet will probably just be in pain from the walk and then you have to wear them back home. Save room in your suitcase and bring maybe one pair for when you’re going out. Trust me on this one.
5. Converters/Power sources
These are going to be incredibly important because basically everything in our world is technology which means at some point all of your electronics are going to need to be charged. You can get any converter when you get here as they’re plentiful and super easy to find. However, if you’re just landing and don’t have time to get to a store I’d suggest just having one on hand to at least charge your phone.
6. Update your E-reader (and iPod) before you head out!
One of my most emotional moments before coming to South Korea was realizing I couldn’t bring my entire bookshelf with me. In fact, in order to be under weight limit I had to leave all but one Harry Potter book behind and that nearly killed me right there! I mean, how do you choose just one?! So, as my friends suggested, I got a pretty cheap e-reader, plopped down in front of my bookshelf and got to work. Obviously I couldn’t afford to buy every book that I already owned in hardback, but I got all of my comfort reads and enough extra that I knew I could make it through both the 16 hour plane ride and any moments when I just felt like curling up with my favorite fictional characters. I suggest you update your e-reader before you leave home because you can actually physically see the books that you love and want to have with you. Once you’re so far from home it’s easy to forget the names of your favorite works.
Lots of people think of their favorite books, but hardly any of us think of our iPods. Once you’re here you will have virtually no idea of what music is popular back home so you should definitely stock up on new music before hopping the plane. Updates will come few and far between once you’ve settled into your new life, but it will be super helpful to not have the same 10 songs on repeat while you’re traveling across the country.
7. Comfy clothes you can’t live without
It’s one thing to have a good book to curl up with, but what is the point of having your favorite blankie and book with a cup of hot chocolate beside you if you don’t have your favorite sweatpants to complete the look?! This doesn’t sound like it should be all that important, but you are going to have rough days as with everyone else in the world. After those rough days you’ll probably want a bit of home comfort, and those sweatpants and old college t-shirt you stole from your best friend back in 9th grade can do wonders.
8. Fitted sheets
Ok, chances are you are not going to know your bed size before you get here, but having sheets and even a blanket with you can really help when you move into your new place. Here in Korea they don’t really do sheets. It’s more of a bed cover(?) that you just lay on top of your mattress and then a blanket. This is comfortable enough, but it’s just not the same as having fitted sheets on your bed that…well, fit! People tend to move in your sleep (unless you don’t which is both impressive and slightly creepy) which makes that bed cover slide all over and sometimes you don’t care and sometimes you’re not down with that. I brought over sheets and a blanket in a space save bag and it came in especially helpful during winter and took up less space than my clothes.
9. Allergy pills and other meds
Medicine is really cheap here in Korea, but more often than not it’s a brand that you don’t recognize when all you really want is 2 Tylenol and a Zyrtec to calm your raging allergies. Seriously, allergies here are not a game. Everyone at work got them pretty bad this year and the only thing that prevented me from jumping out the window when my nose just won’t stop running was the pharmacy giving me at least 3 different kinds of pills that knocked me on my butt at night. I’d say bring any and all medicine that you’re used to from home, especially allergy meds and painkillers that you know work for you. Of course stock up on any prescriptions you may have as well.
Now, for the ladies!
1. Make-up
Everyone will tell you that you can just buy makeup when you get here, because Korea is the Cosmetics Capital of the World! While it may indeed be full of cosmetics, unless you are between the colors of Ghost White and Eggshell it will be incredibly difficult for you to find something to your liking. Definitely stock up on all your favorite brands, cover-ups, foundations and other products before you get here because 9/10 you won’t be able to get it shipped to Korea, and the other 1 is going to cost you an arm and a leg to have.
2. Your favorite face washes
Same thing as makeup applies for face wash. Korea has a ton of facial products that will make your skin feel soft as a baby’s bottom. However, I wouldn’t go throwing a ton of these different products on your face when you first arrive. I did that and confused the hell out of my skin. I broke out and then simmered to nothing and then broke out again because I was simply trying too many things at once. I would say integrate into the insanity of Etude House, Skin Food and other brands here slowly. Until then, you know what works for you so stick with what’s familiar in a brand new environment. One life changing decision at a time!
3. Tampons
You think I’m kidding, but I’m not. Korea loves it’s pads and you can definitely tell when you go to any store. There are literally aisles and aisles of different kinds of pads, but hardly any tampons in sight. It’s like playing ‘Where’s Waldo?’ but with Tampax Pearl! I’d say bring a couple of packages worth just in case. To save space my friend put all of her tampons in a Ziploc bag and, to my knowledge, she hasn’t run out yet and we’ve been here since February.
4. Straightener/Curler/Hair dryer
It depends on who you talk to about being able to bring your hair appliances over, and before I came most people said not to bring things like your straightener because the voltage might be too powerful or things like that. Fortunately, I didn’t listen to any of that and brought my Chi straightener with me. It was maybe the best decision ever and I wish I had brought my blow drier too, or at least my curling iron. My straightener works perfectly fine once I plug it into the converter, and the blow drier I bought here just doesn’t do my hair justice. A friend of mine has struggled to find a straightener since she got here that works for her and wishes she’d brought hers over as well. You don’t need to pack every single hair product that you use at home ever, but it’s certainly helpful to have at least one thing that you know for sure can get you those celebrity ringlets you love.
5. Bras!!!
Ok, listen here ladies: if you bring literally NOTHING else in your suitcase, and I mean NOTHING, please pack at least 3 bras and enough underwear to last you several weeks.
“But can’t I find bras in Korea???”
If you are an A, possibly B cups, yes. A ‘C’ cup is pushing it to the limit and I wouldn’t trust I’d find even that. Anything over the smallest ‘C’ is an absolute no unless you search far and wide, over the hills, through the woods and up the mountain to Mordor. Seriously, Korean women are known to be incredibly small and chest size is no different. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just something that you need to be prepared for if you would like to keep your ta-ta’s intact while you are here without having to order bras online.
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Hopefully this has been at least a little helpful, but if not feel free to shoot me an e-mail with any other questions/comments/concerns at: daebakdayz@gmail.com!
After an exhausting day of Hello Kitty and light sabers (see this post for more details on the light saber), the next day Chloe and I set off on our own to do something fairly less strenuous than the day before. We hopped the 700 bus to the stop that we needed only to be completely lost as to where to go. Chloe and I getting lost is not new, in fact, it’s strange if we ever get straight to our destination with no problems. What was strange this time around was the fact that there was actually a sign telling us where to, we were following it, and still couldn’t see where we needed to go.
We were on what looked like a road from the Zombie Apocalypse with all of our luggage since we were going to Jeju City immediately following the Aquarium and, worse yet, I was hungry. Luckily there’s always somewhere to get coffee and, therefore, food in Korea, so we plopped down in an empty cafe withthe super nice ahjussi who was working to come up with a new plan of action. In a last ditch effort to maybe figure out what we were doing I asked the nice ahjussi if he could tell us how to get the Aquarium. He pointed down the road and told us it was at least a 30 minute walk. Immediately dying at the prospect walking even 30 more seconds with all our bags down this Zombie Apocalypse road we thanked him, left and tried to catch a taxi. When he saw us going the wrong way he came after us to correct us (pretty sure no one believes Chloe and I are old enough to travel down the street by ourselves, let alone through Korea) we explained we needed a taxi and he called one for us.
Long story long, we were going the right way before but were too lazy to keep going as far as we needed to. In our defense, it was a fairly long walk though the taxi ride wasn’t long at all. I’m glad we didn’t give up though because the aquarium was well worth the insanity. Though a tad bit pricey (It was about $40 for each of us) it was HUGE, and with it being right on the water there was not only a stunning view outside, but the animals inside were exotic and different from the millions of other fish we’ve seen in aquariums everywhere else.
My absolute favorite were the random mermaids that rolled up in the ginormous fish tank.
That really was amazing.
After Aqua Planet it was time to say “Goodbye” to Seogwipo and we headed back to Jeju City. By the time we got there it was dinner time and we had no idea where to go for food. Then, suddenly, there was a beautiful beacon of red and blue light capable of curing all of our ailments: Dominoes. Ok, now on to us embarrassing ourselves thoroughly. Remember when I mentioned the locals on the island weren’t keen on listening to us speak Korean because of all the tourists? Yeah, when we went to Dominoes it was kind of the same thing.
They saw us walk in, handed us an English menu and then we all adorably mimed out our order because by then I was so hungry I had given up on speaking at all and the young man taking our order had the “Please don’t speak to me in English” face. Once we ordered and found the price was much less than we expected (It was 30% off day! SCORE!) we took our prize home and opened the box to check out our treasure…
Not going to lie this pizza may have been one of the best moments of our whole vacation. Well, that and making this video while we ate it…
Nonetheless, it was a great evening because not only did we have Dominoes but also had dessert, and the next afternoon we flew out to Busan. The process of flying was similar, if not easier than, flying to Jeju and cost roughly $80 USD. If you know anything about how much flights cost anywhere else, you’ll know that this is amazing. The flight was a quick 40 minute ride (made longer only by the baby who screamed the last 20 minutes of the flight) and then we landed at Gimhae International Airport.
This was our first visit to Busan since arriving in Korea so I was super excited to check it out. Busan is an extremely chill city with a very Austin-y feel to it, which is probably why I took to it like a fish to water. There are a lot more foreigners there than I’ve seen in a while, but we all kind of blended into the wall which, in Korea, is a very rare and magical occurrence. Especially the younger generation is super used to seeing us around so it was nice to not be stared at for any other reason than that I was dancing in the street.
We had a great time out, and we only got lost in the subway once the next day! For two hours though…*whoops* We just managed to hop a bus and made it back to Chungju by Saturday night. All in all, it was a fantastic vacation, but it was definitely exhausting. Our next trip out will definitely need to be limited to just the basics!
Tuesday, after we visited the Teddy Bear Museum, I found my allergies strangely acting up. I attributed it to all of the dust and fur from the actual bears, took out my contacts and went on with my life hoping that the slight burning in my eyes would fade overnight. The next morning, when the burning had only gone away in one eye, I decided to take a quick trip to the clinic not too far from our friend’s apartment to get it checked out before we headed off to adventures for the day. I expected to maybe get prescribed some antihistamines, perhaps a topical cream or something for the slight swelling around my bottom lid, but certainly wasn’t expecting what actually happened to me.
Luckily I had 2 of the 3 others with me for the day, and even though I assured them it would likely be a quick trip in to see the optometrist, they insisted on going with me for reasons I’ll never understand. I’m now under the impression that they are psychic. When we walked in the fairly brisk lady at the desk asked me for my passport (I had my Alien Registration Card on me and that works just fine as well) and I was in seeing the doctor in less than 10 minutes despite the fairly full room. He was a very nice older man who spoke near perfect English which was immediately a good sign. What wasn’t a good sign was how he laughed when I showed him my eye and he sat me on a little bench to explain, in perfect English with a straight face that would have made a comedian proud, that I had a “pus pocket” under my bottom lid from “rubbing it too much and getting dirt in it” so he was going to have to CUT MY BOTTOM LID OPEN AND DRAIN IT.
I think I took it fairly well, all things considered. I asked, in perfect Korean I might add, “Right now?!” and he responded, in equally perfect English, “Yup. Now lay on this table.”
Of course I poked my head around the corner and called for my partner in crime to come and not only assess the situation but also to hold my hand while I apparently got my eye split open like a watermelon. To her credit, when she walked in I quickly squeaked out what was happening, she uttered just one oath of disbelief and then set to work holding my hand and reassuring me that I wasn’t going to die on the table. I was given some eyeball anesthetic (not sure of the correct medical term, but it was definitely supposed to make me not feel anything) before the doctor literally told my friend to look away and not freak out. This last part was especially important considering at this point I just knew I was about to get a scalpel through the eye. Since I couldn’t see what was happening (I closed my eyes as soon as he put a clamp on the bottom lid) my friend informed me that he flipped my lid and simply cut it. What it felt like was a light saber combined with a sword made of Valyrian steel cutting my bottom lid off. Let me explain something to you: when I was 5 years old I was at a friend’s house and we decided it was a good idea to jump from the couch in his basement to his fireplace. He made it across but my tiny little legs only carried me halfway and I literally tore my eyebrow almost completely off my face. I had to get stitches and carry a scar to this day on my right eyebrow.
My 5 year old self would have been proud of the 22 year old me who writhed and screamed on the table the entire 10 seconds (10 lifetimes more like) it took to finish. I’m sure people in the waiting room thought I was being killed, especially when he gently put drops in my eye after and Chloe, who couldn’t contain herself when I seemingly started crying blood, let out a movie style “uuuuUUUGGGGH!” and I immediately freaked out because I couldn’t see what was happening. To my doctor’s credit he was incredibly gentle, constantly soothing and reassuring that I was fine so I felt like a little kid after getting a scrape on the playground who needed a band-aid. Instead of a band-aid I got a pirate patch.
True story.
Anyway, the most impressive thing that came out of all of this wasn’t even my cool pirate patch that I got to rep for the next 4 hours but how cheap my bill was. It only cost 9,900 won ($10 USD) to actually go to the doctor and get operated on, then only 3,500 won for my prescription medicine. Side note: Korean medicine is amazing. It was working pretty much from the first second I took the first pill.
After our awesome morning adventure we were on to the next, much more fun, one: HELLO KITTY ISLAND! To say I was excited to go to this Hello Kitty paradise is an absolute understatement. I may or may not have run up to the building in bewildered excitement when we first arrived and I am not ashamed at the fact that we were the only adults there without small children in tow. There was so much inside even I was overwhelmed despite my love for all things pink and awesome, Hello Kitty in a nutshell. I mean, everything was either pink or stamped with an adorable kitty. I saw nothing wrong with this of course, but I can see how it could potentially cause one to want to vomit rainbows at the sheer cuteness.
I was half expecting my waffle to also be pink, but there was strawberry ice cream to I guess it was a good enough trade off.
After Hello Kitty Island I was ready to take on the world, so we went to Chocolate Land which was…not as chocolate-y or awesome as I had expected. Bonus points though: it only costs 6,000 won to get in and they give you a 3,000 won coupon to use at the cafe or little store as a discount. The inside though was just a bunch of boxes with items that may or may not have actually been made of chocolate, but the view outside on the patio was nice.
All in all it was an exhausting and overwhelming day all around, and our week was only half over.
Daebak Dayz 