35 Points you should remember about Korea in general

Food

·         The food is spicy!

·         Fruit and Vegetables are quite expensive, even when compared to South African Prices.

·         Any form of Beef is VERY expensive – so if you like to eat beef like I do, know that you will be spending a lot of money in the purchase of said product. Chicken is a little less expensive and Pork is the least expensive.

·         Any Korean food you have at a restaurant will come in good sized portions and there is no charge to refill the side dishes that are brought with the meal as they considered a compliment to the meal.

·         In Korea, they do not accept tips. It is considered a service to the customer that he/she is not required to pay for.

·         There is a lot of seafood on offer so get used to it.

·         The fish is bonier than back home and you will be hard pressed to find filleted stuff.

·         Korean’s do not do 3 distinct meals a day. They generally have the same kinds of food 3 times a day – including Rice, and a pickled dish called Kimchi.

·         What Korean’s call soup is more like a broth and is generally very spicy. A “soup” comes with any meal you order and it is standard with all school lunches. Also standard is rice and Kimchi. (Though you do not have to have stuff if you prefer not to.).

·         Get used to using chopsticks as at school and restaurants there are no knives and folks. You get spoons and chopsticks. That is it.

Transport

·         It is generally relatively cheap to get around – see my transport post.

Weather

·         In Winter (November through to Mid-Feb) it gets COLD!!! We are talking 0C during the day and up to -12C at night in some places. Thus come with/buy a good pair of leather based shoes/boots.

·          Make sure you have a windbreaker jacket as the wind is the worst part of the cold.

·         Make sure you have a lot of thermal underwear.

·         LAYER, LAYER, LAYER! As your schools will have heating systems which can make things very hot in class when it is so gold outside – so you will need to wear layer in order to strip down to be comfortable.

·         Have/buy gloves (sometimes multiple pairs), beanies and scarves for the exposed skin.

·         In Summer it is stinking hot – and the humidity is generally 98% so have light fabric shirts and trousers. Sun block is a must as are sunglasses.

·         Home and classrooms to have Aircon and it will be A MUST, do not be afraid to use it. It is a very useful tool to dry clothing(due to the humidity, things stay damp a long time, AND due to the cold things struggle to dry)

INTERLUDE: Seeing as it is the holiday season I have and amusing little video that I was introduced to by Colleen - it is great fun :)

Clothing

·         See “Weather” for some clothing advice.

·         Korean’s don’t wear shoes inside schools or homes and a lot of restaurants, so you will need to get slippers to wear in school. You can wear them at home too but what you do at home is your own business.

·         Not only do you wear slippers at home, you have a separate pair of plastic ones in the bathroom.

Things to know around the home

·         The geyser and under floor heading is operated by a central heating system that is controlled by a panel on a wall somewhere in your flat. NEVER! (including in winter, when you are not home/if you have enough blankets, when you sleep) leave the heating system on. The reason for this is that the Gas bills can get very expensive very fast! ASK YOUR CO-TEACHER, THE FIRST TIME YOU SEE YOUR FLAT, HOW TO USE THE SYSTEM.

·         There is a separate button to turn on the geyser. You have to use the system in order to have a shower, so when you are done, turn the system off. ASK YOUR CO-TEACHER, THE FIRST TIME YOU SEE YOUR FLAT, HOW TO USE THE SYSTEM.

·         Cooking is done by gas, so get used to gas stoves, they are tricky to monitor heats for cooking. The gas line for the stove is controlled with a valve close to the stove. Thus the gas valve open or closed based on when you are/are not using the stove.

·         You generally will not get an oven, but you will have a fridge, stove, Micro, table, chair and bed.

·         You may or may not have bedding and kitchen wear when you move in. It depends on your school.

·         Flats are generally small. In some cases very small – just prepare yourself as it may not be what you expect (in a bad way). Whatever you get it is liveable – try and make the best of it.

Personal Hygiene

·         In Korea, a large proportion of toilets are “squats” meaning you don’t sit but squat when going to the loo. It is rather disconcerting and takes a little getting used to but just be aware of it.

·         Toilet paper is as a general rule: NOT FLUSHED AFTER USE. Rather it is thrown away in a bin beside the toilet. Not something I agree with but that is how it is.

·          IF you are so averse to this you can do with the TP what you normally do, i.e. put it in the toilet, BUT be aware that it seems to clog the toilets easily. Thus be conservative on the amount of TP you use when you use it.

·         You will be very lucky to find a bath in Korea, so get used to showering and note that water pressure can be low and showers awkward (depending on the size of your bathroom and how modern your place is).

·         Rubbish and recycling is a big thing there. THEY WON’T however tell you how to deal with your rubbish and recycling.

·         You need to buy specialised rubbish bags for the area you are in. You can find these rubbish bags at any shop – BUT you will need to ask for them as they are not anywhere for you to see. They are behind the counter so you will need to ask for one and here is what you say:

Shi-le ham-ni-da (Help me)  sseu-laegi bong-tu (May I have the regular trash bag) juseyo (Please).

·         Recyclables – Group: paper and cardboard (placed into a cardboard box/paper bag), glass and plastic (Which must be rinsed out prior to recycling), and tins separately. For the 2^nd&3^rd grouping you can put those in normal plastic shopping bags that you will end up collecting from the shops you go too. Place them in the appropriate bins or next to the food bin, for collection later that day.

·         Food waste is NOT THROWN AWAY WITH OTHER RUBBISH. It is separated into a food waste bag and emptied into a food waste bin. (Incidentally the leftover food waste is used productively for compost and animal feed!)

So that is a point guide on things you need to know. I hope it is insightful!